Page 33 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

We couldn’t stay there forever. Atlas broke our moment after a few heartbeats, talking about possibly still being followed.

I wanted to argue that there was no way anyone had been able to follow us after what had happened.

Yet, his father seemed like a very determined man, so I accepted his concerns and let him pull me down the path.

That had been many hours ago. The sun was breaking over the horizon.

Hues of pink and orange danced across the sky.

I couldn’t enjoy the sunrise as sleep weighed down my eyelids, slamming them shut.

My feet weighed hundreds of pounds as they dragged through the dirt.

Several times I had stumbled, almost falling to the ground, only to be stopped by Atlas pulling me back up.

My head bobbed toward the ground once more, eyes sliding shut.

“We’re here.”

My head snapped back up at his words. We were standing in front of another inn.

At least, that was my guess as I looked at another sign I couldn’t read.

Glancing around, we were in the middle of a small town.

There were only a few buildings hiding among the trees.

My brows pulled together as I took in the town.

Last I noticed, we were still in the middle of a forest. It felt like a single, long blink between then and now.

“Everything okay?” Amusement sparked in Atlas’ voice as he looked down at me.

I tried to glare up at him even as my eyelids started to close once again. There was a gentle tug on my wrist as I was pulled forward .

Music drifted through the building as soon as the door was opened. It was a soft, lulling tune that threatened to pull me further into sleep. Atlas walked me over to an empty table, waiting until I had slumped down into the chair before walking toward the bar.

I kept my gaze focused on Atlas, using him to keep myself from fully falling sleep.

His fingers drummed against the wooden top of the bar.

Foot tapping even as he glanced back at me.

A lanky man popped up from under the bar, glasses in hand.

His grip tightened, eyes widening as he stared at Atlas.

Atlas started talking, gesturing toward where I was sitting.

The man’s hands started shaking as his gaze moved over to me.

Sitting up straight in the chair, I focused my attention on the sticky, wooden floor.

Reactions like this made it hard to write off Atlas’ story as some fable he had been told.

My head started to throb at just the thought of it all.

There was genuine fear in people’s eyes when they looked at the two of us, and I had no idea how I felt about it.

I missed being the ignored daughter of farmers.

Atlas’ heavy footsteps announced his arrival. He held his hands out, pulling me up to my feet.

“They’ve got an open room for us,” he said, walking me toward a door on the opposite side to the bar with his hand on my lower back.

The barkeep avoided looking at either one of us as he met us at the door.

Quickly, he opened it, revealing a long hallway and four wooden doors.

The man walked us to the door directly in front of us, his hands shaking as he tried to unlock the door.

I wanted to sink into the floor as his hand slipped several times.

Finally, he steadied himself enough to unlock the door.

I muttered a quick thank you as he practically ran from us.

“You’ll get used to it,” Atlas mumbled, gesturing for me to walk in.

My eyes started to burn with tears. There was no part of this that I wanted to get used to.

Now, I at least knew the cause of everyone’s fear.

Though I couldn’t help but wonder how Atlas planned to stop a man like his father on his own.

I walked into the room, only to immediately come to a halt, causing Atlas to bump into me.

“Are you serious?” The words left before I could stop them.

There was only one bed in this room.

The was no settee or anything as a replacement, either. Just a single bed and table in a room that barely felt big enough to have both of us just stand in it, let alone spend the night. I regretted my words as I saw the grimace twisting Atlas’ face.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he offered, moving past me to the bed, making a grab at some of the pillows piled up.

“You’re not sleeping on the floor,” I scoffed, glancing down at the floor that was covered in thick layers of dust and dirt, his footprints imprinted within it.

Atlas froze, his back facing me. One of the blankets dangled in his grip.

“This is the only room they have.” His voice was low as he spoke.

“It’s been a long day, no one is going to sleep on the floor when there’s plenty of room on the bed for both of us.

” I felt myself rambling as I waited for him to stop me.

“If anything, we can just pile pillows between us or something.” I paused, still waiting for him to move. “If that’ll make you more comfortable.”

Atlas started returning the pillows and blankets back to their spots before turning to me. “Pillows? Are we children?” He chuckled, walking over to me.

My cheeks burned with a blush that ran down my neck as he backed me against the closed door. He placed one hand on the door right above my head, his other hand caressing down my arm. A shiver made my body tremble.

“Unless you’re afraid of sharing a bed with me.” His voice was a soft rumble as he leaned closer to me.

Fear flittered briefly into his eyes before it vanished. I saw his words for what they were. If only he knew what the rumbling of his voice was doing to me. I was thankful he didn’t question the way my eyes wanted to flutter shut. Putting words to this feeling wasn’t something I was ready for.

“I’m not scared of you,” I said instead, leaning forward until our lips almost touched.

Atlas smiled at that, flashing a fang at me before pulling back. He planted a quick kiss to the top of my head before turning back to the bed. I watched as he slipped off his boots before sitting on the edge of the bed. Taking a couple of deep breaths, I followed in his steps .

I slid under the covers, sighing as my body sunk into the shockingly soft mattress.

Glancing over at Atlas, I saw him patiently looking at me from where he sat, glancing between me and the other side of the bed with a raised brow.

It only took a couple extra seconds for my tired brain to get the hint and slide over to the side furthest from the door.

He was quick to join me under the covers, keeping his hands tucked behind his head so no part of us was touching.

Sleep was nowhere to be found now. I felt wide awake as I laid in bed, staring at the wood ceiling.

Everything from today kept screaming at me.

The fact that I truly almost died. Yet, I wasn’t sure if I would have changed what I had done.

Except for the burning in my side. I shifted, hoping to find a comfortable way to lie with the fire blazing inside me.

My actions helped those people. Though I couldn’t imagine being in Atlas’ shoes during that. Watching him in the jaws of a dragon would have been horrifying. All of this still felt small compared to learning about everything.

My past was ripped out of my memories. Any attempt to think back to what happened before Donnaway led me to nothing.

A void where I know memories should be. I was old enough to remember something.

I would take anything at this point. A single smell.

A room I visited when growing up. I wasn’t very optimistic about my future, either.

It seemed to be decided that I was going to cause destruction no matter what I thought of it.

I glanced over at Atlas, where he was lying with his eyes closed.

I’d been terrified of everything the moment I ended up in this world I was supposed to live in.

I was tired of being afraid. I rolled over onto my side, looking over the man who was now staring at me, eyelids low as he slowly traced over every part of me.

My body heated under his gaze. If I was going to be here, I might as well enjoy it.

“Hi,” he whispered, turning so he was on his side as well, facing me.

“Hello,” I whispered back.

My hand reached out before I could fully think through what I was doing.

His eyes closed, head flinching back as his body tensed.

I paused, holding my breath, giving him a moment to either relax or pull away.

His eyes stayed closed, but the arm that wasn’t under him stretched out until his knuckles brushed against my stomach.

A shiver trailed down my spine as his thumb rubbed along where my shirt had ridden up.

I reached up to where a piece of his hair was caught on his horn, untangling it so it dropped back down with the rest of his hair.

The piece was rough and coarse, most likely from the salt water we swam through.

I noticed mine didn’t have its usual softness once it had dried many hours ago.

Running my fingers through the rest of his hair, I wondered if it was usually soft.

Maybe his hair was always like this. It certainly wouldn’t be the most extreme difference between the two of us.

My fingers traced their way up to his horns, following my train of thought.

Atlas sighed as I felt the smooth texture, shifting slightly closer to me.

“What are you doing, little witch?” His voice was a rasp as he broke the silence.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, trying to ignore the fluttering in my stomach at his words.