Fated Truth (The True Witch Saga)

by Gwartney, Tasha

  “Was I too rough with you?”

  “Perfection. Every time you take me is bliss,” I said with a grin, but as a thought crossed my mind, it faded to a slight frown. “But I do have a question.”

  “What?”

  “How are you so good at all of this, if our kind is celibate until we find our true mate?”

  Jaxx actually blushed.

  My big strong mate, pink in the cheeks, I thought and couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “Are you laughing at me, little raven?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Maybe.” I walked into his arms and allowed him to wrap me up tight.

  He kissed my forehead. “Research. Lots and lots of research. Even though we have no impulse to be with anyone else besides our destined, a void forms inside of us full of longing, the longer we walk alone.”

  “Well I for one am glad you have an addiction to porn,” I laughed, poking him in the ribs and making him jump, to lighten the mood. It worked because he started chuckling and hugging me to him tighter.

  “I love you more than moonlight, little raven.”

  “And I love you, Jaxx. Forever.”

  “Let’s get in the shower before all of the hot water runs out.”

  We spent time in the shower, leisurely washing each other slowly. We enjoyed each other’s touch. Skimming slowly with fingertips and kissing lightly. When the water finally started to run cold, Jaxx led me from the stall and dried every inch of my body slowly. He dried himself quickly then wrapped the towel loosely around his waist. He lifted me in his arms and carried me down the hall to his room. Then he laid me on the cool sheets of his bed and I shivered from the feel of the cold air on my naked skin.

  “Are you chilled, little raven?”

  “A bit. Why don’t you get your hunky ass in here with me?”

  Jaxx chuckled and crawled into bed with me. He lifted me so that I was laying half on his chest with my head resting beneath his chin. He wrapped me tightly in his arms and I listened to his heart beat as I drifted off. Right before sleep took me, I heard Jaxx murmur a prayer of thanks.

  “Thank you Goddess, for bringing her into my life.”

  I dreamt that night of someone chasing me through a labyrinth of thorns. The person chasing me didn’t have a face. It was a mass of shadows hidden from my view. I ran faster and faster. So quickly that I could no longer feel the ground beneath my feet, but still they gained ground. I could feel their rancid breath on the back of my neck right before I stumbled into a bush of thorns. I thrashed and tried to fight my way out, but the thorns tightened around me holding me captive.

  “Aww, poor little bird,” the specter of my night terror taunted me. “Still held against your will in a nest of your own making.”

  I heard their heavy footsteps on the dead leaves littering the ground. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Coming very close to where I was still fighting the tangles of thorns. I struggled still, even as the thorns ripped and tore at my skin. I saw the glint of a knife as it flashed toward my face. It was already dripping with old blood. I woke with a blood curdling scream.

  Jaxx was up and out of the bed in a flash searching for the source of my fear. “Ella, what in the Goddess’s name is wrong with you?” he panted from the adrenaline rush. “What is happening?”

  I was still panting out quick breaths as I answered, “Nightmare. Just a bad dream. Come back to bed. I feel safer with your arms wrapped tightly around me.”

  Jaxx quickly complied, wrapping me tight as was his nightly ritual. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No. I don’t remember. Just the feeling of being trapped. It must have something to do with living with my adoptive parents.” I shuddered as the lie slipped past my lips. I lay still and breathed deeply as I stared at the ceiling, waiting for Jaxx to return to his slumber. The dream had really fucked with my head. I didn’t know enough about this new world or my gifts to know if it was just a regular run of the mill nightmare, or if it was some sort of premonition. For now I wanted to keep it to myself. I didn’t want to worry Jaxx over childish things if it was just a night terror. It took a long time before I felt relaxed enough to close my eyes again. I fell slowly into darkness, praying that I wouldn’t dream again that night.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Disappearance

  I woke when the light peeking through the gaps in the curtains hit my face. I rolled over and saw that Jaxx was still snoring softly. I struggled out from under the covers as quietly as I could so I didn’t wake Jaxx. I heard my phone ringing from inside my purse where I dropped it on the floor the previous night. I reached it and hit the talk button as I hurried out of the room, hoping that I didn’t wake Jaxx. “Hello?” I answered in a whisper.

  “What the fuck is wrong with me? I woke up wrong! FUCK! I have extra teeth!” The person on the other end of the line was yelling into their phone.

  “Jessa? Is that you?”

  “Fuck yes it’s me! Who the fuck else would it be?”

  “Just slow down and tell me what is wrong.” I took a deep breath. I didn’t know what to tell her or how to answer any of her questions. I thought Seb was going to be there to do that shit.

  “I WOKE UP WRONG!” She started sobbing into the phone.

  “Take a deep breath. Just breathe, damn it! I can’t understand a word you are saying.” Her words were all garbled.

  “I’m trying,” she said more calm. “God this is hard. I don’t know what is wrong with me,” she continued to slur into the phone.

  “Okay slow down and gimme the 411.”

  “I woke up in the hospital with the doctors and nurses there running tests on me. They told me that I might not walk again because I was in a car accident.” She took a deep breath and I knew she was trying to remain calm.

  “They did the tests and told me how lucky I was. That the tests were all coming back positive, and shit, but I felt all wrong! Cold. So cold Ells! And I was hungry. When I told them I was hungry they tried to shove that nasty shit they serve down my throat. I threw it all back up. And the hunger just kept getting worse.”

  “Okay, what else. You said you had extra teeth?” I was trying to lead her to get to the main reason she was freaking out. I slumped down to the floor outside the door to Jaxx’s room. I needed the support of the wall. I was so out of my depth here.

  “I’m getting there bitch!” she snarled through the phone. Whoa, that’s new. “Like I said, the hunger just kept getting worse and I started smelling something really good. I mean double cheese burger with bacon good. I walked out into the hall and told them that I threw up and I needed something else to eat since I was still hungry and the nurse told me that I would have to wait for the doc.”

  I took a deep breath, hoping against hope this wasn’t going to go the way I thought it was going.

  “Anyway when I was talking to the stuck up skank, I saw her neck. I mean what the fuck was I staring at her neck for? Then I heard her heart beating. No one else was around in the hall or at the nurse’s station, so I knew it was her,” she started to sob.

  This was going to be bad. I just knew it.

  “I looked in her eyes and just knew that I could control her if I wanted. So I told her that I was hungry. SO damn hungry! I told her to come around the desk and lean her neck to the side for me. Then I BIT THE BITCH!” She was really sobbing and crying now.

  “Jessa, please tell me where you are. I’ll come and get you. We can fix this I promise,” I pleaded with her.

  Jaxx and Gavin were now standing in the hallway, listening to our conversation.

  “I have extra sharp fucking teeth! How can you fix that? I sucked on a stranger’s neck and I loved it! LOVED it, Ells!”

  “Jessa tell me where you are now! I need to come and get you.”

  “Fuck you! I don’t want to be around anyone! You can’t fix me now. I’m some kind of monster!!”

  I grip my phone harder. “Trust me, Jessa. I can help! Please just let me come to you. I promise I can ma
ke it better if you let me try.”

  “No,” she whispered into the phone in an eerily calm voice. “I’m going to disappear for a while. I’m not safe. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.” With that she hung up the phone.

  I looked up at Jaxx and freaked. “Where the fuck is Seb? He was supposed to be there when she woke! He swore he would take care of her! She is his bride or some shit. WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?”

  Gavin took off like a bat out of hell down the hallway and up the stairs to the third floor. Jaxx knelt in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders.

  “Ells you aren’t helping Jessa by freaking yourself out. Calm down, we will fix this. I swear it to you.”

  Gavin came sprinting back down the hallway toward us, alone. This was so not good. Before he could get a word out, my phone started ringing again. I answered it right away thinking it might be Jessa. It wasn’t.

  “Yeah?” I answered.

  “Ells!” Devon seemed out of breath. “Have you seen or heard from Jessa this morning?”

  Jaxx was shaking his head no at me. So I lied. “No, honey, I haven’t. Why what’s wrong?”

  “I came to visit early this morning hoping to catch her awake before they doped her up on pain meds and the whole floor was in an uproar. She’s gone Ells. No one knows where she is. If she left on her own, or if someone has taken her. Her parents are freaking the hell out.”

  “What do they think happened? Was anyone hurt?” I asked this thinking about the nurse that Jessa nibbled on.

  “No. No one was hurt. They just don’t know where she is. She just vanished. Disappeared. The cops are swarming and asking questions. They think it was foul play because of the nature of her accident.”

  “Fuck.” That’s the only response I could think of. “Baby boy we will find her. I promise. They couldn’t have taken her far. If someone actually did take her, you know how Jessa is. She probably woke up mad as hell, knowing that Sabrina caused this shit. She’s probably on her way to her house to kick her ass. Even if she is limping and hurt,” I chuckled. Wishing that was the truth of it.

  “You’re probably right. She’s a tough little munchkin. Okay, I have to go. The police want to talk to me again. Don’t be surprised if they want to talk to you too sometime today. Please call me if you hear from her. And I will do the same. Love you!” He hung up quickly.

  I threw my phone against the wall opposite me. It shattered from the strength of my anger. I looked from Jaxx to Gavin then behind them. The pictures on the walls started to sway and the house’s foundation rumbled. “WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  “Calm yourself, Ella. I’m not Jaxx to placate you like a child. I’m your brother, your blood. I know anger like you couldn’t even imagine. I know for a fact that you can control this shit.”

  Jaxx looked like he was about to pummel Gavin for that remark, but I held up my hand when he started to move in my brother’s direction. I took a couple of deep breaths and calmed myself. Yeah. I’m strong. Stronger than the temper fluctuations, but I was newer to this world than Gavin was. He’d just basically called me a spoiled brat. Fuck that. He might know anger, but he didn’t know me. Not yet.

  I stood slowly and turned toward Gavin. I flung out my hands and pushed all of my anger over Jessa and all of my hurt and betrayal of what he’d just said to me at him. Green lightening shot from my palms. He was thrown through the window at the back end of the hallway. The only reason he didn’t tumble toward the earth was because Jaxx grabbed him before he cleared the window itself. “Fuck you, Gavin,” I said staring at his slumped, still form. “Twin my ass. You have no idea who I am. What I’m feeling or thinking. You are a stranger to me, blood or no. I found out I was a True two fucking days ago! So shove your sanctimonious bullshit up your twat and wallow in it!”

  I stormed to the staircase that led up to the third floor, determined to find Seb on my own and give him a piece of my immaturity also. As I rounded the corner, I shot another bolt of energy at Gavin as he was pulling himself to his feet. His shirt was a smoking charred mess. I aimed this bolt for a body part farther south. He dodged it in the nick of time. More’s the pity. Prick.

  I sprinted up the stairs and found the entire floor empty. I screamed and dropped to my knees in pain. Jessa. My sister. I let this happen. The fucker that was supposed to care and love her was nowhere to be found. Everything that had happened to her was on me. When I raised my eyes from the floor, Jaxx was standing at the top of the staircase as if he were scared of me. Or didn’t know what to make of me.

  “I just talked to Seb on his cell. He is with Jessa. He found her wandering around the wooded section of the hospital grounds. He is explaining everything to her,” he said quietly.

  I looked up at him with so much hurt in my eyes, he flinched. “He was supposed to be there, Jaxx. He promised me. He said it was his duty and honor. That she was his now. Like I’m yours. Like you are mine. I would have never let you wake up like that. Confused and…and…”

  He cut me off, jerking me to him. “No. You wouldn’t have. And neither would he have if he wasn’t searching in vain for Sabrina. She has gone off grid. She is still out there and a very big problem,” he said into my neck as he pulled me closer still.

  I felt some of my anger leak out of me. “What are we going to do about her parent’s and Devon?”

  “I don’t know, little raven. That will be up to her to decide. In the mean time you need to call her parents and tell them that she texted you and told you that she needed time to think or some shit. Make up something they will believe. You know them.”

  “Not very well,” I grumbled, sulking now. I’d just blasted my brother. Lost one of my best friends for god knew how long. And now I have to lie to the police and said best friend’s parents. This morning rocks. Ugh.

  I called Jessa’s parents house using Jaxx’s phone and thankfully got her mom. I told her that I got a text from Jessa telling me that she was going off to figure her shit out. That she would be in contact when she was able to. I told her mom that I thought she was scared of whoever fucked with her car. Which was a bold ass lie, but she bought it. Next I called Devon.

  “Baby boy?”

  “Ells, have you heard from her?”

  “She texted me, said she was going to go figure shit out. She wouldn’t listen to reason, Dev. I think she’s scared about Sabrina. The accident got to her,” I lied my ass off.

  “Bullshit, Ells! She wouldn’t do that! Why are you lying?”

  “Devon-” I started.

  ‘Shut up! I can’t believe you’re lying to me!” He hung up the phone.

  Another best friend down. None to go. Go me! Jaxx could tell that I was miserable and tried to cheer me up in various ways, but nothing worked. “I just want to go to my uncle’s house, and get some of my shit. I want to get out of here for a while. I want you to start training me.”

  “What are you going to do about Gavin?”

  “Not a damn thing. He can sulk in his room until we are packed but he is coming with me. He is the only family I have and I am keeping him, whether I like him right now or not.”

  Jaxx chuckled at that.

  “Is there a place we can go where you can train me? I want to get in control of myself. Gavin is right about that. Every time I get pissy, I can’t cause an earthquake.”

  “I know of a secluded cabin. Let me make some calls.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Jaxx.” I jumped him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his hips.

  He growled. “I love you,” he said and I smirked at him as he let me down. “When we get to where we are going, you are mine.” He gave me a wicked smile.

  I decided I had better hash it out with Gavin. He was my brother and he’d had a hard life, probably much worse than I’d had. He had most of the same powers as I did. I wanted him to help Jaxx train me since Seb was occupied, but that wasn’t why I wanted him with me. I loved him. He was my other half.

 
; I knocked on his door, but there wasn’t any answer so I just walked in.

  “Gah!” he yelled at me as he wrapped a towel back around his hips. He must have just gotten out of the shower.

  “I knocked.” I shrugged at him, walked over to his bed and sat down.

  “Knock harder.” He started digging through his duffle, still holding his towel tightly closed.

  “I want you to come with me and Jaxx to a cabin he knows about. I need you to help me train. You were right about my control,” I said grudgingly. He looked at me slack jawed. “Hey! I can admit when I am wrong about some things.” I shrugged and started to pick at my nail beds. A nervous habit.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I seem to set you off.”

  I looked at him fully. Eyes to eyes. Soul to Soul. “Gavin, I was wrong to try and hurt you. You were just trying to help. I love you. I know I don’t show it well. Maybe I don’t say it well either, but the truth is, you are the second most important person in the world to me, Jaxx being the first, of course.” When he doesn’t answer me, just stands there staring at me trying to read my intent, I frown.

  “Come here I want to try something,” he beckoned. I walked over to him and he took my hands. “Here press your palms to mine.” I pressed my palms to his. “Now close your eyes and think of nothing. Just clear your head of thoughts.” I closed my eyes and blanked out everything around me. “Now I want you to think about me. Nothing, but me.”

  I did as he asked and thought of Gavin. How I felt when I first saw him, the mirror of myself. How I felt when I saw the sadness and loneliness in his eyes that mirrored mine. I thought about how happy I was to have someone that was mine. And mine alone. That would never leave me. That no one could take away from me. He was my soul twin. My blood. My brother. My only family. I thought about how he annoyed me and made me smile with his snarky remarks. I also thought about the deep welling of love I had for him that would never run dry. I opened my eyes and saw that he had tears running silently down his cheeks. “I see you Gavin. I see all of you. And I want you in my life. I will love you eternally no matter what.”