Dominion of the Star (Descendants of the Fallen Book 1) Read Free Page A

could be any older
than eight. Could she really read fortunes? Was it okay for her to be with this
guy? Jeremy looked to be roughly Kayla’s age, but there was some frightening
maturity about him. It suddenly occurred to her that his story about what
happened in Madeline didn’t completely match up with the snippets of
conversation she overheard before she fell.
    Lost in this thought, she
glanced back at Jeremy, and saw him watching Kittie sleep. His face was very
still, but his slight smile was kind. “You know,” he said softly, almost to
himself, “I think I feel more rested when she’s the one that sleeps.” He
chuckled, his eyes half-closed. “Well, knowing Kit…” His voice rose, the harshness
returning. “You aren’t even asleep, are you? Stop spying on us. The sun’s
coming up; let’s go.”
    The little girl smiled, her
eyes still closed. “Nope, wide awake. Your fairytale nearly put me out,
though.” She lifted her head and grimaced at him.
    Jeremy scowled, rising to his
feet. “Get up. Now. We’re going.”
    Before anyone could move, a
shrill, male voice cried out from some outlying trees, “Kaaaylaaa
Steeeelryn!”
    Kayla’s head whipped towards
that strange voice calling her name. She saw two men running towards her with
two more lagging behind. The man in the front yelled to the friend at his
heels, the words forced out the side of his mouth that wasn’t gripping a lit
cigarette, “Th’ girl with th’ red hair! She look’d when we called ’er!”
    “Fec, she’s not alone…!”
replied his blond companion, one eye covered with a patch, the other wide open
and wild.
    The men in the lead stopped
short, while the other two slowly made their way closer. Jeremy lunged between
them and Kayla, facing the strangers with a drawn sword. One edge of the
double-sided weapon was viciously serrated, and although the blade looked
polished with great care, it was weathered with scratches and nicks.
    Jeremy’s face was slightly
down-turned, shrouded in the shadows cast by his dark, disheveled hair. His
grin was wide and menacing. “No, she’s not. You pirates are gonna have to earn
it this time.”
    The blond man leaned towards
his smoking comrade. “We really look like pirates…I mean, even away from the
ship?” he muttered.
    Fec sighed, not appearing to
hear him, and pulled out his homemade smokes, carefully selecting one. “I hate
earnin’ it.” His scrawny form stretched almost out of its slouch as he lit the
fresh cigarette with the glowing tip of the one that jutted out from the corner
of his mouth. Switching their places, he threw the used nub to the ground and
snuffed it out beneath his sandal. Inhaling deeply, he glanced towards his
companion before breathing out a seemingly endless stream of smoke.
    The blond quickly pulled some
gold and silver coins out from beneath his vest, and Kayla saw them dancing
over his knuckles before the darkening cloud of smoke enveloped the pirates and
Jeremy, and threatened to take her in as well. She stepped back slowly,
covering her mouth and squinting into the thick haze, but the only signs of
battle she could make out were a few curses and the violent ring of metal on
metal. Each one of those sharp metallic sounds was followed by a shining disk
spiraling awkwardly out the pirates’ side of the cloud and dropping to the
earth.
    As the smoke cleared, the two
pirates that hung back motionless throughout the encounter sprung to life,
dashing into the deep brush and disappearing from sight. Fec glanced around,
sweat beading on his pale face. His extinguished cigarette dropped from his
lips and he called angrily out to his friends, racing to follow them.
    The remaining pirate stared at
Jeremy in disbelief, holding his bloodied right shoulder. “You deflected all of
them…blind.”
    Jeremy had already lost
interest. He was buckling his sword’s scabbard across his chest and sheathing
his weapon back over his shoulder. “Yeah. Good thing too. Looks