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

by J. E. Taylor

  “I bind myself to thee with my love’s blood. Give thy enemy the power to see the strength of the elements by my side. Rules of magic, I shall abide. I am bound to the beauty of the stars, the suns life-giving rays, the whiteness of the moon, the flash of lightning, the whirling wind, the stable earth, and the deep salt sea. Forge this barrier for me.

  “Craft it in white fire. Weave it higher in shimmering flame. None shall come to hurt or maim. None with harmful intent shall pass this fiery wall. No evil shall pass... None at all!”

  I reached out and grabbed Jaden’s bound wrists, pulling him closer to me. The shimmer surrounded us. I closed my eyes, remembering the drawings of the sector, the maps, the boundaries, willing the wall to strengthen and expand to include its original borders.

  Unfortunately, that included a good part of the field we stood in, leaving at least two dozen creatures on our side of the barrier, including his now feral mother. Before, it was only us at their mercy. Now it was the entire sector.

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  Jaden’s gaze moved to the newly formed wall beyond our unwanted visitors. “You need to get me out of these restraints.”

  I looked down and placed my hand on the cuffs. “What is now locked, let be unlocked.”

  Jaden pulled his hands free, rubbing his wrists before he turned to the shocked guards. Most of the weapons were pointed at him.

  “Kill him,” the Regent growled.

  The guards’ guns wavered, moving from his obvious human figure to her mutated ravager form. The confusion of seeing a ravager on two legs and talking reflected in the uniform creases between their eyes.

  I needed to take control of the situation before the shock wore off and one side or the other cast the first stone.

  “You are no longer in charge of this sector,” I said to Samantha.

  She hissed in response.

  I scanned the beasts within the confines of our safety net, and every gaze except Samantha’s met mine. “Freedom or death.” I pointed towards the barrier. “Your choice.”

  The beasts that Samantha had caged as test subjects turned and ran right through the barrier, and never looked back. A few others joined them, but the majority of ravagers that had no clue what being confined to a cell for decades felt like seemed less keen on leaving their next meal on the table.

  Samantha screamed and launched at us. Jaden put his hand out, and without words, he sent her tumbling backwards, ass over teakettle. The crowd gasped, but I was more worried about the remaining ravagers.

  “Get those people back!” I yelled at the closest guard.

  He just blinked at me and brought his gun up. I turned and tackled Jaden as a bullet whizzed by the spot where we had been standing.

  A thud pulled my gaze behind me. A ravager lay sprawled less than three feet away with a bullet hole between his eyes. I scanned the field for Samantha. She was getting to her feet, licking her lips at the people near her.

  Saliva ran from the corner of her mouth. The bloodlust had taken hold, and if someone didn’t intervene, there would be more like her.

  “White fire, claim the space between the innocent and the monster, now!” I pointed my finger, creating a line of lightning between the crowd and Samantha.

  Both reared back in shock, and the sector eleven citizens realized this was not a game. The murmurs began, and then panic filled the air as people turned to flee from a fate more horrific than death.

  The movement caught the ravagers’ attention. Jaden pushed my head down as the line of guards opened fire.

  When the shooting stopped, my ears rang as we looked up. The ravagers that had not fled back through the barrier lay dead on the field. And the only surviving beast on our side of the firewall was Samantha.

  I scrambled to my feet, pulling Jaden up with me. The crowd’s retreat slowed to a stop.

  “You little bitch,” she said, pointing at me. “I will ensure you suffer for your insubordination and subterfuge.”

  “What about the deception you’ve been executing for years?” I yelled. The anger welled up from the depths of my soul. “You killed my parents because you were jealous and just couldn’t deal with rejection. In order to justify your scorn, you made up this ridiculous rule about male witches being evil.” I turned to the crowd. “She exiled my father because he was not interested in her. She used her station as Regent to get rid of any opposition and exact her own personal revenge. It wasn’t just. It was a bitter woman making sure no one would question her rule.”

  “Shut up, slave!” someone in the remaining crowd yelled. “You and that traitor must leave!”

  The guards’ weapons were now trained on us.

  “Give them what they want,” Jaden said.

  I hesitated. If they didn’t accept Jaden as the new Regent, then we couldn’t make them. I gave him a nod and extinguished the flame between Samantha and the stragglers.

  “If that’s truly what you want, then I’ll gladly give you your Regent.” I waved at the beast thirty yards away then took Jaden’s hand.

  We took a few steps towards the barrier. Samantha stood watching, calculating. I could see the wheels in her head turning. I stopped, unable to sentence my sector to destruction.

  “I can’t,” I whispered to Jaden.

  “Exile them, and if they do not leave, kill them!” she ordered in that horrific growl.

  Jaden’s face reddened, and he glared at what once was his mother. “Why don’t you come over here yourself and try to kill me?”

  Samantha turned towards us, showing her teeth.

  “One bite, Jaden. That’s all it takes. She’s not like the rest.”

  He glanced at me and then at the guards stubbornly keeping true to the last order they received.

  “Screw them all,” he whispered. Rage thrived in his eyes like a living being.

  Panic flared again at the futility of the moment. I saved Jaden and the sector, and it was all going to shit because the guards couldn’t think for themselves.

  “He isn’t evil. She is!” I pointed at the vile bitch approaching us like she was Lazarus risen from the dead. I turned to Jaden, knowing he lacked both the strength and dexterity in his current beaten condition to defeat Samantha. I grabbed him, pulling him into a kiss before planting my hands on either side of his head.

  “By full moon’s light, with helping hands, I spread good health throughout this man. Send energies far and near, to heal this form that I hold dear.”

  Jaden’s eyes glowed green, and he winced as the healing spell took hold, fixing his ailments.

  I let go and faced Samantha. “I am stronger than you can fathom. I lived through your twisted spells and poison potions when many others failed your tests.” I positioned myself between Jaden and his mother. “And you know damn well I am of pure lineage.”

  A hush fell over the remaining crowd.

  “You were my slave,” she snarled.

  “Because you knew my father came from the purest witch line in history, and when he refused you, you decided to exile him and enslave my mother, and me by default. My father didn’t die at the hands of the ravagers. You sentenced him to a cell in the basement of your estate where you practiced your black magic spells on him, trying to extract the ability to temporarily control those beasts!” I pointed towards the barrier. “You turned him into something worse than a ravager. You turned him into a monster using their blood and your filthy spells.”

  Sparks formed on my fingertips, tingling as my caged fury ascended to a different level. “When you dragged him into that cell, the venom in his system was not strong enough to turn him. He was still human!” I bellowed, my voice carrying over the murmuring crowd.

  “Give me a goddamned sword,” Jaden said from behind me.

  “You stole my life from me,” I screamed. The power shot from my fingers, slamming right into the middle of Samantha’s chest, and threw her back. The sudden surge left me dizzy and disoriented. I stumbled but Jaden caught me and gently set me o
n the ground.

  His eyes glowed a shade of green that had always captivated me. “I didn’t know,” he said softly.

  “I know. I have every one of my father’s memories. You were only trying to find a cure. The real monster has always been your mother.”

  A guard approached. “I’m sorry, but the court...” He glanced at Jaden. “The court ruling still stands.”

  I forced myself into a sitting position at the same time Samantha did across the field. “If you exile Jaden, I will go with him, and if he dies, I die. And when I die, your precious barrier disintegrates.”

  The guard’s face paled, and he glanced at the thing still holding the current Regency.

  “She has no magic to fix this. My father saw to that.”

  His gaze flew to mine, and his eyes widened.

  “Are you willing to sentence all of sector eleven to death, or worse, to becoming mutated ravagers like her?” Jaden asked.

  The guard sucked his lower lip in between his teeth as he glanced at Samantha. He shifted and shook his head.

  Samantha had started towards us again, but one of the crowd came within arm’s reach. Her teeth sunk into the idiot’s face, drawing blood before she dropped him to the ground. He screamed as the plague burned away his humanity.

  Samantha smiled and wiped her mouth.

  “Give me the sword,” Jaden said, putting his hand out. The deadly quality in his tone matched that in his eyes.

  The guard glanced at the screaming man while unclasping the steel from his belt and then handed it to Jaden.

  “Whoever she bites has to be killed. Beheaded works better than bullets. Understand?” he said to the guard.

  The guard nodded and spoke into his comms, issuing the order to kill that poor soul writhing on the ground.

  Jaden met my gaze. “Even if it’s me.”

  I shook my head, but he was up on his feet, wielding the sword like a true warrior before I could stop him.

  Samantha’s lunatic smile chilled me as much as the long razor sharp claws that once were her fingers. She uttered the words to one of the ancient spells asking for the power and agility of the gods. Dark clouds formed overhead as the blackest of magic swirled.

  My father may have stripped her magical essence, but she still knew how to call on the dark elements. And it looked like they were responding.

  The years of hiding in that locked room reading the ancient collections came in handy. I knew how to counteract those dark elements.

  I laid my hands on the earth, closing my eyes, summoning the mother to rise up and banish the blackness forming over our heads. “May mother earth destroy the darkness, with all her might and grace!”

  The ground rumbled, rippling under my hands and outward. A fissure started between my fingertips, spreading over the field like angry tentacles. White light bled from the earth, shooting at the storm clouds overhead.

  Samantha charged. So did Jaden. Her roar made my stomach clench in terror. Instead of running her though with the blade, Jaden dropped into a slide, ducking under the deadly arch of her claws. He rolled and was up on his feet facing her as she spun around.

  His expression was unreadable, but his eyes glowed green, even at this distance. He swung the sword. Samantha bent away from the blow, hissing as the blade drew a thin line of blood across her chest.

  My internal alarms started, and a jolt of adrenaline shot though my form, turning my icy veins into burning fuel. I had no idea why the sirens in my head were screaming, but I found myself running toward Jaden. Out of instinct, I reached for the nearest guard’s sword and yanked it from its sheath.

  Jaden’s face had gone red in frustration. He swung again. Samantha sidestepped and knocked Jaden off balance. He hit the ground and lost his grip on the sword. Samantha lunged. Jaden kicked. His foot planted right into Samantha’s stomach, knocking her on her ass. He rolled and started scrambling away.

  My heart leapt into my throat, pounding a frantic drumbeat from the rush of blood operating on high octane.

  Samantha caught his foot and sunk her teeth into his ankle.

  One bite... The thought nearly dropped me.

  Jaden’s growling howl echoed. His other foot connected with his mother’s face, and she flew backwards.

  I swung my sword. The blade whistled though the air and cut clean through Jaden’s leg, just below the knee. The impact with the ground vibrated all the way from the tip of the blade to my arms. I stood and spun, swinging the sword with me. The speed and strength filling every cell wasn’t enough.

  The force of Samantha’s body hitting me knocked me on the ground. I managed to roll her off and climb to my feet before I realized her head was still rolling three feet away, cut clean off by my blade.

  My breath filled my ears as the sirens inside me subsided. Jaden grimaced holding the hemorrhaging stump of his leg. The sword fell from my hand. I yanked the sash from the coat I wore and dropped to my knees to try to tie a tourniquet around his thigh.

  A high buzz filled my head as my heartbeat returned to normal, and with it came the after shakes of a fading adrenaline rush. I yanked on the ends of the belt, tightening the tourniquet until the flow of blood slowed.

  His pained gaze found mine. “What have you done?”

  “I saved your life,” I said, but his eyes still blazed with fury. He couldn’t possibly be mad at me, could he?

  “You cut off my fucking leg!” he yelled, confirming my thought.

  “You’re damn right. It’s better than having to cut off your head.” I pointed at his blackened bare foot lying a few feet away. Mutated ravager skin matched that of Samantha’s dead body a few feet away.

  Instead of dealing with his aggravation, I concentrated on creating a small ball of fire in my hand. When the flame burned blue, I slammed it into the end of his stump, cauterizing the blood vessels and stopping any further loss of blood.

  He bellowed in pain, clutching his hands into fists. His panting finally slowed, and he opened his eyes at what was left of his leg. “You should have killed me.” His voice held a measure of contempt aimed at me.

  I sat back on the ground, my strength draining as the sky cleared. Numbness overtook me as I stared at him. I opened my mouth several times, but I couldn’t muster an apology. I was not sorry, and I wouldn’t say something I didn’t mean.

  “You cut my leg off,” he said again, waving at the obvious.

  Heat boiled through my numbness like a volcano erupting. “It’s not like I cut your dick off,” I snapped.

  His eyebrows rose. He did the same thing I had, the opening and closing of the mouth, before he pressed his lips together.

  I’d rendered him speechless.

  “You made me into a cripple,” he finally said.

  I rolled my eyes and stood up. “Would you rather I let you turn?” My hands found my hips as I stared down at him.

  He glanced at his dead mother and sighed.

  I turned to the guards just staring at the two of us. “Help me get the Regent to the hospital, please.”

  When their gazes landed on Samantha, I cleared my throat and pointed at Jaden.

  “Excuse me?” Jaden said.

  “As Samantha Mallory’s only living relative, you assume the position,” I said and turned back to the guards. “It’s written in the law books.” When no one moved, I added, “I can show you the original sector laws if you don’t believe me.”

  The elite guards stepped forward, lifting Jaden from the ground.

  “Lock her up until I can figure out what to do with her,” Jaden said, sending a glare in my direction.

  The remaining guards surrounded me, taking me by the arms. When they led me back down to the holding cells, I was relieved when they put me in the room across from the elevator. It had a cot, a sink, a toilet, and enough distance from where I was meant to die to find some comfort.

  I collapsed onto the cot, letting the mind-numbing exhaustion take control.

  Chapter 23

  �
�Star?”

  A soft plea pulled me out of a sound sleep.

  I turned, surprised to see Jaden standing on a pair of crutches outside the bars. It had been weeks since he locked me up. The guards had brought me regular meals, water, clean clothes every day, and allowed me to take a shower every couple of days, so my prison term hadn’t been all that hard.

  Just lonely.

  He glanced at the ground, and his jaw tensed. “They say you spared me,” he finally said, but his voice was gruff and distant. When he raised his gaze, I saw the bitterness in the set of his lips. “Why?”

  “Because I can’t fathom a life where you aren’t in it.” I stood and approached the bars. “Why did you take so long to come see me?” But from the set of his jaw, I knew.

  “I’m angry, Star. I’m fucking pissed, and I don’t know how to get past this fury.”

  “Why?” I needed to hear the reason, because to me, losing part of a limb was easier to swallow than losing my life or the life of someone I loved.

  He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, struggling to articulate. “Because you didn’t give me the choice.”

  My skin tingled with shock. I searched his sharp gaze. “Time wasn’t exactly in your favor.” Didn’t he understand there was no other choice?

  He leveled a glare.

  “If it had been me, what would you have done?” I wrapped my hands around the bars, waiting for him to answer.

  Jaden pressed his lips together and shrugged. “I’ve tried to put myself in your shoes, and I just can’t. I can’t envision doing anything that would leave you crippled for the rest of your life.”

  I stared at him and let out a laugh. “So, if it had been me, you would have killed me? Or worse, kept me locked up in a cell for the rest of my life?”

  “I can find a cure,” he said, but there was no conviction in his voice. “Besides I could never harm you. Not like this.” He waved at his leg.

  “Yet you bashed the hell out of my ribs and nearly raped me just so I’d have no fight left when your mother let the ravagers loose in my cell.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them.