Page 45 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

I missed my witch.

My head rested on my hand as I listened to Bekah drone through the same plan. The plan that I had come up with, yet she didn’t trust me to follow. Which I understood, since I kept changing it on her.

There was still no part of me that wanted to bring Cece with me.

Every instinct in my body screamed at me to leave her with Leon.

Lock her in my bedroom if I must. Tie her to the bed even.

I shifted in my seat at that imagine. Maybe that could just be an option for any night.

She would never forgive me, though. Nor would she go with it that easily.

No, knowing her, she would burn that house to ashes.

Maps were spread across the table I sat at.

They were detailed layouts of the house I grew up in.

Ones I spent hours recreating every detail.

My fingers tapped against the recreation of Kilrest, dancing along the stream that cut through the top section of the town.

Her anger at me would be worth keeping her out of this town.

If it were a choice, I would never return.

With a sigh, I sat up straight. It wasn’t a choice, though.

Glancing back up at Bekah, she had stopped talking, hands crossed as she stared down at me. Exhaustion darkened the skin underneath her eyes. While stuck, hiding out in the forest in tents darkened the freckles across her face.

“Have you just stopped caring?” she snapped.

“Of course not,” I argued back.

“Ever since that plaything got brought around, you’ve been distracted. ”

I growled, fighting against the animalistic anger to stand and fight against her words. My hand on the table balled into a fist, crumpling the map I had. “That’s enough, Bekah.”

“No, it’s not.” She slammed her hands down on the table, shaking the cups we had set out. “Those soldiers are getting closer every day. You two are going to have to leave quickly. Yet, when you get there, I’m afraid you won’t know your brain from your dick.”

“I may be a friend to you, but never forget who I am. I will do anything to keep Feycrest safe. Anything,” I said lowly as I stood.

Bekah shifted away, flinching as I raised my hand. My eyes closed as I took in a deep breath before continuing to run my hand through my hair. My movements were slow this time as I set my hand back down, trying to bury the hurt before I spoke.

“I would like to always remember that,” Bekah said, beating me to it. “She is an unknown, though. None of us can predict what she will do once you get to Eris. She could be playing you.”

“No.” I quickly jumped in to defend Cece. “You haven’t met her. There is truly no knowledge of this world in that mind of hers.”

“That could be a lie. Don’t let yourself be made a fool, Atlas.”

“She wasn’t scared of me.” My voice broke with the last word.

I quickly cleared my throat, hoping to hide it.

It wasn’t until I spoke it that I realized how important that truly was to me.

In all my twenty-eight years, there was only one other person who hadn’t been afraid of me.

She was dead now, keeping my total still to one.

Leon and Bekah cared about my well-being, but I knew.

There was a secret fear within them that I would succumb to the call, becoming worse than Eris.

Bekah deflated back into her seat, shoulders sagging as her hands hung off the end of the armrests. Her eyes rounded, glossing over with the tears she was certainly about to spill.

“We’ll be gone within a few days,” I promised her.

“Atlas—”

My hands raised, cutting her off. “You’ve made your point. It’s dangerous for all of us to be out here. Make your way back across the river to the others. Prepare them. If you haven’t heard from me in ten nights, march upon Kilrest.”

Bekah’s mouth dropped open as she searched for her words .

“That wasn’t the plan,” she finally sputtered out.

“It needs to be. There are risks we hadn’t planned for.

I won’t lose myself like you’re worried about, but Eris is unpredictable.

In ten days, the two of us might be dead.

Then those we have will be the only hope Feycrest will have,” I explained.

It would be much easier if I didn’t have to risk so many lives among my own.

The hundreds that were waiting for my word on whether they were going to live or die.

A heavy breath escaped my lips, exhaustion suddenly weighing down my shoulders.

“What if you two are alive?” she asked.

“Then look for flames lighting the sky as we fight beside you.” I smiled as I made my way out of the tent.

The moment the fabric flapped shut behind me, the smile dropped from my face.

I scrubbed my hands across my face. There was a heavy weight on my shoulders the closer it got.

My stomach twisted and churned whenever I stopped to think about the ways this could end.

I prayed to the gods for the best outcome, but there was too much that could happen between now and then.

I tried to shake those thoughts from my head as I walked back to Leon’s house.

Thinking about the bad did nothing but put those thoughts into fate’s hands.

This was going to work out. I would strike down Eris and bring Feycrest back from this nightmare.

Everything would be fine. It would all work in my favor.

I’d been working on this for too long for it to not.

With the positive thoughts pushing the negative from my mind, I certainly wasn’t expecting to walk into the scene that I did. Cece was laying on the grass, staring up at the sky. Her lips were moving frantically. Leon was hunched over her, grabbing her shoulders as he shook her.

“Wake up!” he yelled before drawing a hand back and slapping her across the face.

I broke out into a run the moment I heard the smack of his hand. It was mere moments before I was on them.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I growled before shoving Leon away from her.

Ignoring the urge to snap his neck, I kneeled onto the ground next to her.

The main thing that saved him in that moment was the red handprint fading from her cheek as her magic worked.

I cradled her head in one of my hands while the other brushed her hair away from her face.

Her eyes were open wide, but unfocused as they seemed to stare right through me.

At least this time her pounding heartbeat was all I could hear.

“I’m here, sweet witch,” I whispered to her before turning to where Leon was still sitting on the ground. “What happened?” I barked at him.

“I don’t know,” he spoke. “She was fine when I went inside. Came back with water and she was on the ground. Nothing I did made her respond. I was about to come drag you back myself.”

“After you thought hitting her would work?” I grumbled, the anger slowly fading at the panic that was still in his voice.

“Would you rather I did nothing?” he challenged.

I shook my head, running the back of my hand down the side of her face.

“When are you going to stop doing this to me?” I asked her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

I stayed close as I whispered my next confession, “You have become the air in my lungs. The reason my heart beats when I wake. I’d cut my damn horns off and turn them into a crown for you.

Just please, answer me, my love. My life.

My witchling who will leave the world burning for more. ”

The words that left my lips scared me just as much as they relieved me. Finally speaking them lifted a weight from my chest. Yet, Bekah’s words came back to me. I could only devote my life to Cece after I finished this. I cradled her in my arms and walked toward the house.

Leon marched ahead of me, holding the door open for us.

The moment her head entered the house, she jerked up with a gasp.

I cursed as her sudden shift caused her to slip out of my hands.

My body jolted forward as I tried to catch her, only causing my foot to catch on the door frame, sending me to the floor with her.

I was quick enough to catch myself with one of my hands.

A groan escaped me as my knees crashed onto the floor on either side of her.

I opened my mouth to apologize for dropping her.

Before I could, her hands darted out, grabbing me by the horns as she pulled me down for a kiss.

Her lips were frantic against mine. I couldn’t stop the groan that left as I closed my eyes, moving mine to keep up with her.

My free hand grabbed her waist, pulling her up to me .

A throat clearing was the only thing that pulled us away. Her cheeks turned a bright red as she glanced behind me to where Leon was stuck standing. A soft smile tugged at my lips as I leaned down, pressing a kiss to each of her cheeks.

“Welcome back…again,” I said with a chuckle.

When she smiled up at me, my breath caught.

She was breathtaking in that moment. Her blonde hair fanned out as she stared up at me like I was the only thing that mattered.

This was what I had been missing in my life.

I leaned down to kiss her once more, but a hand pressed against my mouth stopped me.

With a playful growl, I tried to move around her hand, but she kept it there.

“I knew you when I was young,” she whispered.

“I’m sure you knew of me, I used to go to that temple a lot,” I explained, sitting up, leaning against the door frame.