“A child?” I whispered while instantly remembering Ari’s news that another child had been stolen from the Lower Realm.
Jude groaned, realizing he’d said too much. “Come on, maybe she’ll mask all your disgusting purity.”
Frowning, I followed him into an apartment on the top floor. He didn’t have to pull me, this time I went willingly.
Jude walked into the dim apartment and stepped aside so I could join him. I took in the small space as quickly as I could, noting the sparse furniture in the main room. There was a ratty couch pushed against the back wall but an expensive TV hanging on the wall. A mattress made up with sheets, a pink comforter and plenty of pillows lay in the middle of the floor. There were dirty dishes lined up on the counter in the kitchen and a small round table situated near the sliding glass door that led to a narrow balcony. The glass door had a blessing over it; I could feel the intense pressure from here. I didn’t know what kind of priest had come into this disgusting den of kidnapping, but he’d done a fantastic job to make sure nobody could get out that door.
Or in it.
Finally, after I took in the entire space, my gaze came to land on a little girl with big green eyes and violet hair. She sat up on the couch when we walked in and had stayed there, shaking and trembling the entire time I checked the place out.
She was a Star. I could tell that just from looking at her and her heated skin. She exuded light from every part of her, a result of all that intense fear I knew she felt. She clutched a teddy bear to her chest. I wondered who gave that to her. It wasn’t from her home, I knew that much. My parents were more loving than most in the Lower Realm, but even I hadn’t been allowed to have a stuffed animal growing up. That would have been way, way too human.
We were born warriors, whether we wanted to be or not.
The teddy bear was from Earth and someone had given it to her for a purpose.
The question was, were their intentions good or bad?
“The Star that’s missing?” I presumed.
“Yes,” Jude answered.
“What is going on, Jude?” I walked toward the child and she shrunk back into the couch. She didn’t cry or whimper but as I grew closer her face hardened into a brave, furious mask. She had been raised to be strong and courageous and I watched her pull on every ounce of training she’d ever received. My chest ached for whatever unnamed horrors she’d been through already.
Her eyes flicked to Jude as if looking for permission… or sanctuary. I followed her gaze. Jude jerked his chin as if telling her it was alright.
She jumped off the couch and bolted to his side. Her little arms went around his waist and she buried her face in his stomach.
“What the hell?” I whispered, stricken by the softness of Jude’s touch.
“Don’t, Starling,” he growled at me.
My body began to glow and I couldn’t find the strength to fight the heat. I let it burn through me, righteous and angry.
I took a step towards them and demanded, “Explain it to me.”
“She’s the missing Star. Your traitor brought her to us. She’s supposed to… We’re watching her until… I can’t say anything more. You’ve seen too much already.”
“I get that she’s the Star, Jude. I even get that you’re keeping her for a very specific and nefarious purpose. I want to know what’s up with that!” I gestured toward the two of them with their arms around each other and raised my eyebrows expectantly.
“God, you’re nosey,” he groaned. He let out a frustrated sigh and mumbled some curses that were so inappropriate for her little ears. “I get it, alright? I’ve been here. I know how afraid she is. I know that nothing makes sense and nobody is planning on explaining it to her. I know what it’s like to be taken from your parents and thrown in a world that is evil, dark and the opposite of everything she’s ever known. She trusts me because I get it.”
“Jude,” I whispered. Emotion coated my throat and I realized I was stupidly sympathetic of the little boy Jude used to be.
“Stop right there. I turned out just fine.”
“Debatable,” I shot back.
He glowered at me. “I don’t know what you came here expecting to do, but I do know that it’s not happening. You need to hide. Now. They’re going to be here any second.”
“Where?” Practicality and instinct returned to my shocked senses and I knew he was right. If Aliah, Seven and especially Seth were on their way, they would see the traces of Light all over this room. They would hunt me down before I got three steps outside of this apartment and long before I could take to the sky. Aliah might not be able to hurt me, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to know I knew what he was up to.
Not without backup at least.
“In the back bedroom,” Jude answered. He squatted in front of the violet-haired little girl and took her chin in his hand. “Zia, I need you to burn your Light, okay? As bright as you can without setting anything on fire. Can you do that?”
She sniffled but nodded. Then she immediately began to glow. Her golden skin tone matched mine until she was a ball of incandescent Light. I walked straight through her radius and followed Jude to the only bedroom.
He gestured toward the closet and I could feel how horrible this idea was… how unsafe and trapped I would be. But the same blessing vibrated off the windows and I knew there was no way to leave this apartment other than the front door.
“What are they going to do to her?” I whispered. The tension between us sky-rocketed and I knew Aliah was just moments away.
“Today, they’re just checking on her.”
“Does she stay here alone?”
He shook his head quickly. “There are other Fallen that stay with her, but they’re not allowed to see me, so Aliah has them clock out about a half-hour before I get here.”
“Why can’t they see you?”
Jude ran his hands through his still sweaty hair and pulled out a cigarette. I wasn’t even surprised when he lit up. I’d come to expect the habit whenever he was forced into something he didn’t want to deal with.
“Mostly, it has to do with the contract. Aliah doesn’t want too many assets out and about, where there are so many people that want to end you. Messing with me would tamper with his contract. But it’s also to protect Seth and his obligation. And Aliah has never wanted me to be too much in society. I’m still a stolen child after all. I think he’s a little afraid that if I stand outside for too long, my parents are going to ride into town with an army of winged horses and fiery swords to smite him.” He pointed at the ceiling with the burning end of his cigarette.
“Pretty sure you would never let that happen.” I wanted to laugh, but there was too much pressure in this moment to find anything truly funny.
Jude looked so completely destroyed for a moment that I wondered what I’d said to make him hurt in such an obvious way. But after another second, the vulnerability disappeared from his face and was replaced by the same apathetic mask I was used to.
“You’re right,” he finally agreed with me. “I would never let that happen.” He gestured toward the closet again and said, “Now be a good, little Protector of Earth and get in the goddamn closet. I’m super exhausted from all your small talk. It’s like you don’t even care that I don’t care.”
I shook my head at him but obeyed his orders. I poked my head back out just as Jude was walking over to make sure that the doors closed behind me. “No selling me out,” I warned him. “I will seriously cut off your head if you even breathe my name out there.”
This time a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “For thirty seconds please remember that my life is also at stake here. I’m not selling you out, Starling. Not this time.”
And for the first time all afternoon I believed him… like really believed him. And it had nothing to do with his promises or reassurances. He could have given those to me for the next ten years and I would never have trusted him. No, what made me finally believe that Jude was going to l
et me stay tucked away in here without breathing a word to anyone else was that he’d finally given me the truth.
He wasn’t selling me out this time. But honestly, what else could I ask for?
Especially from a Fallen Warrior that could apparently relate to a lost and scared little girl. Didn’t all Fallen comfort frightened children when they were lost and alone?
I rolled my eyes to myself.
For a second, the obvious similarities between that small child and me were so glaringly bright, I felt completely blindsided.
We were on our own, in unfamiliar territory and the only person we could trust in this apartment happened to be Jude Michaels of all people.
But I remembered that Jude was the bad guy and he had no intensions of comforting me. He just wanted me alive long enough to not lose his own life.
The closet didn’t have a single thing inside of it. At first I wished for something to hide behind, but it didn’t matter. If Aliah was going to find me, a few outfits to hide behind couldn’t keep me safe. So instead of getting lost in mothballs and noisy hangers, I pressed myself against the narrow side wall and dimmed whatever brightness I had left.
Not even five minutes later, the door to this room rattled when the front door opened. I sucked in a fortifying breath and held it. I didn’t want to give them any reason to look back here.
I heard the low murmurs of conversational voices. Nobody raised their tone or sounded upset. I took that as a good sign that my Star signature had been covered. The first second I saw that little girl, I knew I would save her life, but first it seemed that she would save mine.
I stayed back there for a long time. I had no clock or watch and I was too afraid to pull out my cell phone. I turned it off as soon as I’d been shoved back here, terrified that it would go off and give me away. Now I didn’t want to turn it on to check the time or for a text from my mom because I couldn’t remember if I’d put the volume on silent or not. I could just imagine pressing the power button only to have the opening chimes ring out at full volume.
But I got worried my parents were on their way to look for me anyway. Jude had seemed worried about them finding me but if I had backup, I could still take Aliah out. Maybe calling in the cavalry wasn’t such a bad idea. If I could pull it off in time…
Just when I had decided to risk the call to at least tell my mom that where I was, Aliah’s voice rang out over the muffled voices and nervous pounding of my own heart.
“Get in here and shut the door,” he barked. I heard his body sink down to the bed and let out a very exasperated sigh. “Jude, close the damn door. Stop worrying about the filthy little Starling and get in here.”
The door closed and I could sense several bodies crowded in the small space. I closed my eyes and willed every ounce of Light out of my body.
“He wants to bring us another.” Aliah’s words seemed to hit me like a tidal wave and I worked very hard not to let a breath escape.
“We’re not babysitters,” the very unmistakable growl reverberated through the room.
Seth.
Nobody had anything to say to that.
“I smell Light,” Seven cooed in a vacant voice. I could picture her pretty face in my mind’s eye, her voluminous golden brown hair, the same shade as Seth’s, the big golden eyes that were empty and lost until they weren’t… until they were so evil and sinister they terrified me more than Aliah armed and ready with a knife to my throat.
“What’s that, Sweet?” Aliah asked her gently.
“Light and Seth and Light and Seth and Light and Seth and Light and Seth and-”
“Seven,”Aliah cooed. I heard the bed squeak, so he must have stood up. She quieted immediately at his tone. “You’re not making sense, my darling. Speak clearly so I can help you.”
“There is Light where there is Seth,” she whispered perceptively.
I squinched my eyes closed and pressed my lips together. This was it. This was when the closet doors burst open and my life ended at the quick tip of a blade.
“The girl,” Jude butted in. “Seth and the little girl. She was lit up like a light bulb before you got here. I could hardly stomach to be in the same room as her. I just got her calmed down when you got here.”
“I saw the traces leftover,” Aliah snapped. And then more gently, “Is that what you saw? Did you see the Light from the Starling?”
Seven giggled manically and my heartbeat hammered in my chest. She knew. She knew I was here. I had no idea how, but she did. I just had to hope that her instability somehow worked in my favor.
“Light from the Starling,” she giggled.
“What do you mean, Sev? Light from which Starling?” Seth demanded.
“From the only Starling that matters,” she whispered.
“Stella?” Seth snarled with equal parts possession and malice.
“The child,” Seven countered.
Jude dangerously disagreed, “If Stella were here, we would know it.”
Jude’s evasion had me wondering why was he protecting me today? To protect his life? To save mine? I couldn’t tell. I thought this eavesdropping session would answer some questions, but it only created more.
“I would know it,” Seth challenged.
Jude barked out a bitter laugh, “Sure, right, whatever. You would know it. And now we all know what a bad ass you are. Can we please move on? I have other things planned for tonight.”
“Like sleeping with half the population of that cow-poke town?” Seth sounded very antagonistic tonight and I wondered if he was like me… if the separation was driving him as crazy as it was me, or if this was the Darkness pulling him under.
“Well, it’s better than cable.”
“Why don’t you do your job and make sure there aren’t any other Fallen out there that have a death wish? You’re supposed to be watching over Stella. Or have you forgotten?” Seth sounded ready to kill someone and I held my breath, kind of hoping his focus would shift to Aliah. That would solve at least one of my problems.
“I haven’t forgotten what my job is,” Jude shot back. “But I have forgotten what your job is? Could you remind me? I always get mixed up between the one where you suck the fun out of the room and the one in which you try to convince me to kill you by the end of the night.”
“You think you’re funny.” And Seth did not sound amused. “I would love to see you try-”
Seven let out a screeching, growly sound. “Make them stop! They’re hurting my head, Aliah! Make them stop!”
Aliah chuckled, “They’re hurting my head, too, Pet. That’s enough children. Save the pissing contest for another day.”
Silence settled over them but I half expected one of them to throw out something like, “But he started it…”
They didn’t. Thank goodness.
When the guys seemed settled, Aliah went on with instructions. “Jude, get the place prepared for another arrival. And make sure she doesn’t start glowing again. We can’t have anyone else getting suspicious of what we have up here.”
“Did you get a female with her?” Jude asked shortly.
“I forget how invested you are.” Aliah sounded pissed.
“She’s a little girl. I don’t care what the hell you do out there but you left me in charge of this. She needs a female watching over her. You’re going to send her into coronary arrest before you get what you want.”
“She’s a fighter; she’s a Warrior, in case you forgot. She’s been training for battle since the day she was born. She can handle herself. Any of them can handle themselves.” Aliah let that sink in before he admitted, “But yes. There are a few females with her now. And when the second child has arrived, I’ll add a few more.”
Jude grunted but sounded more mollified when he said, “Fine. I’ll prepare the place. Do you know when he’ll bring the other one?”
“No, not specifically. Whenever he can.”
“What’s the point of this, Aliah?” Jude pressed and I was very surprised he asked the
question with me listening. I had been successfully quiet; possibly he forgot about me. “Why am I going to all this effort for a bunch of kids?”
“Ah, the Archangel forgot where he came from,” Seven giggled.
“Shut it, Crazytown.”
“Don’t talk to my sister like that.”
Aliah grunted. “Here we go again.”
“I’m asking a legitimate question. What’s with all the children? What do they have to do with anything we’re doing?” Jude sounded so different with these people. With me and around Tristan and Piper, he almost seemed relaxed compared to the strung-tight angry person he was now.
“Just worry about making sure they stay alive. That’s all you need to concern yourself with. And stop asking questions.” Aliah matched Jude’s agitated tone and a tingle of fear stabbed me in the middle of my spine. “And stop bringing her gifts. She doesn’t need a friend and you shouldn’t get attached.”
Jude snorted. “That’s not what’s happening. I won’t get attached to her; I just want to know why I’m being forced to babysit so many liabilities. Something happens to the Starling or the kid and it’s my neck on the line, not anybody else’s.”
“Why would anybody else take responsibility when you do it so well? Besides, have you ever thought that we’re looking for a reason to kill you?” Seth snickered.
Aliah tsked, “Your brother is angry tonight, Seven. Do you think it has anything to do with the disappearances lately?”
Seven laughed a musical sound. “He hasn’t been to see the Starling. Not in days.”
“You sound so sure.” It was a question and Aliah’s voice had gone harder than ever.
“Only because I have been to see the Starling and my brother has not been there.”