Page 59 of Voices in the Stars
Then they charged into the burning building. Atlas tried to stand ashe screamed out to them. He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Even from here, I could see the way his fingers dug into Atlas’ shoulder, forcing him back to the ground.
The fire climbed to the top of the largest steeple. More yells sounded as glass shattered to the ground. Then it collapsed. The large point crumpled down into the floors below it. Wood shattering and splintering rang loudly into my ears, followed by a loud yelp from inside. All other screaming stopped as everyone watched with bated breath as the front of the temple collapsed in on itself.
I was ripped out of that memory next, left in the darkness of my mind. It would’ve been easy to think I was alone if I couldn’t still feel those fingers rifling through things. How many memories were they seeing that I didn’t remember? I shook my head. If they were anything like that, I wasn’t sure I wanted to remember them. Now though, I knew Atlas had been telling the truth. I was the missing child. Not just a random child, like he originally thought. One that he knew. A half smile broke out at the thought of being able to tell him he didn’t lose everyone that night. I made my way back to him. Well, he forced me back to him, at least.
Slowly, the fingers retreated from my memories. Happy with whatever they had found. They were slower to fully leave my mind, though. Their presence felt like a heavy weight drowning out everything else.
Find the one who sits on a throne of the dead.
The words came across as hundreds of people whispered inside my head. There was a distinction between feminine and masculine voices. A couple even had thick accents. If the words were just spoken to me, they would’ve been lost in the sea of voices.
“Eris?” I tried to ask. The words never left my throat. Instead, they bounced around my mind, disappearing into the same void the voices were echoing out of.
A real king. He’s hunting you now.
I missed my witch.
My head rested on my hand as I listened to Bekah drone through the same plan. The plan that I had come up with, yet she didn’t trust me to follow. Which I understood, since I kept changing it on her.
There was still no part of me that wanted to bring Cece with me. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to leave her with Leon. Lock her in my bedroom if I must. Tie her to the bed even. I shifted in my seat at that imagine. Maybe that could just be an option for any night. She would never forgive me, though. Nor would she go with it that easily. No, knowing her, she would burn that house to ashes.
Maps were spread across the table I sat at. They were detailed layouts of the house I grew up in. Ones I spent hours recreating every detail. My fingers tapped against the recreation of Kilrest, dancing along the stream that cut through the top section of the town. Her anger at me would be worth keeping her out of this town. If it were a choice, I would never return. With a sigh, I sat up straight. It wasn’t a choice, though.
Glancing back up at Bekah, she had stopped talking, hands crossed as she stared down at me. Exhaustion darkened the skin underneath her eyes. While stuck, hiding out in the forest in tents darkened the freckles across her face.
“Have you just stopped caring?” she snapped.
“Of course not,” I argued back.
“Ever since that plaything got brought around, you’ve been distracted.”
I growled, fighting against the animalistic anger to stand and fight against her words. My hand on the table balled into a fist, crumpling the map I had. “That’s enough, Bekah.”
“No, it’s not.” She slammed her hands down on the table, shaking the cups we had set out. “Those soldiers are getting closer every day. You two are going to have to leave quickly. Yet, when you get there, I’m afraid you won’t know your brain from your dick.”
“I may be a friend to you, but never forget who I am. I will do anything to keep Feycrest safe. Anything,” I said lowly as I stood.
Bekah shifted away, flinching as I raised my hand. My eyes closed as I took in a deep breath before continuing to run my hand through my hair. My movements were slow this time as I set my hand back down, trying to bury the hurt before I spoke.
“I would like to always remember that,” Bekah said, beating me to it. “She is an unknown, though. None of us can predict what she will do once you get to Eris. She could be playing you.”
“No.” I quickly jumped in to defend Cece. “You haven’t met her. There is truly no knowledge of this world in that mind of hers.”
“That could be a lie. Don’t let yourself be made a fool, Atlas.”
“She wasn’t scared of me.” My voice broke with the last word.
I quickly cleared my throat, hoping to hide it. It wasn’t until I spoke it that I realized how important that truly was to me. In all my twenty-eight years, there was only one other person who hadn’t been afraid of me. She was dead now, keeping my total still to one. Leon and Bekah cared about my well-being, but I knew. There was a secret fear within them that I would succumb to the call, becoming worse than Eris.
Bekah deflated back into her seat, shoulders sagging as her hands hung off the end of the armrests. Her eyes rounded, glossing over with the tears she was certainly about to spill.
“We’ll be gone within a few days,” I promised her.
“Atlas—”
My hands raised, cutting her off. “You’ve made your point. It’s dangerous for all of us to be out here. Make your way back across the river to the others. Prepare them. If you haven’t heard from me in ten nights, march upon Kilrest.”
Bekah’s mouth dropped open as she searched for her words.
