Free Starbright (The Starbright Series) by Rachel Higginson Page B

don’t. ” I replied sullenly, “ T hey knew who I was. We’re not sure how they figured it out, or if someone betrayed us, but they knew. We are hoping my parents will know more when they get back tonight.”
                  “So how did you know she was in trouble?” Tr istan turned to Seth. I could see the mixture of gratitude for saving me warring with his need to mark his territory. Not that I was his territory, just more like the general area of our small town.
                  Seth looked at me warily. I knew my honesty with Tristan was unsettling to him. I was really upfront in general, but especially to Tristan. I knew Seth would never be able to trust Tristan the way I did. Tristan was just a human , and Seth owed him no explanations , but I hoped Seth at least trusted me .
                  “It’s Ok, Seth. I tell Tristan everything, ” I reassured him, recognizing his doubts. “B ut he’s the only one that knows, he’s been sworn to complete secrecy and he won’t tell anyone, ” I promised and then exchanged a smirk with Tristan.
                  Our shared look only caused Seth to look less inclined to share information with him . “Jupiter and I received a distress call from Sidra and Nisroc, requesting immediate aid. By the time we got to them, though, they were already dead,” Seeing the confused look on Tristan’s face, Seth clarified, “Sidra was the P rotector of E arth up until yesterday and Nisroc was her Counterpart. When we found them murdered, we knew our leadership had been breached and so we came straight here to find Stella and make sure she was Ok. We found her easily enough; the sky surrounding her was completely filled with Shadows. “
                  “But you had already banished them or whatever? They just weren’t dead yet?” Tristan asked me , wanting to restore some of my credit.
                  “Yes, I scattered them, but I had no idea what I was doing! Seth is really the hero, and he is so much more prepared than me. My training really has been lacking, I’m sure the E lders cannot be happy with me or with my parents,” I lamented, worrying for the first time about the consequences my parents would have to fac e .
                  “Stella, if the Elders were unhappy with your training, they would have sent someone a long time ago,” Seth reasoned. I looked up at him, thankful for his reassuring words and deciding he was right . The Elders watch ed everything, or at least it seemed as if they could see everything. They were such a temperamental , stringent group, and if they were worried about my training, they would have stepped in a long time ago and either replaced my biological parents with dutiful, drill sergeant ones or replaced me with a Star that cared more about brandishing a sword made from Heaven’s Fire than her unnamed prom date .
                  Not that I was worried about a prom date. It was still months away, I had time.
                  “So what now?” Tristan asked, removing his arm from around me and clasping my hand instead.
                  “Now, we wait for my parents to get back and hear from the Elders. I don’t have any formal training, so Jupiter is here now to train me and continue training with Seth ,” I sighed, feeling as if the perfect world I ha d always known was crumbling to pieces around me .
                  “So Seth is staying?” Tristan asked . I ignored the way his voice sighed over the question and chose to hope that once they got to know each other they really would have a strong friendship.
                  “Yes! You don’t really expect me to fight the Darkness all by myself, do you?” I laughed.
                  “Obviously not, I was just hoping you still had a little more time before you became all Stella Day, warrior princess on me,” Tristan joked.