Star-Crossed by Pintip Dunn

Author:Pintip Dunn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Teen and Young Adult Space Opera;Teen and Young Adult Paranormal and Urban Fantasy;Teen and Young Adult Fantasy Action and Adventure;Teen and Young Adult Fantasy Romance;Teen and Young Adult Paranormal Romance;Teen and Young Adult Fantasy;Teen and Young Adult Romance;Teen and Young Adult Science Fiction Action and Adventure;Teen and Young Adult Epic Fantasy;Teen and Young Adult Coming of Age Fantasy;Teen and Young Adult Social Issues;Teen and Young Adult Science Fiction and Dystopian Romance;Teen and Young Adult Science Fiction;and Young Adult Alien Science Fiction
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Published: 2018-07-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Twenty-One

The next few hours pass like a swarm of bees—chaotic and fast, with one minute blending into the next. But once in a while, a moment lifts out of the fray and descends like an individual sting.

…

I bury my face in my hands, nearly hyperventilating. A hand presses on my shoulder. I jerk up. Blanca. My sister and her assistant have followed me to the medical wait lounge, and Hanoi urges her forward, encouraging her to speak to me.

Vaguely, I remember thinking that Hanoi was the hand that my sister wanted to—but couldn’t—extend. What? My sister, as a sympathetic supporter? What would possess me to believe that? I rest my head on my knees again.

“I’m sorry,” Blanca whispers finally, “but I don’t know how to do this.” And then she is gone, her assistant giving me a squeeze and following her.

…

The next time I raise my head, Zelo is sitting on the edge of a C-trunk. “I was passing by,” he says. “And I saw you in here.”

“Oh, Zelo.” My voice is as dull as a jelly knife. “Did you win?”

“Yeah.” He slouches into the curve of the branch, not meeting my eyes. As if he feels guilty that he’s healthy and well, while Carr’s in a medical bed somewhere. “You really like him, don’t you?”

“Yes. I really do.” The admission rips and tears on its way out of my throat. Because what good does it do to confess now?

I was trying to save him from death, but that’s not a good enough excuse. He might suffer permanent physical damage. Or maybe, he’ll never speak to me again. Either way, I’m slayed.

…

“Someone tampered with the formula, Princess.” Master Somjing maneuvers first one mechanical brace and then the other so he can sit next to me. “I just received word from the lab. The concentration of the fragrance was double what it was supposed to be.”

I massage my temples. Tampered? I knew the formula was off, but I never suspected foul play. “But why?”

“Why do you think?” He shoves a stick down the side of his brace and scratches. “Half the candidates disqualified the instant the challenge began. Your front-runner injured and in the medical facility. If someone wanted to disrupt the Trials and make you look bad, I’d say they succeeded. Wouldn’t you?”

…

I sleep, but I don’t. Tree-chairs forgotten, stretched on the concrete floor, my body mimicking the position of Carr’s body right before the seizure. Torso curled, fists clenched, even my ankle slowly, but deliberately rotates.

Hands pull a blanket around me. I creak my eyes open. The sky has turned black, and the mother-daughter moons shine through the window at my father’s back.

He used to tuck me in like this every night. For years after my mother passed, the King was the last person I saw before I went to sleep. In his way, I think he was trying to reassure me. You may have lost your mother, but I’m not going anywhere.

“Rest, my eye-apple,” his shadowy figure says. “You’ll need it in the days to come.

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