Star Crossed: an Adult Dystopian Paranormal Romance: Sector 11 (The Othala Witch Collection)

by J. E. Taylor

  “Why now?” I asked.

  “Because I’m being forced into something I don’t want, and I needed to know if there was something to fight for.” He took a deep breath. “Why are you immune to my influence?”

  I pressed my lips together against the answer straining to spill. Jaden stepped closer.

  “Star?”

  “Damn it, Jaden,” I said, but my voice was as tight as my chest.

  “Why, Star?” he pressed and pulled me closer.

  Thunder rumbled and I stared into his eyes.

  “My secret is as deadly as yours.” The words squeaked out against my will.

  A bolt of lightning traversed the sky overhead. Jaden followed my gaze, watching the chaotic lightning strikes all around us. A crease appeared between his eyes, and his gaze dropped to mine. With a cock of his head, the millions of questions I was sure flooded his mind reflected in the green of his eyes, but not one flowed over his lips. Not right away.

  “Are you...” He dropped his hands and stepped back.

  “Am I what?” I asked, knowing I was sealing my fate.

  “A witch?”

  I laughed and looked up at the sky. “What do you think?”

  “I think you might be, but I can’t figure out why you would hide it.”

  My gaze dropped to his. “Your mother had a conversation with my mom after she exiled my father. She said that if I ever showed a propensity for magic, she would destroy me. I guess your mother couldn’t live with the fact my dad loved my mom and not her. He was sentenced to death because he told your mother to go to hell. It wasn’t because he was a powerful witch. That was just her public excuse. It was because he refused her offer and chose to marry my mom.”

  Jaden’s jaw dropped, and he started blinking like the information I fed him was short circuiting his brain. He glanced at the barrier, and he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth like he always did when he was processing. He turned his gaze back in my direction, and pain lived in his eyes.

  I expected denial, but the words that came next shocked me.

  “I wouldn’t put it past her,” he said, voicing the sad truth about how he felt about his mother.

  “I’m sorry. I should have never...”

  He put his hand up, stopping me. “Don’t. You being brutally honest with me is my fault. I’m the one who mixed up a truth spell.” His gaze traveled back to the barrier. It stayed there as lightning pinged the surrounding buildings, echoing my uneasiness. “Do you know what this means?” His eyes sparkled, and a smile surfaced.

  “It means you have to marry someone else,” I said. “Or both my mother and I die.”

  His smile slowly faded. “If I marry that woman, I’ll be the one who is eventually exiled.”

  We stared at each other in silence. I kept my tongue. He would be safe. I made sure of that with the potion he drank before we started this crazy argument.

  He stepped forward, threading his hands through my hair as he leaned in, delivering the kind of kiss I’d always dreamed of. Tender and sweet, but full of the desperation filling both of us. When his arms wrapped around me, the kiss deepened.

  His hands traveled down my back until they cupped my ass, pulling me against him. The hardness beneath his jeans pressed into me, and my heart quickened. The dreams I had about making love to Jaden always took place here, in our sanctuary on top of the crumbling buildings, but it was never in the middle of the winter under a stormy sky.

  I pulled away and stared into his eyes, wondering just how long the truth serum I ingested from that damn mint sprig would impact both of us.

  “I want you,” he whispered.

  I let out a laugh. “I get that, but it’s freezing.” My teeth conveniently started chattering to amplify my point.

  “I don’t want to go back yet,” he said, holding me in place.

  “I know what you want to do, but it’s too cold,” I said and offered up a sly smile.

  “So you want to find that empty room again and figure out what comes next?”

  I hesitated because I could tell from his expression what came next. I wasn’t ready to give him my soul. Not when he would be interviewing suitable wives tomorrow.

  “You don’t want me?” he asked, reading my hesitation wrong, and the damn truth serum compelled me to answer.

  “I never said that,” I said, successfully answering him without delving into my thought process.

  “Then let’s go talk,” he said and stepped away, heading for the zip lines.

  “But that’s not what you want to do, is it?”

  “Damn it,” he mumbled and shook his head without looking at me.

  I kind of liked the effects of his truth spell. “What is it you have in mind?”

  He glared back at me and jumped, sliding down the rope before he had to answer. I followed after a moment, landing next to him and watching his lips press tighter together as if trying to keep the words from slipping out.

  Instead of speaking, he slammed me into the wall, and his hand slipped between my legs just before his mouth found the curve of my neck. The way he teased me with a trail of kisses down to the v of my shirt turned on a fire inside like I had never experienced. The gentle rubbing of his fingers through my jeans suggested everything his silence did not.

  “Jaden,” I whispered, closing my eyes and letting his touch drive me to the edge.

  When his fingers fumbled with my belt, I caught his wrist, holding it in place to stop this insanity. He pulled away, his eyes wide and nearly frantic with need. I shook my head, and his hand stilled between my thighs.

  “You don’t want this?”

  Now it was my turn to curse at him. “Damn you. You know I want this more than anything,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “Then why deny me?”

  “Because it will always be a rushed screw in a hidden room. It will always be forbidden,” I whispered. Tears spilled from my eyes, creating hot paths down my cheeks. “It will never be what I truly want. I will never wake to you by my side, or go to sleep in your arms. I will never make love to you until the sun rises, and then make breakfast for us to eat in bed. These are things that cannot be, and if I let you lead me into that room, all I become is your mistress.” I sniffled. “Your slutty little slave girl.”

  He stared into my eyes for an eternity and then slowly removed his hand from between my legs.

  “I want you, Jaden. But I’ll never have you,” I said and took off down the stairs as the tightness in my chest formed harsh sobs. I stopped when I got to the lobby, torn between continuing to run or turning around and giving in to the visceral need to be with him.

  His slow descent locked my feet in place, and I wiped my face in irritation. I wasn’t this sobbing mess. I was better than that. Stronger than that. I had to be.

  “You didn’t leave.” The surprise in his voice pulled a small smile to my lips.

  “I couldn’t.”

  “So you chose slutty slave girl?”

  I allowed a huff of a laugh to escape. “No. I chose my best friend.” I turned. “You are still my best friend, right?”

  He closed the distance and took my hand. “Always.”

  We walked silently through the streets with our hands intertwined. I stopped when the Regent’s sprawling estate came into view and pulled my hand from his warm grip.

  “Promise me you won’t say or do anything that puts my mother in danger,” I said and looked from the homestead to him.

  He sighed. “I promise as long as you keep my secret safe, too.”

  My lips twitched into a smile. “Mutual destruction.”

  He broke out in a grin. “I guess.”

  “So are you going to be a good boy and go interview that deranged fairy?”

  “Only if you become my slutty slave girl,” he said with a grin.

  So, we were still at an impasse.

  I sighed and decided to play coy. I gave him a deep curtsey and batted my eyes. “As you wish, my lord.” I turned and
gave him the bird as I walked away.

  His rich laugh followed, and my heart ached for him.

  Chapter 5

  When I walked into the Regent’s estate, chaos engulfed me. People ran like the house was on fire, their faces painted in portraits of panic. I took a few more steps and stopped, just staring at the utter madness.

  The door opened behind me and I turned, meeting Jaden’s gaze. He looked just as gobsmacked as I was. He crossed to where I stood, and before he could ask what was going on, I just shrugged.

  Tasha, Samantha’s personal assistant, popped out of nowhere and grabbed Jaden’s arm, leading him away. “Oh, thank goodness you’re back. Your mother was having an absolute meltdown.”

  He glanced back before she whisked him around the corner, and beyond the confusion in his eyes, there was a ‘we aren’t done yet’ expression that chilled me.

  I zigzagged through the bedlam, avoiding collisions as best I could until I got to the back section of the mansion and the servants’ residences. Bypassing my room, I went straight to my mother’s quarters. I knocked but didn’t wait and stepped inside the modest accommodations.

  My gaze landed on the red streaks crossing the floor. My heartrate tripled. I rushed into the kitchen, finding my mother on the floor.

  “Mom!” I landed next to her, but she tried to push me away, leaving a bloody streak across my shirt.

  “Stay back,” she whispered. Then her body went into spasms.

  I reached for her again to see just how bad she was hurt. At my touch, she turned towards me. I stumbled back at the mess that was her face. Blood ran from long gashes, and her left eye was completely closed.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Ravager,” she said, her voice only a raspy exhale.

  I blinked. “Where?”

  She closed her eyes, and her head dropped to the ground. “Garden, tutoring Jack. Not a barrier breach,” she whispered.

  My heart sunk. Jack was Jaden’s little brother. “Is Jack okay?” I leaned in close, but this time when she looked up, the virus had already started to take hold of her, turning her feral.

  “Get away,” she growled.

  “Mom, please,” I whispered.

  She bared her teeth and hissed before climbing to her feet.

  “I need to know if Jaden’s brother is okay.” My gaze dropped to her bloodied form. Her face wasn’t the only thing mangled. A flap of skin hung from her chest, showing her ribs. The amount of blood coating her and pooled on the floor was too much. I had no idea how her body was able to sustain life.

  “Run,” she snarled as the ravager venom worked its black magic, turning her skin that dark grey that reminded me of death. Soon, she would be a mindless killer like those beyond the barrier.

  My mind swirled and I blinked. A ravager inside the barrier meant a breach, but my mother just said it wasn’t a breach. How could that be?

  “What did you mean not a barrier breach?” I asked, praying there was enough of my mother left to get an answer.

  Her door blasted open, making both of us jump. Jaden stepped inside with eyes as wild as my mother’s. A bloodied sword hung from his hand. At the sight of my mom, he moved without hesitation.

  “Don’t!” I screamed.

  But Jaden didn’t listen. His blade whistled through the air, severing my mother’s head from her body. Whatever changes had started, died with her, along with any logical explanation.

  Numbing shock kept me in place. My gaze dropped to where my mother’s head had rolled.

  “Did she attack you?” Jaden spun towards me with the blade out in front of him, ready to strike again if he had to. His eyes scanned me, looking for injury that wasn’t there, and the haunting pain reflected in his face relayed more than any words between us could. “Star! Did she bite you?”

  His voice was brittle and harsh and jerked my attention back to him. I shook my head.

  Jaden lowered the sword, letting out a shaky breath.

  “You killed my mother.” The words squeezed from my chest as reality slammed home.

  “I had to kill my little brother, too.” His voice was low and full of regret.

  None of this made sense. I sat on the edge of my mother’s kitchen bench trying to understand how things could devolve into such a catastrophe.

  “There was a breach,” he said.

  I shook my head at where my dead mother lay. “She said it wasn’t a breach.”

  He reached out for me, but I knocked his hand away. Reconciling the man I loved with the one who killed my mother with no hesitation didn’t mesh in my head. I didn’t need coddling; I needed answers. Answers he’d stolen from me.

  “Star?” he said, his eyes now wide and sincere.

  “You killed my mother,” I said again, pointing.

  “She would have killed you!” he argued. “She was turning into one of those beasts!”

  I shook my head. “She was trying to tell me something before the venom poisoned her. And you just barged in here and decapitated her like she was the enemy.”

  “She was,” he said. “Ravagers don’t reason. They just kill.”

  I pressed my lips together as the burn of anger bubbled to the surface. “You don’t know that!” I yelled at him, jumping to my feet and advancing as the need to knock him clear across the little efficiency apartment took hold.

  The ground shook under us, nearly fracturing the walls in the room. A small part of me grasped for sanity.

  “Get out!” I pointed at the door.

  He opened his mouth to speak.

  “So help me, Jaden, if you don’t get out, I will hurt you,” I snarled.

  He stepped back, rising to his natural height, and his expression hardened. Without a word, he turned and marched out of the room.

  The fury and sorrow mixed inside me to a level I couldn’t contain. I dropped to my knees, letting scream after scream peel out of my throat until nothing came forth but a rasp in breath. I collapsed in tears on the floor, curling into a ball so I wouldn’t have to look at my mother’s severed head.

  Chapter 6

  “She’s in shock,” Jaden said, but his voice seemed far away.

  I kept my eyes closed, wishing I had jumped from the tower and made the elements carry me away. At least then this crushing agony holding me captive wouldn’t be ruling my world. My ability to speak, to tell them to leave me alone, was stripped by a prick of a needle in my arm.

  “We need to burn the bodies,” a voice I didn’t recognize said.

  No. I didn’t want my mother burned and scattered like trash. I wanted to give her the proper burial ceremony and then send her ashes flowing on the breeze from my building hideaway in the city.

  Medical officers lifted me onto a gurney.

  “Jaden.” His mother’s sharp voice broke through the rest of the din. “What are you doing down here in the servants’ quarters?”

  Just the tone of her accusing voice made me want to curl in on myself.

  “Her mother is the reason my son is dead,” Samantha snapped. “She will pay dearly for her mother’s transgression.”

  “No. Star is not to be punished,” Jaden said with a tone as cold as the wind on the towers.

  “Still protecting that little harlot?”

  “I will always protect her, Mother. And stop calling her a harlot. We both know she’s the innocent one here,” he snapped.

  With his words, my heart began to thaw.

  “Your brother’s death requires justice.”

  “Isn’t her mother’s death enough?” Jaden argued.

  “I will make you a deal. You marry Eleanor, and I will reduce Star’s punishment for her mother’s sins,” she said with such sweetness and venom that I nearly screamed, but my lips wouldn’t open.

  “That’s not good enough, Mother. I will marry that deranged pixie of a girl only if you release Star from her servitude. Free her and promise not to harm her, and I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

  I wanted to
open my eyes, but my eyelids were not cooperating. Nothing was cooperating.

  Silence filtered over the room as everyone froze at Jaden’s ultimatum. Seconds ticked by with my life in the balance of Samantha’s whims.

  “Fine. I release her from her parents’ debt to the house of Mallory.”

  “And?” Jaden prodded.

  “And I promise not to punish her for her mother’s transgression.”

  “I want you to promise not to harm her. Ever,” he said, low and insistent.

  Another hush passed over the room.

  “I promise not to harm her...ever,” Samantha said, and I could tell it was through clenched teeth. “Now, your part of the deal. You will marry Eleanor this weekend.”

  “So be it,” he said. “Thank you, Mother.” His footsteps retreated until they faded altogether.

  “Dump her outside. She is no longer my property. I will not provide her shelter,” Samantha said.

  “But, Regent...” the medic closest to me started.

  “She no longer belongs here,” she said, and there was no leeway in her tone.

  When her footsteps faded in the same manner as Jaden’s, the gurney rolled away in the opposite direction. I still couldn’t speak or move from whatever drug they had given to me. My mother’s body was probably being carted off to be burned with the day’s garbage, and Jaden had promised to marry that witch. He sentenced himself to what he thought was a lifetime of misery just to set me free.

  Hot tears burned the back of my throat, but none escaped. Not even when I was dumped in an alley outside the Regent’s estate. Cold seeped from the ground, and the air wrapped me in a frigid blanket that I couldn’t toss.

  My entire form shivered, but my muscles were helpless to get me out of this frozen alley. My eyes closed, dipping me into a dark stupor.

  “Get up, Star.”

  My eyes opened at the familiar voice.

  “Get up and move,” a vision of my mother said. She was enveloped in smoke, but it was her.

  I forced my arms underneath me, pushing my face up and away from the frozen ground. “Mama,” my hoarse voice whispered.

  “If you stay still, you will freeze to death. Move, baby girl,” the mist said.