The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel)

by Stephanie Keyes

  Then the sea switched tactics. No longer did she merely toss me about, but she began to pummel me against the rocks. Repeatedly I slammed against their unforgiving surfaces, their jagged edges penetrating my skin like tiny knives, cutting into me. You weren’t supposed to get hurt in dreams, were you? But I could feel everything like it really was happening. Then the sinking feeling that this wasn’t a dream overtook me and I stopped trying to fight against the current, to protect myself out of pure shock.

  Fragments of memories swirled around in my weary head, bouncing around inside my brain, just as I was being bounced around in the sea. Calienta and the first moment that I saw her. Stephen when he’d told me my mother died. Seeing my mother, Addison, in Faerie and holding her hand. Gran telling me that Calienta was a Star Child. They spun through my head in circles like an amusement park ride.

  Wham! A jarring slam against a rock seemed to have split my head in two. My arms flailed uselessly beside me, dead weights. A rusty liquid filled my mouth that I recognized as blood. I’m going to die. Just like Grandda. In the sea.

  The very thought spurred me on and I fought back, trying to swim to shore. I would not die without seeing Cali again.

  “Kellen!” Cali’s voice sounded far away. Despite my flailing limbs, I savored the sound of it, entranced.

  “Kellen!” Gabe cried, his voice louder than Cali’s. “Dude, wake up! Wake up!”

  Wake up? Wait…

  Gasping, I sat up, sucking in air and looking wildly around the room. Blood rushed to my head as I did and I fell back down against the pillows, dizzy. I’d been sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms and I found myself there now. Someone had turned on a light and I looked around. No path, no rocks, no ocean; at least not in my bedroom.

  Cali’s hand gripped mine, a worried expression plain on her face. I couldn’t feel her fingers. “Kellen, oh my,” she said.

  “Whha-whhaa?” I began, but my teeth were chattering too much to talk. Shivering, I looked down at my body. Soaked. The bed dripped as though someone had turned a hose on it. It looked exactly like I’d been swimming in the sea, in my bed. It hadn’t been a dream.

  This sort of thing had happened to me before, when I stepped right into my Gran’s backyard in Ireland from my graduation ceremony in Connecticut, via a portal that just appeared. At the time, I’d assumed I’d been dreaming, until I returned to graduation and realized I had sand on my shoes.

  “Not aaaa-gain.” This came out as a sort of stutter.

  “You’re freezing.” Cali took my hands and pulled me up. “You need to get into the shower and warm up. Gabe and I will take care of this.” She gestured to the bed.

  I didn’t argue, but instead let her warm hands help me out of the bed. Slowly, she guided me to the adjoining bathroom, taking small steps that I could manage. Feeling too cold to care, I stood inside the bathroom and waited while she turned on the hot spray. After she’d gotten the shower going, I turned to walk toward it.

  Cali touched my frigid arm. “Kellen, I’m sorry about before…”

  Nodding, I met her eyes. “S’okay.” My words slurred, my body shook.

  She seemed to want more from me, to talk further, but the cold ate at me from the inside out. I removed my wet boxers, not caring if she saw anything or not. The door clicked shut just as I stepped under the caress of the shower.

  As the water rained down on my head, calm washed over me, allowing me to think more clearly. I could have slept under the spray, soaking up its warmth. Yet my mind wouldn’t stop. I’d been in the sea just now. The wet boxers and bed sheets proved that point. But why? How did I get there and who wanted me there? Was it the C.O.D.? What purpose would my death serve? How had they known where we were, anyway?

  Thinking hard made my head hurt and I looked down at my feet, closing my eyes and stepping fully under the spray. When I raised my lids again, there was blood running off of me and onto the shower floor. My head started to throb and I touched my hand to it gingerly. More blood. Performing a survey on the rest of my person, I found cuts and raised bruises appearing everywhere, literally before my eyes. I didn’t remember bleeding before I got into the shower.

  Cleaning up as best I could, I turned off the spray and stepped out of the shower, positioning myself in front of the mirror. A large bruise had formed on the left side of my cheek. Blood trickled from both my forehead and my damaged cheek to drip on the bathmat. Leaning forward, I winced. A sharp pain in my side told me that I’d probably bruised or cracked a rib. I stretched to examine the damage, grabbing an unused washcloth from the shelf and applying it to my head to stop the bleeding.

  Wrapping a towel around my waist, I stuck my head out the door and called to Gabe.

  Gabe peeked his sandy blond head around the corner. Instantly he surveyed the damage without my prompting. “Ew. When did you do…” The realization that this had all happened in my dream seemed to hit him like a freight train barreling down the tracks. “That’s creepy, man. I don’t understand, though. You didn’t look like this when you got up.”

  Cali immediately came in, probably after hearing Gabe. She too looked at me and gasped. “Kellen?”

  I stared at her. “Can they do this? To me…to us? How did this happen?”

  Cali sat down on a small bench outside the bathroom door and ran her hands through her hair. Placing her hand on the edge of the blue-and-white-striped bench cushion, she looked at me. “I’ve been having a hard time remembering,” she said, an admission that I knew cost her a measure of pride. “However, this stands out to me, probably because I’ve appeared in your dreams so many times. If they know where you are, there’s nothing to stop them from luring you away from the house. They can’t come in without being invited, but in dreams they have open access, really. They just need to pinpoint your location first.”

  “I think I did something to one of my ribs. Do you have any first aid stuff?” I asked Gabe.

  “Yeah. Ugh. Dude, that is so uncool.” Gabe shook his head as he walked toward the hallway, his eyes wide. He returned shortly with a basket of medical supplies. Sorting through the basket, I found antiseptic spray, Band-Aids, and first aid tape. With Gabe’s help, I began to tape up my ribs, while Cali started applying bandages to the cuts and scrapes.

  Looking at Cali, I asked, “Could you have done that, if you wanted to? Transport me, I mean?” My mind flashed back to earlier that evening, when Cali would have used her powers on me if she’d had them. I pushed it out of my mind.

  “Perhaps I’d been naïve before, but I’d always been taught that no one should ever try and take a mortal out of his or his dream, to alter them in any way. The consequences could impact the entire universe,” she said.

  My mind reeled. So whoever had taken me out of my dream had violated, what, The Immortal Code of Ethics?

  “How could it impact the universe?” Gabe asked. He pulled tight on the tape, and I winced looking back at him.

  “Father never said. However, I’d been so afraid after that talk, and I’d never considered doing anything more than appearing to Kellen in dreams,” she said.

  “Well, apparently someone wanted to do more than that. They wanted to kill me,” I said. Glancing at myself in the mirror again, I noticed that I looked like a prizefighter that had just gone ten rounds.

  “This all started when we met William tonight. Gabe, he let himself in, right?” I asked. I’d assumed that he had, but now every fact mattered more than before.

  “No, I, uh, invited him in,” Gabe said.

  Staring at Gabe, a million thoughts popped into my head, beginning with What were you thinking? I pushed them all back in my mind. “That might explain it.” A wave of fatigue washed over me and I knew I was about to pass out. “I need to sleep.”

  Gabe set the medical supplies on the countertop. “We should just go get in the car now and drive somewhere,” he said, panic creeping into his eyes.

  Calienta shook her head. “I had the same thought, but they’d get us th
e moment that we stepped outside. We have to stay here. For the time being, this is the only place that we’re truly safe.”

  “But what about William?” Gabe asked.

  “If William had plans to harm us, he would have done it already. Though I admit he’s definitely lied to us,” Cali said.

  “Okay, then we stay. We’d better get some sleep,” Gabe said, moving out of the bathroom and sitting in a nearby chair by the bed. “It doesn’t make sense for all of us to sleep at the same time, not after K’s dream. I’ll take the first watch. K, C, you guys get some rest.”

  “Okay, I’ll be in in a moment,” said Cali, going into the bathroom and shutting the door.

  I looked to the dripping bed, but it no longer looked inviting. Though Gabe and Cali had stripped the sheets and done what they could to dry it out, it would take time. I opted for the generous couch in the corner that looked like it could have accommodated four people lying horizontally. Sinking into the cushions, I grabbed the warm blanket that awaited me.

  My mind debated about William. Knowing that Gabe had invited him in reintroduced all of the doubts that I’d had about him before. Who was he really? If he’d intended to harm me, why hadn’t he killed me earlier in his truck? Or even at dinner?

  One thing was certain: if the Children Of Danu hadn’t known how to find us before, they did now. Though I dreaded falling asleep and relinquishing any semblance of safety, but in the next moment I was out.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CALI—INTERLOPER

  In the bathroom, I took my time brushing my teeth and washing my face. Trying to think of anything, really, that took my mind off of Kellen and what had almost happened. He’d almost died in his sleep.

  Shuddering again, I turned out the light and walked back into the bedroom, deliberately avoiding looking at the bed. I didn’t want to remember where the seaweed had loosely clung to the sheets or the sand adhered to his pillow.

  Both Gabriel and Kellen were asleep—Kellen on the oversized couch, Gabriel in the chair. Both men snored loudly. I thought about waking Gabriel, but I let him go. I didn’t think that I’d be able to sleep after what I’d just witnessed, so I could be the one to stand guard. I climbed onto the couch and lay down behind Kellen, wrapping my arms around him. Relief at his safety, for an end to the fighting between us, astounded me and I cuddled against him.

  “I love you, Kellen St. James.” My whisper sounded like a shout in the quiet room, but Gabriel couldn’t hear. The loud rumbling that he made confirmed that belief. Kellen, however, shifted in his spot on the sofa to lie on his back. He smelled wonderful, clean and fresh from the shower—not a normal guy smell, at least if Gabriel was any comparison. Kellen opened his eyes, which were puffy from his bout with the sea, and looked at me, giving me a sleepy smile. His expression instantly turned to worry.

  “I love you, too. What’s wrong?” His voice sounded husky with sleep.

  He picked up on my emotions so well. However, I didn’t want to tell him about William yet, not then, after what Kellen had had to deal with that evening. Wanting to erase the memory of William’s kiss, wanting the last pair of lips to grace mine to be Kellen’s, I kissed him. Kellen responded eagerly, his lips meeting mine as though no time had passed between our time in front of the fire and then. Yet his ribs served as a reminder and he winced as he tried to wrap his arms around me.

  “Ah,” he said, lowering his arm, “about before. I—”

  “Shh,” I said. “You need your rest. I’ll be right here.”

  A satisfied smile raised the corners of his battered face. “Okay, baby.” He reached up tentatively, as though testing out his ribs again, and pulled a blanket down from the back of the couch. Awkwardly, he spread it over me with one hand. Within seconds, his even breathing lulled me to sleep, though I fought it. Please just let us all wake up.

  ***

  I found myself alone on the overstuffed sofa. Kellen and Gabriel were nowhere to be seen. Getting up and taking the three steps into the bathroom, I noticed that the blood from last night had been cleaned up. Kellen could definitely be called “unusually tidy” for a boy.

  Looking at myself in the mirror, I nearly jumped at the mess I presented. After hundreds of years of looking gorgeous all the time with no effort, mortal mornings were something that I had to get used to. Grabbing at the toothbrush on the counter, I brushed my teeth thoroughly again before getting into the shower. I loved showers. They were one of the things that I enjoyed most as a mortal. Stepping under the heated spray and out of your life, away from your troubles for a brief period in time. The shower woke me up. When I stepped out of the stall, I found a towel waiting for me on the sink. Drying off, I wrapped the towel around me and walked into the bedroom.

  Kellen sat on a bench at the end of the bed, looking a little less battered than the night before and still just as gorgeous as he always did, despite the bruises. He’d just raised his cup of coffee to his lips when he halted, the cup at a standstill in mid-air. His eyes watched me, twinkling, as I walked into the room. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Good morning.”

  “Morning,” I said, blushing. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll be here,” he said.

  Quickly, I went across the hall and grabbed my layers of clothing, donning a pair of these things they called “jeans,” as well as a “sweatshirt.” Both were heavenly, divine pieces of clothing that were designed with nothing but the wearer’s comfort in mind. The purple woolen “socks” were also exquisite.

  Returning to the bedroom, I sat down next to Kellen, and he handed me a cup of coffee from the table. I took a sip, but my unforgiving stomach rumbled mercilessly. Before I became mortal, I could eat anytime I wanted, but I never needed to. Now I always seemed to be hungry.

  Kellen’s expression seemed guarded. “What’s up?” I asked him.

  He smiled that smile of his, the one that had always captivated me. It was…what was that word I’d read on the magazine in town? Oh yes, sexy. Gabriel told me that it meant that someone was good-looking.

  “You’re beautiful. Even more so than yesterday.” He dipped down gingerly and caught my lips with his own. Probably conscious of not damaging his injuries from the previous night any further. His words made me glow inside; they made me feel loved.

  “Well, you’re sexy.” Sitting up straighter, I smiled with pride at my use of this new word.

  Kellen’s eyes shot open and he smiled. “Really?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  “Thanks. I’ve never been called that before.” He seemed to sit up straighter.

  “Gabriel taught me that word.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Listen, Cali—” I just loved when he used my nickname. “Last night was crazy…”

  My cheeks flooded with crimson at the memory of his touch, and as he looked into my eyes, I could see that it had meant as much to him as it did to me. He kissed me again, softer this time, his tongue touching mine in a way that left me senseless, before pulling away.

  “Why did you go outside after Gabriel…interrupted us?” I asked, blushing as I remembered what we’d been doing at the time. The question had been on my mind. It followed me around as I went about the house or tried to sleep. “What possessed you to go out there in the first place?”

  His voice sounded husky. “I wanted you too much. After being that close to you, I had to go outside, to think. But then, it was like, one moment I stood there, and in the next I found myself walking and couldn’t remember why I needed to stop.” Kellen shuddered.

  And then I realized the only reason Kellen would have left the grounds. “They lured you out, didn’t they?”

  He nodded.

  “Yeah. It was like, one moment I stood there, and in the next I found myself walking and couldn’t remember why I needed to stop.”

  “I should have come outside to look for you sooner,” I said.

  He pulled me closer, hi
s arm around me. “I think William messed with my dream.”

  My blood ran cold when William’s name was spoken, the memory of my shared kiss with him brought into sharp relief. I needed to tell Kellen about what happened with William. He wouldn’t like it, but I knew he’d listen and take my side.

  “What about William?” Gabriel walked into the room then, a fork in each hand with twin pieces of meat pierced by matching tines. He chewed as he waited, a questioning look on his face.

  Kellen sat up a little straighter and looked directly at Gabriel. “I said that I think he messed with my dream.”

  “Probably,” said Gabriel, continuing to chew as he spoke. He swallowed. “He seems like the likely choice, the messed-up psycho in the woods.”

  Kellen nodded. “We need to get out of here.”

  “But where are we gonna go?” Gabriel shook for a moment, perhaps cold. Taking a deep breath, he sat down and took a moment to regain his composure.

  “You all right, man?” Kellen’s voice showed his concern. Gabriel was like a brother to him. Well, far better than his real brother Roger, at least. What was it that Kellen called Roger? A turd.

  “Sorry. I just…I don’t know where we can go. Lugh put me in charge and I got you both into trouble right away.” Gabriel set aside the cleared utensils and shoved his hands in his pockets.

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out,” Kellen assured him. “I do think we need to move again, though. It’s too dangerous to stay here and none of us can safely go to sleep. Not after last night.”

  “We can’t leave. Right now, this house is the only thing protecting us,” I said.

  Gabe and Kellen looked at me, but neither of them spoke. Here we were, stuck in this impossible situation. We had no way out because there was nowhere we could run that they wouldn’t find us now.