“Seth!” I gasped, stalking over to the rectangular oak table my dad had hand made one summer in an effort to be more…. human. Although, I had not personally met another human that whittled their own furniture, I couldn’t fault her dad for trying. Besides he was really proud with how much money he was convinced we saved. “I didn’t know you were going to eat all of them! Those pancakes are like gold around here! What am I supposed to eat for lunch now? And for dinner?” I demanded, forgetting all about the way his abdominal muscles folded over each other while he leaned over his plate, shoveling heaping forkfuls of my favorite meal into his greedy, perfectly formed mouth.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, with a mouth full of food. “You should be more specific next time.”
I was normally a very good-humored girl, I rarely let things bother me and most of the time could laugh about any situation. Most of the time. Stolen pancakes and no lunch was not one of those times.
“I think you should put at least half of those back! Do you really need….” I counted what was left of them in my head quickly, “seventeen pancakes just for breakfast?”
Seth nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, I really do.” He reached for Jupiter’s coffee next, taking down what was left in the cup in one, quick swig. Jupiter didn’t even look up. Grumpy, ill-mannered, temperamental Jupiter didn’t care that Seth had stolen the last few drinks of coffee, because apparently Jupiter was used to Seth’s thoughtlessness. That bothered me even more. The last drop of someone’s cold, bitter coffee was one thing. Annabelle’s chocolate chip pancakes were an entirely different matter.
“Stella, he did fight a battle last night,” Jupiter reminded me in a voice that very much sounded to me like a reprimand.
“A tiny battle!” I squeaked. “Really, I’m not sure we can even call it a battle at all! It was more like a skirmish. Or a…. a…. warm up exercise! I don’t think his one act of bravery last night accounts for eating every single pancake left in this house,” I finished in a grumble. Jupiter and Seth both raised their eyes to meet mine as if they could hardly believe my ungratefulness. I decided to push my luck just a little bit further, “Besides…. What if he gets fat? I mean, he is my Counterpart! I should be worried about stuff like that, right?” A blush crept up my neck and flowered across my cheeks. I knew I had gone too far, but what had fallen out of my mouth felt more like uncontrollable vomit than an actual, rational argument.
“You’re worried about me getting fat?” Seth moved from his seat with lightening quick speed. I hardly had time to comprehend he wasn’t sitting anymore before he was standing directly in front of me, with both of his arms pressing against the counter on either side of me, pinning me in. “Let me assure you, my weight gain is nothing for you to be concerned about.” Seth’s amber colored eyes glowed with frightening intensity and the way his dark hair fell across his forehead made me wonder if he was more Fallen than Angel. He reached for my hand, with one dangerously strong one of his own and pressed my palm against his flat, muscular stomach. “These are genetic; I wouldn’t worry about a few pancakes distorting your eye candy.”
The flush that burned itself into my face, now deepened across my collar bone. I didn’t dare move my hand until Seth took his off mine, and then I retracted my fingers with the speed of my own angelic heritage, causing a smug smirk to break out across Seth’s face.
“I get your point,” I mumbled, not willing to back down from this fight. “But I still don’t appreciate the way you have come in here and just snatched all of the pancakes up.”
“Point taken,” Seth didn’t immediately move from the bicep-cage he built around me. He enjoyed watching me squirm because of him. But then his eyes turned soft and he held my gaze, igniting the connection that tied us together, the one that I couldn’t even fully understand yet. Maybe it was the independent nature that tied us to all of God’s creation or because I was impossibly tiny standing next to him but I felt impossibly fragile and delicate. I instinctively knew that without him by my side I didn’t stand a chance against even a small army of Shadows, let alone the entire forces of Darkness mobilized against me and this planet.
“Seth,” Jupiter chastised from across the room. The tone of his voice reminded Seth that he was a Counterpart. A Warrior. And his behavior at the moment resonated in the completely inappropriate department.
Seth gave me a good natured, casual smile and then stood up straight. He held my gaze for a few moments longer, unable to tear his gaze away from mine that I could feel had just started to glow under the strain of my emotions. But which emotions were making them glow? That was a question I was afraid to get to the bottom of.
“I’m going to see if Annabelle needs any help,” I choked out, in a tightly strained voice. I broke the hold of Seth’s gaze first, hating that we already fought, that I already made things awkward for my Warrior. I sighed, frustrated with myself and flew up the servant stairs before anyone could object, or remind me what a terrible hostess I was playing. Or even worse, what a terrible Star was being.
“Please tell me that won’t be a problem with her training,” I heard Jupiter ask once I was around the corner. He almost sounded amused and I so I paused on the stairwell, recognizing that Jupiter rarely felt amused.
“That won’t be a problem with her training,” Seth spouted back word for word. The huge smile probably lighting up his face completely evident in his voice. I was sure Jupiter would be convinced that whatever he was talking about would definitely be a problem with my training. I got nervous just thinking about it.