A Mark Cursed by Stars (The Cursed Celestials #1)
PROLOGUE
“ W hy did our journey bring us to Earth again?” The masculine voice rose from the dense cover of the forest. Torin's voice carried the musical rhythm of their native tongue, even as he spoke in the harsh language of this planet.
“Countless planets circling countless stars, yet our endless travels bring us to the Scottish Borders.”
Torin moved through the forest, where sky-reaching trees with tangled branches formed a thick canopy above.
His heavy footsteps thudded against the moss-covered ground.
Sable-haired and muscular, Torin's aristocratic features matched his chuckle.
He held his head high and walked with a confident swagger.
“I hope she's ready to be charmed,” he said, his voice cutting through the forest's silence.
“I hope even more so that she's pleasing to the eye and worth our trouble coming here.”
“Is there to be no peace from your incessant babbling, Torin? We're all eager to find her, but you carry on like a fledgling whining for its first taste of energy.” Though Cillian shared his younger brother's looks, the warmth and maturity in his green eyes set him apart.
Turning scornfully, Torin's response was met with a soft rustling of leaves as if the forest itself bristled at his tone.
“Aren't you curious to know if she'll match the passion of our women? Or how she'll react when she glimpses our smiles and bodies, honed by the Gods?”
“Silence, Torin!” a third, more aggressive voice barked.
Fionn moved steadily ahead through the forest. The eldest of his brothers, he bore a stern demeanour and cold, piercing blue eyes.
“Cillian, haven’t you learned by now that Torin thrives on his own self-importance and troublemaking?”
“I don't need you to remind me, Fionn,” Cillian replied. “Perhaps we should all be silent. Don’t you feel the shift in the energy? It's coursing through my flesh like an electrical current.”
He paused.
“She’s near...I feel her presence so strongly.”
An eerie stillness descended on the forest. The birds fell silent, and the trees watched like sentinels while the skies ominously darkened.
“Can you smell that?” Fionn asked, stopping and sniffing the air like an animal. His eyes narrowed as the water from a gurgling stream nearby began to ripple. A deluge erupted from the sky.
“I sense a malevolent energy descending through the atmosphere. Others have been sent for her! They are hunting, too.”
“We don’t have much time,” Cillian said. “Quickly! Follow the stream through the forest. It leads to a road near the wind farms.”
Fionn reached for the jewelled dagger hanging from his belt and hacked away a branch barring their path. He led his brothers like a platoon commander. “Hurry! We can’t let them find her first!”