Gift of the Beast: Holiday Starrs Read online

  A green light in the sky caught his eye as he packed Shea and Lila’s luggage in the car. He frowned at the sight. It was odd. Earth experienced lightning storms, but Garr couldn’t remember them ever being green, and he couldn’t hear the thunder.

  He had heard about a phenomenon called ‘northern lights’ that could be various colors, but he had never seen it for himself. He had also never left Space City, though. Could that be it? Did New York have northern lights?

  He shrugged to himself, dismissing the green light from his mind.

  Chapter 7

  Shea

  The snow storm had slowed them down the day before, so they still had a few hours to go before they’d reach Shea’s parents’ house. The roads were busy as always on Christmas Eve, but the long drive seemed shorter with company.

  True, Garr didn’t talk much, but Lila still somehow managed to have conversations with him. She had learned to interpret his body language very quickly, and could often tell what he was thinking even if he didn’t say it.

  That kind of advanced body language reading that came naturally to adults wasn’t common with children, but Lila was observing Garr closely, and she was too smart for her own good. Fortunately, Garr didn’t seem to mind her constant questions.

  As the drive went on, he spoke more and more. He never said much at once, but Shea could tell that he was becoming more comfortable speaking around her and Lila. She felt honored by his trust, and vowed to never break it.

  Lila started to get bored and complain near the end of the trip. Shea kept telling her they were almost there, but it seemed to have no effect on Lila. When they finally arrived, Garr pulled into her parents’ driveway at Shea’s direction. Hazel’s car was already there, and her parents’ cars were bound to be parked in the indoor garage.

  “Ready to see Grandma and Grandpa, sweetheart?” Shea asked.

  “Yay!” Lila bounced out of the car.

  Shea had to scramble to catch her before she fell in the snow. She ended up overbalancing both of them and would have fallen flat on her face had Garr’s hands not suddenly been around her waist. He lifted her gently and set her on her feet again, making sure she was steady before he let go.

  “Thanks,” Shea said breathlessly. Her cheeks flushed, and not just because she’d rushed after Lila and almost fallen.

  She was attracted to Garr, there was no point in denying that. His firm hands on her waist had sent her mind to all sorts of naughty places. Places she’d do best to ignore.

  They made it to the front door without further mishap. Shea rang the bell, and her mother answered the door almost at once.

  “Shea, Lila!” Her mother, Renee, pulled them both into a hug, only noticing Garr when she spotted him over Shea’s shoulder. “And who must this be?”

  Of course, Shea had explained the situation to her mom over the phone, but introductions were still in order.

  “Mom, this is Garr,” she said. “He’s my neighbor, and he was kind enough to offer to drive Lila and me when my car wouldn’t start.”

  “Well, in that case, welcome, Garr!” Her mother smiled warmly at him. “Thank you for helping my daughter and granddaughter get here. We would be honored if you would spend this holiday with us.”

  Shea looked hopefully at Garr. She had already made the offer to him before, but Garr hadn’t responded. She wasn’t sure what he would do, but she didn’t want him to have to drive back right after just arriving.

  Besides, she wanted him to stay. She could always get a lift back with Hazel and Zeriq, but that wasn’t why she wanted Garr here. She just wanted to spend more time with him. She liked him, his silence and all. She wanted to get to know him better.

  Garr looked into her eyes for a minute before nodding. If Shea’s mother thought it odd that he didn’t speak or offer his hand to shake, she didn’t show it. Then again, she knew plenty about the Ezak-X from Zeriq.

  “Come in, come in,” she hustled. “You must be frozen out there. Dreadful storm it was yesterday. You did the right thing staying at a hostel.”

  Shea’s father, Darius, was in the kitchen, but came through when he heard the three of them arriving.

  “Shea!” He bestowed a bone crushing hug on Shea before turning to Lila. “Where’s my little girl?”

  “Grandpa!” Lila launched herself into Darius’s arms. He laughed and spun her around.

  Hazel and Zeriq came through from the living room.

  “Hey, Shea, Lila. I’ve just put Maya down to sleep, so – oh! Hi, Garr.”

  Garr entered the house, awkwardly hovering by the entrance. Shea had already called her mom from the hostel, and Hazel and Zeriq must’ve known that Garr was coming too, but she now explained the entire situation in detail to her sister while their mother tried to chivvy Garr into a seat in the living room.

  She failed, and he continued to stand by the walls of the room with his arms behind his back. He was clearly uncomfortable with so many people around. Zeriq took pity on him and asked for help chopping firewood. Shea had noticed that Garr didn’t like being left without things to do, so she appreciated Zeriq trying to involve him.

  Once they were done with the firewood, maybe she could get him to help their mother with the cooking for Christmas dinner. Renee would love him forever, and it would give Garr something useful to do so that he didn’t need to feel awkward or out of place. Most importantly, he wouldn’t need to socialize.

  “I want to build a snowman!” Lila exclaimed, looking out to the snowy yard.

  Space City didn’t see any snow. It was warmer there, and Lila was clearly excited to be around snow again. Although their drive here had been delayed, they had gotten lucky with the snow, since it didn’t always snow in New York in December.

  Shea turned to her mom. “Do you need help with the cooking?”

  “Don’t worry, honey, your dad and I have it handled. You go ahead and have fun.”

  “You game, Hazel?” Shea smiled at her sister.

  “Only if we get Zeriq and Garr involved. We’ll need a lot of manpower if we’re going to make a proper snowman. It’ll take a lot of snow to make balls that are big enough.”

  Shea agreed wholeheartedly. Making snowmen at the size Lila would want was easier said than done. Her muscles ached even thinking about it.

  “Let’s go ask them,” she said. “Come, Lila. We can go build a snowman!”

  After putting on their thickest coats and shoes, Shea, Hazel, and Lila went outside. Lila immediately started jumping around in the snow with excitement. She grabbed a clump of snow in her hands and formed a small ball out of it.

  Shea hesitated as she saw Zeriq and Garr. They were chopping wood at the far end of the yard and seemed to be experiencing a bonding moment. Neither man spoke but they were seemingly at ease with one another. She didn’t want to disturb them, and Hazel seemed to feel the same.

  “Maybe we should ask them later,” Hazel said. “They seem to be fine where they are.”

  “Agreed,” Shea said. “After suffering through an entire car trip with us, I think Garr could use a break. I hope we aren’t too much for him all at once. I want him to have a good time.”

  Hazel cocked a brow at her in question. She clearly had something to ask Shea, but she held her tongue – which meant it was something she didn’t want either Garr or Zeriq to overhear. Shea could feel her cheeks heat up. She was pretty sure what that something was, and it wasn’t like that between her and Garr.

  Finally, Hazel nodded. “It’s probably best to give him some space. Zeriq will keep him busy for now. Now come on, let’s make this snowman!”

  Shea smiled as the two of them joined Lila in making snowballs. Shea and Hazel took over rolling the bottom ball of the snowman’s body, while Lila helped pack snow onto the growing ball, grinning the whole time.

  It took ages to roll the ball big enough, and Lila would probably have gotten bored if Zeriq and Garr hadn’t joined in a while later.

  “Have you ever made a snowman be
fore, Garr?” Shea asked.

  Garr shook his head, so Shea quickly explained the process, pointing at the smaller balls of snow that Lila was currently rolling around the yard.

  “You don’t have to help if you don’t want to. You can always keep cutting firewood if you prefer to be alone. Or just take it easy if you want.”

  “I help,” Garr said with a determined nod.

  He started picking up snow, and Zeriq did the same. They sped up the process considerably, taking over rolling the balls once they grew too big, and in no time, the snowman had three huge balls of snow to make up his body. At Lila’s instruction, Garr lifted the smallest ball to form the snowman’s head.

  Shea turned to Lila. “Do you want to pick the sticks for the arms? I can look for pebbles for eyes.”

  “Yes!” Lila immediately started scouring the ground for appropriate sticks.

  Finding pebbles under all the snow was difficult, but with Garr’s help, Shea found two good ones of mostly the same size. Garr’s ability to push snow away in great swathes with his arm was extremely helpful.

  Shea watched Garr carefully place the pebbles on the snowman’s face. She felt surprisingly warm for such a cold day, and she held no illusions as to where that warmth was coming from.

  She knew she shouldn’t get involved with Garr, but she couldn’t help but feel warmly toward him. He was so sweet with her and Lila, and never got impatient with Lila’s constant questions. He made Shea feel like a person again, when her last relationship had made her feel like she lived on a battlefield.

  She didn’t quite understand why he was being so nice. Was that just who he was, or could he have feelings for Shea? The thought of him potentially having feelings for her sent warm shivers all through Shea’s body. He had certainly gone above and beyond what could be expected of even the friendliest neighbor.

  Shea shook her head, getting rid of the image. Based on the way he’d jumped away from her at a mere touch, that was unlikely. It was a friendship, nothing more. She shoved all thoughts of Garr from her mind.

  The sun was starting to set, and the snowman was almost done.

  “He needs a carrot nose,” Lila pointed out.

  “Why don’t you go inside and see if Grandma has one?” Shea was glad to see Lila get out of the wet and cold. She’d have to make sure Lila changed out of her wet clothes before dinner.

  Before Lila could come back out with the carrot, a car pulled into the driveway. Shea stiffened. She recognized that car. No one had really wanted to invite Evan for dinner, but it wouldn’t be fair to keep Lila away from her father at Christmas. They had agreed that Evan would come for dinner on Christmas Eve, and be there for opening the gifts on Christmas morning.

  Shea’s clothes and hair were a mess from working on the snowman, but she found she didn’t care. Wanting to impress Evan was something in her past. She wasn’t trying to save a failing marriage anymore. She honestly didn’t care what he thought of her at this point.

  She was only relieved that he had decided to turn up, no matter how much she was dreading spending an entire evening in his company. Lila would have been shattered if her dad hadn’t come to spend Christmas with her.

  Shea peered into the car and was relieved to find that Evan had listened to her wishes and hadn’t brought Tiffany with him. She had told him quite clearly that the invitation was for him only, but she wouldn’t have put anything past him at this point.

  Evan got out of the car, holding a bag that most likely contained presents for Lila.

  “Shea.” He smiled widely at her, exuding his usual fake friendliness.

  “Evan.” Shea nodded. She wasn’t able to force any amiability into her voice, not after all the times she’d held Lila while she cried over her daddy not coming to see her or call her when he was supposed to.

  No one else greeted Evan – Garr because he didn’t know him, Hazel and Zeriq because of their complete contempt for the man. Shea didn’t want any trouble with Evan. She just wanted to get through this evening without a blow up. As long as Lila had a good time, she would be happy.

  “Daddy!” Lila came running out of the house and leaped at Evan, who caught her with both arms.

  “Hey, honey-pie!” Evan laughed. “How’s my little girl doing?”

  “We made a snowman! Look!” Lila pointed to the side of the house where they had built the snowman.

  “Wow, I must say, that’s the most handsome snowman I’ve ever seen.”

  Shea couldn’t help smiling. For all his faults, Evan was at least good with Lila, when he bothered to turn up. She watched in silence as Lila extolled the virtues of the snowman, wishing that Evan could stay outside all night. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be.

  “Thank you for coming, Evan,” she said, putting on her friendliest voice around Lila. “Please, come inside.”

  The air inside the house seemed to drop a few degrees when Evan entered. Hazel, Zeriq, and Shea’s father were all frowning pointedly at Evan, but at least her mother made an attempt to welcome him. It had been Shea’s idea to invite Evan, and no one was very happy about it.

  Shea tried to pull herself together. She wanted to make the evening a success, for Lila’s sake. She pasted a fake smile onto her face as they all entered the dining room.

  “Why don’t you sit here, Evan, next to Lila?”

  Shea was about to take the place on Evan’s other side when Garr unexpectedly dropped into the seat. He folded his arms, looking forbidding. Clearly, he wasn’t going to move. Shea could tell by his body language that he wasn’t keen on Evan. But what was he doing?

  Shea glanced at Zeriq in confusion. She hadn’t expected Garr to behave in this way. Maybe she should’ve mentioned Evan to him before and told him she didn’t want any trouble.

  Zeriq just rolled his eyes.

  “I’ll just start grabbing food from the kitchen,” Shea said, giving Zeriq a meaningful look as she started toward the kitchen.

  Zeriq cocked an eyebrow but followed her into the kitchen.

  “What is Garr doing?” Shea asked him in a low voice when they were alone. “Surely, he hasn’t taken to Evan?”

  “No, but he sees you’re uncomfortable with Evan and clearly wants to protect you.”

  Shea blinked. “Protect me? Why?”

  “That, you should ask Garr about.”

  Shea frowned. She wanted to press Zeriq for answers but before she could, Maya started crying in Hazel and Zeriq’s room, and Zeriq hurried to tend to her. Shea’s mother came through to the kitchen to see what was taking so long with bringing the roast. Shea quickly grabbed two bowls of potatoes to carry to the dining room.

  The atmosphere in the dining room was tense. Their father and Hazel sat in silence, watching the situation, while Garr completely ignored Evan’s attempts to start a conversation, not even giving him a nod of acknowledgement. The only one happily chattering was Lila.

  “May I ask who your friend is?” Evan asked once they’d brought the rest of the food from the kitchen and Shea had taken a seat. He smiled but his voice was icy as he looked at Shea. “Lila already told me he is your neighbor in Space City.”

  “Evan, this is Garr.” Shea introduced him with a tight smile. “He lives in our apartment complex. My car broke down and he was kind enough to offer to drive us here. Mom and Dad have invited him to stay for the holiday.”

  “Your car broke down?” Evan frowned. “Well done, Shea, you almost ruined Lila’s holiday. And my chance to see her, despite your promises. You should have checked your car the previous day.”

  Shea took a deep breath, striving for patience. “The car was working fine the day before. We had no way to know it would break down.”

  “I told you, you had no place moving there. If it wasn’t for your alien friend’s charity, you’d have been left high and dry. You’re not strong enough to live independently, Shea.”

  Shea closed her eyes and bit her tongue. There it was. Always trying to push her down, telling her she wasn’t go
od enough. As if Evan was Mr. Dependability himself. He couldn’t even be counted on to call Lila when he’d promised, and she was the one who couldn’t handle being independent?

  He was the very reason she’d had to learn to be independent. She’d long since learned that Evan couldn’t be trusted. She was better off doing everything by herself, even if he told her afterward that she had done it all wrong.

  The worst part was, that in all their years together, Shea had started believing his poisonous words. It was why she had such a hard time letting people help her. She wanted to prove herself. As if she had anything to prove. It was all Evan’s mindless jabs, but even if she knew it, she couldn’t undo the years of hurt his words had caused.

  Shea took a deep breath. Counter-points and arguments were on the tip of her tongue, but she managed to hold back with difficulty. She hadn’t invited Evan here to argue with him.

  “Would you like some potatoes?” she asked, gesturing to the potatoes with a smile.

  “I think we should talk about–”

  Garr grabbed the bowl of potatoes and slammed it down right in front of Evan’s face so hard that the bowl cracked slightly. “Eat.”

  No word had ever sounded so threatening. Gar’s voice was more of a growl, and even though it wasn’t directed at her, it still made a shiver crawl along Shea’s back. Evan’s words seemed to fail him and he meekly started putting potatoes on his plate.

  Only Lila’s innocent “Uh oh,” at the broken bowl eased the tension slightly.

  Zeriq returned to the dining table a moment later, and once everyone got some food in their bellies, conversation started to flow. Lila was having the time of her life, telling her father all kinds of stories from Space City. Evan had brought up one of his presents, and Lila opened it eagerly, revealing a stuffed bear with some kind of a trinket inside.

  Shea beamed at her daughter. Despite her worries and Evan’s initial attitude, the dinner was going on as well as it could. Lila was happy, and though Garr was still glowering at Evan next to him, Shea started to relax. The atmosphere had shifted to a more festive mood.