Page 31 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

Her teeth were chattering as I dragged her out of the water.

I ripped my jacket off, throwing it on top of her.

My heart sank as her lips turned pale blue.

I tugged at the base of my horns. Why would she do something like this?

None of it made sense. The way she spoke to me.

How easily she risked herself to save everyone.

I had been lied to, but it wasn’t by her.

“Josi,” she stuttered out, “why is it so cold?”

My hands were on her in an instant. Please open your eyes , I wanted to beg her. There wasn’t a care in my body at being called her sister. If she was still alive, that was all that mattered. All the feelings I had shoved down came roaring to the surface.

There was no fighting them off as I dropped to the ground, pulling her into my lap. My fingers ran through her hair as she finally opened her eyes. A smile tugged at my lips as she looked over me. Until her brows furrowed before she spoke.

“I’m still here,” she groaned out, closing her eyes again. “It didn’t work.”

My hand dropped to my side. All of this to get away from here. Away from me. I hadn’t been the kindest to her, but I was trying. It had been better on the boat.

“I thought I just watched you die,” I hissed out instead, “and all you have to say is some bullshit?”

“Like you really care,” she scoffed, pulling away from me as she sat up .

I stood, hands shaking. If I had proven one thing in our time together, I thought it would’ve been that.

All I did was care. I chased after her to protect the people of the town.

I followed her into the Fae’s home so they didn’t eat her.

Just now, I tried to help Ezryn’s crew fight off a dragon before jumping into the water to save her.

All I’d done was care about her. I was a fool for ever thinking I would be strong enough to kill her.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked instead, once again, pacing in front of her.

“Excuse me?” she asked, anger tearing through her voice. Good, she should’ve been angry. Because I was pissed. “I risked my life to save everyone,” she continued.

“Exactly,” I snapped, focusing on that rather than how I felt. There was no point in bringing it up when this was how she still viewed me. I kneeled in front of her, forcing her to look at me. “You risked your life without a single thought in that pretty little head of yours.”

“Should I have just sat back and watched everyone around me die?” she argued, straightening to get in my face. My fingers twitched with the need to grab her neck again. Her eyes were so pretty as they widened when I did that last time. “No, you wanted me to hide and pretend nothing happened.”

“Yes,” I growled. “If the choice is between you or someone else, never pick someone else.”

It was foolish that I had to explain this to her. Everyone knew this. It’s why everyone cowered from me. To save themselves. Everyone but her.

“No,” she snapped.

It was quick, but I saw it. Her eyes flickered down to my lips. My hands shook as I sat in front of her, warring with myself to not do what my body was screaming at me to do. As she looked up at me underneath her lashes, I was helpless.

She might’ve been clueless to the power she held, but that didn’t make her weak.

At any moment she could turn on me, choosing to join my father in the end.

My brain and heart were at war with each other.

One knew my concerns were irrational. I’d been the evil asshole this entire time.

Cece had done nothing but risk her own life.

That alone made me hesitate. It took me years to get over what happened to Nari.

I was only a child when she died. I would’ve been a fool if I didn’t realize that losing someone now would destroy me.

None of that mattered as my arms wrapped around her.

I pulled her close, my lips finding hers.

My eyes slid shut as her lips met my quick pace.

Her hands slid through my hair, and I groaned into the kiss as her hands found the base of my horns.

Sparks shot down my spine as her nails scratched along them.

Just as I nipped at her bottom lip, she pulled away.

The world spun around me. All I wanted was to taste her again.

As I opened my heavy-lidded eyes, emotions flashed across her face.

My hands dropped from her back as regret sunk like a pit in my stomach.

I shouldn’t have done that. Not when she still thought of me as some uncaring monster.

I tried to hide my feelings, but the hurt radiating across her face told me how well that went. It felt like a dagger to my chest.

My mouth opened to explain, but she was already shoving me away. I stayed on the ground as she threw my jacket at me. As she stood, she hissed in pain. My hands shot out as she wobbled. The glare she gave me had me dropping them back to my sides. Her hands shook as she lifted the side of her shirt.

I sucked in a sharp breath at the dark purple bruising that went from her hip up to her chest. There was a raised, jagged line running through the center of the bruising. How the dragon didn’t slice through her, I had no idea. I thanked the gods for saving her, though.

“You got incredibly lucky,” I voiced, words thick in my throat before I stood, grabbing my jacket and the gold dagger she had used to stab the dragon while she was focused on the wound down her side.

“I know,” she mumbled, slowly lowering her shirt.

I didn’t know what to say. We had about a day’s walk until we reached the closest town.

The way she hobbled around the little clearing made my heart clench.

I’d offer to carry her if I didn’t think that would get me stabbed worse than the dragon.

No. I needed to accept she wanted nothing to do with me.

She thought I kidnapped her. There was no way I could fix any of this.

“C’mon,” I said instead, turning toward where we needed to go next. “We have a ways to walk now. Since someone jumped off our fastest means of travel.”