Page 13 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

I was moving. Well, I was being moved. With a single, smooth action, I was raised from the bed and thrown onto something hard.

The world was dark around me. A dark fabric was wrapped around my head.

It scratched against my cheeks. There were enough holes that I could see light and dark, moving shapes.

My hands rested against a warm body, moving up and down with their breathing.

When I tried to pull them apart, something prickled against my wrist, keeping them stuck together. I was trapped.

Great. A girl can’t even nap without being in danger.

“Hello?” I called out.

The only answer I got was a grunt in my ear. The floorboards squeaked as I bounced with each step. I was being carried. Whoever had me, certainly didn’t have a smooth stride. He could’ve been skipping and I’m not sure it would’ve made a difference to me.

“I’m sorry, miss,” Klyn apologized.

“Klyn?” I called out as we moved through the house. “What’s happening?”

I was ignored. His mumblings were quiet as he talked to whoever had me.

They didn’t answer as a door clicked behind us.

I tried kicking him, but my legs were stuck together.

With a grunt, I still attempted to kick his back.

My tied hands slammed into his chest. The arm wrapped around my waist tightened as a grunt huffed out of him.

I smiled, satisfied as I kept hitting him.

Each hit was getting harder as the ties started to loosen.

My stomach dropped as the arm let go of me, sending me tumbling off his shoulder.

It was my turn to grunt as I landed flat on my back.

“This isn’t going to work,” a deep voice grumbled above me.

I couldn’t help the giggle that burst through my lips. I had to look ridiculous to him sprawled out in the grass. Maybe I could make him think I was broken. Too crazy to kidnap. Where I would go after, I had no idea. That would be a problem for future me.

“You could always just let me go,” I tried to bargain, tilting my head toward where his voice had come from. “I never saw your face. You could just leave now.”

His chuckle was dark, his breath hot as it wafted across my face. I could imagine his large form bent down toward me. “And who would you even tell if you did see me?”

“The constable,” I answered.

“Who?”

The confusion, thick in his voice, threw me off. “Authorities? Someone who would lock you away for forcibly taking a stranger.” It was such a simple thing I was explaining to him, laying here. It was one of the first things children were taught. When in danger, find the men with the gold helmets.

“Forcibly taking?” His voice broke with a laugh. “Let’s not lie to each other. You’re coming with me.” His voice was a dark promise. I could hear the threat he wasn’t voicing. No one can help you.

That couldn’t be true. I refused to accept it even as the panic started setting in.

Klyn was nice enough to help; there had to be others here like him.

We could still be close to Lachlan. A plan quickly formed.

I sucked in a deep breath, ready to scream as loud as I could after everything that happened.

Any noise was cut off when something cold was pressed against my neck. The sharp edge dug into my skin as my breathing slowed. Fear settled like a heavy weight in my stomach.

“Move and you’re dead.” His voice was a cold threat whispered into my ear.

My body was trembling. Each breath I took was shortened by the metal digging into my throat.

This solidified my earlier thoughts. None of this could be real.

I was dreaming. The worst that could happen was that he would try to kill me, and I’d wake up.

That still wasn’t something I was excited to try.

“Listen closely.” Warmth radiated from where he pressed closer to me.

“You’re already making this much harder than it needs to be.

I will kill you; consequences be damned.

I’m the closest thing to an authority figure you’re going to find here.

So, knock your shit off or this blade will become great friends with your heart. Understand?”

“Yes,” I choked out, tears freely falling down my face now.

The stranger hummed. I whimpered as he pressed the blade harder against my throat, the tip stinging my neck. Warmth trickled down my chest. Then it was gone. Light blinded me as the sack was ripped off my head. I squinted against the sudden assault, waiting for the world to come back into focus.

The man was kneeling to the side of me. Shaggy, black hair hung across his tanned face as he peered down at me.

I had a tough time staring at anything besides the two horns that stuck out of the top of his head.

Until he grinned, catching my attention with a set of sharp fangs.

I sucked in a deep breath as my body tensed.

If I wasn’t fighting the urge to run from him, he might’ve been attractive.

“Good girl,” he mumbled with a smirk, reaching a hand out.

I blamed my next actions on the fear coursing through me.

My legs pulled back toward my chest before thrusting toward the man.

There was a sickening crunch that vibrated through the heel of my foot as it connected with his face.

I watched, jaw slack as he yelled, grabbing at his nose as blood streamed from it.

Quickly I twisted from him, scrambling to my feet.

My tied legs were a problem I hadn’t fully thought through.

I took several, very small steps before there was a hand in my hair, ripping me backward.

I yelped as he pulled several hairs free.

“You broke my nose,” he growled in my ear.

“You stabbed me!” I yelled back, squinting against the pain that radiated throughout my scalp.

I gasped as I was tugged back again, now with him in front of me.

There was a tree pressed against my back and him glaring daggers in front of me.

Our noses could’ve touched if one of us breathed deep enough.

Though now his had a slight bend that I was certain wasn’t there before.

The surrounding skin was turning black from the bruises already forming.

Time felt like it was at a standstill. We stood there, gazes locked.

The only sound was our heavy breathing. I refused to look away from him, even as my heart pounded.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as he tossed me to the ground. He pushed me with his boot until I was looking up at him. The position was already getting tiring. His arms were crossed as he looked down at me.

“There’s another village a few hours away. At the rate you’re going, you’ll never see it.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, flinching as he reached down. He grabbed onto the rope that tied my hands together, using it to pull me up to my feet again. His hold didn’t lessen as he turned away, dragging me down the path behind him, deeper into the woods.

Night blanketed the sky. The moon was large as it worked to illuminate the world with the help of more stars than I could count.

All I wanted was to get lost in the way they clustered together.

My heart tugged as I realized these constellations looked nothing like the ones I had spent nights memorizing.

Their patterns were all wrong. Some false creation my mind made for this nightmare.

Though, I would think the stars would be one of the few things it could remember.

A hiss of pain escaped as another rock stabbed into the sole of my foot, but it did nothing to deter him.

If anything, my acknowledgement of pain only seemed to fuel him.

His pace was almost impossible to keep up with.

It seemed like it was a personal mission of his to completely ignore me.

He had given up on dragging me with the rope when I kept falling down, trying to catch up to him.

My foot caught on a branch, sending me face first to the ground once again, unable to catch myself. There was a fist-sized rock nestled among the grass in front of me. One throw would be more than enough to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. His cold, brown eyes flashed through my mind.

“Can you slow down?” I called out to him as I tried to stand, rock still on the ground.

Standing proved harder than I was expecting.

My hands were still tied together which led to me trying to rock my weight back so I could stand.

I proved to be greatly overestimating myself as I went flying back on my butt.

Tears burned as I watched his figure get smaller as he kept walking.

Whatever game he was trying to play, I refused to join.

My skin was red from the chaffing rope. Every part of me felt like it had been mauled by a large animal, and the grass was looking like the perfect bed.

I followed my thoughts and laid on the ground, sighing in relief.

My eyes closed as I enjoyed the quiet world.

It only lasted a few minutes before the sound of his footsteps approached where I laid.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, standing above me with his arms crossed.

“Well, you don’t seem to care if I follow, so I decided to just enjoy the view.” I wasn’t sure when I apparently stopped wanting to live. That can be the only explanation for why I was antagonizing the man who had already threatened my life.

“When did that seem like an option?” he asked.

“When you refused to slow down.” It was too late to backdown now.

In the span of a blink, he went from staring down at me to in front of me.

Brown eyes peered into mine. I let out a shriek, throwing my hands up in a sad attempt to block his attack.

My hands trembled as I waited for the dagger.

Instead, I felt one hand on my lower back while an arm slid under my legs right before I was thrown back onto his shoulder.

“Let me down!” I yelled, smacking my fists against his back.

“I tried doing this the easy way,” he remarked. “This is your fault now.”