Star Gods, стр. 7
A bright red door stands out among the darkness, with the pavement in front of it swept clean. A new dumpster sits to the left, its lid closed and free of overloaded garbage. The scene moves again as if someone had pushed an up button until it stops to show the girl’s face. She’s young, around my age, sixteen, with long, honey-brown hair and bangs cut at an angle. She’s not too thin, like those girls who starve themselves thinking they look good, and it seems she isn’t wearing any makeup. But it’s her eyes that draw me in, violet, exactly like mine and any descendent of the Star Gods.
The vision winks out, and I blink, slowly lifting my head to find Claire kneeling in front of me, her eyes transfixed with mine.
“You’re back now?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
“Good, ‘cause I need to stop that bleeding. Don’t move.”
I watch her quizzically as she goes to the kitchen sink and wets some paper towels, then hurries back to press them onto my forehead.
“I think you tore all your stitches open.”
“You better call Tyce.”
“Already did.”
The side door slams open, and Ashe sighs when he reaches me, removing the paper towels only to press them back onto my forehead. “You tore all but two stitches.”
“You’re going to have to heal it,” I answer. “Otherwise, they’re going to ask a lot of questions if you take me back into the hospital.”
Ashe huffs out a breath. “Yeah, I know. I’ll probably get arrested for abuse if I do. You’re going to need to wear a bandage for a while.”
I shrug. “That’s no big deal. It’s faking a concussion I’m more worried about.”
Tyce scoffs. “I’m sure you’ll manage it.” He reaches down and pulls Claire to her feet, wiping tears off her cheeks that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Sorry I scared you, Claire.”
“You didn’t scare me.” She rests her cheek on Tyce’s chest. “It was pretty intense to watch, and I couldn’t do anything to help you.”
“He’ll be fine in a few minutes.” Ashe places his palm onto my forehead, and warmth spreads. “Tyce, order those pizzas. I know I want some after this thrilling day.”
“You got it.” Tyce smirks, grabbing the house phone and punching in the number he knows by heart.
“You know you just gave him ordering rights,” I remind Ashe.
Ashe cringes, shaking his head. “Hawaiian pizza night, fantastic.”
I flop down on my bed, grabbing my pillow, and tucking it under my head. Man, I’m tired.
My door opens, and I grunt a protest. I want to be alone, and I’m too exhausted to say it. Instead, I feel the tug on one of my shoes and hear as it hits the floor.
“Thanks,” I mutter as the other drops.
“Sweet dreams,” Tyce says, and my door closes.
I nestle deeper into my pillow until I hear someone clear his throat. I assume it’s Tyce, so I lift my head, scowling. Instead of one of my brothers, a man I don’t know stands in the middle of my bedroom wearing a black suit and a crisp white shirt. I scurry from my bed landing unsteadily on my feet.
“Who are you?” I yell, flinging my hand up and drawing on my protection. My barrier materializes in front of me like a shield, and I wait to see and hear my brothers’ charge into my room, but they don’t, and I get scared.
“Your brothers are…off-line at the moment,” the man explains.
“They’re what?” I yell.
“No need to worry.” He places his hands out in front of his body like someone trying to calm another person down. “They are completely fine, going about their routine without any interruptions.” He runs a finger along my shield making it waver, but it holds steady and strong. He looks to me and I see the unmistakable silver ring inside of the violet only a third level Luminary Star God has. “We need to talk.”
“You’re one of them.” I drop my barrier and sit on the end of my bed rubbing my tired eyes. “What do you want?”
The Luminary Star God pulls on the inside of his collar obviously uncomfortable. He’s dressed like Barney on an old TV show my dad likes to watch, How I Met Your Mother. He’s older than I initially thought, maybe in his forties like my dad, with gray hair streaked through his dark brown hair and lining his temples.
I cross my arms over my chest and glare at my uninvited guest. “What do you want?” I repeat as a demand.
He rolls his shoulders. “You must find the girl and protect her at all costs,” he says, his look serious. “You cannot ask for any explanations or assistance from them…” He points upward.
“Why?”
“Let’s just say it wouldn’t be a good idea.”
A rogue Star God? Interesting. “What’s so important about this girl?”
“I cannot say.”
“But, you know.”
He rolls his shoulders again. “Yes.”
“Who’s after her?”
He looks at me with expectancy. “That, you must discover, alone.”
“Alone, without my brothers? Not going to happen.”
“It’s important, Zeke.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “I’m telling you, not going to happen.”
“I’m ordering you, Zeke. You are to find and protect this girl. Once you do, your brothers can assist you. But you must do the initial work, alone.”
Since he’s ordering it, I have to do what he says. “No.”
His eyes