Page 16 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

Bright light was shining directly into my eyes.

With a groan, I quickly shut my eyes again, stretching my arms above me before rolling over.

My face buried into one of the soft pillows, I cupped it to my face to the point where I could barely breathe as my body curled around the pillow.

No part of me wanted to be awake. The days after any party were a whirlwind of cleaning and making the house look like no one lived in it again.

Opening my eyes again, I blinked away the last remains of sleep.

I pulled myself up to a sitting position, stifling a yawn before I felt everything in me freeze.

I wasn’t home. I was still at the inn. My chest heaved as each breath was forced from me.

The room blurred as the panic settled in my gut.

This wasn’t right. I wasn’t supposed to be here.

This was a dream. It had to be. The only other option was that everything yesterday was real.

I shook my head, pulling my legs up, wrapping my arms around myself.

None of that was possible. Creatures couldn’t shape-shift.

There weren’t men running around with horns and fangs.

My life certainly wasn’t at any real risk.

Except it was. I didn’t know dream rules, but I should’ve woken up by now.

Someone would’ve woken me by now. I glanced over at the bed next to me.

Atlas was gone. Relief filled me that he wasn’t silently watching my freak out. His bed was neatly made, and all of his things were missing. The only sign that anyone had been in here recently was a bowl sitting on my bedside table .

My stomach grumbled as I reached for it.

How long had it been since I last ate? The sun shining through the window screamed that an entire day had passed.

My nose curled as I stared into the wood bowl.

The liquid was dark brown with small chunks floating inside it.

It looked like someone scooped up mud and expected me to eat it.

The smell was familiar. It reminded me of something when I was younger.

A memory that wasn’t fully formed. I shook off the feeling.

My rumbling stomach took over as I started quickly eating it.

It was cold. So much for him waking me when food got here.

It had to have been sitting for hours. By the time I finished it, a thin film clung to the roof of my mouth.

Glancing around, I tried to find some water.

There was nothing. Not even a separate bathroom that I was starting to desperately need.

I let out a huff before plopping back on the bed, covering my eyes with my arm.

This was my life now. Somewhere there was a man waiting to drag me away.

I wasn’t dumb enough to think he had left me here.

I just needed to think. If I could get away from him, I could find my way home.

Tell everyone about the world I found. Surely my stupid wedding would get forgotten over that.

I just had to survive long enough to get back.

Between this world and my kidnapper, that seemed almost impossible.

I jumped up from the bed as the woman from last night walked into the room. She let out her own shocked squeak, clutching a bundle of bedding close to her body.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized, starting to back out of the room. “I thought you had left with Atlas.”

Fear churned the stew in my stomach at the thought of him leaving me here.

I stood, grabbing my cloak off the floor before following her out.

He might have been an ass, but he knew this world.

I just needed to buy myself time. I finished tying off the cloak, reaching a hand up to smooth out the hair I was sure was flying around like crazy.

“Do you know where he went?” I asked.

“Downstairs,” she muttered, her gaze stuck to the floor.

I offered her a quick thanks before squeezing past her, making my way back down to the tavern.

I paused halfway down the stairs as the tavern came into view.

This was completely different from last night.

Each table was filled with laughing, drinking people.

The standing area around the bar was filled with people screaming at a barmaid as she ran from one end to the other, filling glasses.

Chairs squeaked as they were shoved from table to table.

The clinking of glasses chimed above the many voices.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to appear smaller as I squeezed past everyone.

My hands wrapped tightly around the edges of the cloak, keeping it drawn around me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight as I felt people staring as I walked by.

Shoulders rammed into me as others tried to get closer to the counter.

My mind reeled as it tried to make sense of all the voices swirling around me, some in a language I couldn’t understand.

I focused on keeping my gaze moving, trying to find what seemed like the only set of horns here.

Breaking out from the main crowd of people, I felt like I could breathe again as I stood in front of the section of tables. I took my time scanning the room now that I could fully see it again.

Standing at one of the tables toward the back near the windows was a hooded figure.

They were hunched over as they spoke to someone.

Their back was to me, but their hands waved wildly with their words.

The argument seemed to end as they slammed their hands against the table, making the glasses shake.

With a shake of their hood, they turned and left.

There was a flash of white hair under the dark hood.

The majority of their face was covered in a cloth, all I could see were the blue eyes staring at me before they disappeared out the door.

Glancing back at the table, I was met with the other half of the argument already staring at me.

It was Atlas, drinking from one of the glasses that were set out.

His brows drew together into a scowl as I made my way toward him. I almost laughed at his obvious avoidance as he shifted his body to stare out the window as I sat beside him.

“Who was that?” I asked, refusing to let him ignore me. He wanted me here, now he had to deal with me. For as long as I was stuck here, at least.

His shoulders tensing was the only sign he heard my question. I rolled my eyes at the childish behavior. He only glanced at me when I snatched one of the other cups sitting on the table, downing the water inside.

My throat seized at the sudden burn of alcohol. I coughed, eyes watering. Atlas laughed, using his knuckles to slid one of the others toward me. I finished this cup almost as quickly as the other, the cool water soothing my poor throat.

“You didn’t wake me.” I tried to get his attention once again.

He snorted, quickly glancing out the window again.

His gaze slowly scanned the horizon. There was something he was looking for.

If he was worried about something, I probably should’ve been looking for it, too, but I couldn’t pull my attention away from him.

The morning light poured through the window we sat in front of.

It turned his eyes into a warm brown that I found myself leaning toward as I stared at his long lashes.

Several strands of hair fell across his face.

It would be so easy to reach across and push the strands away. He might even let me.

My cheeks burned as I pulled my gaze away from him, sliding my hands into my lap before they acted.

I turned toward the window, praying to the gods that he didn’t notice me staring at him.

There were a few people walking between the spaced-out buildings.

No one stood out, they certainly weren’t watching us through the window like he was doing to them. Even the hooded stranger was long gone.

“Sorry, princess,” Atlas finally spoke to me, “didn’t realize that was my only job here. I’ll try to remember next time.”

I just stared at him, feeling the anger starting to heat up. “You said?—"

“I know I did, and I’m sorry,” he interrupted, leaning across the table. The smell of leather and citrus wafted from him. “I try not to leave women disappointed in bed. ”

I raised an eyebrow at his arrogance. “Really? I figured you’d be used to it.”

I smirked at his shocked look. Something close to humor shined in his eyes before it was quickly snuffed out with a shake of his head. His glare hardened again as he continued to drink.

“A little early for that,” I pointed out, as he drained his glass.

He raised an eyebrow as he set it back down. “Next time I’ll make sure to ask permission first. Any other disappointments you’d like to point out? You’re quite needy for it being this early.”

The way he was looking at me made me feel like he was trying to gauge my soul.

His gaze slowly trailed down, catching on the scar on my chest. I pulled the tunic up higher as I shifted in my seat.

I glanced away from him, hating the way his stare made my chest burn.

People around us had started dancing together even with the lack of music.

It seemed like there was no such thing as too early here.

“Who was that earlier?” I asked, ignoring his question as my own curiosities crept back into my mind.

“Who?” he questioned back.

My gaze narrowed as I turned back to him.

He didn’t seem like the kind of man to just lie.

His fingers drummed against the tabletop as he twitched in his seat.

Maybe I was making too many assumptions about him.

All I knew was that he enjoyed kidnapping people.

Gods knew what else he did in his free time.

“Stupid doesn’t look good on you,” I commented, feeling some of my old boldness returning. It was easy to feel brave surrounded by people. I was betting my life on the fact that he wouldn’t do anything here.

The corners of his lips twitched as he fought back a smile before returning to his normal scowl. He leaned back in the chair, arms crossing his chest. His face contorted into what I could only assume was supposed to be relaxation. Even I could see how hard he was trying for this illusion.

“No one to concern yourself with” was his eventual response.

I opened my mouth to reply. He ensured I was stuck with him no matter what I did.

Back with Klyn, I could’ve found a way back to Donnaway.

Eventually. I was completely lost here. I deserved to know if there was yet another risk to my life.

Whatever conversation he had wasn’t pleasant, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

Any words of mine were cut off by the loud scraping of his chair as he suddenly stood.

“We’re leaving.” He held out his hand, looking down at me expectantly.

I spared a quick glance up at his hand, snorting at the gesture before standing on my own. The audacity to think I’d take any help from him was impressive. No part of him was trustworthy. He’d already proven that to me several times now.

I watched as the few emotions I’d seen throughout our conversation faded away from his features.

His hand dropped to his side, squaring his shoulders.

He brushed past me as he headed out the door.

An uncaring wall once again. I made sure the hood was still hiding my face before I went to follow him out.

My legs froze as I looked over the crowded room again.

The small room was filled with people that had wings of different shades of green.

Many looked like me besides their pointed ears.

Some people stood several heads taller than everyone else, having to bend down so they weren’t hitting the ceiling.

My fingers trembled as I brought them up to my own ear, and my shoulders sunk as relief flooded me when I found it was still round. Just because I couldn’t shapeshift didn’t mean something else wouldn’t change.

“What’s wrong?” Atlas snapped as he marched back over to me, gaze scanning across the crowds closest to me.

“I’m different from everyone here,” I muttered, cheeks burning as I voiced my thoughts.

Atlas cocked his brow as he looked over me for several moments. The silence did nothing to ease the tight feeling in my chest.

“There aren’t any humans left around. The king killed them off years ago for being useless.” His words were void of anything as he spoke.

No. He was wrong. I had a family and friends that were very much alive. My gaze searched the crowd again, looking for any proof that there were some humans outside of Donnaway .

“You’re wrong,” I commented even when I found no one. “There’s an entire town full?—"

My words cut off as I turned back to Atlas, only to find him already walking out of the tavern.

I furrowed my brows as I followed him out.

What he thought was true didn’t matter to me.

I knew the family I grew up with, the friends I’d made over the years, my very own sister that still needed me.

They were all real and alive, no matter what he said.