Page 35 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

“Little witch.”

The nickname was sung out to me. I shook my head, trying to ignore the voice as I buried my face in my warm pillow.

A pillow that jostled me as a deep laughter echoed in the room around me.

Heat traveled along my cheeks as I peeked out of one of my eyes.

There was an arm holding me against Atlas while the other was wrapped across him to reach my side, his thumb languidly stroking across my skin.

His gaze was soft as he stared down at me.

The soft morning light poured through the window that was above us creating a soft glow along his skin.

“Did you know you drool in your sleep?”

I sat up, a blush burning brighter into my cheeks as I was reminded of my nakedness as his gaze slowly traveled down me, slowly lighting the fire within me. Snatching the blanket that was spread out across us, I pulled it until it was covering most of me.

“I do not,” I muttered, looking away as I quickly wiped at the dry corners of my mouth.

“Oh, you most definitely do,” he said with a chuckle, sitting up. “Woke up thinking I was back in that river.”

“Shut up.” I laughed, turning back to him.

He was sitting against the headboard smiling at me, arms crossed against his bare chest. Even after last night, I still wanted to run my hands all over him.

I might’ve wanted it more because of what we did last night.

There was no denying his attractiveness now.

His gaze heated as he looked over me, tongue wetting his lips before he leaned toward me, pressing his lips to mine.

It was over quickly as my stomach rumbled. Atlas chuckled as he pulled away.

“Let’s go before I get accused of starving you,” Atlas commented as he stood, pulling his shirt back on.

Disappointment thrummed through me as I was staring at a fully dressed Atlas once again.

It felt like a barrier had been put back in place between us.

No longer was he the relaxed male who would joke around with me.

His brows were set in a determined line.

All signs of our previous laughter disappeared as his lips were tugged down into a shadow of a grimace.

With a huff I stood, hunting down my clothes, dreading the rest of this journey more so than I already was.

Music thumped through the halls the moment we stepped out of the room.

Some tension left my shoulders once I realized how little sound traveled through the inn.

At least I could avoid any walk of shame when I inevitably had to look at the same man who helped us last night again.

As we walked through the second door, I realized that most likely wouldn’t be a problem, either.

The tavern area was packed. There was a large group of people playing music on a raised stage I hadn’t seen last night.

The music was louder out here. My entire body felt like I was vibrating with it.

I couldn’t tell if I wanted to dance with the others to it or cover my ears and run.

Atlas placed a hand on the small of my back, leading me through the crowd.

Though, once people saw us, our walking through was made much easier.

The crowd parted for us like we were diseased.

People gasped and pointed at us. At least no one ran away screaming.

I glanced over as a couple almost fell to the floor as they tried to move away from us. People were going to be screaming soon.

I kept my gaze trained to the ground as I let him lead me through the tavern, eyes burning as I could hear the whispers getting progressively louder around us. He stopped us at an open table and gestured for me to sit, glancing around the room.

“I’ll be back,” he promised before turning away.

I watched him until I could no longer see him, the only hint of where he was being the shifting of the crowd as they avoided him.

My attention was quickly pulled away as someone started dancing in front of me.

Her dress was a bright pink as it twisted and twirled in front of the table.

Someone leaned in, whispering into her fur covered ears.

She threw her head back, laughing. The people behind her had to duck as the antlers sticking from the top of her head almost hit a couple of them.

She danced closer to the side of me where I could see her hooves tapping along with the beat.

“It’s rude to stare!” she yelled above the music, no anger in sight as she stared down at me with her bright eyes.

I started to apologize when my attention was turned to Atlas taking the seat across from me. He smiled as he set down one of the plates he carried in front of me, while keeping the other to himself. Glancing around, I saw the lady dancing back into the crowd.

“Everything okay?” Atlas asked as he sat down.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, turning to face him. “Just not used to all this,” I lied, gesturing to everything around me.

He nodded. “Been a lot of changes for you recently.”

I huffed out a laugh, grabbing at the wooden fork.

That would be putting things lightly. Everything I knew had changed.

From the world I thought I lived in, down to everything I thought I knew about myself.

I tried to push these thoughts away as I felt the throbbing starting in the back of my head.

I glanced over the plate of eggs and various fruits, thankful that at least some things were the same.

I shoveled a forkful into my mouth, almost moaning at the warm food.

Everything had been old or cold up until this point.

“Better enjoy it,” Atlas said around his own mouthful, gesturing down at my plate.

I raised an eyebrow at him, letting it question him for me.

“Last inn until we get to Kilrest,” he explained. “Should only take a few more days, so don’t worry too much,” he finished with a smirk.

“I think I’ll survive,” I retorted with a roll of my eyes.

He nodded, quickly finishing the last of his food.

“Good.” He paused, looking anywhere except at me as he continued. “I have some things I need to take care of before we leave here.”

“Okay,” I said, nodding in understanding as I tried to quickly eat the rest of my food as Atlas stared down at the table, fingers drumming along the stone.

He reached out, placing a hand on my utensil as I was bringing it up to my mouth. “You’re going to wait here for me.”

“You’re being weird,” I commented, narrowing my gaze at him as he continued to avoid meeting my gaze. I reached my free hand out to him, only for him to jerk away from me, causing hurt to radiate deep within my chest.

He furrowed his brows, shaking his head. “I’m not.”

“Are you going to leave me again?” I asked, trying to keep any emotions from my voice.

That got him to look at me. His eyes were wide as they traced over my face. “No. I’m not going to leave you. Though I didn’t actually leave you the first time. I always planned on coming back.”

I hummed at his explanation, pulling my plate closer to me.

The hurt lumped together in my stomach, pushing away any previous excitement over my food.

My instincts told me I was being ridiculous right now.

He was telling the truth; he’s always come back.

He jumped into a river for me, after all.

I still couldn’t help the fear that coursed through me.

“Ok.” I nodded, still hesitant.

Atlas nodded, muttering a quick goodbye before leaving.

The fork scraped across the plate as I pushed the remaining food around, all hunger evaporated.

I closed my eyes, listening to the music.

Everything was so different here. Back home, I would’ve been planning a wedding, getting ready to play wife for Adrian.

I smirked; he would’ve been hopeless here.

The first sign of danger would have had him running, crying to his mother.

Unlike Atlas. He’d stood in front of everything that’d happened so far, an unwavering picture of strength and bravery. Which happened to look incredible shirtless.

I was ripped from my thoughts by the sound of a chair scraping in front of me. Opening my eyes, I saw the same girl who was dancing before now sitting in front of me. Her brown hair clung to the sweat on her forehead. She kept glancing around us before leaning toward me.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over all the noise.

“Yes?” I questioned, her nerves rubbing off as I glanced around the tavern. Nothing around us had changed in the few moments I wasn’t looking at it. Only a few people around us even spared us a sideways look.

She leaned back with a sigh, her shoulders dropping. There were bells hanging from her antlers that I had missed earlier. They chimed now as she fidgeted in her seat.

“You’re brave to be traveling with that monster,” she commented so calmly.

“Monster?” I echoed back. The noise from the tavern felt like it was slowly dying out as all my attention was trained on her.

“I’m surprised they let him stay here. Last time a Saeva was in town, they slaughtered half the village,” she explained, snatching one of the berries off my plate.

Her words bounced around my head. I could feel the color drain from my face as a heavy weight settled into my stomach.

“Was it him?” I choked out, barely able to bring myself to ask the question.

The girl shrugged before answering. “Sure looked a lot like him. Doesn’t matter if it was, though. They’re only capable of murder. How long have you been with him?”

“A couple days,” I answered, feeling like I was in a daze.

She said something in response, but I stopped listening.

My hands wrapped around my waist as the regret finally started to set in.

Her words confirmed the thoughts I had just gotten rid of.

I should’ve trusted my instincts. No, not them, because even now there was a voice raging, calling her a liar.

I shut my eyes, fighting with myself. So what if he’d been acting differently toward me the past couple of days?

This just showed that I was his exception.

The way he first acted was the rule. He was a murderer.

A kidnapper. I let myself forget that for too long.

A string of curses left the girl as the chair scraped against the floor. The table was pushed closer to me right before her footsteps ran away from me.

“Who was that?” Atlas asked.

I glanced up at where he stood next to the table, eyebrows drawn as he watched her run away.

“No one,” I choked out, a lump forming in my throat .

My hands shook as I placed them on the table, bracing myself as I stood.

Everything was going to be fine. I forced myself to take a deep breath.

I knew the truth now. The debate in my mind was over.

My life was at risk in this world, and I wasn’t going to jeopardize it for some feelings I’d developed.

Atlas’ face hardened as he looked over mine, his eyes burning as he looked through the crowd again.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen while I was gone?” he asked, a hand reaching out to grab my arm.

I jerked away from his touch, just as he did before. The hurt look on his face felt like someone pierced my heart. Immediately, I wanted to take it back. Instead, I forced myself to walk past him, shoving through the crowd as I made my way outside.