Page 57 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

Those words were all my body needed to finally move again. My fingers slipped around the handle. Kier’s mouth opened as he went to keep talking. Before he could, I cracked open the door, slipping out and slamming it shut.

My hand found the outside handle. I leaned back, ignoring the screaming pain in my hands as I used my weight to keep the door closed.

Kier was easily twice my size. He didn’t have obvious muscles like Atlas or Leon, but there was no doubt that he could easily open this door.

I was no match for anyone in this state. I stayed like that for several moments.

Silence stretched around me. Shuffling feet moved around me. One of the hanging lanterns near me had a faint squeak as it gently rocked. A throat cleared before the silence was broken.

“Can I explain now?” Kier asked, his voice muffled through the door.

“I’m staying out here,” I answered. One would think something trying to kill me would’ve just been a normal day by now. That didn’t stop my racing heartbeat or sweat covering the palms of my hands.

“That’s fine,” he answered. “One of my sisters knew you were going to be found soon. She didn’t know much else.

Everyone was scared. Even though we knew we were safe, nobody else in Alryne would be.

Our parents have shown no sign in caring what Eris does.

You appearing again would mean the death for hundreds of thousands of people.

It made sense to me at the time that killing you would be the easiest solution. ”

I couldn’t help the laugh that left me. “Kill me. Just like that. I’m glad it’s such an easy thing for you to decide.”

“It was one life verses thousands. You’re telling me you can’t see the reason in that?” he argued.

There was no way for me to argue against him. That was the same reasoning Atlas and I used for coming here. Kill Eris and save everyone else.

“Why didn’t you, then?” I asked instead, unsure I actually wanted to know.

“The dragon.”

I waited a moment for him to continue. When he didn’t, I spoke up. “Did you think he had beaten you to it?”

“No,” he said with a chuckle. “You risked your life for my own, and everyone else’s on that boat. I knew then that you weren’t going to be a risk to Alryne.”

“Oh.” It was all I could think of to say as I let go of the door handle.

“To answer your questions from earlier, I got myself thrown into here. Figured this was the closest I could get to you without having someone with fangs try to kill me,” Kier continued, gently pushing the door open.

I stepped back, ignoring the voices that started up around us again. “Why would that matter?” I asked.

“Well, I didn’t want to die before talking to you again,” he answered, stepping away from the door until he was backed against the opposite wall.

With a roll of my eyes, I walked back into the room, closing the door behind me. My hands stayed on the handle as my gaze stayed locked on him. It was easy to see that his eyes were glowing as he was cast in shadows.

“Why did finding me matter so much if you don’t plan on killing me?” I asked.

Kier held up the dagger, a smile forming. “Because now, I want you to kill me.”

I just stared at him, blinking, waiting for the rest of the joke to come. When he said nothing else, I brought a hand up, rubbing at my throbbing head.

“I wish more things could be solved with stern words,” I muttered. “How would killing you help? I would think having a god on our side would be better.”

“The son of a god,” Kier corrected. “I told you: I don’t have the abilities my brothers or sisters have. If one of them showed up, you would be in much better shape. All I can do is talk to the dead and help them move on. You, though, your fire will be a great help.”

“I hate to break it to you, but I have nothing right now,” I commented with a sigh, rubbing where the flame should’ve been in my chest. Traces twisted deep down, still too far for me to access.

His eyes squinted as he looked over me, widening once they landed on my neck. I shifted so my hair fell across that shoulder.

“He let them feed on you?” The shock rang clear in his words.

I couldn’t bring myself to correct him. My gaze landed on the ground, staying there even as I felt his stare burning into me.

“He did it.”

He didn’t say it as a question, so I didn’t bother trying to make myself confirm it. Saying it out loud made everything real. It made the last several days too real in my mind. The constant pain was one thing. Tears started trickling down my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing them to stop.

My shoulders sagged as the exhaustion came crashing back into me.

Whatever energy I had been running on finally ceased.

My eyes cracked open in time to see the room move around me.

Hands grabbed by shoulders, stopping me before I fell to the ground.

I let Kier guide me to the back corner of the room.

If he was going to hurt me, he apparently would have done it a while ago.

I was running out of the steam needed to stay awake.

There was a straw bed set up in the corner of the room.

It had a pillow that was stained with feathers poking out of its many holes.

Something small with too many legs crawled in between the strands of straw.

A chill ran down my back, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from laying down.

Straw poked at every inch of exposed skin.

Everything itched and the crawling thing definitely just touched my arm.

Yet, it was the most comfortable I had been in days.

Kier was sitting between me and the door.

His eyes weren’t leaving it as he ran his thumb over the gems inlaid in the dagger.

Despite his crazy plans, this was the most honesty I’d had since leaving Donnaway.

As I started drifting away again, I felt safe down here, as weird as that was to admit to myself.

His voice echoed around the corridor outside.

It alone was enough to feel the fire start churning inside.

Now that some of the exhaustion had faded, all I could think about was him.

The countless people he’d killed. The ones he still planned on murdering.

All the pain and suffering he had caused me and Atlas.

It was enough. I had had enough. My fists clenched as he got closer. I was ready to end this.

The smell of smoke filled our room as fire burned the tips of my fingers.

I lay in the bed, waiting to hear him get closer.

His footsteps echoed alongside another set.

Someone was with him. That wasn’t enough to stop me now, though.

Whoever would be with him deserved it as well.

My eyes cracked open as I heard them right outside our door. I sat up, ready for a fight.

Only to be pushed back down with a hand on my forehead. I glared over at Kier, who looked like Sal once more.

“What are you doing?” I growled.

“Not yet,” he hissed, glancing at the door behind him. “Don’t move and stay quiet.”

Something slid over my skin with his words.

I glanced down. There was a slight shimmer over my body, the same I had seen back in the skies at Donnaway before I disappeared into the shadows.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I watched the door.

The door across from us quietly squeaked open.

There were more hushed talking before ours opened next.

“Maybe he’d like his sailor friend.” Ivy pointed at Kier disguised as Sal.

I held my breath as her and Eris walked in.

My heart raced as I tried to keep my breathing even.

Kier kept his head down even as she walked up to him, bending down to look over him.

Her nose crinkled as she quickly stood back up.

The gold dagger glinted from where it was pressed between his back and the stone wall.

My eyes couldn’t settle between the two as Ivy looked around the room.

Her gaze skating across me as she turned back to Eris.

“Or not. This one smells awful,” she commented.

“Does it matter? Find something new for him since he killed his bitch,” Eris remarked as he walked back out the door.

She huffed, glancing back at Kier. Her gaze squinted as she looked over him once more. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest stopped as Kier held his breath. One of the hands that was clenching his thigh slid closer to his back as we both waited for her to move.

We didn’t have to wait long until she turned away, following her father out of the room. I jumped as the door slammed shut. Kier raising his hand toward me kept me from moving any further.

Their steps trailed down the hall before another door squeaked open. Voices cried and called out to them. My eyes closed as those cries turned into screams. I fisted my dress as the door slammed shut, the screams getting quieter as whoever it was got dragged out of this dungeon.

When Kier dropped his hand, I jumped up, ignoring him as I went running out of our room.

The voices around me blended into an indistinguishable scream as I ignored the pain jostling through my body.

With each step, the fire burned brighter.

It twisted its way through me, healing faster than I was reinjuring myself until all I could feel was the hatred burning.

They’d hurt enough people. This wasn’t just about me or Atlas anymore.

I’d seen it countless times, the results of all the pain they’d caused.

Yet, listening to them drag someone off to their death?

It felt like the pieces were finally coming together.

If I didn’t do something, everyone down here would die.

Without Atlas, his friends would die. Everyone in Kilrest was at risk, and everyone beyond that would continue to be tormented.

Eris was walking out of the hatch when I made it to them.

Ivy had a Fera by the arm as they were dragged up the stairs.

She threw them through the open door. I slowed down as she looked over at me, her eyes widening for half a moment, mouth parting slightly.

It didn’t last long before a twisted smile pulled her features.

I was staring at a monster pretending to be human.

She gave me a small wave before walking out, slamming the hatch shut once more.

I did nothing to stop the yell that ripped through me.

Turning back, I almost walked directly into Kier, his Sal appearance gone once again. His brows were furrowed as he stared at the metal hatch.

“What do I need to do to end this?” I asked between clenched teeth.

Kier shook his head before looking down at me, holding the dagger out to me. I reached out, and the moment I touched it, I felt the tug of power as it leached into the weapon.

“I don’t understand,” I commented.

“You need two things to accomplish what Eris wants. One of which is this dagger,” Kier said, like that was all the explanation I needed.

I just blinked up at him. Until he sighed.

“I don’t think we have time for the entire story of it all.

My brother is a blacksmith. His focus is essentially the transferal of this world’s magic.

He puts some of his powers in each weapon he makes.

So, this dagger,” Kier said while pointing at it, “will transfer my powers into you once you stab me with it.”

“Why do I need to kill you, then?” He was right, we didn’t have time for my endless questions, but I still felt the need to understand before just taking another life. “Also, I’ve already killed someone with that, and I didn’t magically gain anything from them.”

Kier glanced up at the hatch before looking back at me. “Who was it?”

“Some guard Eris sent after us.”

“Did you kill him with the dagger or was it some explosive magic?”

My mouth opened and closed several times before I found the words to answer. “How do you know?”

“The magic in the world works in a very specific way. Everyone but humans are open to some levels of it. If you used the dagger on someone that wasn’t on the same level as you, their body wouldn’t be able to handle it. ”

“Which is why he caught on fire,” I muttered, glancing down at the impressively dangerous, small blade. A small weight lifted knowing that, at least my first murder, wasn’t completely my fault.

“Exactly.” Kier nodded. “Anyone can take my magic because we’re made up from the world’s magic.

It adapts to the body rather than trying to force one certain level onto someone.

It’s why it makes the user stronger. It opens their body from one level to all of them.

I can’t stay alive because the dagger only works with quick transferals.

You would have to keep the dagger pierced into me and in your hand to keep access to my magic.

With my death, the magic needs somewhere to go, and the dagger gives it the perfect channel to go somewhere else. ”

“I have so many questions,” I muttered, a headache starting to form in the back of my head the more he talked.

“I promise, even with you killing me, there will time later to answer any questions your little mind thinks of.”

“Why aren’t you scared of this whole dying thing? I willingly risked myself once and it was terrifying,” I said. The nerves twisting my stomach made me want to delay this until I had a chance to wrap my mind around it.

“It’s going to take a lot more than this to keep me down forever,” Kier commented, a smirk forming.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but he grabbed my hand, pulling me close to him. My eyes widened as he brought my hand up, lining the tip of the dagger up with his heart. I started shaking my head.

“There’s got to be another way,” I whispered.

Kier shook his head. “Maybe, but this is the easiest way. Trust me.”

Panic thumped through me. Each answering pulse of magic went sailing into the dagger.

The gems on it glowed brightly, casting shining lights along the stone walls.

Then Kier kicked one of my feet, sending me falling forward the exact moment he stepped into the dagger.

I screamed as I watched it sink into his chest.