Page 71 of Voices in the Stars
“Of course. Do you have something specific in mind?” he asked.
Guilt started twisting in my stomach. Him being nice could be a sign that my Atlas was returning to me. I clung to what Atlas told me to do if anything like this happened.If I bite you, take that pretty little dagger of yours and run it through whatever is left of my heart.This was exactly what he would have wanted. I took a deep breath, remembering the way the man in the forest exploded into flames. With a quick prayer to the gods that wouldn’t help again, I used all the force I had to grab the dagger. A scream left me as I plunged it into his shoulder.
A yell left him. The blade was getting hotter as it stayed in him. I pulled it out, keeping ahold of it as I scrambled off the bed. He wasn’t reaching for the dagger like I expected. As I walked around him, he was clawing at his own face.
A gasp left me as I stopped moving. New tears stung the corners ofmy eyes. For the first time in several days, I was staring at his beautiful, brown eyes.
I could see her face.It felt like some twisted joke from the gods. There was little doubt in my mind that I would never actually see her again. Instead, I was going to spend the rest of my life locked away in the dark void as I watched him ruin the little good I had in my life. Taking in her bruised face, all I wanted was to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. That would’ve been a lie, though. The darkness was already creeping back in. It was difficult to move my fingers as he regained control. I looked her in the eyes, promising to find my way back to her, even as I was ripped back into the void.
“You bitch!”Atlas roared at me, his eyes snapping back to black.
It was enough to jolt me from the trance he had me in. I bolted out of his room. My legs ached with every step I took. My chest heaved as I stumbled down the stairs. Everything started spinning as I reached the bottom. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t catch my breath. A yell left me as fingers wrapped around my hair, snapping me back into a hard body.
“I’ve done what I can to help you, and this is how you thank me?” His voice was a deep growl as he pushed me toward the front door. “You want to fight this battle alone? Then go ahead.”
The hand holding the dagger swiped out at him. He easily dodged it, grabbing both of my hands with one of his, releasing his hold on my hair. Even I could feel that my movements were sluggish now. My previous efforts took all the energy I had left. I gritted my teeth at the pain his hold caused. It took what little I had left to stay upright as he walked me down the front steps; I didn’t stand a chance at fighting back now. He turned before we hit the road, walking along the grassy front of the house.
He didn’t stop until we reached the back of the house. There was a set of small metal doors pressed against the base of the house. I was released just long enough for him to move the giant metal bar that rested against them. When he opened them, he just pointed toward the dark hole that was revealed. I just stared at him unwillingly.
“Please don’t do this,” I offered instead. “I saw you. The real you that would never do this. Just come back to me and we can fix this.”
“Shut up,” Atlas growled, shaking his head. “You wanted me to become the monster I worked so hard to fight against. Now, you’re stuck with him.”
I whimpered, stepping back as Atlas moved closer.
“You can either walk down there willingly,” Atlas continued, “or I’ll throw you down there. Choice is yours.”
I stayed looking at him for a moment longer, praying I would see his eyes change back. That there would be any sign that I didn’t need to do this. There was no way for me to know what was down there, but I was certain it wasn’t good. Knowing this family, it was most likely some monster that would kill me on sight. The faint shuffling sounds I could hear told me I wasn’t going to be alone.
I squared my shoulders, keeping my head held high as I turned toward the pit, trying to hide any sign of my discomfort. I knew he could hear my racing heartbeat, but it made me feel temporarily better as I walked down the stone steps. The doors slamming shut behind me caused me to jump, racing back up the stairs.
“Atlas!” I screamed before beating on the doors. A loud scream tore through me as my hands throbbed, shooting pains radiated up my arms. It turned to a burning ache as I rested my hands against the cool metal. “Please,” I offered.
It took several moments for me to hear Atlas’ footsteps retreating. With them, I crumbled on the top step. My knees pulled up to my chest as my body racked with sobs. I was truly alone here. Atlas was most likely gone to me forever, and now I would die here. Even if his friends beat Eris, they would have no idea where to find me. My body slumped against the cool stones as my crying slowed to just steadily streaming tears. I could already feel the ache settling in from how I was sitting, but exhaustion weighed me down, making just the thought of moving impossible. I let my eyes slide shut, giving up for the moment.
I regretted my choice when I finally woke up. My body ached from the way it twisted on the steps. At some point, I slid down, using a different step as an awful pillow. My legs were shaky as I stood. It was time I found out what nightmare I was stuck down here with.
At the bottom of the steps was a corridor lit by hanging lanterns. Someone must have been down here recently; the candles resting in the cages looked to be new. My hand steadied myself as I walked, worried the burning feeling in my knees would send me back to the ground. The dagger I still had scraped against the stones with each move I made.
A chill ran down my spine as doors started appearing. They were made of metal just like the doors that led to this place. There was a window just high enough I had to go on my tiptoes to see into. The room was dark. A single candle in the corner provided the smallest amount of light. It was just enough for me to make out two Fera huddled together, one much smaller than the other.
“Hello?” I called out to them, wincing at the way my voice loudly echoed in the quiet.
The smallest one whimpered, pushing closer to the other as they held each other tighter.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I tried again, only to be met with the same response.
I dropped down from the window, giving up. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach as I looked through each of the doors I passed. Many of them held Feras. There were some that held other species that I had seen traveling here with Atlas. People with wings, others with horns and hooves. All of them refused to look at me or answer when I called out. Something terrible was happening down here.
I had almost reached the end of the hall now. There were only a few doors left out of the dozens I had to have walked by. When I looked through the next window, a gasp left me at the familiar face.
“Sal?” I practically yelled.
Their head snapped up from where they was sitting on the ground. Blue eyes shining in the candlelight.
“Cece?” they called back, standing up and moving toward the door.
“What’s going on here?” I asked as they approached the window.
