This was coming to a head, a culmination of wills. She was done provoking me; this was about to get real.

And then the last thing I heard from her was, “Stella!” in the loudest, most unearthly voice I’d ever experienced. The sound of her voice sent chills rippling all over my body, my stomach dropped painfully and the back of my neck ached from tension. This girl was so crazy.

But then she was gone.

The evil part of the storm disappeared more quickly than it had arrived and the sky went from inky black to soft charcoal. The alien lightning turned back to normal; in the sky, white lightning and the wind died down immediately.

Just as a hundred curses popped into my head, the sky opened with a downpour.

“Great,” I groaned. I picked up my swords and then took off for one of my father’s barns, the closest shelter from the rain.

By the time I reached the metal barn, I was soaked to the bone and frustrated. My hair was plastered to my face and neck and my t-shirt and yoga pants were sucked to me. This was so annoying.

Had she really kept me out there just so I would get wet?

Or was something completely different going on?

This was all there had been since February. I would get caught up in these little almost-battles and then nothing. Not only was I at the end of my rope about it, I felt like I was playing exactly into their hands. Whatever they were planning, I was just going right along with it.

At the same time though, it wasn’t like I could just walk away when something like that happened. I was stuck.

And at their mercy.

And I hated it.

“Why are you all wet?” Seth asked from behind me, and I jumped at the sound of his deep, rumbly voice.

“You scared me,” I panted. At this point I should have been ready for anything, but my thoughts were jumbled at the moment.

I turned around to face him as he stood in the doorway. He was wet, too, but not as soaking as I was. He had obviously been out running, something he often did from his farm to mine and back again. His light blue t-shirt was darkened to navy from the rain, almost everywhere but on the bottom hem, his running shorts slicked to his muscular thighs. He was barefoot, his feet painted in mud.

I sucked in a breath at how delicious I found that.

They were muddy feet. I so should have been grossed out, not admiring how manly he looked with dirty toes- and the speckled, streaked arches uncoated like the balls of his feet.

This was getting weird.

Honestly, did I have a foot fetish?

I snapped my eyes up to his face as quickly as I could, bypassing his spandex-looking thighs drenched from the rain. He was so gorgeous; I couldn’t breathe for a second.

This was a reaction he got from me a lot. It wasn’t fair. Seriously, it was not fair. He was an Angel, a real-life, perfect, flawless Angel. And even by those standards he was exceeding expectations.

His golden brown hair was extra curly, tussled and messy from the rain. His amber-colored eyes brightened with excitement and anticipation as he watched me check him out. His strong jawline was ticking; the muscles in his long, slender throat worked to swallow.

My breath hitched. I couldn’t help it. He was so wickedly sexy.

“Stella? What are you doing out here?” He asked again. His voice dropped even lower and he took a step towards me.

Wanting to defuse the electrified air between us, I breathed out. “Seven. I think Seven was out there. I was in the fields training with my katanas and there was this presence.” I turned my back on Seth and walked to a work table to set my swords down. After being mesmerized by Seth I had forgotten I was still holding my weapons. This was a barn where my dad kept most of his equipment. Combines, tractors and skid loaders were parked everywhere, mingled with a few lawn mowers, four-wheelers and snow mobiles.

“What happened?” Seth was right behind me. He put a strong, warm hand on my shoulder. It sent a shiver straight down my spine, so forcefully my whole body shook from it. I blamed the fact that I was freezing to the bone and his hand was incredibly warm. Nothing more.

“Nothing happened,” I sighed, turning into his warmth a little. I let myself glow; my natural heat warmed me up and started to dry me out. “There was this whole onslaught of crazy weather and black lightning and then nothing. She, or it, or whoever it was, just…. left.”

“You know it was Seven for certain?” I heard the anxious tone to his question, the pain that was equal parts dread and hope. He hated his sister; he wanted her dead. And at the same time I could feel- because of the bond that tied us together for eternity- his agony over her lost soul.

It was the worst and most painful part of every emotion. And I loathed that he had to go through this. I could not wait to kill her and put him out of his misery.

She was top priority for me. Even over Aliah- the main bad guy on Earth and my biggest threat. His goal was to kill or enslave Seth and then do the same to me; but mostly he just wanted to kill me. Once we were out of the way the Earth would be his and he would infect every good and living thing with his Darkness.

Earth would fall.

The last remaining vestige of life in the galaxy.

And the Darkness would win.

Too bad that would never happen.

There would always be a replacement for me. Well, hopefully. Even though other planets had all been gifted protectors, they had all ultimately died too….

Plus, there was always more bad guys it seemed.

Enough. In the past few months I had gotten in the habit of not thinking about the big picture. It was too overwhelming. I gave myself small goals and when I reached them, I could feel like I actually accomplished something.

Such as: Kill Seven. Learn to use a broadsword effectively with one hand instead of two. Stop falling in love with Tristan. Find a dress for prom. Master my in-air-combat. Learn my part in choir for the spring concert. Kill Aliah. And get out of planting with Dad this spring.

Easy.

“I know it was her,” I answered firmly. I knew he didn’t want to doubt me, but it was like he still couldn’t help but think the best of his older sister. At the same time he thought the worst. This only added to his guilt.

He turned me toward him, using that hand on my shoulder and then wrapping his arms around me before I could protest. His body was hot and aglow, and I loved how I felt squeezed against his chest. This was part of my Star-nature. I was completely drawn to warmth and heat and the glow was about the most beautiful thing in the world.

Except, I couldn’t. Not yet. This was way too soon.

But then Seth dipped his face down so that his forehead rested in the crook of my neck. His arms were still firmly around me, one across my shoulder blades, the other wrapped tightly around my waist.

“Are you Ok?” he rumbled against my skin. His lips pressed against my collarbone and even with my t-shirt in the way I could feel how warm and soft they were.

A tumble of butterflies erupted in my stomach and I closed my eyes against the sensation. “I’m fine.” But it was a whisper, barely a breath.

My hands rested awkwardly on his back, but that didn’t deter Seth from pulling me tighter against him. He lifted his head just a little, and pressed a sweet, lingering kiss against the side of my neck. My wet hair was matted against the column of my throat but that didn’t diminish the sensation at all.

“Seth,” I gasped in a shaky whisper.

I meant to step away, but he took that as encouragement and let his nose skim up my neck, across my jawline and to the place behind my ear.

“I didn’t feel that you were in trouble,” he growled against the skin back there. I felt the vibration with every word.