The Star Caster Read Online Free Page A

gravel, growing quieter as he departs. As usual, I can’t help but stare after him. It’s either that or stare in the general direction of Sterren, and since I can’t let myself do that, I listen until the intruder leaves us.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
    “How did you do that?” Sterren whispers from my left.
    I turn to face him, curious at how he made it to me without my knowledge. He must be pretty stealthy, considering the fact that I heard him coming every other time.
    “What are you talking about?” I ask. I shake my head a moment later, realizing that I’m whispering , too. “Why are we whispering now?”
    Sterren shrugs and stays on that side of me. He must be worried about another visit. He leans forward, looking into my eyes intently, like he thinks his answers will lie somewhere within them. “ You lied,” he says matter-of-factly.
    My brow furrows, but I don’ t say a word to him. Instead, I settle on looking at him like he’s insane. Of course I lied. People do it all the time. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t have lied to that evil looking man, anyway.
    Wait. There must be something more here. “What are you talking about?” I ask finally.
    Sterren smiles at me, a warm smile that celebrates my ability at making connections. I feel almost childish for a moment, but shrug it off, knowing that Sterren isn’t exactly normal. “Could you feel him?” he asks.
    I sigh, knowing that he’s not asking me if I felt the creepy man touch me. He’s talking about something else. So, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, so that I can think. I remember that voice inside my head, speaking to me, ordering me. It must have been that man, but that’s just unnatural. There’s nothing like that in the real world; but how could I, a rational and mostly normal woman, have felt it then?
    “You could,” Sterren whispers.
    I open my eyes and look into his grey ones. “What was that?”
    “Telepathic manipulation,” he says.
    “What?”
    “ He was controlling you, forcing you to tell the truth, by manipulating your mind,” Sterren explains slowly. He looks at me, his gaze never wavering, as he waits for my reaction.
    “How is that possible? Things like that don’t exist.”
    Sterren nods slowly. Why is every movement slow now? Does he think I’m a mental patient that’s going to crack at any moment? Because he’s sure acting like it.
    “How does something like that exist, Sterren? Tell me the truth,” I order.
    Sterren sighs but speaks. “Magic.”
    “That’s all you have to say about that?” I toss my hands in the air, exasperated, and yelp when my right hand snags some of the barbed wire. I pull it to my face so that I can examine it and wince when I see it. The cut isn’t deep, but it’s jagged and bloody. “I hope that I don’t catch Tetanus or HIV,” I mutter.
    Sterren bursts into a fit of laughter. I stare at him as he clutches his stomach and wipes his cheeks as tears fall down his gorgeous face. My mouth falls open as he pulls his hair from his face for a moment. He doesn’t have two grey eyes; one of his eyes is golden, like the color of the sun in the evening, right before dusk falls over the earth. I pull my mouth closed as he realizes that I’ve noticed. “It’s nothing,” he says to me.
    It doesn’t look like nothing, I think. However, I let it go.
    “Sorry,” Sterren says. “I didn’t mean to laugh like that. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time,” he whispers.
    “Why?” I ask, letting him change the subject. I make a mental note to go back to the whole magic thing, though. I plan on asking later, when he’s ready to tell me about it.
    “ Nothing is funny,” he says.
    It clicks. “You said you couldn’t lie!” I nearly shout at him. “You were referring to him. He’s in your mind; he’s making you tell the truth. Why are you down here? Why are you talking to me?” I ask. My heart begins racing, my head spins as the possibilities run