Page 9 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade

“What am I?” asked Stratton.

“Hunters. Like the ones who put him here,” she said with a smile as she touched her pendant. “Want me to have him come out and play?”

“No, sweetheart,” Stratton said softly, hating the sadness he heard in her voice. “Let’s not summon the goblin right now.”

Her bottom lip jutted out, and Stratton rethought having her ask it to “play.” He glanced up at Drest. “Itisa lesser order goblin, right?”

Drest cleared his throat. “Strat, the goblin is serving a life sentence with no chance of release.”

Stratton understood what that meant. Whatever it had done had been bad enough to leave it bound to the containment pendant for eternity, forever needing a warden. That wasn’t something a lesser demon would or even could do. A few years of being bound, maybe, for petty crimes, but eternity was the type of sentence only the most dangerous of creatures received. His eyes widened. “And it was given to a baby?”

The little girl pressed tighter against him, toying with the pendant as if it didn’t contain something deadly. “I’mnota baby.”

“Eleréalta.” A term of endearment Fae often used fell free from his lips. The language itself had seen a number of other languages spawn from it, Celtic being just one. “Of course, you’re not,” he added.

Her brows met. “What’s a…Eler—eleva—ta? Um, I don’t know how to say what you said.”

Drest laughed. “It means bright star. That’s easier to say.”

“It means star, like my name does!” Her smile brightened to the point that it lit up the room. “Aunt Rachael, he called me a star. Did you hear? My name means star too, huh? I love the stars. Mommy used to look at them with me out back with the tele-um-scoop.”

Stratton chuckled, still crouched near the child. “I think the word you’re looking for is scope. Telescope.”

She nodded, her head of dark hair bouncing as she did. “Yes. That.”

“What do you say you give me that necklace, and I’ll give you something else?” Stratton scrambled to think of something she’d be willing to trade for. When Stratton noticed her looking at his hunter ring again, he touched it lightly. “I’ll trade you my ring for your goblin pendant.”

Drest opened his mouth, a protest at the ready.

“It’s fine,” said Stratton fast.

“It’s really not,” replied Drest. “There is more to this than you realize, Strat. She’s not—”

Rachael cut him off. “Drest, she doesn’t know the truth. Amice and Henry decided that was for the best. Honor her mother’s wishes. Please.”

Drest sighed but nodded. “Okay, but Strat can’t make the trade he’s trying to make. Bad things will happen.”

Rachael looked to be on the verge of a full-on meltdown. She waved a hand at him. “Hormones.”

The child touched his ring lightly and giggled as the purple gemstone on it began to glow once more.

That was odd.

Stratton wasn’t drawing on any power, so the ring should have been dormant. Yet it was obvious that wasn’t the case.

Drest drew in a sharp breath. “Cousin?”

“I’m not doing it,” whispered Stratton.

The child laughed more. The ring’s glow intensified yet again, pulsing, matching her laughter. “It’s pretty.”

“Cousin,” said Drest, making a move to go for the child. “I was afraid of something like this.”

“No,” said Rachael softly. “She’s okay. Let her be.”

“Rachael, she’s causing the power flux in his ring,” said Drest.

Nodding, Rachael stared down at the child, her eyes misty. “How are you doing that, sweetie?”

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