“He was kidnapped as a child- straight from the Lower Realms. Later, the kidnapper was caught. Apparently he was a traitor, intent on stealing an entire generation of Warriors for the Fallen. He only managed to steal Jude before they got him. But he never said what he did with the child.”
“What did the Council do to the traitor?” I asked, horrified by the story. I couldn’t imagine they would give up looking for Jude, or that his parents would allow the traitor to be executed before he gave up where their son was.
“The Council didn’t do anything,” Jupiter explained seriously. “The day before he went to trial, he was found beheaded in his cell. Someone else got to him before the Council could ask a single question.”
“And they didn’t find that suspicious?” Or had I just watched too many episodes of Law and Order?
“Of course they did. The investigation continued, but nothing else ever came up and the boy never resurfaced. They had no idea which planet to search or which direction of the Universe he was taken to. But that tattoo… I would remember it anywhere. Jude’s father is an Archangel, his mother sits on the Council. They have never stopped looking for him.”
“They will probably be a little disappointed with how he turned out,” I sighed. He had a sad story, I could give him that.
Jupiter was silent for a few moments, deep in thought. Finally, and in an amused voice, he said, “Fallen by consequence, not by choice. That makes an interesting study.”
True. It was rare, maybe even unheard of for a child to be raised into the Fallen culture without making a conscious decision to join their ranks. Fallen was a choice- even they knew that. Which was why Seth had been spared when he was younger. They didn’t, couldn’t, have children for this very reason. They were cursed to be barren, since the beginning of time.
“He’s obviously adapted,” I shrugged it off. Jude was just as evil as the rest of them. And the only reason we weren’t fighting to the death right now was because he was under contract to keep me alive. And my new mission in life was to save Seth. It didn’t matter if he chose this life or was forced into it; it was his life now and he was as Fallen as the rest of them.
Jupiter and I packed up the rest of the weapons and headed back to the house for a late dinner. He stayed and ate with my family. It was nice to have him there. He was like this souvenir of Seth and I knew he didn’t want to go home to an empty house. He even stayed to help my mom clean up.
My heart broke a little bit more with his heartache. I wasn’t the only one gutted by Seth’s disappearance and the news that he’d given up his soul for me. Why didn’t he talk to me about it first? Why did he just rush off and act so impulsively? There had to be more to the story than just his concern for me. We were in this together. Something happened for him to leave me.
I had to believe that.
I spent the rest of the night in my room working on the homework I was behind in. And finally when it was time for bed I called Tristan.
“Hey,” he breathed into the phone in a sleepy voice.
“Were you asleep?”
“Just about,” he chuckled and the gravelly sound made my toes curl. “I was waiting for you to call.”
“Sorry to keep you up.”
“No, it’s fine, I don’t know why I’m so tired.”
“Probably that intense practice earlier. Why did your coach make you run the bleachers? What did you guys do to piss him off?”
He groaned a muffled growl and I imagined that he was rubbing a hand over his face. Finally he said, “Rigley got caught smoking with that new kid right before practice and coach punished us all.”
“Rigley was smoking with Jude?” I shouldn’t be surprised, but I definitely was. Rigley made a lot of bad decisions, but this one seemed worse than all. That he was smoking wasn’t exactly beyond comprehension. But I honestly thought Rigley would have some kind of intuition that would warn him about hanging out with Jude.
This cemented in the idea that Jude was here to stay. And that sucked.
Maybe I could get him kicked out before he caused too much havoc on school grounds. I would just wait until he was smoking and turn him in every time. It would probably take one day for him to get expelled.
“That sucks,” I sympathized with Tristan. I debated whether to tell him about Jude and our special relationship or not…. I decided to see if I could get him out of my life first. I’d give him a week and if he wasn’t gone, then I’d fill Tristan in.
“That kid is something else isn’t he?” Tristan was so much more intuitive than I gave him credit for.
“I think he’s bad news.”
“Me too.”
We were silent for a while and then finally Tristan asked, “Any news on Seth?”
The very mention of his name sent shooting pain to my chest and tears to my eyes. “Nope, nothing. Except that we know he’s gone and not coming back.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Stella,” Tristan whispered seriously. “I’m sorry he did this to you.”
“Thanks,” I whispered weakly.
“I know this sounds crazy… but is he going to be alright? I mean, I’m worried about you first, obviously. But, I can’t imagine that he’s doing all that great either.”
Wow. That was a level of maturity I never thought I’d see from Tristan.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “He’s given up his soul for this whole thing. He could be fine. But he could also be…. not fine.”
“No, he’ll be alright, Stella,” he decided suddenly. “Seth will be alright. If anyone could pull out of this with their mind still together, it’s got to be him.”
“Thank you for saying that.” Now my heart was hurting for an entirely different reason. Tristan was different tonight. He was… I didn’t know what. Something was different between us and I knew it had to do with Seth’s disappearance; but it was somehow the opposite of what I expected to happen.
Not that Seth leaving and joining Team Evil was exactly like a free pass for Tristan and me. But Ok… it kind of was. So why did the absence of Seth seem to be pulling Tristan and I further apart in that area? Why did Tristan seem more accepting of my relationship with Seth now that he was gone?
I was so confused.
And I had more important things to worry about than boys.
“Talk to you tomorrow?” I was suddenly unable to keep my eyes open.
“Yep. You have a game tomorrow night?” he asked.
“Yes, although I will not be starting. Coach is still punishing me for my disappearing act.”
Tristan laughed at that. “Well, I’m sure that will last all of ten minutes until she comes to her senses. Besides, she needs someone on the field to calm your crazy best friend down.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Piper’s carrying a yellow card from last game. She’ll be smart tomorrow. She has to be.”
“Sure she will,” but he didn’t sound like he believed me at all. “You need to get that girl under control.”
“I do what I can,” I smirked. Piper was definitely a menace on the athletic field. She had such a temper. Even I was a little afraid of her at times.
“See you tomorrow,” Tristan said.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” I echoed.
And then he clicked off.
No I love you? No sweet dreams? No…. anything?
Huh.
Chapter Eleven
Four minutes in stoppage time to win this game. We were currently tied at two-two. Piper had both goals and I knew she was looking for a hat trick, but I had the ball.
I dribbled the ball around a defender, cursing the tall, thick grass near the goal. Sweat dripped into my eyes and my hair was plastered across my forehead. I was out of breath, since my Light was on a dimmer switch while I played against humans.