Jennifer Murgia - Angel Star

I lost my best friend, stood up to Brynn, fell in love, and was tempted by a dark angel with plans to destroy all the good I have ever known. I learned about my father and felt pity when I thought of how Hadrian had taken advantage of him. Without my father, I wouldn’t exist, and without me, Hadrian’s plan might have worked.

And I never would have known what kind of person I truly am if Garreth hadn’t taken the risk to become human and find me.

I looked into Mathur’s face, his wrinkles and lines like a timeline of the ages. I silently wondered how old he was and he began to chuckle.

“I am older than time, my child. Yet, somehow, in less than eight days, you learned more than one could in a lifetime. Tell me, do you like what you find inside yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Then your Judgment is complete.”

“It’s complete? I don’t understand. Don’t I have to stand in front of anyone, like a panel? Don’t I have to stand up in front of God?”

“Child, you already have. Your Judgment is your own, and when you can look inward and see that you are changed and like what you see, then it is by your own hand that you are judged. You are His creation, and when you can take the extra step to become more than a simple wish of His, then the purpose is fulfilled.”

I didn’t know what to say. I kept thinking the hard part was still coming but I had already survived the biggest part of my challenge.

“You look sad, child. What is it that you wish?” Mathur’s smile was soft. He knew what I wished for but it didn’t count if I didn’t ask for it myself.

“I want to see Garreth, please.”

Within a breath of my asking, I felt the air around me change and the warm static that swirled from behind me announced his arrival. I closed my eyes, savoring the spicy scent that tingled my nose, and a smile spread wide across my face. When I opened them he was standing in front of me, looking more beautiful than ever: his sandy hair still hanging in front of his blazing blue eyes, his smile, his jaw, his presence perfectly sculpted for me alone. I threw my arms around him and his arms tightened on me, lifting me off the ground. His embrace was strong yet unbelievably tender. We said nothing, knowing that words could not fully explain what we both felt at that moment.

His warm hands touched my face, tracing it, as though trying to never forget it. “Are you all right?” he finally asked.

I nodded as he smiled down at me. Suddenly, birds were chirping and I turned to see a pair of swings hanging quietly beneath a familiar tree.

“How did we…?”

“Heaven is here, remember?” Garreth kissed my forehead.

I took his hands in mine, feeling their warmth return, and I held them tightly, never wanting to let go again.

“You were bleeding.” He held me away from him for a moment, looking at my hands where Hadrian’s feathers had pricked me.

“You saw…us?”

Something dark and unwanted passed through me as I remembered the bits and pieces I would rather forget. I felt sick to my stomach, not because Hadrian had placed me under his spell but because a small part of me had enjoyed it; a very small part that, if I could, I would crumble to bits and set fire to it. Garreth lifted my face to his, still holding me, unable to let me go.

“He’s very…” I began.

“Persuasive?”

“Is he gone now? Please tell me he’s gone.”

“Yes, he’s gone.” His voice was steady with reassurance but I was sure his eyes hid something else. I quickly dismissed it. I was still so shaken by all that had happened it was no wonder I was reading too much into things.

Hadrian had fooled me once already but he was gone now and my perfect angel was the one standing in front of me. I thought of the dagger slicing Hadrian’s palm. I had almost aimed for his heart. Who would have known that he held his heart in the palm of his hand: his octagram, the one source of all his power, like any true Guardian.

Hadrian’s star was different from Garreth’s, linking his light and dark sides, both competing for precedence. It was obvious that neither would win. I let out a deep sigh. Hadrian was gone. So why couldn’t I shake this feeling?

I turned my attention back to Garreth. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I was so afraid I would lose him again.

“It’s time to take you home,” he said.

I nodded. “But you’re coming too, right?” There was no hiding the strain in my voice. I just couldn’t bear being separated from him again, not even for an instant.

“You know I can’t stay long, Teagan.” There was pain in his eyes. “Remember that I’m not really part of your world.”

“You have two days left, at least give me that much.”

Garreth smiled down on me. Even with the wounds Hadrian had given him he still looked like a perfect angel. Yet they made him look human, and even though I knew they would heal at a rate faster than a human’s would, I still couldn’t shake the image of him lying in blood. Had he been an ordinary human, he would be dead.

“You’ll be home soon. Sleep now.”

“I don’t want to sleep. I want to stay awake with you.”

“Teagan.” He was smiling that magnificent smile I loved so much. “There’s no reasoning with you, is there?”

“Nope.” I stifled an enormous yawn.

“You’re impossible. Number one, you’re exhausted. You should be in a state of shock after all you’ve endured.

And, number two, you can’t stay awake for this. It’s kind of against the rules.”

“I’m not that tired.” I tried to sound convincing but, really, I was pleading. “Besides, don’t you think I’ve already witnessed enough that’s against the rules?”

“Have I told you you’re adorable when you’re flat-out exhausted?” He let out another laugh. “And you babble when you’re tired.”

I looked at him closely. Tonight was definitely not the best night to risk talking in my sleep, especially when I might let something about Hadrian slip out. But who was I kidding? Garreth was my angel and my life was an open book to him.

“I do not babble.”

He raised his eyebrows without uttering a peep and a little smile grew at the corners of his mouth.

“I’m afraid you’ll disappear if I close my eyes.” It was a whisper that trickled out of me, and he took me in his arms, saying nothing in response to my fear.

I pressed my face into his chest. As I listened to the drumbeat of his heart, my eyelids had a preset plan and there was no point in fighting them any longer. I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I sat up, sweating. My heart was pounding at a dangerous rate. It was dark and it took a bit longer for me to realize where I was. A hand reached out from the dark and swept my hair from my eyes.

“Garreth?” My eyes adjusted slowly. “How long have I been asleep?”

I tried to look at my clock but couldn’t find it, and then remembered that a lot of things were out of place in my room. I had a lot of cleaning up to do.

“You’ve been sleeping for three hours.”

“Three hours? You should have woken me as soon as we got back.” Didn’t he realize how long three hours is? It’s a huge chunk of time lost when it should be carefully spent now.

He was grinning, enjoying my distress. “But you were babbling. I didn’t have the heart to wake you and deprive you of your…what do girls call it? Beauty rest?”

Oh, no. Babbling.

I put my face in my hands.“What was I saying?” I couldn’t look at him.

“Well, for starters, you said you loved me and then there were a few things I couldn’t quite understand.

Like I said, you’re prone to babbling.”