Page 64 of Voices in the Stars (The Lost Witch #1)

Relief filled me as the sound of crackling wood surrounded us.

I closed my eyes as Eris let out several screams before even he was quiet.

Nausea twisted my stomach as it echoed around us.

I ended suffering. By killing him, we saved so many people.

This was exactly how we wanted this to end. None of this made me feel better.

I took a deep breath before moving to Atlas.

He was slow to open his eyes again and look up at me.

I smiled at him as I kneeled next to him.

The back of my hand brushed the hair out of his face.

His forehead was cold even though he was sweating as the building heated up around us. The color of his skin was turning gray.

“We did it,” I whispered.

“You did it.” His breathing was uneven. “Everyone here will love you. You’ll lead this island into greatness.”

“No.” I shook my head, tears starting to fall. “That’s supposed to be your job. You’re going to come out of this and be an amazing king.”

He tried to laugh, but it turned into a fit of coughing.

“You’ve done some amazing things, but I don’t think you can fix this,” he whispered, reaching up to hold my face.

“No, I can fix this. I can do it,” I whispered, grabbing his hand.

I closed my eyes, trying to settle my breathing between my crying.

All I had to do was find the magic and I could fix this.

I just had to do it again. Except there was nothing around us.

No vibrations I could cling to. Not a single hint at what I was supposed to be doing.

The fire in me was too busy thrumming and dancing with the flames around us.

Kier’s cool presence was hiding deep in my chest. I was alone in trying to figure this out.

I wasn’t alone here. My eyes opened as I looked around. My father was here somewhere. He could help me.

“Where are you!” I screamed, frantically looking around only for no one to appear.

“Cecelia.” Atlas’ voice was soft.

I looked back down at him, trying to hide the panic on my face. There was a way to help him, I just had no idea what it was.

“I’ll figure this out,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

“It’ll be okay,” he said, his lips finally curled up in a soft smile. “I’m glad he sent me after you. I never thought I’d get to experience a world where even just one person wasn’t afraid of me. You have become my everything.”

“Don’t. This isn’t goodbye,” I interrupted, unable to just sit and listen to his words.

I closed my eyes again, and this time I focused on him. Specifically, where he was hurt. I tried imagining it stitching itself back together. I put all my focus into picturing this just like the way I pictured the fire forming. When I peeked my eyes open, nothing had changed.

I shook my shoulders loose, trying to focus on nothing but Atlas as I closed them again. The crackling sound faded. My breathing evened as I felt out the world around me.

Hope was about to be lost again until I felt it.

The smallest vibration in the air. It was the smallest trace that I felt would disappear if I simply breathed wrong.

A gasp left me as I reached out to the vibrations.

It wasn’t a wall to be beaten down like the barrier.

This moved and breathed with Atlas. My breathing slowed as I let it flow through me.

Kier’s cool magic reached out in response. It flowed down to my fingertips where I was still holding Atlas. There was the faint sound of his gasping as I felt the magic flowing out of me and into him. I opened my eyes, new tears springing as I watched the color slowly returning to his face.

His eyes opened, cleared of some of the pain that had been clouding them.

His hand wrapped around the back of my head, pulling me down to a kiss I fully sunk into.

With his lips softly moving against mine, it felt like I could finally breathe again.

When we pulled away, my mouth opened with all the things I wanted to tell him.

Mainly just how happy I was to have him back.

I was stopped by the way his eyes widened as they looked over my shoulder. There was no chance for me to turn before there was a hand in my hair, ripping me away.

My head was slammed into a wall, my vision momentarily going dark as a hand wrapped around my throat. I gasped for air, clawing at the hand. As my vision cleared, I froze. It was Eris. Half of his hair was burned off. Skin a dark blistering red as he glared down at me.

“You bitch,” he growled, his voice hoarse. “Thought you could get rid of me that easily? You’re pathetic.”

He slammed me into the ground. A cry left me as I felt something pop in my shoulder. I swiped my other hand at him weakly. He just laughed at my attempt, tightening his hold on my throat. Dark spots danced around my vision.

It became harder to move. The spots got larger until I could only see glimpses of the world around me. My hand dropped back to the floor as I just tried to breathe. My eyes slipped close as my breathing became shallower.

Then it was gone. I jolted up, gasping for air as the hand was ripped from my throat.

Atlas was standing behind Eris. A grim look on his face as he stared down at his father.

My breath caught in my throat. Eris now had a sword sticking out of his chest. Words were garbled as he tried to speak.

His hands reached behind, trying weakly to swipe at Atlas.

It only lasted a few moments before his hands flopped to his sides.

Atlas let go of him, letting Eris fall as he sank to the floor beside him. I just sat there, frozen. I waited for Eris to move again, for him to stand and keep trying to kill us. That didn’t happen, though. He wasn’t breathing, wasn’t moving. He was just dead.

I shook myself clear of my thoughts before I got lost in them.

Atlas was breathing heavily when I moved closer to him.

His lips were moving, but I couldn’t make myself focus on what he was saying.

Instead, I grabbed his arm and went back to healing him.

I thought he was dead before. That I had been the one to kill him.

It felt different to watch it happen and now having him laying so close to us.

I kept my gaze on Atlas, but I felt his presence behind me.

Now that I knew what I was doing, it only took a few moments of us sitting in silence as his skin stitched itself back together.

My head kept jerking as I looked around the temple.

His father’s body was still next to us, but it didn’t feel real, like at any moment he would stand and start fighting again.

My hand shook as I let go of Atlas, letting them rest in my lap, staring at where they were stained red.

“It’s over, Cece.” His words were soft, meant to be soothing. “I love you. You’ve let me achieve things I’ve only been able to dream of.”

Soft hands pulled me into a hug. My body tensed for a moment before I sunk in his hold. My arms wrapped around him, nails digging into his back to make sure he didn’t disappear, as sobs racked through me. Atlas pet down my back, whispering reassuring words into my ear.

“You’re everything to me,” I mumbled, feeling a weight lift from my chest even as the thought of fully letting myself love him scared me.

“Let’s go, witchling,” he whispered, pulling away.

My heart clenched as he moved. Every instinct in me screamed to pull him back to me. That if I let him go now, next time I looked at him, he would be trying to drink from me again.

Instead, I nodded, looking up at him as he stood, keeping my gaze locked onto his eyes. His hand reached out, helping me stand as I clasped it. Before we left, I pulled him over to where my father’s book had been left on the floor.

Atlas refused to let go of me as I grabbed it. We walked out of the temple, our steps echoing through the empty building as we left.

Everything was quiet outside. I blinked against the bright light that shone into my eyes. It felt wrong. Even with seeing the light through the windows, it felt like it should be dark outside. To join the sense of overwhelming dread that still weighed me down.

We didn’t see anyone until we walked up the path toward the house.

My breath stuck in my throat as I saw all the soldiers gathered.

Uniformed men were in the center, circled by the men that Atlas recruited.

They did it. I couldn’t help but note just how few of them were left.

Both sides lost many. I could see it on their faces as we walked closer to the house where Leon and Bekah were waiting for us .

Bekah ran up to us, wrapping Atlas in a hug. At least, as best as she could considering he refused to let go of my hand. Which I was grateful for. It felt like I was being grounded by a boulder.

“You did it,” she cheered, dragging us over to Leon.

He greeted Atlas the same way. I couldn’t help the sting as he still refused to look at me.

Not that I could blame him; he still wasn’t moving the arm I ruined.

Now, though, I could fix it. I looked over the crowd of gathered men.

Together, we could fix everything. Which was why I was trying to ignore the fact that Ivy was still nowhere to be seen.

Along with the fear in the soldiers’ eyes as they looked over at us.

They shifted away when we walked by them.

There had been enough misery and death today. No one here needed to know the thoughts creeping into my mind. No. I plastered a large smile on my face, squeezing Atlas’ hand. He looked down, a true smile finally taking over his features right before he placed a kiss on my head.

There would be time to ask questions later.

Gods knew I spent enough of our time together questioning everything.

Everything I knew about myself had changed.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Feycrest had plenty of scars from what Eris had done to everyone, just as Atlas and I had our own from this.

Watching how he had turned on me would never be easy, but I knew he would always stand by my side now, just as I would always be here with him.

Together, we could rebuild the trust that had been shattered from the many years of Eris’ torment.

We could bring the humans back into Feycrest now that the danger to them was gone.

I was thankful to be shown who I truly was and where I belonged.

Even as my heart clenched at the thought of never seeing my sister again.

No. Atlas and I would figure out a way. One barrier was shattered by me; I could do it again.

I could bring Josi here and show her that there was so much more to this life than just being married off by our parents.

Then life would truly be complete. With my love and sister in my life together, I would have nothing to worry about again.

We could face any challenge that was to come, hand in hand, just as we faced his people now.