Page 53 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

Everything felt hopeless as I laid in Atlas’ bed.

My body ached. I slept for only a couple hours after Atlas carried me upstairs to his room when he finally let me out of the bathroom.

There was a window across from his bed that showed the rising sun.

I had hoped sleeping would bring everything back to me. Of course, it couldn’t be that simple.

The fire I had gotten so used to was completely gone. I felt the same as I had back in Donnaway. The humor wasn’t lost on me, that this was exactly what I had wanted so long ago. I wanted to go back to my normal life. Now, I felt empty. An important part of my being was now missing.

None of this was supposed to happen. I felt like an idiot for not thinking the worst outcome could happen. There was a reason Atlas spent so long working toward this. Now, I’d come along and fucked everything up for him. I made him become the one thing he fought so hard against.

I jumped up as the door opened. Atlas came walking in, throwing something onto the bed with me.

“Eat up, baby girl. You’re gonna need your strength,” he said with a smirk, turning the chair at his desk so he could stare at me.

I wanted to argue, but the smell of the wrapped sandwich made my stomach rumble. “Don’t call me that,” I settled for instead as I tore open the wrapping, taking a large bite out of it.

“Would you rather I call you witchling? That was his favorite.” His voice rumbled as he closed his eyes .

“Or you could just call me by my name,” I retorted between bites. They had the same face, but it wasn’t lost on me that he wasn’t my Atlas.

“Where’s my fun with that?” he asked with a slight tilt of his head. “I can hear the way it angers you. The sound of your rushing heartbeat is music to me.”

“Surely you didn’t come in here just to taunt me,” I commented instead.

“I see why he kept you around,” Atlas commented before standing. “Sadly no, I didn’t. Father wants you.”

“And how is that my problem?” I asked, though I could feel my heartbeat pick up with the fear that jolted through me.

By the way Atlas smiled, he heard it, too.

I fought back a shiver as I kept eating.

I knew what Atlas was, but the open acknowledgements of him listening to my heart was unsettling.

Was he always so attuned to it, or was this just because of the blood?

It was terrible timing, but I couldn’t help but think of all the moments he had gotten close to me while I pretended it didn’t affect me. Did he know this entire time?

The bed moving jolted me far away from those thoughts. Atlas was crawling up the bed toward me.

“I can help take care of those thoughts.” His voice was a deep rumble as he crawled over me.

I tried pushing him off, but he was immovable.

We’d been in this exact position several times, but everything about it felt wrong right now.

Atlas just laughed at my attempt to push him away.

His fangs scraped against the side of my neck.

My eyes snapped shut as I waited for the stinging pain to come.

There was pressure as they pushed against me.

Before he could break the skin, his name was called.

It was muffled enough it must’ve come from downstairs. Atlas groaned as he pulled away.

“Let’s go,” he whispered, getting off the bed.

I stayed on the bed, chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath, my eyes clenched shut.

If I just waited to open them, maybe I could finally wake up back home.

Of course, when I opened them, I was still laying in his bed with him standing in the doorway.

His eyebrows were furrowed as he watched me .

“Can I help you?” I snapped as I got out of bed, hissing as pain shot from the slashes along my back. The fire might’ve been gone, but anger still churned through me.

“Just waiting for the princess to get moving,” he commented, crossing his arms.

I rolled my eyes as I walked up to him, clenching my teeth as I tried to hide a limp.

His gaze slid down me, the slight downwards tilt in his head was the only tell as to what he was doing.

I fought against the urge to hide myself from it.

It wouldn’t do any good, anyways. Without another word, he turned, leaving the room.

My legs hesitated to move. If this was my Atlas, I would have put my foot down and stayed in here.

He was gone, though, and I was certain I didn’t want anyone else from his family to come looking for me.

I sucked in a deep breath, attempting to square my shoulders before following him back downstairs.

He led me back into the living room. Eris was sitting on the couch while Ivy was leaning on the wall, right next to the crack from Atlas being thrown against it.

The blood drained from my face as I watched her play with the knife in her hands, a twisted smile still etched into her face.

Atlas shoved me toward the center of the room, forcing me to bite down a cry as his hand made contact with the bandages he used to cover the cuts.

Instead, I sucked in a sharp, shaky breath as I stood next to the dark red stain from where I had been laying before.

No one said anything. Atlas took a seat next to his father, his leg crossed over the other while he stared toward the closed window.

Eris looked over me while I could hear the gentle pinging of Ivy tapping along the blade of the knife.

My body itched with the urge to move. Every instinct I possessed screamed at me to run.

That would only make it worse. I knew I would only make it a few steps before one of them would catch me.

No, if I wanted to escape this, I needed to think carefully.

If I wanted us both to be free, I had to outthink the three predators in front of me.

“Let’s try this again, Nari.” Eris finally broke the silence. When I didn’t answer, he continued. “Call one of them to you.”

I kept my face blank as I stared at him. No matter how many times I tried to explain this to him, he didn’t want to believe me. I also didn’t want to push the little luck I possessed. A smile tugged at the edges of his lips.

“We can do this for as long as you wish,” he said with a shrug. “No one is going to be coming for you.”

My body tightened as I fought the urge to look at Atlas.

We both knew that wasn’t the case. In a week, this place would be swarming with his friends and the soldiers on their side.

They might not have been looking for me specifically, but they would be quick to end this.

The question was, why didn’t Eris know this already?

His fingers dug into the armrest of the couch as his brows furrowed. “You’ll be making everything so much easier if you just cooperate.”

“No matter how many times I tell you, I have no idea what you’re talking about. You refuse to believe me,” I finally answered.

“Because you’re a lying bitch,” he snarled. “Ivy, please help her remember.”

I didn’t have time to react before I was hit in the stomach.

The air left me as I doubled over, gasping for breath.

My hair was grabbed as my head was ripped up.

Another blow split my lip open. Blood trickled down my chin as giggling came from somewhere behind me.

She grabbed my hand with both of hers before a loud crack sounded through the room.

I screamed as my hand went limp, pain shooting from my wrist up my arm.

I fell to the ground as she moved back toward her father.

I kept hold of my broken wrist as tears streamed down my face.

My breaths were being sucked in between my teeth as I glared at the two of them.

“Sadly, I can’t push you far now that my son has decided to fully join us, thanks to your blood.

What kind of father would I be to take my son’s first meal from him?

” Eris asked with a pout. “Just know, this will be your life until you do what I say. I will make sure you are in as much pain as possible for the rest of your miserable life.” There were no emotions in his threat. Just cold facts.

The two of them had just left the room when I realized how true his threat was. New tears trickled down my face. All this and Atlas never moved from his spot. He never even glanced at me. Somehow this hurt almost as much as the broken wrist.

“Let’s go,” Atlas commented, finally standing.

“That’s all you have to say?” I growled, staying on the ground.

“What do you want from me?” he asked with a sigh.

“I want you to give a shit.” It was a fight to keep my voice quiet. There were no sounds throughout the house, but I found it hard to believe we were the only ones here.

“Just do what he says,” Atlas snapped back. “You’re doing this to yourself.”

“Seriously? You know exactly what I’m capable of.” It certainly wasn’t much. Nowhere near what Eris was asking of me.

“You could at least try,” he said, holding out a hand to help me up.

I ignored it, standing on my own. “You think all he cares about is me trying? You seriously think that would help?”

Atlas rolled his eyes. “No, but maybe you could get this over with.”

“Why does he need me to do this so bad?” I asked.

Atlas paused, brows furrowing, looking away for a moment before looking back at me. “I never told you.”

“No, so, would you like to now?”

“No. Let’s go. You’ll need rest if you plan on doing this for the next several days,” Atlas said before leaving the room.

I let out a huff of breath before following him. Exhaustion was already beating down on me even though I had only been up for a little while. There was still one question I couldn’t get out of my head. I waited until we were closed into his room before asking it.

“Why haven’t you told Eris about what’s coming?”

Atlas laughed. It was a dark sound that sent a chill down my spine.

“I don’t give a shit about him or his plans. All I care about is that pretty neck of yours.”