Fae Star (4 page)

“How was your day?” I asked her.

“I already
did
my homework,” she said loudly, indicating that she couldn’t hear me over the music buzzing in her ears.

Maybe I wasn’t needed as much as I thought.

Life was pretty normal for the next few days. I gave some life advice to Julia and her little cronies, I took care of our brothers, and I packed healthy lunches for Mom and Dad when they went to work every day.

The only thing truly shocking thing that happened was that I got asked out on a date. There was a new guy at school named Nathan, with sandy brown hair and intense blue eyes. Julia had told me he was good looking on several occasions since he transferred to our school a few days ago, but then again, she said that about everyone.

Nathan was in several of my classes, and it seemed like no matter where he was in the room, his eyes always slid toward me. While we were eating lunch, I told Julia about the odd looks Nathan kept giving me, and she replied,

“Why are you getting all the attention lately? First, Ian liked you and then Nathan?”

“First of all, I’m not so sure Ian liked me.” It was more like a business relationship, and besides, he was trying fix me up with someone else. “Second of all, I’m not so sure I would say yes if Nathan asked me out. I don’t even know him.”

“That’s the point of a date!” Julia said, looking exasperated.

I had never had a boyfriend before, or even been on a real date. I was always afraid of getting married for fear that I would be trapped in a situation like that of the one I was in now.

The next day, Nathan walked up to me after class one day and asked, “Do you want to go to Jumping Java with me tomorrow?”

“Um, I’m kind of busy…” I said, stunned, even though I knew something like this might happen.

“Come on,” he said, flashing me a dazzling smile, “It’s important to make some time for yourself once in a while, you know? Have a little fun.”

He had a point.

“Okay,” I said, “I’ll go.”

“I’ll pick you up at 7:00,” he said.

“Okay, what do I wear?” I asked Julia at 6:15.

“My pink mini dress. No, shorts and a sequin top. Wait
… leggings
and a short t-shirt dress. We need more time!”

I went to my closet and picked out a lacy black top and a dark pink skirt. This outfit was the closest thing I had to date clothes. I put on a little mascara and some lip gloss that matched my skirt. When I heard a car pull up in the driveway, I snuck out before Julia could tell me I needed another pound of makeup and more fashionable clothes.

The car in my driveway was
a black
Volvo that looked like it was brand-new.

“Um, nice car,” I said, hopping in, “You didn’t tell me you were rich.”

“I’m not,” he said, “I borrowed this car.”

Conversation was a little awkward on the way there. I didn’t really know what to say, and Nathan seemed comfortable with the silence.

“Um, you passed the coffee shop,” I said.

“Yeah, I know,” Nathan said, showing no signs of turning around.

“So where are we going?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“No, stop the car and let me out if you’re going to be like that,” I said.

“I’d rather not,” he said calmly.

“Well, now this is happening,” I said, and against all my survival instincts, I opened my door and leapt from the moving vehicle.

I tried to land on my feet, but I rolled a few times and scraped my arm up pretty bad.

“No!” I heard Nathan’s voice. He must have stopped the car and jumped out too, “You don’t understand! I need you!” I ran but he was inhumanly fast and I watched, horrified, as he caught up to me.

I stood up, and Nathan tried to pick me up. I punched him as hard as I could, too scared to really aim at anything in particular. My fist connected with his neck, but he barely flinched.

“It would take a lot more than that to hurt me,” he said
, and
licked some of the blood off my elbow.

“You’re fae,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“I was wondering when you would catch on,” he said, grinning at me. He reached for my arm again, but something hit me hard and I fell to the ground.

Chapter 10

When I opened my eyes a second later, I was in a beautiful forest. It felt like there was something heavy on top of me, but I didn’t see anything there. Ian materialized out of nowhere.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“Invisibility spell,” Ian smirked, “Holly cast it for me.” Then his expression got serious, “Are you hurt?” His eyes went to my elbow. Rolling off me, he said, “Here, let me bandage that up for you.” He tore off a piece of his shirt and pulled out a vial. He rubbed some of whatever was in there into the wound and tied the bandage on.

“You saved me again,” I said, surprised, “You must really want whatever the king promised you.”

“It’s not even about that, Erica,” he said, “Look, there’s something I need to tell you.”

I waited for him to say something, but he seemed to change his mind and said, “There’s a dance at a friend of mine’s tonight. Do you want to go? It might give you a chance to blow off some steam.”

“That sounds like a lot more fun than my last date,” I said, but then I blushed when I realized that there was no way this was a date - not when Ian was trying to deliver me to another guy. Ian tried not to smile at my awkwardness.

Ian took my hand and suddenly we were in front of a huge stone mansion. It was not quite a castle, but this family had some serious wealth.

Ian took my hand and led me into the large house. I wasn’t expecting the blare of music and the people cheering as we entered the main hall. There were thousands of candles lighting the dark room and people everywhere were dancing to loud, upbeat music.

“Would you like to dance?” Ian shouted to be heard over the crowd.

“Um, I kind of failed my dance lesson with Gelsey,” I said.

“That’s okay,” he said, and I thought he was going to let me off the hook, but then he continued, “with me it will be different.”

Ian held me a lot closer and a lot tighter than Gelsey
did. It was easier to dance with him because he just kind of pulled me over the floor alongside him. I didn’t have any choice but to follow his rhythm. Suddenly, the song changed.

“Oh, this is a tough one to dance to,” he said, “Step on my feet.”

“You want me to step on your feet? Why?

Ian grinned, “That’s the only way you’re going to keep up.”

I smiled back, almost against my will. It had been a long time since I
had had
fun - with anyone. I was surprised to find myself wishing that I could marry Ian instead of the prince. I snapped out of my thoughts and realized that Ian was staring at me. I hadn’t spoken out loud, had I?

“What is it?” I asked crossly, trying not to blush.

Ian leaned forward, and I thought for a moment he was going to kiss me, but he seemed to stop himself. He took a step back and said, “I have to get some fresh air. You stay here. I’ll be right back.” He walked away quickly and I wondered if I had done something wrong. I felt awkward just standing there, so I started walking around the
huge hall, watching the dancing couples. Most of them were fairies like Ian, but there were also some creatures that I wasn’t sure about, like the man covered in blue and green feathers chatting up a woman clad in golden scales. Some had wings while others had tails or horns or various other features. A fairy with a long purple ponytail and pretty blue and purple wings handed me a cup.

“You have to try this,” she said, “It’s
goji berry punch, imported from the human world. I opened my mouth to thank her, but she was already talking to someone else. I hadn’t really realized it until now, but I was really thirsty from all the dancing, and even though I wasn’t supposed to drink fae beverages because of the magical properties, this drink was from my world.

I raised the clear glass of purplish liquid up to my lips and drank the punch way faster than I had intended to. Before I knew it, I had another drink in my hand. I drank this one more slowly and I realized that the punch was spiked. I had been dealing with so many burdens for so long. I had never really lost control, let loose. Before I knew it, I was dancing by myself in a very human, ungraceful style. Totally oblivious to my surroundings, I didn’t notice that I was being watched by a very tall male fae with hair so golden it looked like it was made of metal.

“Hello,” he said, approaching me, “I’m Bael.”

“I’m Eri - Tara,” I said, feeling stupid for almost revealing my real name.

“Would you like to dance, Tara?” he asked me, and I shook my head, even though I knew he had seen me dancing just seconds ago.

“Then let’s go for a walk outside,” he said. Normally, the warning flags in my head would have been going off in my head, but those were temporarily dulled by alcohol.

“Sure,” I slurred, and Bael
put an arm around my shoulders and led me outside. Then he did something that surprised me - he began to sing. It was a beautiful song in another language and I found myself feeling lightheaded and unlike myself.
Bael pressed his lips to mine gently at first and then harder, but with the combination of the drink and the magical song, I felt powerless to resist.

“Hey! Step away from her! She’s mine!” I head Ian’s voice coming from far in the distance but I didn’t break out of my trance until Ian pushed
Bael away from me.

I was still a little tipsy when Ian pulled me away from the party and said, “You need to be a little more careful. That was a siren.”

“Yeah,” I said, “Well. maybe
you shouldn’t have left me by myself at a party full of strangers!” Ian paused for a long time, and I could tell I had hurt his feelings.

“You’re right,” he said, “I’m really sorry. It’s just… you don’t know the effect you have on me. How hard it is to resist the call from the star. I just needed to clear my head.”

“You mean you want to eat me to gain power just like everyone else,” I said, suddenly a little scared, “How can I trust you to protect me when you’re a power-hungry fae like the rest of them?”

“No,” Ian said, “No, you don’t understand. It’s different with me.
I”m
not after your blood. I wish I could explain it to you, but I’m just not ready yet.”

“Great,” I said, “Very comforting.”

“I think it’s time for us to go to the castle,” Ian said, and my stomach dropped. As much danger as I was in, I was still nervous to go to the castle and meet the prince.

“We can’t jump directly into the castle because of all the protection spells cast on it. We’ll have to jump to the entrance of the royal yard and then walk there.”

I nodded, like teleporting in front of a castle was something I did everyday.

Ian took my hand and the scenery changed. There was a large stone castle in the distance, about four miles away.

“Wow, huge front yard,” I said.

“Pretty standard,” Ian said, “I don’t trust anyone in the royal court, so you’ll have to do the talking since you can lie. Don’t tell anyone you’re human, and
don’t
tell anyone you’re the star.”

There was a long stone path leading up to the castle. I could see guards at the front gate, which was about a quarter mile ahead of us, and I was sure there were many more inside the gate. A tall and very stern-looking man stopped us at the gate.

“What business do you have with the royal family?” he asked.

“We are bards,” I said, just saying the first thing that came to mind, “and we come to entertain the king and queen.”

“Oh?” said the guard, “Would you care to sing me a song?”

I should have come up with a better excuse. My singing was even worse than my lying.

“No, your honor,” I said, and Ian stifled a laugh, “We have been given strict orders from the Bards Guild to only sing for the royal family.”

The guard looked suspicious, but then he let us go. Ian burst out laughing once we were out of earshot.

“Your honor?” he said, still laughing, “Sir would have sufficed.”

When we got to the next guard, I said, “We are jesters. We have come to cheer up the queen.”

“She needs it, these days,” the guard said, “I hope you have more luck than the last three.” I used that excuse from then on. We came to a stretch of path with no guards, and I asked Ian something that had been bothering me.

“Ian,” I said, “What would happen if I were in love with someone else besides the prince?”

Ian looked horrified, “You’re not, are you? No, there’s no way. I’ve never even seen you talk to a guy before, unless you include
Bael, or that guy that tried to kill you.”

“But what if I had?” I asked, “Hypothetically speaking, of course, what if I had fallen in love with you before I even reached the prince. Why didn’t he come for me himself?”

Ian paused for a while as if deciding how to answer.

“It’s complicated,” he said finally, “but you’ll understand when you meet him.”

That didn’t sound good. What, did he never leave the castle or something?

“And what if he doesn’t like me?” I asked, “I know I can be a bit… abrasive at times.”

“He’s going to love you,” Ian said, “Trust me.”

“And you’re sure he’s not really a murderer…” I said. All of my fears were coming out at once.

“He’s not,” Ian said, “Look, we’re almost there. Once we enter the castle walls, our disguises will disappear and everyone who gets a good look at you will know you’re human. Can you handle that?”