Page 3 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

3

STELLA

S tella knew something was wrong the moment she walked into the house. The scent of warm cheese and melted butter hit her as she crossed the pristine foyer. The space was normally a mess in the afternoons, her mother tossing her shawl or kicking off her shoes the moment she got in the door from work. But there were no clothes strewn about the entryway. Everything was neatly hung on the wooden hooks by the door.

It was so unlike Cecilia, who left her signature gentle mess of empty teacups, rumpled blankets, and dog-eared books in every room she entered.

A clatter sounded in the kitchen, and Stella rushed down the hall to check on it.

Leo and Rosie stood in the kitchen doorway, whispering to each other. While they weren’t blood-related to each other or her, Stella often saw similarities in their mannerisms that made her smile. Their mother had always said that the fates brought them all together and Stella had always been comforted by the idea that they belonged to each other even without being bound by blood.

“What’s going on?” Stella asked.

Leo nodded to the kitchen. “Mama’s cooking. ”

Stella pushed him aside to see for herself. Sure enough, Cecilia was buttering bread and slicing cheese and humming with a determined frown on her face.

Panic sprung to life in Stella’s chest. Her mother never cooked, preferring instead to be food taste-tester and designated chef-kisser, sitting on the counter while Rainer sliced vegetables or seasoned meat.

“Did she say why?” Stella asked.

Rosie shook her head. “No, she hasn’t said anything, but she didn’t want any help. Papa is out making a delivery and we don’t know what to do.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Stella said.

Rosie whipped her head around to look at her, her shiny dark hair sliding over her shoulder. “What do you know?”

Stella shrugged. “Nothing.”

Leo turned and frowned. “You’re such a bad liar.”

Stella held her hands up to ward them off. “I know what you know. She’s just been off recently.”

“Off how?” Leo whispered. His face turned serious.

Now that he was twenty-three, he liked to play it cool publicly, but Leo had always been a mama’s boy. When he first joined their family at three, Stella couldn’t stand him because he was so attached to their mother. But he’d come from such a traumatic event that he needed the comfort of Cecilia’s steady presence, and he was wary of their father because of the violence in the home he’d come from.

It took a long time to pry him away from her mother and even longer for him to feel at ease in the family. And, once he’d opened up, baby Rosie joined the family as well and he took to big brother duties instantly.

Seeing them both so grown, Stella couldn’t believe she’d ever felt jealous of the two people she loved most in the world.

Leo ran a hand through his hair, which had turned a light golden brown from so much time outdoors. He had grand plans of training for the Gauntlet Games, but there wasn’t a chance he’d risk upsetting their mother by entering the dangerous competition .

“It’s no big deal. She’s just off ,” Stella said.

The front door opened behind them and they all jumped as their father walked into the house.

Rainer grinned at them. “What are you three conspiring about?”

“Mama’s cooking dinner,” Rosie said.

Their father frowned, peering into the kitchen. “She is? And do we have a backup plan?”

As he said it, their mother let out a string of expletives and pulled a tray of what looked like scorched lemon cakes from the fire.

“Sweetheart,” their father said, pushing into the kitchen. “Do you need some help?”

Cecilia turned, her hands on her hips. “Don’t manage me, Rain. I’m just trying to do something nice for all of you.”

Stella walked into the kitchen. “I’m happy to help, Mama.”

Cecilia pointed a wooden spatula at her children. “Oh, I know you three have been plotting. You don’t think I can do it, but I’m just making fried cheese sandwiches. I think even I can handle that. Even if the lemon cakes burned. I just won’t cook these as long.”

Their father started to speak. “I can?—”

“Rain, honestly, I can do it,” Cecilia snapped.

He gave her an indulgent smile.

She put her hands on her hips again. “Don’t give me that look.”

“Maybe I just like you in your usual role of chef-kisser,” Rainer said.

Cecilia cocked her head and angled the spatula toward him. “Why don’t you be the chef-kisser?”

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said, scooping her into his arms and kissing her.

He ignored the chorus of groans from his children.

“Stop or you’ll spoil all our appetites,” Stella said.

Rainer finally set her back on her feet and grinned. “Now, what’s the occasion?”

Cecilia stepped away and removed her apron, smoothing her dress and brushing damp hair back from her brow. “I had a whole plan for how I was going to tell you all,” she started. “I’m not even sure how to say it, but?—”

“You’re sick,” Stella said.

Rainer’s head whipped around, his brow drawn in concern. “You are?” He looked from Cecilia to Stella, looking betrayed. “And you knew?”

Stella nodded, guilt unspooling in her stomach. “She was sick at the Godsball.”

“And this morning,” Rosie said.

Stella stared at her sister. “You knew?”

Rosie blushed, looking guilty. “I wanted her to bring it up.”

Of course she did. Rosie was the most accommodating child, the easy-to-love, relaxed daughter in contrast to Stella’s fire.

Cecilia threw her hands up. “Yes, I’m sick. I thought maybe it was wasting disease and so?—”

“You didn’t tell me,” Rainer said. He cupped their mother’s face in his hands. “Cece, I thought we had settled this. What did I say to you all those years ago?”

She smiled up at him. “There’s no darkness you won’t follow me into. I know. I just wanted to know which darkness it was before I pulled you along with me. But that’s not what’s wrong with me.”

She drew away from him, grabbed her stool, and placed it in front of the windows that opened up to their back garden. She stepped up onto it with a flourish. “Now I need you all to listen and stop interrupting.”

“Look out, she’s on her scolding stool,” Leo whispered.

Rainer had built Cecilia the stool so she could reach the upper shelves in the kitchen, but as the children grew taller than her, they had branded it her “scolding stool” where she could stand eye-to-eye to admonish them. Those occasions were rare enough that it had become more of a joke.

“I saw Lyra this afternoon and I feel rather foolish for going to the worst possible thing. I should have realized what was happening,” Cecilia said.

“Out with it, Mama,” Stella snapped .

Cecilia’s whole face lit up and her eyes locked onto Rainer. “I’m pregnant.”

The words knocked the wind out of Stella. She was hit with immense relief, followed immediately by a new world-tilting worry. The revelation rocked the steadiest ground beneath her feet.

It was no secret that her mother had always hoped to give birth to more children, but so many years had passed with them trying that Stella had assumed she’d be their only one. Pathetic as it was, it was the thing that had always made her feel special. Leo had his fighting. Rosie had her art. But Stella hadn’t found her place in the world. All she had was her goddess bloodline.

It was ridiculous to be jealous of a baby, but when she looked at the joy on her mother’s face, she felt the distinct prickle of envy.

Leo blew out a breath. “But you’re so old .”

Cecilia rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Leo. I’m aware. That’s why I assumed it was something else.”

Rosie clapped her hands, bouncing on her toes. “So we’re going to have a new baby?”

“Lyra confirmed it. She assumed I knew. She and Mika had apparently noticed a couple of weeks ago.” She looked at Rainer. “Say something, Rain.”

Rainer crossed the room and swept her into a kiss. Leo groaned, but Rosie continued delightedly clapping. Their parents kissed for a not-at-all-appropriate-in-front-of-their-children amount of time before Rainer dropped to his knees, his mouth next to her stomach.

“Hello, baby, this is your father. We are delighted that you’re here, but please stop making your mother so sick.”

He stood and helped Cecilia off the stool, and she turned to the children. Leo and Rosie both hugged her, but Stella hung back.

She should have been happy, and she was. Her parents had tried for more children for a long time. She thought they were content. Though her parents made a point of treating them all with equal love and attention, Stella had always felt special being the only biological child of a legendary soul-bonded couple. What if the new baby was more magical, more talented, or simply easier to love ?

Finally, her mother’s gaze leveled on her. “Say something.”

Stella wanted so badly to be gracious and excited like everyone else, but her mother was always looking at her like that—like she wanted understanding when everything came so easily to her.

“I guess it will be nice for you to have another reason to be the center of attention.” The words were too sharp and wrong for the mood, but Stella had no softness to offer. Not when her life had been tipped on its side.

Her mother flinched, her eyes going glassy as she turned and walked out into the garden.

Stella didn’t need to look to feel her father’s eyes on her, to sense his disappointment. He followed Cecilia outside, shaking his head.

Rosie and Leo hovered in the doorway. Stella hated their assessment. The way it was so easy for them to say and do the right thing.

“That wasn’t very kind,” Rosie said.

“I don’t know why you’re so happy to be replaced,” Stella snapped. “You’re the baby. Aren’t you worried about losing your privileged spot? Don’t you resent the way they’ve pined for a biological baby? Doesn’t it make you feel like an outsider?”

A look passed between Leo and Rosie, some silent language conspiring in that quick glance.

“You’re the only one who ever makes us feel that way,” Rosie said. “Mama and Papa never do.”

The words were a gut punch. Guilt swept through her. Stella loved Rosie and Leo. She was so grateful for her siblings and loved their talents and quirks more than anything. They’d always felt like her team, and she hated that she’d been anything less than accepting of them.

It didn’t matter that Rosie and Leo had both come from other families. Stella had always felt like they belonged to her.

Leo scowled at her, took Rosie under his arm, and guided her toward the foyer. The front door slammed a moment later.

Stella stood alone in the kitchen for a long time, staring out at her parents in the garden and watching a great love from afar.