The Star Child (The Star Child Series) by Stephanie Keyes Page A

fact, she hadn’t changed or aged at all.
    “I told you.”
    “And you expect me to believe you?”
    Fire built up behind her eyes. I’d angered her.
    “What kind of welcome is this? You are the one who said you didn’t want me to go. That you wanted to come with me.”
    “That was eleven years ago.”
    She ignored my response. “If you wanted to come with me so badly, why do you seem so unhappy to see me now?”
    “I thought you were a hallucination then, too.”
    “No, you did not. If you thought I was a hallucination, why did you ask your grandmother about me? I do not believe it. Do you truly doubt my existence now?”
    “Um, yeah. Kind of. I must be losing my mind or something. How do you know I asked Gran?” Great, I was talking to my hallucination. It was official. All those years of having such a messed up family were finally catching up with me.
    “Kellen, I am not a product of an overactive imagination. You have known me all these years and welcomed me into your dreams.”
    “How do you know about my dreams?”
    “I know because I was the one making you have them. If I had known that it would take you so long to grow up, I might have saved myself the trouble.”
    “What? Wait. You were making me have those dreams? How is that even possible?”
    “There are many possibilities that you have not even considered, mortal.”
    “Listen, now I’m starting to get ticked off. I find a stranger in my house, possibly a hallucination, and now she’s insulting me?”
    “I have never been a stranger to you.”
    My brows furrowed. “Who are you, anyway?”
    “You know exactly who I am.”
    “No, I don’t. That was a dream. You aren’t real.” I refused to give in, shoving my hands in my pockets.
    “I am real, and what I am is your destiny.” She tried to take my hand.
    “What you are is jail bait.” I snatched my hand away. She was six years old, for crying out loud. “You’re just a kid.”
    However, I was immediately forced to bite back my words. Instantly, she began to age right in front of my face.
    At first, the changes were subtle. There was the slow lengthening of her torso as she grew in height, the tightening of her skin as the youthful roundness of her ivory face vanished. Her pale brown hair grew thicker, darker, framing her face and her wide blue eyes. In the span of ten seconds, we seemed exactly the same age.
    “You were saying?” Her words were a challenge.
    Backing away, I felt unsure, nervous. Who was this creature? Gran had told enough Irish legends to make me pause. Before, I never used to believe in that stuff; faerie folk, changelings, spirits weren’t real to me. However, I couldn’t explain any of this, and I wasn’t buying that she was who she claimed to be.
    Her features softened and she looked at me with tenderness. “Kellen, I am very sorry about that. However, you would have only recognized me as a child and I needed for you to remember me. I am not a hallucination and you know it. I’m really here.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “I told you about this in your dreams. If you would only pay more attention.” Her last words were stern, but her smile warmed the reproof. I found myself smiling back without thinking. Realizing what I was doing, I forced a frown. What was I doing? Idiot.
    “Look, I’ve had a really long couple of days. Leave me alone.” I closed my eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of my nose.
    “I am sorry that you had to find out about your mother in that way, Kellen. She was a remarkable woman.” Her words were spoken with sympathy, but they angered me. What I’d learned about my mother tore me up inside. It was mine, my personal pain. There was no way that she could know about it.
    “How do you know about my mother?”
    “I know everything about you, but you know nothing about me. There is so much to say and very little time.”
    I’d no idea what was going on here, but the logical, rational side of me said that I needed to get