The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

interrupted in soft tones. “My family and I are gods and goddesses. Immortals. We play a pivotal role in this universe, one of many. We bring light to the Earth.”
    Gabe’s jaw dropped open for a moment and then closed abruptly. His features seemed to change, stiffen. Alistair sighed audibly, but his face remained impassive.
    Yeah, I knew they were going to freak out when they heard this. Guilt forced me to shift in my seat. I wished they could have heard the story from me first and not from Lugh.
    Eventually, Lugh continued. “When I was young, only about six hundred and thirteen years old, I first visited Earth. In my explorations, I found a cave with an immense circular cavern containing drawings depicting a pagan prophecy.”
    I remembered the circular room well. Calienta had taken me there to tell me about the prophecy.
    “This prophecy named Kellen as the savior of my family. The savior of the Earth as we know it.” Lugh rested a hand on my left shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
    That wasn’t the half of it. The prophecy had decreed not only that I would save Earth, but that I, too, would become a god and marry Calienta. Neither of those thingshad happened, but to say that I experienced a bout of skepticism at first didn’t even begin to cover it. My first impression: a gorgeous, psychotic nutcase had come to murder me.
    “Because of Kellen, we are here today. Not only did he destroy the Lord of the Underworld, Arawn, but he also helped my son Cabhan to see the error of his ways. Kellen saved my family, and he fell in love with my daughter.”
    Lugh’s words rang true. However, I couldn’t take sole credit for killing Arawn. I’d wielded a sword that couldn’t fail; I hadn’t done much of anything, really.
    “Calienta is—immortal as well?” Alistair’s eyes were wide, his voice strained.
    “Yes,” Calienta said.
    Standing, I moved behind Calienta’s chair, my hands on her shoulders. “Calienta is a Star Child, and her responsibility has always been to light the stars at night. She’s a goddess, an immortal.” I twisted a lock of Cali’s hair between my fingers.
    Her face lifted and her eyes met mine. She probably thought the same thing that I did. If our wedding had taken place, she’d be a mortal by now. It hadn’t. The wedding had been interrupted. We weren’t married. At least not yet.
    “And what about you, Kellen?” Alistair asked, swallowing. He seemed hunched down in his seat. Perhaps he didn’t want to know the answer. “Do you have any special ‘powers’?”
    “I have no gifts. Just a masochistic sense of honor,” I said.
    Gabe snorted. When I looked up, he quickly returned to his earlier scowl.
    Turning back to Alistair, I watched as he removed a handkerchief from his breast pocket. “I see,” he said, dabbing it against his forehead. His voice seemed softer, having lost some of the grouchy-grandfather sternness that it had taken on throughout most of our escape. He looked up at Lugh. “Why do they want my grandson?”
    Lugh sighed. “I’m not sure. Several months ago in your world, I was…taken. Kellen and Calienta saved me, but they did a lot of damage to the world of Faerie in the process. However, the group that you met today did not seem to be after Calienta, so I have not determined why they want Kellen.”
    “Could it be my pendant? They said I had something…” Reaching a hand into my shirt, I pulled out the pendant that my mother had left me, staring at it for a moment. I’d used it to open the Ellipse, the back door to the heavens, and save Lugh and Brigid. Recently I’d transferred it to a leather chain and it suited me. My eyes shifted back to Lugh.
    Lugh dismissed my suggestion. “It’s an interesting thought, but I don’t think it’s worth their time and trouble. We sealed the portal to the heavens permanently after you killed Arawn. Your pendant is more like a family heirloom now. Keep it, though. It holds meaning for you.”
    Nodding, I tucked it