The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel)

by Stephanie Keyes

  Gabe stood up to let me by. “I bought breakfast,” he said. He sounded distinctly unhappy that he’d been considerate enough to treat.

  A cup of coffee had been placed on my tray table and steamed in invitation. Next to it, a cold bagel with cream cheese sat on a small square napkin with the airline logo printed on the front of it.

  “Thanks. Good.” I lifted up my breakfast from the tray, locked the tray in place, and drank down my coffee in a single gulp, before sitting down. Taking my seat again, I bit into the bagel, its coldness hitting my tongue. It had probably been stored in a freezer somewhere. Toasted bagels were my favorite, though I could guess what names I’d be called behind the flight attendants’ curtain if I asked them to toast my bagel. Swallowing, I looked at Gabe’s profile. “So, Boston, huh?”

  Gabe bit into his bagel. “I’m not supposed to talk about it. You’ll see where we’re going.” His words were mumbled as he chewed his food.

  I stared at him. “What’s up with you? You’ve done nothing but give me the evil eye since we started this trip.”

  “Drop it, Kellen. Just eat your breakfast.” Gabe took on a parental tone that I resented.

  Frowning, I bit into my bagel again. Another bite and it would be history. Looking around, I searched for the flight attendant, hoping for a refill on my coffee. Not seeing one, I turned back to Gabe. He’d taken this leadership thing to an entirely new level. He seemed so much older than me then. Though Gabe was five years older, I’d always been in charge. He’d looked to me for guidance, not the other way around.

  Pushing my thoughts aside, I took the last bite of my bagel. Cali would have made a very convenient buffer now. I waited, watching out of the corner of my eye for her return.

  When Cali didn’t come back, worry forced me out of my seat again. I climbed over a sighing Gabe and went back to the bathroom. A line of two annoyed people had formed outside the restroom door. My heart pounded. Had they gotten to her somehow? Had she been taken?

  Gently I pushed to the front of the line. “Excuse me. I’ll just check on her,” I said to the man standing nearest to the door. Reaching the door, I placed my cheek against it. “It’s me. You okay in there?”

  “I don’t know how to open the door.” Exasperation shaded Cali’s voice.

  Smiling, I tried not to laugh as relief filled me. “Um, did you unlock it?”

  “There’s a lock?” she asked.

  Oh geez. “Pull the handle to the left, then.”

  Some minor shuffling ensued. “Where is the handle?” She uttered the words with short, crisp articulation.

  “It’s on the left hand side, at an angle on the door,” I said.

  More silence.

  “You could always read the directions.” Does she know how to read?

  Another moment passed and the door opened. Cali emerged looking annoyed. As she stepped over the threshold to the restroom entrance, the next occupant caught part of her gown in the door when he shut it. As Cali moved forward, a distinct ripping sound broke through the white noise in the cabin.

  Reaching down, I ripped a small part of her gown off to free her. The other passengers waiting in line gasped audibly, every face transformed into a picture of shock. Shrugging, I looked around at the others in line. “It’s not real. We’re just…ah…going to a concert.”

  Without waiting around for their reactions, I placed my hand on the small of Cali’s back and led her to our seats. Reaching the row first, she climbed over Gabe, picked up her bagel, and started eating it as she sat down. Her nose wrinkled. She glared at me, whispering, “Not a word, Kellen.”

  “What?” A laugh escaped me, but the look on her face made me regret it instantly. I looked at Gabe, who normally would have taken my side, but he faced the other direction, apparently steadfastly ignoring me.

  The flight attendant picked up the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen. We’re—”

  He didn’t get the chance to finish. The plane shook and swerved in mid-air. Tray tables rattled, people walking about the cabin stumbled. Luggage slammed around inside the overhead compartments. The plane accelerated, abruptly taking a nosedive. We were stuck in the middle of every traveler’s greatest fear.

  They’d found us.

  “Kellen…” Cali said, her voice sounding worried.

  I met her eyes. I didn’t know what to say or what to do. We had no escape, no way out. We’d gotten on the plane and we were sitting ducks. Three mortals with a death wish…Now everyone on the plane would die with us, casualties in our unwanted war with Faerie.

  Passengers screamed, grabbing their families. Around me, people frantically scrambled, probably trying to remember the safety instructions that they’d studiously been ignoring for years. The praying man in the corner had chosen to increase the number and the velocity of his prayers, which only served to up the amount of drama in the cabin.

  I forced bile back down my throat as I tried not to think about all of the kids that were on the plane. They would all die…every last one of them. Because of me.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CALI—CRASH

  My hands gripped the air-o-plane seat as I listened to the chaos around me. My eyes homed in on Kellen.

  “We have to do something,” Kellen said, his face a picture of panic.

  “Kellen—” I choked on my words. I couldn’t finish the sentence. There’s nothing we can do.

  The plane shook with such violence that I had difficulty hearing anything but the screams of the other travelers. My mind couldn’t come up with anything. What were we to do?

  In the seat next to Kellen, Gabriel shuffled through papers, as if looking for something. “Dammit. Where is it?” he cried. He continued shuffling until he came across a small strip of paper on parchment. He scanned the paper extensively before he cleared his throat. A note of authority colored his voice when he spoke. “Iarraim ar mo theaghlach, na cosantóirí,” Gabriel said.

  Did Gabriel know what to do? How was that possible? “What did you say?” Kellen asked Gabriel.

  He ignored Kellen and continued to stare ahead, radiating an air of calmness. Control appeared to be firmly in his grasp, but how could that be possible?

  The plane abruptly stopped shaking and seemed to right itself. A feeling of lightness washed over me then, like I’d been carrying twenty weights and finally had the chance to put them down. In a matter of minutes, the miraculous happened. As though on command, the plane flew smoothly and we continued our descent, albeit with much more speed than before.

  All of the color seemed to drain from Gabriel’s face. “Wow. What just happened?” Gabriel said, pulling out the piece of paper and staring at it.

  “What’s on that?” Kellen reached for the paper, but Gabriel pulled it out of his reach, his eyes wide as he gripped the arms of his seat as if they were lifelines.

  “I have no idea! Lugh didn’t tell me what it meant. He handed me this piece of paper the moment we were getting ready to run, said it was for emergencies. I just…” This seemed to anger him, another scowl distorting his normally sunny expression.

  Gabriel turned to stare at me as if I might know what had been written on the paper. I didn’t. Without even looking at it, I knew that I didn’t.

  The attendant’s voice returned with calm words for the passengers. “Sorry about that, folks. We’re not sure what happened there. We’re now making our descent into the Boston area. The local time is nine-forty-five p.m. and the temperature is forty-four degrees Fahrenheit. For those of you with connecting flights, we’ll review the gates with you…”

  Ignoring the rest of the announcement, I continued to watch Gabriel. Extending my hand, I asked, “Can I see that piece of paper?”

  “No.”

  Kellen tried again. “We’re going to Boston?”

  Gabriel’s eyes were trained on a map, but Kellen’s question pulled his attention back. He cleared his throat. “Trust me. I’ll tell you when I can. I don’t keep anything from my friends.”
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  “What are you talking about?” Kellen said.

  A pounding sound echoed in my ears. The plane prepared to land and the noise drowned out some of Kellen’s words, but Gabriel seemed to have heard him.

  “You know what it’s about. You’re a liar. You don’t tell me what’s going on, and now Lugh gives me this piece of paper and I steer the freakin’ plane!” This part emanated loudly from Gabriel’s lips until he forced the last word down so that it came out in a whispered hiss. He looked upset.

  “What does that piece of paper have to do with me?” Kellen’s voice hardened. “And when did I ever lie to you?”

  I noticed people were watching us and we weren’t supposed to attract attention. This behavior fell under the category of “careless.” “This isn’t the place, you two,” I warned.

  “You kept things from me, Kellen. You haven’t spoken to me in months! Then you’re all like, ‘Gabriel, come to my wedding on the other side of the ocean’.” Gabriel punched the upright tray table in front of him to enunciate the word ocean.

  Kellen stared. “We told you what happened, why—”

  “No, you didn’t tell me anything. Lugh did. You’re supposed to be my friend.” Gabriel’s face looked fierce. Gabriel and Kellen had leaned over in their seats so that they were now almost nose-to-nose.

  “I am your friend. That’s why I didn’t call you and drag you to a party in hell. I didn’t think you’d be interested,” Kellen said, his tone biting.

  I took off my seatbelt—after a couple of tries—and stood up, glaring at them. Maybe this would get the message across. “Please stop!” I said, furious.

  “Young lady, please take your seat,” the flight attendant warned me from his place in the back of the cabin. My eyes shot to the person in the back, but I believed that I could defend myself from him if needed and remained standing.

  “Gabriel. Kellen,” I said.

  For whatever reason, it appeared as though my reprimand made Kellen sit back in his seat. Gabriel followed suit.

  “Young lady, if you don’t take your seat this instant I’ll call security,” the flight attendant threatened again.

  I stared at the flight attendant. Yes, I definitely could have bested him. However, I didn’t want to call any more attention to myself than I already had, what with getting stuck in the bathroom and all. I sat down.

  Gabriel and Kellen both seemed to calm down, though the air between them remained like a mental battlefield. “Can we call a truce for the moment?” Kellen asked.

  Gabriel looked at Kellen. His almost imperceptible nod dissipated the tension somewhat, but it didn’t go away altogether.

  Taking a long, slow breath, I looked ahead as the plane touched down on the ground. My temples throbbed. Kellen’s touch on the back of my neck calmed me. Despite my mortality, he could still sense my emotions as though they were his own.

  We sat in silence as the plane taxied down the runway to the gate. After an interminable amount of time passed, during which no one spoke, Kellen finally broke the silence. “Where are we staying in Boston?” Kellen directed the question at Gabriel, though Gabriel didn’t look at him. The plane came to a stop and a light when off. People unbuckled immediately and stood up in their seats.

  “We’re not.” Gabriel got up from his seat as we waited for the passengers in the many rows in front of us to disembark. Then he looked down at me, meeting my eye. “We’ve only just started.”

  “Let’s hope we make it to wherever we’re going alive,” Kellen said.

  Kellen’s eyes locked onto mine for a moment before I looked back up to Gabriel. By the way Gabriel met my gaze, we clearly shared the same fear.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  KELLEN—DISCLOSURE

  We arrived in Boston exhausted, but otherwise safe. Gabe’s shoulders hunched as the airline herded us off the plane and down a hallway. The gray carpet on the floor had probably once looked trendy and new, but now had the worn look that resulted from the countless footsteps of the many thousands of passengers that had walked this way before.

  Despite our safe landing, I couldn’t help but look around as we walked. Were they here? They obviously knew we’d gotten on the plane. However, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to present itself. It looked like any airport would have at night. Vendors shutting down, weary business travelers hauling laptops with overnight bags. Forcing the worries from my head, I tried to focus on the present. “Where are we going?” I asked Gabe. “Did you rent a car or something?”

  “Let me handle it,” he said without turning around.

  I’d had about enough of this not sharing where we were going. “You know, it would be nice if you told us where we were going,” I grumbled.

  “It would have been nice if you’d told me about all of this freaky stuff that you brought down on my head in the first place,” Gabe said, continuing to walk.

  Cali touched my arm before I could respond. She didn’t need to say anything; I knew I wouldn’t find the underlying cause of Gabe’s anger at the airport. The annoyance stayed with me, but I tried to ignore it. I looked down at Cali. She seemed sleepy, but none the worse for wear. I’d noticed how wilted her dress was, not to mention wrecked where I’d torn it earlier. If she’d realized this herself, she didn’t say anything.

  She deserved so much more. The bride who never had the chance to be a bride…

  We walked toward customs and I plastered a smile on my face, trying not to look too shady as we went through security. My nerves still jangled. Would there be a problem with our passports? Would we be able to make it through without being stopped?

  Surprisingly, there were no issues in customs. We were traveling as a family and we were waved through as a group. We’d almost made it out of security entirely before Cali got stuck in a turnstile. Cali stared at it as if trying to find a way to go around or over it. When she began to lift her leg up and over, I intervened.

  “This way, babe,” I said, pushing down on the handle and moving it forward, allowing her to pass through.

  She glanced back at the offending turnstile and then accorded me the same angry stare.

  My face broke into a smile but upon seeing her eyes narrow, I immediately wiped the smile from my face. “It could have happened to anyone,” I said, deliberately adding a solemn note to my voice. Gabe looked in the opposite direction. Though I thought I’d seen a ghost of a smile on his face from my position on the other side of Cali.

  Other than the turnstile incident, we made it through without any problem. Gabe led the way, consulting signs as he navigated the airport. He kept himself ahead of us, never meeting my eye or interacting. We bypassed baggage claim; none of us had brought luggage.

  As we walked, Cali trailed a step behind me, looking at her surroundings. Slowing, I let her catch up to me before I put an arm over her shoulders again. “I’d imagine that this is all pretty new to you,” I said.

  “Yes,” she admitted, walking on tiptoe and looking around her. Every person that we passed seemed to catch Cali’s attention. The airport wasn’t crowded, but the few people that were there stared at Cali as if transfixed. It wasn’t every day that they got to see an exceptionally beautiful girl walking through the airport in a wedding dress. Let alone one who probably looked high as she walked around staring at everything in wonder with her mouth agape.

  We walked toward a coffee shop/newsstand, which had a small selection of women’s clothes. Cali needed something, anything, to keep her warm on our way to the car. Now that she’d become mortal, she no longer had any immunity to the temperature. She’d probably be freezing as soon as we walked outside. We also needed to get her out of that conspicuous gown.

  Ducking into the newsstand, I left Cali with Gabe. Grabbing the first thing I came across, I bought Cali a pink sweatshirt and matching sweatpants that read I LOVE BOSTON. Hopefully, she would like them. It wasn’t like I had much experience buying clothes for women. Heck, I didn’t have much experience buying clothes for me.
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  As soon as I walked out of the shop, I handed her the bag with the hoodie and matching sweatpants that I hoped were her size. She took them out of the bag and looked them over. “What’s this?” Her faced altered to a mask of confusion.

  “You need to get out of your wedding dress,” I said, gesturing to her gown. “You’re attracting too much attention.”

  Cali grimaced as a few more people walked by us, staring. “So it would seem,” she said. Then a strange concept popped into my head. Did she know how to dress herself?

  As if in answer, she started trying to take her dress off outside of the restroom. My eyes widened. I ran to stand in front of her, holding up my arms and blocking us from view.

  Smiling at her, I did my best not to look down at her now somewhat revealing cleavage. Cali and I hadn’t had an intimate relationship before; there hadn’t been time. And my experience with women could only have been described as limited. Okay, non-existent. At that moment, I stood inches away from getting an education, grinning like an idiot.

  She frowned as she looked up at me, her cheeks pink from the effort of trying to pull down the gown without unzipping it. “I’m doing something wrong again, aren’t I?” she asked.

  The smile never leaving my face, I said, “Most people change clothes in private. You go in there.” With my right hand, I pointed to the restroom.

  She turned and looked. Shrugging, she took the clothes and walked towards the rest room.

  “Wait,” I said, catching up with her. My fingers a collection of clumsiness, I unzipped her gown partway in the back while still hiding her from view. “Pull on the zipper on your back to get out of the dress.”

  She’d looked up at me as soon as I’d unzipped the back of the gown, our eyes glued to one another’s. Oh, how I’d imagined this differently. “Thank you,” she whispered, making her way more slowly into the ladies room.