15. Kieran

15

KIERAN

My body hung suspended in the weightless vacuum of space as I floated up, around, and between stars. My tether floated in front of me, guiding me every which way as I let my gaze wander through the vast cosmos I now had access to.

It was clear that my powers had grown enough that I could access my meditative state while sleeping.

A sudden 'thud' reverberated through the space around me, causing me to come to a hard stop. Looking around, I saw nothing amiss, but that didn't remove the sensation of ‘something' tugging my consciousness back to Earth.

As if someone was whispering in my ear ? —

"Kieran, wake up for me—open those beautiful eyes."

My sleep state was broken at the sound of Niz's voice. It was soft, but perfectly clear, which meant he was extremely close. My eyes flickered open, and I nearly reared back in surprise from finding the man right in my space. Nearly nose-to-nose.

"Good morning?" I questioned, seeing amusement flicker in his gaze at my confusion.

"Good morning," he mused before flashing a cocky smile at me. "Thanks for listening to me and opening those pretty eyes of yours."

A scowl slipped onto my face as I resisted the urge to flick his perfect forehead— perfect forehead? Okay, clearly I needed to go back to sleep. Seriously, though, it was a bit unnecessary to be this handsome at this time of the morning when I knew I was probably sporting some serious morning breath.

I didn't even want to know how my exhaustion was displayed on my face. Considering I felt like I had been run over by a herd of beasts, several times over, I had to imagine it was pretty bad.

"I didn't listen to you, per se," I argued back with a smile. "I was ready to get up anyway."

Total liar.

"Of course," he flashed me a smile and sat back on the edge of the bed so he was no longer leaning over me. "Glad to see you awake either way—I started to get worried when you began to glow. I figured that it wasn't a normal occurrence for you."

"I was glowing?" I asked, baffled.

My gaze darted down to my arms finding that they were completely void of any burns or blisters from last night. Now I was traveling through space in a meditative state and not being burned by it? Honestly, I could get used to that change.

"It was beautiful, if I do say so myself," he answered.

Struggling to sit up and looking around my bedroom, I found that it looked exactly the same as it always had. That shouldn't have been surprising, but with what had happened last night…It felt almost like my world should have changed as much as I had.

I knew I had changed —I could feel the shift within me, even just sitting here in bed.

"You okay?" Niz asked, his brow dipping as I examined the concerned look on his face.

"I am…" I whispered, my brain already moving a million miles an hour at everything I needed to explain to him and the other men. "Could you have everyone gather downstairs for a meeting? I have something I need to talk to everyone about."

"Absolutely." He nodded in understanding. "I know Gabe is already up at least—I suspect he has been for a bit. I ran into him when he was getting out of the chair next to your door, looking like he'd barely slept."

"The chair next to my door?" I questioned as he got off the bed and opened my bedroom door, tugging the chair in question into view. One that I knew came from Gabe's room. Had he slept outside of my room all night?

In my dazed state and being so eager for sleep, I hadn't even considered that he would do something like that. I should have at least invited him inside. This entire process of rebirth, which was the only thing I could call it at this point, had empowered me and drained me in a way I hadn't realized was possible.

I felt completely drained. Not of power—I had a ton of that—but of physical strength. Moving my muscles, even talking, seemed particularly difficult. I had a feeling it would take some time until I felt rejuvenated enough to go train like I had been. It felt like parts of my body had been ripped away and replaced, something that would serve me well in the long run…But right now, it just rendered me exhausted.

On the other hand, I felt more empowered than ever before. I felt like I finally had the information about Star Keepers that I needed, as well as the power to back it up. Despite it being seemingly impossible, my body had successfully absorbed all that power, which emboldened me to believe that maybe…just maybe, I was capable of this. With those two tools, the concept of saving everyone didn't feel nearly as far fetched as before.

"Kieran?" Niz appeared in front of me, his dark eyes laser focused on my face. "You seem out of it. Are you sure you don't want to get more sleep?"

"No," I reassured him, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Just a bit caught up in my thoughts. I'm going to get ready for the day and I'll be right down."

"I'll make sure there's coffee for you." He dropped a quick, unexpected kiss to my cheek before standing up and striding out, the door clicking shut behind him. A small smile tugged at my lips as my hand pressed to my cheek. It was such a soft, sweet action and one that I couldn't deny I loved.

Somehow, since we'd learned of his shifting abilities, the two of us had fallen into a natural comfortability I couldn't have expected.

Standing up, I slowly made my way toward the bathroom. Feeling motivated to talk to the others, I quickly washed my face, brushed my hair, and scrubbed my teeth before changing into a comfortable pair of leggings and a hoodie. Slipping on socks and sneakers, I left my room and jogged down the steps toward the second floor, where I nearly ran right into Bastian.

I felt relief when I saw his eyes light up at seeing me. I knew we hadn't gotten to talk yet, but with what occurred yesterday, I'd lost another day of trying to figure out where he and I went from here.

"Hey, you," I offered a small smile.

"Sleep well?" he asked curiously, approaching me as I struggled to resist the urge to reach out to him. When he was less than an inch away, I slid my hand onto his chest and felt my body relax when he didn't move away from me.

"Not really," I admitted. "But there's a pretty big reason for that, it's why I had Niz call a meeting."

Bastian's gaze darkened to a deep navy as his hand moved to tilt my chin up, searching my eyes. "Something with your power?"

Tingles of happiness spread through my body at his touch. He hadn't hesitated this time.

"Yes," I agreed, unsurprised that he could figure that out so quickly. "Come on, I want to tell everyone the full story."

Luckily, Bastian didn't fight me on knowing the details immediately and instead followed me down to the main floor where the other four were. I knew we still needed to talk, but it seemed for now that I at least had my Bash back.

Niz offered me a nod and pointed to where a cup of coffee sat waiting for me. Thankful for his thoughtful gesture, I scooped it up, momentarily ignoring Gabe and Steele who glared at one another across the island. My gaze flickered over to them finally, realizing they were having some weird unspoken conversation that made me feel more than a bit on edge. It was the same energy that I felt last night as they stood at my door.

"Good morning," I called out to them, but neither responded or budged an inch.

"Don't mind them," Niz sighed, shaking his head. "They'll be over it soon."

Would they, though? I hated the idea of there being tension between them, but it was more than obvious, from the glare that he had fixed on Steele, that Gabe was furious over what happened the day before at training. I didn't blame Gabe for being protective. I would have felt the same if someone put them in danger.

"Where's Ronan?"

"Outside," Bastian offered, so I carried my coffee toward the back door and stepped through it, finding the man in question looking out over the backyard. When I joined him, he offered me an affectionate smile, his eyes warming on me as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Something's going on," he said quietly after his eyes roamed over my face.

"Yeah," I agreed, taking a long sip of my coffee before bolstering myself. "Come inside with me." Ronan followed me through the door dutifully, and we found the others gathered around the kitchen island, with Gabe and Steele finally conversing like normal.

"Alright," I said, calling the room's attention as I stood at the far end of the island and took another sip of my coffee. My hands were shaking slightly, and I tried to still them, wanting to appear confident about what I had to say—even if it completely upended my entire world. "Something happened last night—something I can only classify as insane."

Instantly, everyone's eyes were on me, and I found it a bit intimidating. I was used to interacting with these men on a daily basis, but that didn't change the fact that it could be a bit hard to focus when every ounce of their attention, their intensity, was directed toward me.

"Explain," Steele demanded before he added with a strain to his voice, "please."

Honestly, I would have smiled if it hadn't been such a serious discussion. After all, Steele saying please for anything was quite the event.

"As you know, in training with Noah, I've been focused on using a meditative state to reach out to the stars, to be able to interact with them on that level before attempting anything physically," I said, my eyes darting down to the island as I recalled what happened the previous night. Even at the mere memory of it my heart was beating fast, my body feeling the phantom touch of the power imbued in me.

"I was restless for most of the night, so I finally got up, hoping some fresh air would help me feel a bit more settled. When I went to sit outside, I decided to try meditation to keep my mind occupied…But I couldn't get anything. I couldn't even begin the process of reaching out to the stars, which was unusual considering the success I had at training."

Pausing, I bit down on my lip in thought as I looked at each one of them. Each man was completely focused on me, taking my words seriously, so I forced myself to take a steadying breath. I really hoped they didn't think I was crazy. Hell, I felt a little crazy. "And this is when it gets a bit unbelievable, so I'm just going to go for it."

"We'll believe you, no matter what it is," Niz offered, causing my lips to tilt up in a thankful smile.

"Right," I put my shoulders back and spoke in as sure of a tone as possible. "I was pulled into space by a beam of light. It was painful. Shocking. And somehow, that wasn't the craziest part."

I watched in tense silence as their expressions filled with shock, eyebrows raised high. "I thought I was alone up there, surrounded by the cosmos, much like in my meditative state…but that was when they appeared."

" They ?" Ronan asked, leaning forward on the counter, seemingly riveted by my story. It gave me the boost I needed to continue.

"The previous Star Keepers—thousands of them—all surrounded me at once. They looked ghostly, with no distinct features but they were very clearly individual beings," I motioned to the space around me, as if they might appear in our kitchen. "But three of them took a human-like form that I could communicate with."

"And I thought my power was the crazy one," Bastian mused, looking fully entertained and excited.

"What did they say?" Steele asked, his gaze almost calculating in its interest, his brow dipped and fingers tapping on the island. There was no lack of belief in his expression—so even if he was surprised, he was still taking me completely seriously.

"That they believed in me, said that they knew I could keep the stars from falling. They offered me their knowledge, what it means to be a Star Keeper. More than that, they gave me the remnants of their power."

" All of their power?" Gabe asked, disbelief in his tone as he shook his head slightly.

"Everything they had left to give—it extinguished them in the process." I whispered, feeling a painful pressure in my chest. Regret slammed into me, and even though it was quite fair to feel it, I still pressed my hand against where it hurt the most. I knew it had been part of the process of gaining my powers, but I wouldn't discount the sacrifice they made. "They won't ever be able to reappear again."

Pressing my hands to the island and leaning forward slightly, I pushed the regret to the side and spoke clearly, "Because of their sacrifice, I now understand my place in this world—their belief in me and their willingness to give me their own power—makes me know without a doubt that I can do this."

I swallowed before making a statement that I had never believed before.

"I will save the stars from falling—I will save everyone."

The silence that followed was one I should have expected, but I felt a momentary sense of doubt, wondering if they would think my story was absolute bullshit. Even to me it sounded a bit wild.

So I continued, hoping to explain myself better. "My power feels different now, like I have a more instinctual and intense connection to it. I can almost feel the weight of the dagger in my palm and the urge to draw runes. I can sense the tether inside of me trying to reach out to pull on the vast energy of the cosmos. Centuries of knowledge about how our power, as Star Keepers, works and how to wield it is bouncing around in my head. I don't know exactly what I need to do to save the stars—I haven't worked out those details yet—but I truly believe with the power I've been given and the knowledge of how that power works, I can do this."

I knew how heavy my words were—ladened with responsibility. Up until this point, my mission, while very real, felt more abstract, hanging completely on the success of my training.

"The time for action is here."

After a long moment, Steele finally said, "You won't be able to fully focus on saving the stars with Alfemir aware of our rebellion. We have to deal with them."

I nodded, knowing he was right. The prophecy was breathing down my neck, and with my time split between trying to understand my affinity and training for the brewing war, I didn't feel like I could fully give my focus to either.

"And we can't just sit here waiting for them to attack us," Ronan said, nodding his agreement. "If we don't want to be constantly on the defensive, we need to go to them. If we stay here, they will eventually bring enough numbers to overwhelm us and cash in on the bounty Kieran's dad has put on her head."

"We could move to a different hideaway, but I don't think any of us wants to do that. That would feel a bit too much like abandoning the Rebellion for me," Gabe pointed out.

"Plus," Niz added, "moving could just result in the same problem if they find us. We can't live constantly on the run."

"So we play the offensive," Bastian smiled, the normal manic light to his gaze returning. "I love that idea."

That didn't surprise me in the least. I wouldn't lie, I loved to see his normal, blood-thirsty side coming back to the forefront after everything that had happened.

"Unfortunately," I started, but paused with a frustrated sigh. I took another long sip of coffee before continuing, "As powerful as we are, our numbers are not enough to counter Alfemir. Their population far outweighs the number of fallen in the Rebellion."

"But if we could muster enough fallen, playing the offensive would be the perfect tactic," Gabe said. "They wouldn't expect it, and if we managed to gain control over Alfemir, Kieran would be able to focus on her mission without any threat."

"Which would be ideal, but…we're going to need numbers, numbers we don't have," Steele reminded us.

Niz cleared his throat, drawing everyone's focus to him as he shifted from foot to foot, clearly a bit uncomfortable. I hadn't realized how quietly he'd been up to his point, but I had a feeling he'd been deep in thought. "It sounds like we need an army, and I think I know where to get one."