Starlight (The Lightning Strike Trilogy Book 1)

by K. A. Rygaard

  The dream I had a week ago flashed back to me. All of them flashed behind my eyes.

  “That was

  He frowned.

  “I thought I felt you watching. Why were you looking for Keenan? Why were you looking for any of them?”

  “I wasn’t.”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “Your Galaxies are aggravating, Emma.”

  “Because they keep me safe from you?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, my palms against my arms to keep them cool.

  “Because they tell you what you shouldn’t know.”

  He stood, moving around the front of the desk, sitting on the edge of it. I forced myself not to move, not to let him know that I was still terrified of him.

  “You’re very calm,” he mused quietly. “Even if you aren’t running anymore, you are abnormally calm. In the park, you—”

  “I don’t have to go on a killing-spree just because something goes against my plan for the day, Lucas,” I snapped. “I’m not you.”

  “No, you aren’t. If you were, the Galaxies would be on their knees by now.”

  I glowered at him and he snickered, standing.

  “Now—”

  He stopped suddenly, his eyes twitching.

  Lucas’s hand shot out before I could register what he was doing and grabbed my hand, pulling it—and me— closer to him. My skin burned, and it was then that I saw what he was looking at: the ring.

  “Engaged to Stone, now, are you?”

  His thumb touched the star scar and the same energy rushed through our veins- the same fire through mine. He smirked, tightening his grip on my hand when I tried to pull it away. He tugged me closer to him, so our knees were touching.

  “What if I am?”

  He sneered again.

  “You do know you two aren’t supposed to be together, right?” Lucas asked.

  “Why the hell not?”

  He laughed harshly.

  “Because of my father.” He let go of my hand and I crossed my arms immediately, stepping back from him. “He had a temper when it came to you. . . Wrote a prophesy about you and Stone, too.”

  My brow furrowed.

  “What—” I started.

  But I stopped, because suddenly I was being taken by the hand and tugged back. I looked up, seeing a very livid Zach.

  “Stay the hell away from her.”

  “Stone,” Lucas said, amused, “we were just talking about you. I hear you’re engaged. Flowers or a fruit basket?”

  “That doesn’t matter to you.”

  My eyes flickered to Lucas, then to Zach, and I realized that he knew about Liam Adler’s prophesy. Whatever this is—it is not good.

  “Oh, it does matter, Stone, you know it does. You know that you and Emma Fitch are not supposed to be together just as well as I do.” Lucas looked at me, meeting my eyes. “You also know the consequence.”

  Zach pushed me behind him, his other hand facing Lucas. Reactively, Lucas raised his hand, too.

  “Don’t fight this, Stone. You can’t fight prophesies!”

  “This one we can,” Zach said furiously. “I won’t let it happen.”

  “You can’t stop it,” Lucas hissed.

  “What the hell is going on?” I demanded. “Zach—”

  “The consequence for being with Stone is death.”

  Lucas’s voice rang in my ears and my eyes fell on him. He was looking murderous.

  “That’s asinine!”

  “Is it, really? I told you my father had a temper when it came to you!” He looked back at Zach briefly. “Ask your dear beloved, if you don’t believe me.”

  I looked up at Zach.

  “Tell me,” I whispered.

  His jaw clenched, his eyes flickering down to me only briefly. His reaction told me before he did, thousands of near-death experiences flashing behind my eyes in memory.

  “He’s not lying. But I don’t give a damn what his dead father wrote; I won’t let it come true.”

  “You don’t have a choice, Stone!” Lucas seethed. “You’ll be dead!”

  My heart stopped at Lucas’s words, at the look in his eyes, and I threw myself around Zach’s arm to be in front of him. Zach made to push me out of the way, but in the moment, I was stronger than him. I might as well have grown roots and secured myself to the carpeting.

  “Emma!” he muttered angrily, worried. . .

  “Fine, Your Majesty, you first.”

  Lucas shot a spell at me, one I knew would either hinder me, or pull me to him, but it stopped inches before my face, hovering in a swirling circle. Lucas glared at me from behind it.

  “Foolish, Emma. Demonstrating how powerful you are is just going to make me come after your Magic even more.”

  He disappeared and the still-swirling spell faded away. Zach turned me around to face him.

  “What did you do?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “My Magic just—just acted by itself.”

  “It’s not supposed to do that.”

  “I know it’s not, but— but at least it did.”

  Zach sighed and hugged me closely.

  “We should get out of here before someone comes. They’ll think we got to Keenan instead,” I said.

  Zach looked at me.

  “What?”

  “Lucas killed Keenan. were the shadows in my dream. The first one, at least."

  “I—” He shook his head. “Let’s go home.”

  He took my hand and we disappeared.

  ****

  We appeared back in the den of the palace,

  where Galaxia was waiting.

  “Well?” she prompted. “How did it go?”

  “Didn’t,” I replied. “Keenan’s dead.”

  Her eyes widened and she gasped, “WhWhat?” “He was killed,” Zach answered.

  “By

  I looked at Zach, seeing the fury still in his eyes,

  and then back at Galaxia.

  “Lucas.” She gasped. “He’s not dead. . .

  apparently. Neither is Tess Wilcox. They faked their

  deaths.”

  “He tried to kill you, didn’t he?”

  I turned around, seeing Jessie standing there,

  watching me.

  “Tried being the operable word there. Or

  threatened, I suppose would be better. . . When he tried

  to curse me, it just—stopped.”

  “Stopped?” Galaxia queried. “It—”

  “Galaxia, don’t ask me to explain,” I begged. “I

  don’t know, Zach doesn’t know, and I’m not in the mood

  for interrogations right now.”

  Jessie mumbled something and I looked around at

  her again.

  “What?”

  “Don’t say that,” Zach demanded. “She doesn’t

  take him too lightly.”

  I stared at him, then at Jess.

  “Excuse me?”

  She hesitated, shifting on her feet. She looked like

  she was just going to turn around and leave, but didn’t. “You don’t that he nearly kills you! I don’t

  understand that, Emma. I don’t understand how you can

  just sit here and let him get away with trying to kill

  you.”

  “But she doesn’t, Jessica,” Zach refuted. “She

  doesn’t just sit here. She is trying to get rid of him, but

  until a few minutes ago we all thought he was dead.

  Why the hell would she try and get rid of a dead

  person?”

  She stared at him, stammering.

  “Zach, let’s go.”

  I pulled his hand toward me and we went back up

  to our room. We sat on the balcony in silence for several

  minutes.

  “Do I take him too lightly, Zach?” I asked quietly,

  meeting his eyes.

  “How could you take him too lightly? You want

  him
dead, Em. He just came back from the dead, and I

  know you’re not going to give up.”

  “But what if I can’t get rid of him?”

  “You’re not the only one who’s going to be trying,

  Em. I want him dead, just as much as you do, and we will

  get rid of him.”

  “Together.”

  He took my hand.

  “Together.”

  Later on that evening, I knew Zach was keeping something quiet. He had refused to elaborate on Liam Adler’s prophecy, but since it was specifically about me, I cornered him.

  “Why did Liam Adler write that prophecy about me, Zach? Lucas said. . . he said his father had a temper when it came to me, but why?”

  Zach’s weary eyes met mine, but he sighed. “It was more about your dad. Your parents and Liam went to school around the same time, and—” He stopped, sighing again, “Galaxia said it was because Liam became obsessed with your mom. She refused him, and then she and your dad. . . and you. . .”

  I sank to sit on the couch next to Zach.

  “I don’t understand why they kept that from me. After Lucas attacking me. . . I don’t know.”

  Zach squeezed my hand.

  “Liam has been dead for years, Em, and Adler isn’t crazy enough to kill you. All he wants is to control you now.”

  I must have flinched or visually reacted to that notion, for Zach pulled me closer to him, resting my legs over his.

  “Don’t panic, Em,” he whispered, “I won’t let him win.”

  Let’s See How This Goes

  I sat next to Zach on the balcony after breakfast and we watched the sunlight play on the water in the distance.

  “I think we should start planning our wedding,” I declared.

  He looked at me.

  “I think so, too. Before anything else happens.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Em, it’s not your fault.”

  “But it happened to me.” I sighed, shaking my head. “What first?”

  He rotated in his seat to face me.

  “We haven’t told them.”

  My face fell.

  “Oh.”

  “Well—We’ll need some time to explain thing to them. This call won’t be just about the wedding.”

  I took a breath.

  “Yeah. . . Now? At the same time, or—”

  “Yeah, the same time’s good.”

  He materialized his Zevin, dialing his mom’s number, and then I dialed my mom’s. Their faces came into view nearly at the same time after Zach had clicked SEND.

  They stared at us, shocked, once our faces were clearly visible. Our fathers came shortly after.

  “What—” Mom started. “Is it true?”

  “The Viewing,” Mrs. Stone said. “What—What Galaxia said?”

  Zach and I nodded.

  “Yeah, it’s true,” I answered. “We’re the Kahi. It wasn’t by choice,” I continued quickly. “We didn’t—”

  “We know,” Matthew cut in, nodding solemnly.

  “Why didn’t you answer our Paths?” Dad asked.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to do this over a Path, but it’s been so hectic. . .” I started.

  “Where are you two?” Mr. Stone asked.

  “We’re on the Council’s planet,” Zach answered. “And that’s all we can tell you; Galaxia wouldn’t be happy if we gave away the location, especially on a Zevin.”

  “When can you come back to e2?” Mrs. Stone asked. “She can’t keep you two there forever!”

  “It’s not safe for us to come to e2,” I replied. “I learned that yesterday.”

  “What happened?” Mom asked hurriedly.

  “I went to see Keenan, but he wasn’t there—”

  “He’s been missing for days, Em. Didn’t you know?” Dad asked.

  “Now I do. Dad, Keenan’s dead. Lucas killed him.”

  “But he’s dead!” Mrs. Stone objected. “How could he have killed Keenan?”

  “Because he’s not dead. He and Tess Wilcox faked their deaths.”

  They all took breaths.

  Mom asked, “Adler went after you?”

  “He was in Keenan’s office,” I told them. “Nothing happened, though. I’m fine.”

  “He didn’t hurt you?” Dad asked.

  I shook my head.

  “He didn’t hurt either of us.”

  “Good,” Mrs. Stone said. “But—you can’t come back?”

  “Sometime soon, I promise. We just aren’t sure yet,” I answered.

  Our eyes met each other’s, smiles tugging at our lips.

  “Galaxia’s allowing that?” Mr. Stone asked.

  “She’s not really going to have a choice,” I told them. “She’s not the boss of either of us.”

  “Emma—”

  “Mom, she’s not. We’re the Kahi and she’s— Galaxia. We do respect her, but on this she has no other choice. She tried to stop us from coming down there, but it’s not up to her.”

  “What’s this about?” Dad asked. “You two aren’t making any sense.”

  Zach and I looked at each other.

  “This is harder than I thought it would be,” I mumbled.

  “What’s hard?” they all asked.

  “Let’s tell them together,” Zach suggested.

  He took my hand, and we looked at the Zevin, taking a breath.

  “We’re getting married,” we said together.

  They stared at us, looking like the air had been knocked out of them.

  “You’re getting married?” they asked.

  Zach and I looked at each other, and then back at them.

  “Yes. . .” I said slowly. “And if you’re going to start going on about something idiotic like we’re too young, I’m going to hang up.”

  “No, we weren’t going to say that, Emma,” Mom stated. “I’m so happy for you, sweetheart.”

  “So are we,” his parents said.

  “You didn’t sound like it,” I muttered.

  “We were shocked, that’s all, Em,” Mom clarified. “Here we are talking about you two being the Kahi, and. . .” But she smiled. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!”

  “When’s the wedding?” Mrs. Stone asked.

  “We haven’t set a date, yet,” Zach told them. “We were Crowned on the thirteenth, then had the Viewing the next day.”

  “There’s almost two weeks between those dates and today,” Dad said. “What happened?”

  “We just. . .” I mumbled. “With everything, and then the nightmares about Lucas stealing people’s Magic. . .”

  “You saw him steal Keenan’s Magic?” asked Dad.

  I shook my head.

  “I never saw anyone’s face.”

  Then were all very quiet for a while, before: “But—e2?” Mom prompted.

  I smiled.

  “We’re coming down there,” I told them. “That’s the other thing. . . We’d really like to be married at home. . . in the backyard.”

  Mom looked like she was going to cry as she nodded.

  “Of course you can! Allison, you’ll have to come over so we can go through wedding decorations!”

  Zach and I started.

  “Oh, of course!” Mrs. Stone exclaimed. “I have a few ideas that would work wonderfully with your backyard!”

  Mom smiled as Dad and Mr. Stone looked about to burst into laughter.

  “You leave everything to us,” Mom insisted. “We’ll turn this backyard into a wonderland.”

  “That’s fine with me,” I told them. “It leaves less for us to plan out.”

  Zach nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you, Mrs. F—”

  Mom stopped him, shaking her head.

  “No, now that you’re family, it’s Rachel and James.”

  “Same with you, Emma,” Mrs. Stone implored, “Allison and Matthew.”

  We nodded, both a bit surprised of how well they were now taking this.

 
“We have to go,” Mom remarked. “Clara is at Chloe’s.”

  “We have to go, too,” Mrs.—Allison started. “We’ll talk to you later, though. Keep us posted.”

  We nodded, saying our good-byes, and then they hung up. We took a simultaneous breath.

  “That went— surprisingly well,” Zach mused.

  “Yeah. . . Though, at first. . . I thought they knew about what Lucas said.”

  His face fell.

  “That ridiculous prophesy?”

  I nodded hesitantly.

  “It doesn’t matter. His father’s dead, and you can’t die. I’m going to keep you safe, and I will marry you.”

  I smiled, moving so I was on his lap, facing him. I kissed him, and his hands rested on my hips.

  “I love the sound of that; being the next Mrs. Stone.”

  His eyes lit up.

  “I love the sound of that, too. Sounds right.”

  He kissed me again, then leaned back.

  “So, Jessie’s your maid of honor, right?” I nodded. “I’ll ask Ian to be my best man. . . But what about our sisters?”

  “Bridesmaids-slash-flower girls, that way they can walk down together.”

  He nodded.

  “Okay. . . What about Thalia?”

  I sighed.

  “I would love for her to be there, really. . . but I don’t even know if she’s still talking to me. Besides, she’s probably not even going to be in Capitol City when we get married. She is usually out of town then, up near Barenton to visit her grandparents.”

  He smiled curiously.

  “What? You already know a date and you haven’t told me?”

  “I’ve been thinking about one, but I haven’t settled.”

  “What are they?”

  “Next month. . .”

  He laughed.

  “Sounds good to me. I’d go with tomorrow.”

  I stared at him.

  “I can’t find a dress in less than a day!” I smiled. “And you still have to find a tux, Mr. Stone.”

  He smiled back at me.

  “Whatever you say, Mrs. Stone.”

  ****

  We asked our intended wedding party if they would participate, and they agreed.

  Other than finding our outfits, there wasn’t much for us to do, as Mom and Allison took over most of the planning.

  But we did choose one of the most important things ourselves: the date. It was going to be perfect. . . The fourteenth of Rigel.

  Where the Heart Is