Page 36 of Voices in the Stars
“Do you think it exists?” I continued.
“Do I think it’s possible for a bunch of magicless humans to be hiding somewhere?” The boards creaked as he walked across to the other side of the room, sitting on the bed, hands on his knees as he stared at me. “Did you knock a horn loose while out there?”
I chuckled before sitting up, leaning against the wall. “Amuse me.”
“No.” His earrings jingled as he shook his head. “With your father, I think he would’ve found them no matter where they were hiding.”
I glanced toward the door. What he was saying made sense. Thehumans were a weak race that Eris wanted nowhere near even the existence of magic. He felt their presence drained the power from everyone else, making them dangerous. Another excuse for him to kill. Another reason why he had to be stopped.
“You’ve looked through many maps in your years,” I commented, fuzzy memories of seeing crudely drawn maps piecing together as I spoke. It’d been so many years, the chances I was remembering them correctly were slim.
“You know why.” His voice was curt.
I nodded, not wanting to fight over him chasing after a ghost right now. “Then certainly you remember what was on them.”
“I remember a misprint outside the town of Lachlan,” he commented.
That was Klyn’s town. The same place we found her wandering through the forest. I tried to keep my hope tampered down as he confirmed what I was thinking. There used to be another town there. What that meant for her, I wasn’t sure. It certainly meant I was a piece of shit.
“I see where your mind is going, Atlas,” he said with a sigh. “I’ve been around much longer than you. Those forests were heavily searched. No one found anything.”
I wanted to agree with him, but I remembered Klyn’s words. He found the city disguised at the warlock that led the coven. That couldn’t be a coincidence. I refused to believe it.
“What if...” I started explaining instead, looking back to Ezryn, fully prepared to be laughed at. “What if I told you the proof of their existence was on your ship?”
Ezryn almost doubled over as he laughed at me. The sound bounced around the room as I gritted my teeth.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he finally choked out. “You’d rather believe in tales than realize she’s a lost cause working for your father?”
“You have no room to speak of tales,” I hissed back. “You’re searching all of Alryne for a ghost.”
Ezryn jumped up at my words, marching over to where I sat. My eyes trained on his every movement. From the twitch of his ears down towhere his hand moved closer to the sword that dangled from his hip. I’d liked to think the friendship we had wouldn’t end in violence.
“Keep your fanged mouth shut about her.” He bent down, inches from my face. I grimaced as the scent of fish wafted from him. “I’m looking for an innocent woman. You’re letting pussy lead you to our demise.”
I grabbed his throat before pushing him to the ground as I stood, baring my teeth at him as he laid sprawled out of the floor. His green eyes were wide as he stared up at me. I could smell the fear pulsing from him with his heartbeat. It sang to me as I stared at the pulsing points in his neck. I could feel the draw of the power. My ancestors begging me to follow in their footsteps. All that kept it at bay was the stench of death coming from his blood. My nose crinkled at it. I closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths before standing.
“Gods help us,” he called from where he stayed down, hands now thrown over his face. “You’re going to let her kill us all.”
I rolled my eyes at his theatrics now. “Gonna make me explain this to you while you’re on the ground?”
“Depends on if you’re going to attack me again.”
I shrugged, sitting back on the bed, watching him roll on the ground. “I might.”
He just stared up at me before standing, crossing his arms as he looked down at me, quickly giving me a gesture to continue.
“She has no idea who she is.” I got straight to the point before recounting parts of the journey here. Her lack of control over any of the many powers she wields. How little she knew about the world around us. Ending with the conversation we had just a few minutes prior when she begged me to take her back to a family that shouldn’t exist.
Ezryn just stared at me. His eyes getting increasingly wider the more I talked. His hands dropped to his sides. He leaned back against the desk, crumbling some of the papers he still had sitting out underneath him.
“You have to kill her,” he whispered.
“Are you insane?” I jumped up, one hand on my dagger while the other gestured to where I was certain she was still sitting outside. “What happened to the talk about innocent women? She is one, as well. Whatdo you except from me? Go out there and shove her into the Saliss? Watch her drown or get eaten?”
“Yes.” He nodded, eyes solemn as he looked back up to me. “Her not knowing is worse than her being aware of what’s going on.”
“How?” I asked, confused. He had spent so much of his life trying to fix one mistake. How could he tell me to discard her over something that wasn’t her fault? “I can take her back to Donnaway. Or, at least, close enough that she can find her way back.”
