Starbright (The Starbright Series) (5 page)

             
“So you haven’t had any weapons training?” Jupiter repeated and
I
nodded wearily. “Ok, have you had
any
kind of training?”

             
I
shook my head
furiously
, excited to answer his question
and opened
my
mouth to reply, but Jupiter cut
me
off quickly with a clarification, “Physical training?”

             
“Well,
yes. I mean, my parents and I…
Since the whole purpose of being raised on
E
arth was to get to know humanity and all, well, we decid
ed that I should play sports.”
I
finished matter of fact
expecting to get at least a nod of approval from Jupiter, but the look of disbelief that narrowed his eyes and turned his facial muscles to stone caused
me
to take a step back out of fear instead.

             
“Sports? As in h
igh school sports?” Jupiter repeated as if it were the most insane thing he had
ever
heard. “Which ones?”

             
“Um, all of them…. Volleyball, basketball, soccer.... In the summer I am in a running club,”
I
tried to sound enthusiastic about
my
experience, but
I
was positive, at this point, nothing would redeem
me
in Jupiter’s eyes.

             
“God must hate me….” Jupiter sighed, tilting his head back so that he stared hopelessly into the still-clouded sky.
             

             
“Jupiter….” Seth warned in a voice that held the first sound of true rationality all night. “We should probably take Stella home. It’s late, and we can discuss the rest of this in the morning.”
             

             
“
Yes, you’re right. When will your parents be home? I will want to discuss most of this with them,” Jupiter calmed down enough to see
how much he had frightened
me
.

I wanted him to be more careful with me
,
to realize
that
I
was dealing with an overwhelming revelation tonight
. Things
had spiraled so qui
ckly out of control
that yelling seemed the only way
for him
to grapple back the reigns of control.
And I couldn’t ask him to be gentle or pacifying. It wasn’t his attitude that needed to change, it was mine. I was the one who was cowering, afraid of the future and what tonight meant. Jupiter was right. I should have been better prepared.

             
“Sometime tomorrow night, or the following morning,”
I
explained, finally taking a big breath at the mention of going home.

             
“All right,
that will do
. Seth and I will need to stay with you. I’m sure you have enough room for us, especially if you’re staying the
re
alone right now,” Jupiter explained to
me
as if
I
wouldn’t naturally come up with the idea on
my
own.

             
“Well, there is plenty of room,”
I
agreed and then continued carefully, “But I’m not staying there alone. My parents hire a woman to watch over me whenever they leave on a mission.”

             
“Are you telling me there is a human woman staying with you, receiving compensation, in order to….
p
rotect you?” Jupiter’s amazement with the backward way
my
family operated continued to grow every time
I opened my
mouth. “Is she a police officer, or part of the military?”

             
“Uh, no….”
I
continued reluctantly, “She’s my best friend’s grandmother.”

             
Jupiter couldn’t have responded to that if he wanted to.
I watched his face color
to match his dull red eyes and his cheeks pu
ff
out as he worked deliberately to keep his mouth shut tight. Next to
me
, Seth
shook
into good-humored laughter as he watched his mentor become more
and more
flustered. 

             
“Pick up the car, Seth, we wouldn’t want Stella’s guardian to begin to worry and do something dangerous like break a hip,” Jupiter grumbled angrily, which only caused
Seth to laugh harder.

             
I
stood in shocked silence for a few minutes, feeling the righteous outrage
for
one of the most beloved people in
my
life come under attack. When
I
finally responded to Jupiter it was in uncharacteristic angry retaliation, “And how old are you? Seth and I should be just as worried about you breaking one of
your
hips!”

             
“I am not an old human, child. I am in no danger of one of my hips breaking!” Jupiter argued and then walked around the
J
eep to wait impatiently for Seth to join him.

             
“He’s not human? And he’s not an
A
ngel?”
I
lo
oked to Seth for an explanation;
he
was just getting his laughter under control.

             
“Can’t you guess where he’s from?” Seth smiled down at
me
.
I was really starting to grow attached to the way his eyes sparkled with life when he looked at me, and how he gave me his absolute undivided attention
. “He’s from Jupiter. Before the Darkness took his home, that’s where he lived.”
             
“He named himself after his dead planet?”
I
held back
my
own laughter.

             
“Something about humans not possessing the right vocabulary to pronounce his real name,” Seth laughed and then answered Jupiter’s incessant demand for help on the other side of the
J
eep.

             
I
jumped out of the way when
I
realized they really were going to try to right the
J
eep and drive it home. What a night!
My
whole life had just changed in the matter of forty five minutes and as
I
watched
my
new tutor and
C
ounterpart resurrect
my J
eep,
I
couldn’t help but shiver at the reminder of the new path
my
life would now take.

             
I
knew this day was coming.

             
I
just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

----

             
I
pulled into
my
long gravel driveway still a little amazed, but mostly amused that Seth was able to right the
J
eep and get it running again. The antique rumbled unhappily along the quiet country roads, but it managed to make it all the way home without completely falling apart. Although,
I
couldn’t even pretend
I
didn’t hear pieces of
my
beloved vehicle dropping off along the way.

             
At least the J
eep was ruined because of a near death experience
….
that at least gave
me
some explanation to offer to
my
frugal father.

             
I
hopped down from the cab and walked quietly to the back door of the old farm house
I
called home. In
my
parents attempt to blend into humanity,
my
father had taken up farming a long time ago. So like most families in this particular middle of Nebraska region,
we
lived on acres of property, miles from
our
neighbors and even farther from town. Well,
we
lived miles from the one stop light, bank and bar
we
called town.
We
lived a full hour from real civilization.

             
Oh
,
there was a gas station too.

             
That had to count for something.

             
Seth and Jupiter followed
me
inside the house, careful to remain silent. They had both stayed relatively
quiet
after the J
eep was righted, the fatigue of battle and the late hour wearing even the strongest men down.

             
“I should tell Annabelle you’re here, so you don’t give her a heart attack in the morning,”
I
whispered.

I
led them out of the mud room into the kitchen and turned on the light. Seth’s eyes immediately fell on the refrigerator and he took an excited step forward before stopping himself.

“Stella?” I
turned from the staircase that led up from the kitchen, an old
servant’s
hall from back when this farm had things like….
s
ervants. “Do you mind if I….?” he gestured to the refrigerator and widened his eyes in anticipation.

“Help yourself,”
I
smiled down at him, happy he wasn’t awkward about the new arrangement. His grin spread across his face and his honey colored eyes sparkled with gratefulness. 

I
climbed the steps wearily, wondering how
I
would explain this to Annabelle. Wondering how
I
would explain it to anybody!
I
knew what this meant.
I
knew
that the death of the Protector
meant it would be
my
turn to step up. That also meant that Seth would become a permanent, every day fixture in
my
life.

I
didn’t necessarily mind that,
we
seemed to have the natural, friendly chemistry that was born between a Star and Warrior.
We
had been destined to get along before either of
us
was
even born, chosen by the
Elders to
protect
this planet together.
We
didn’t have much choice, or say
in the pairing
.
Our
personalities would complement each other the same way
our
fighting skills would, the same way
ou
r unique, supernatural powers would.

Still, there was supposed to be years before
we
met
, before I had to face
the
promise between us
.
I
had a life to live, high school to finish. And as solidly as
my
destiny was rooted in
my
heart, so was
the desire to be a normal, care
free teenager for just a few more years.

Evil always got in the way.

Standing in front of the guest bedroom,
I shook my
head and squared
my shoulders. I
was complaining, whining about circumstances that cou
ldn’t be changed. The truth was
I
wasn’t a normal anything.
I
wasn’t even a normal
S
tar.
I
was the Protector of Earth and wanting and wishing were not going to get
me
anywhere.

I twirled a loose end of hair around my pointer finger for a few seconds; still trying to shake my head right
and then lifted
my
arms to jerk
them
across
my
chest, successfully popping
my
shoulders. The movement felt good, an old habit from volleyball and something
I
wa
s positive
no other Star in the entire universe practiced.