Sunburst

I nodded into her shoulder and took a few steadying breaths. I had to pull myself together if I wanted to get through the day. I had to be strong.

I was strong.

I just sometimes forgot that.

I showered quickly and did the whole blow dryer, makeup thing. I pulled on a knee-length button-up navy blue dress with small white polka dots to get me in the mood for dress shopping. The dress was stiff cotton and so I paired it with a pair of worn-in cowboy boots and a long sheer cream cardigan. I left my hair down and after the blow dryer it was a little bit wild, but I was just going out with my mom.

I felt a million times better dressed and clean. My dagger was firmly strapped to my thigh, another one thrown into my hobo bag and mom’s car was outfitted with enough swords that if her car was ever pulled over and searched by local law enforcement she would be dragged away to jail while her picture was plastered all over national news: Country Housewife Plans Harvest Massacre.

I bounded down the stairs and met my mom with a more confident smile. She put her cup of coffee down and dropped a kiss on my dad’s forehead. He was at the table with a still-healing Jupiter, looking over the Alpha Heiros- it was like an instruction manual and history book all in one, everything a Warrior or Star would need to know about defeating the dark side.

It was our Obi Wan.

My dad looked up and gifted me with a proud smile, but Jupiter didn’t even grunt a hello. Although to be fair, most of his face was still bandaged from his extensive burns and his arm was in a sling.

I dropped a kiss on my dad’s head and patted Jupiter’s good shoulder when I walked by.

“Bye, Dad!” I called out. “Bye, Jupiter.”

This time he snorted.

I followed my mom out the kitchen door and then ran into her back when she abruptly stopped. “Who are you?” she snapped and her dagger was in her swift fingers before I could even look around her shoulder.

“A friend of Stella’s,” the other person answered.

Great.

“What are you doing here, Jude?” I walked around my mother since she was refusing to move and crossed my arms. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the door was closed, but had to assume my dad could hear this entire thing. He just trusted my mom enough to know she would decimate anything that tried to harm me.

Jude’s eyes flickered over me from cowboy-booted toes to my voluminous long hair that was flipping frantically in the warm breeze. I watched his pupils grow big and had to assume it was from surprise. I probably looked a little like a wa

My school wardrobe had been pretty gothic lately- as black as my mood had been. So it made sense that he was surprised by my tamed if not somewhat country appearance.

“I was just, uh,” Jude’s gaze hopped back and forth between my mom and me nervously. I wanted to laugh, but in no way did I want to make him feel comfortable here. “I was just checking on you. Doing my job and what not.”

“What exactly is your job?” my mom, every bit of the fierce warrior princess she was, asked slowly.

“Mom, this is Jude,” I reluctantly made introductions. “He’s the third in the third party soul contract.”

My mom straightened somewhat, but did not put her blade down. “You’re the third?”

“I know! Completely unbelievable right?” I agreed dramatically- partly because it was unbelievable they chose someone so young, and the other part just to piss Jude off.

Jude’s eyes narrowed on me, but he took a step forward and reached a hand out to my mom. This was kind of like a backhanded compliment, a Fallen trying to shake hands with a Star, but it wasn’t exactly an aggressive move either.

My mom eyed his hand, but in the end she kept a firm hold on her knife and just looked at him curiously. “Celina Day.”

Jude pulled his hand back and ran it through his unkempt hair. “Pleasure,” he gri

I pushed my mom gently on the back to get her going. “Well, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine and alive. Bye, Jude.”

Mom and I walked down the stairs and toward her car. I felt Jude take off after us and desperately wished my dad would step out of the house and take care of him for us.

As in permanently.

“Where are you going?” he pulled ahead just fast enough so he could lean on the back door of the Malibu.

“Dress shopping,” I gritted. I didn’t mean to answer truthfully, but his question caught me off guard.

My mom played with her car keys and finally put her dagger away. She eyed Jude suspiciously. I tried to catch her eye to beg her to kick him out, but she just continued to watch him carefully.

“Sounds fun,” Jude said brightly.

I scowled at him. He obviously had a motive for being here that was more than just checking to make sure I was alive, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Alright-“

“Sure, I’ll come.” He bounced off the car and opened the back door so he could crawl inside.

I grabbed his wrist to stop him. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said I would come,” he answered very slowly, like I was having trouble understanding him. And then in case I needed more explaining he said, “With you. Dress shopping.”

“No,” I shook my head vehemently. “Uh, no. No way. That’s not happening.”

He tilted his chin and regarded me thoughtfully. “It will be safer if I go with you.”

“You’re not my body guard Jude, you’re part of a contract that I don’t fully acknowledge and your one true job in this life is to simply make sure one of your friends doesn’t try to take my head. I doubt prom shopping is a clause in your contract.”

“Ah ha! You doubt, so you don’t exactly know whether it is or not.”

“You’re really going to try to tell me that you are obligated to go clothes shopping with me?” I knew there was no way in Hell that he was, but I also found it slightly amusing that he was trying to make this his case.

“Yes,” he answered evenly.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m Fallen, I’m supposed to lie.” A light went out in his eyes when he said that. It was like one moment he was enjoying torturing me the same way I enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes, and then he was vacant and hollow.

“Why do you want to go shopping with us so bad?” I whined, knowing that he was much more dangerous as the broken bad boy than the obnoxious stalker. I felt sorry for him and my conscience all of a sudden wanted to make a case for him. Maybe he was lonely, maybe he needed a friend, maybe his life was in jeopardy if he didn’t do his job better.

Which was all stupid since I couldn’t care less what happened to Jude and would be grateful if he was taken off my hands.

His eyes softened some; they seemed more human than ever before, and he looked up from under those thick eye lashes and…. and then didn’t say anything. He just looked at me like I should be able to fill in the blanks.

“You can come,” my mom a

“What?” I screeched.

“Better to have him with us where we can see exactly what he’s up to than skulking in the shadows.”

My gaze swiveled back to Jude and I narrowed my eyes. He had three seconds to back out of this or I was going to stab him in the kidney- for real.

“I prefer to think of it as light lurking, but I appreciate the consideration.” Jude gri

“Mom,” I hissed. “What are you doing?”

“Stella, this boy is our enemy,” she explained firmly. “But he’s also out of our reach and charged with spending the next year with you. I want to get to know as much about him as possible. I will feel better when I have been able to study him.”