Page 32 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

When I wasn’t fearing for my life, this world was beautiful.

I’d accepted the fact that this was where I was stuck, and that the man next to me was, most likely, no longer going to kill me.

I might as well have made the most out of being here, then.

Flowers of every color poked out of the ground around us.

The trees were more spread out than the others we walked through, causing plants of all sizes to grow around us.

There were leaves the size of me dangling from vines that wound up the tall trees.

Silver light from the now rising moon illuminated Atlas as he walked in front of me.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I followed him, thoughts raging inside me.

Every fiber of my being wanted to bring up the kiss.

Why he would do something like that. How I wanted him to do it again.

My brows furrowed at that thought. Just a few days prior, these thoughts would have disgusted me.

I was in danger of falling into a pit I always wanted to avoid.

Caring for Atlas meant being okay with everything he’d done.

With the way he treated me when we first met.

I wanted to be disappointed in myself, but I failed every time.

There was something going on that I didn’t know about, secrets that Atlas knew.

The guilt that tainted his face when I asked to go home haunted me.

There was no sign of it now, though. His shoulders were no longer tense.

His face would occasionally smooth out of the scowl as he glanced back to make sure I was still following.

Our pace went from rushing to our destination to a casual stroll.

It was more than that, though; it was like he was trying to stop us from getting there.

There was no other way I could think of it.

There was a heavy weight between the two of us, like the world was waiting for something bad to happen, and I was letting him lead me right to it.

Atlas slowed even more until he was walking next to me.

“Fera are some of the simpler creatures that live here,” he said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“What?” I asked before I fully took in his words.

Atlas smirked down at me. “Forgot your own curiosities already?”

I rolled my eyes, fighting the smile that tugged at my lips. “No, just wasn’t expecting you to feel so chatty.”

“I’m trying my hand at the whole being nice thing.” He gestured with his hands into the air.

I snorted a laugh at him. He acted like it was some absurd concept that he’d never used before. Then again, with the comments he’d made about always putting myself first, this really might’ve been the first time he had.

“Well, don’t let me stop you,” I said.

Atlas waited a second before he spoke, glancing at the scenery around us.

Our hands hung at our sides. He turned his head, looking at something that caught his attention, and his hand brushed against mine.

My cheeks grew red as I pulled away, holding my hands behind my back, even though we were well past the hand holding stage.

Atlas cleared his throat before turning back to the path in front of us as he started talking again.

“They don’t have much going for them as a species.

They’re weaker than most that live here.

Even those traveling from other areas tend to have an advantage over them.

They are one of the few species capable of shapeshifting, though even that is limited.

They must share some sort of trait with the creature they want to mimic.

Whether that be height, weight, horns?—”

“What happens if they don’t?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me as I cut him off.

A shudder ran through him before he answered, “Monstrosities. Limbs where they don’t belong. Things barely attached to them.”

My body shook at the images that flashed through my mind.

“What are you?” I asked, flinching at the way the question came out.

Atlas just sighed, his shoulders dropping.

“I want to answer your questions, I really do, but there are certain things you don’t understand. There’s a lot at risk right now, which is why I’m trying to explain my world to you. Knowing about me isn’t the thing that’s important right now.”

“It’s important to me,” I argued, feeling the normal frustration bubble up at his refusal to talk to me. “If there’s so much at risk, then just explain it to me. I’m not some child you need to protect.”

“You might as well be,” he snapped. “You know nothing, and I can’t just simply explain this to you.”

“You could,” I argued back, “you’re just refusing to.”

“I’m not. I’m trying to explain things in this world to you,” he argued back.

I rolled my eyes at that. “No, you’re trying to stick to what you think are easy topics.

I want actual answers,” I said, voicing the gnawing feeling I’d had the last several days.

“I want to know why I’m even here.” My voice cracked at the end, eyes burning as I stared at the ground. “All I was trying to do was help.”

“Help who?” he asked, looking down at me, eyebrows drawn together.

“I’m not sure anymore. I thought he was a little boy who just got lost, yet he led me here.”

Atlas hummed, turning away. Silence fell between us. We kept our slow pace. He didn’t pull away from me, instead he continued to walk next to me. Starlight shined down on us. How different was this world. There were creatures here I could never have imagined existing.

“I was sent to get you.” Atlas broke the silence. “As for the boy, I imagine he was most likely Klyn, since he was the Fera I was told to retrieve you from.”

I glanced over at him. His shoulders were drawn tight as he stared out in front of him. The starlight twinkled in the corners of his eyes as he glanced over at me, quickly glancing away with a grimace twisting his features.

“There used to be a coven of witches who lived in a temple in Kilrest. They specialized in defensive and healing magic. Quickly, they became cherished by the entire town. They helped with any ailment, no matter how small. One day, they discovered they could speak with the gods. Not even just speak with, but summon whenever they wanted. My father heard of this, which started his war against Feycrest. He went for the witches first, claiming he didn’t want them to be able to stop his plans.

After killing them all, rumors started that there was a witch somewhere.

A child that had been placed in hiding. It took twenty years for my father to find her.

He imprisoned people’s families so they would help him find the witch.

I was told I was retrieving that witch. Someone I knew had the power to help my father destroy what is left of Feycrest.”

My mind spun with each word Atlas spoke.

There had to be some other explanation. What he was saying couldn’t possibly be true.

A witch in hiding? Me, being that witch?

Yet, it explained how he treated me in the beginning.

The incredible anger he felt toward me. He thought he was delivering the ultimate weapon to a mass murderer.

Even just the looks that were directed toward me. People had been afraid of us.

Even with all this, my mind still clung to one thing: my mother loved family paintings.

They were done for every occasion. They started when Josi was a small baby, just old enough to hold still long enough to be painted.

I didn’t show up until I was a small child, though.

There were paintings done for celebrations I should have been at.

I was always told I simply wouldn’t sit still for long enough.

Yet, hearing the possibility that I just simply didn’t exist for my family then felt like parts of my childhood were suddenly snapping together.

Why I was never treated like Josi. The need to send me away as quickly as possible.

The fight I had overheard the morning of my engagement party.

This would mean that my mother had been right: there was something wrong with me.

“I can’t be that witch,” I still croaked out, my throat suddenly feeling tight as I wanted to fight against his words.

I wanted to believe those words more than I had wanted anything up to this point. Even returning to my sister. Yet, if everything else about this crazy world was true, why couldn’t this?

Atlas shrugged. “Most don’t even believe the witch exists. I do know that weird things seem to happen to you. The creatures here are drawn to beings who have large amounts of the world’s magic coursing through them.”

“Everything is always trying to kill me,” I muttered, rubbing where the ember sat in my chest, trying to ignore its pulsating.

No part of me wanted to believe that his words were true, but I couldn’t help myself.

The fire with the Kabora, the burnt ground around the Fae.

It made sense in a twisted sort of way. If creatures could shapeshift here, why couldn’t I start fire?

Even I could’ve admitted that those would be weird coincidences if things just randomly caught on fire around me.

“Yes.” Atlas nodded in agreement. “If I brought the witch to my father, he would use her to summon the gods so he could take the gods’ powers for his own.”

“Why are you taking me there, then?” I asked.

I stopped walking as the world started spinning around me.

My breathing was ragged as I felt like I wasn’t getting enough air.

Atlas grabbed my shoulders, steadying me as I started to stumble.

This whole thing started because I wanted to help someone.

I just tried to sacrifice myself to save others.

Our journey wasn’t going to end with me being used to kill everyone.

That was if I wanted to accept what he was telling me.

Every part of my being fought against this being true.

My eyes were wide as I stared up at him.

I was unable to speak any of this to him.

My refusal to help his father. My disbelief in the story he told.

Nothing about the way he spoke led me to believe it was anything but the truth.

It was the opposite. The more he spoke, the more tension seemed to leave him, like this story was a physical weight that had been pressing against him the entire time we’d been together. This journey had been life changing for both of us. For him, it determined whether his world would continue.

“Breathe,” he whispered, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Nothing is going to happen to you now.”

“Now?” I gasped out. “Oh gods, you were going to kill me.”

Atas flinched, seeming to realize the mistake in his words.

“I need you to believe me when I tell you this.” He bent down slightly so we were face to face, eyes staring directly at each other, his hands holding my face. “I never wanted to hurt you. It’s a long journey back to Kilrest. There was a hope I could get you on my side. ”

My breathing came in slower as I took in the sincerity of his eyes, thinking back to all we’d been through.

He never actually hurt me. There were several moments when I was scared, but that was it.

Not that that was acceptable, either. Yet, even when everything he cared about was at stake, he chose to save me when it would have been easier for him to leave me there.

“Your side?” I asked.

“Yes.” He nodded. “I plan on stopping Eris.”

“How?” I questioned him.

“Don’t worry about it. You will never get that close to him,” he answered with determination.

“What happens now, then?” I feared his answer.

“I’m honestly not sure,” he answered, dropping his hands. “Every plan I had went flying the moment I saw you.” He reached down, grabbing one of my hands. “I do promise to keep you safe now. I know my word means very little to you after all of this, but I still need you to know this.”

“I believe you,” I answered.

It was the truth. I felt as it settled into my chest, easing some of the tension I had been feeling from the beginning.

It was difficult to sort through the emotions that were coursing through me.

The betrayal at feeling like I had been lied to for my entire life.

There was a want to learn everything there was in this world that I never got the chance to learn while growing up here.

A part of me was just content to stay here and hold Atlas’ hand.