Page 21 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

The boots turned out to be a blessing. Atlas led us through a path that would’ve left me crying in the grass.

Vines weaved and trailed through the barely-there dirt path.

Their thorns tore into the leather of the boots.

I shuddered at the image of what they would have done to the soles of my bare feet.

The forest loomed at our side, creeping along with us.

The rest of the area around us was flat with the occasional tree popping out.

Atlas walked silently next to me. The only sign that he hadn’t forgotten about me was when I was handed a water skin.

Silence was broken by squawking above our heads.

Birds flew far above us; they were dark silhouettes against the bright sun.

I shaded my eyes as I watched them fly past us.

The way their heads scanned the ground they passed unsettled me.

It felt like they’d be larger than any bird I’d seen if they decided to land in front of us.

A shiver ran through me. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen.

Atlas cut in front of me. My body jerked as his shoulder bumped into mine, causing me to lose my footing. I glared at him as we left the thin path, turning toward the trees. My chest tightened as I slowed, watching him walk.

Large trees shot out of the ground, looming hundreds of feet above us. Their leaves created a blanket that blocked out any possible light. Nothing could be seen past the first layers of the trunks.

My hands shook at my sides as I came to a complete stop, but I couldn’t steady them.

My own gasping breaths drowned out my rapidly increasing heartbeat that drummed in my ears.

Thoughts warred within my mind. Half of me wanted to call out to Atlas, to stop him from walking to his own death and to come help me, while the other half knew I was completely fine.

My mouth just opened and closed as he stopped in front of me. His brows were furrowed as his lips moved. There was no sound except a faint ringing in my ears.

The world started dimming around the edges of my vision.

All I could focus on were the monsters. Shadowy figures darted between the trees.

Their eyeless faces still stared deep within me like they wanted to read the very depths of my soul.

My hands grabbed at my chest as I watched their spindly fingers dig into the trees right before they launched toward me.

I screamed as it grabbed me, claws sinking deep into my arms. I thrashed against its hold, trying to free myself.

I could faintly hear myself calling for Atlas as I kept fighting.

He could kill them. I used my free hand to fight back, clawing through the figures, my fingers sinking helplessly into the darkness.

A sharp sting radiated through my face as my head was knocked to the side.

I blinked as the light returned to the ground around me.

When I turned back, Atlas was the one standing in front of me, his hand still raised as his body shook with ragged breaths.

His gaze roamed my face, nothing but concern in his eyes.

He had thin, bleeding marks trailing down his face.

His other hand was the only thing keeping me from falling to the ground in our half-crouched position.

“Are you okay?” His voice was the softest I’d heard it.

I glanced behind him. It was a normal forest once again. No monsters. I could even see where the light shone through the leaves.

“I didn’t mean to hit you that hard,” he muttered, looking at where my face burned.

“I’m fine,” I said, hoping my voice wasn’t shaking as much as it felt like.

I had to say something. The way he acted now didn’t sit right with me. Was he going to turn around and threaten my life again? Maybe that was his first attempt before he realized I couldn’t hear him.

I pulled out of his hold. His hand weakly flopped back down to his side as he stared down at me. The corners of his lips pulled down in a frown.

“Don’t we have somewhere to be?” I reminded him, trying to ignore the way my heart clenched at the thought of wandering through another forest.

His gaze scanned across my face again before glancing back.

This was the softest I had seen him. No harsh angles of anger etched into his face like I’d seen since he took me from Klyn’s house.

It felt wrong. My shoulders tensed as I waited for the anger.

The seething hatred to return when he looked back at me.

“This is the fastest way to go,” he whispered to himself. His words were quiet enough that they didn’t seem meant for me.

I took a couple of slow, measured breaths before I started walking again.

I felt him staring as I passed him. My heart hammered as I forced myself to keep going.

Just stay calm and everything will be fine.

At least this time I had a murdering kidnapper by my side.

I was sure those monsters would be no match for him.

Or we were both about to walk to our deaths.

He only let me lead for a few steps before he was walking next to me. My hands clenched at my sides as we reached the edge of the forest. I slowed until Atlas was walking ahead again. He paused after he passed the threshold.

His brows pulled together as I walked toward him. Each step slow. I was sure I looked crazy to him as I kept my breathing even.

“What’s your name?” he slowly asked instead.

“You kidnapped me without knowing my name?” I questioned instead as I joined him in the woods. Though I wasn’t sure why I was fighting this conversation. It was pulling my focus from the dimly lit area around us.

“Don’t be dramatic,” he said, rolling his eyes while matching my pace. “My father didn’t care enough to tell me.”

“Cares enough to send you after me, but not enough to know my name? How nice,” I remarked, keeping an eye on our surroundings. “It’s Cece,” I still offered to him. His hum was the only sign he heard me.

There weren’t many differences between the two forests. Most of the trees were large, their canopies billowing above us. There were a few that were completely bare. Their branches twisted together as they snaked through the leaves of other trees. Roots were exposed around their base.

A twig snapped somewhere in the distance.

I jumped, head snapping around as I looked for the monsters.

I knocked into Atlas; his hands grabbed my sides to steady me.

My heart thrummed at the heat radiating from him.

Our gazes locked for a moment, the brown in his eyes turned molten with the heated stare he gave me.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, stepping away from him.

“I remember you being much braver with a dagger to your throat.” His voice was light, one corner of his lips curled up.

“That was before I was almost killed again,” I snapped, feeling the stress of our surroundings starting to get to me.

We walked in silence after that. I tried to keep my mind together as we walked deeper.

That didn’t stop my hands from shaking as a cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck.

I flipped the hood back so I could fully watch my surroundings.

It still felt like the trees were crowding me, working together to block out what little sky was left.

I glanced over at Atlas as he seemed lost in his own mind.

He was next to me, yet it didn’t feel like it.

We were worlds apart as we were forced to travel together.

There was something more to him. He pulled me out of my panic when he could’ve left me.

His voice was soft when just earlier, he almost killed me.

“Do you have a family?” he asked, quickly meeting my gaze.

“Think most people do,” I retorted, glancing around. My fingers found my ring, twisting it around once again.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the band.

“My engagement ring?” I asked, holding it up.

Atlas nodded. “That explains why you don’t want to be here.”

I snorted, at a loss for words. There were many reasons I didn’t want to be here with him. My sad excuse of a fiancé had nothing to do with it. He was one of several reasons I was still somewhat glad to be away from Donnaway. Atlas didn’t deserve any of those explanations, though.

“Who else did you leave behind?” Atlas tried for conversation again.

“A sister,” I answered .

“Younger?”

“Older.”

He nodded at my response, “I do, too.”

“What’s her name?” I asked, my gaze drawn to him again.

He grimaced before spitting out, “Ivy.” It sounded like it burned him to say it.

“Not close?” I questioned.

“Long story” was his short reply.

“Seems like we have plenty of time,” I pointed out. I had no idea where we were going, but something told me there wasn’t some magic place in the middle of the woods we were headed toward. Then again, this dream was filled with monsters, so maybe I’d be surprised.

It didn’t seem to matter, anyway, because my question was met with a long pause.

“Close with yours?” he redirected.

Apparently, his family was a sensitive topic. Well, I could make mine one, too.

“What’s a Fera?” I asked instead, willing to give up nothing he wouldn’t return.

“What?” he asked instead, looking at me with furrowed brows, confusion clear in his features.

“At the inn, you said something about a Fera.”

He drummed his fingers against his thighs as he thought through my question.

“Stupid isn’t a good look for you,” he answered instead.

“Excuse me?” My voice rose in pitch as I took in his words. Anger bubbled inside me as I slowed.

“You heard me. Stop acting like you know nothing,” he said, now refusing to look at me, while all I could do was stare in astonishment.

“The only one acting here is you!” I yelled at the back of his head. “Who are you really? Some murderer who everyone is scared of, or someone that actually gives a shit about others? Don’t think you can have it both ways.”

I almost walked into him as he came to a stop.

“That’s how I know you’re lying.” His voice was a growl as the words were forced out .

I threw my hands up, fighting the urge to strangle this man, even though I knew I wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

“Lying about what?” I asked.

There was just a stretch of silence that followed.

“This is insanity,” I muttered, stomping forward, shoving his shoulder as I walked past him.

I didn’t make it far, though. Our arms had barely stopped touching before one of his hands grabbed my wrist, while the other wrapped around my throat.

I was shoved back against a tree. Again.

My hands shot up, pressing against his chest. His grip wasn’t tight enough to cut off my breathing.

It was different from the way he had grabbed me earlier.

Anger twisted his face, but I could feel his heart hammering beneath my palm.

My breath catching in my throat had nothing to do with his nails grazing against the sides of my neck.

His eyes were light brown infernos as they stared down at me.

His gaze slowly traced along each of my features.

The tip of his tongue wet his lips. My hands tightened the grip on his shirt, tangling with the fabric.

There was something wrong with me. Something fundamentally broken.

I shouldn’t have been standing here, debating if I wanted to push him away or pull him closer.

Those hands had brutally beaten someone just hours ago.

Now all I could see were his long lashes as he stared down at me.

I was fucked. Having a death wish was one thing.

Being attracted to your kidnapper was a beast I didn’t even want to think about.

It didn’t matter for long, as Atlas dropped the hold he had on me, ripping my hands off of him.

“Don’t try that again, witch.” His words missed true threat with him breathing just as heavily as I was.

I stood there, mouth agape as I tried to figure out how any of what just happened was my fault.

“We’re stopping here for now.” He reached into his bag before setting something wrapped in my hand. “Eat and try not to die while I’m gone.”

“Where—”

“Doesn’t matter,” he snapped. And just like that, he was back to being the kidnapper .

I sunk to the ground as I watched him leave, sitting against one of the trees and setting the food down next to me.

My knees pulled up so I could wrap my arms around them.

He was out of my sight before the sobs started racking through me.

For the first time I could remember, true loneliness settled into my chest, weighing me down.

The low sun slowly sunk into the horizon. The sky darkened as stars twinkled in the sky above me. The moon was bright as it rose, moving up until it was centered in the vast sky.

I was thankful we stopped somewhere that had a partially clear view of the sky, even as I grew tired of the view after the first couple hours.

The sounds of birds had been replaced with the chirping of bugs.

They scuttled around me, rustling the leaves.

Shivers racked through me as a cold wind started up.

I pulled my knees closer to my chest. A new gratitude for the cloak filled me as I fully wrapped myself in it.

Was this his plan the entire time? Lure me somewhere he thought I would be trapped, then leave me there to die?

Maybe he’d just tired of me. Which would’ve been good, because I was tiring of him.

A stronger breeze swept through. I shielded my face as leaves went sailing through the air.

Chills ran through me as I felt bugs flying into my sides and crawling along my legs.

I jumped up, fighting a gag as I watched the small insects falling off me.

I wasn’t going to keep sitting here with the small hope that he would eventually come back for me.

Even though leaving meant he would certainly kill me this time.

I glanced behind me. We didn’t travel in a straight path.

I was certain of that. At some point, we veered off the small path and traveled blindly.

The town we came from was a lost cause. There was no way I could make my way back in the dark.

Or in the middle of the day, for that matter.

My best chance was to keep going in the direction I thought he was headed.

He had to have a destination in mind. Even if the thought of traveling deeper into a forest still brought tears to my eyes and made my stomach churn with fear.

My mind was made up when an animal’s rumbling growl echoed somewhere in the distance.

Maybe he wouldn’t kill me if he saw me waiting there for him.