Page 77 of Voices in the Stars
“I’m—”
“Leave.” Leon spoke with little emotion in his voice; his shoulder flexed as he tried to move his arm. Nothing moved past his elbow.
“Maybe I can?—“
“Just go, Cece. I will find my way out of this. You’ve done enough.”
My heart sank as he stood, walking to the edge of the fire still circling us, refusing to look at me. I stood, lowering the flames. I’d fix this. As soon as all of this was over. I’d help fix my mistake.
Ivy was nowhereto be seen, but I had a bad feeling I knew exactly where she had gone. I stood in front of the temple. The front of it had collapsed, but the rest of it was still standing. Chunks of stained glass littered the ground. I squared my shoulders as I walked through the grass up to where the front doors used to be. There was a hole just big enough for me to squeeze through to get inside.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood as I walked into the dark building. Even after years, it smelt like fire. The remaining pieces of the glass windows cast multicolored lights throughout the room. There was a dull throb in the back of my head at the memories that were fighting to come through. My fingers ran along the benches as I walked up the main aisle. Dust clung to them, leaving a trail. When I reached the end, I climbed the stairs up to the raised stage the benches were facing.
Yells from outside were muffled, but I could still make them out. If I closed my eyes, though, I could almost hear my father talking. The way his voice would draw everyone into whatever he was saying. Even with my mind elsewhere, I couldn’t help but stay and listen.
It wasn’t often I would stand up here. Usually, I would be sitting at one of the first benches. One of them would be filled with us children. The other had the other coven members sitting as they waited for their turn of just listening to my father. Occasionally, Atlas would sneak in, sitting next to me as he waited for us to be done.
“I knew you’d find your way here eventually.”
I jumped as his voice boomed through the empty building. Angerbuilt up as I watched Eris stand at the beginning of the aisle. There might have been many memories missing from this place, but I knew him being here was wrong. His movements were slow and measured as he walked toward me. Even standing above him, he felt giant, like what little light there was being drained away by him. A weapon clung to his back. All that was visible was the circular end that was covered in long spikes.
I kept my eyes locked onto him as I steadily moved backward. There was a door behind me that led to a small living area we all shared. If I could just make it there, there was another door that led back outside. One that was hopefully still standing.
My hand brushed against the cold, wooden doorknob as Eris jumped onto the stage. I expected to see anger twisting his face. A chill ran down my spine as I took in the completely blank expression on his face. Not even his eyebrows twitched as he stood there, watching me. He reminded me of animals I used to watch. They reacted by instincts. That’s how Eris watched me now. The doorknob had just twisted under my hand when he pounced.
It happened in the space of a blink. I had been watching Eris on the far end of the stage. Then a hand wrapped around my jaw, throwing me away from the door. The air was ripped out of my lungs in a yelp as my head cracked against the wood flooring. Dark spots danced across my vision as pain blossomed around the back of my head. With a groan, I ran a hand across the back of my head. A hiss escaped me as the pain worsened. A sigh of relief still left me as my hand came back dry.
Eris stalked across the stage toward me, taking up that same slow, calculated walk. My hand shook as I raised it, hoping for anything to fight him off, only to be met with nothing. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes as I pushed everything I had toward him. Nothing worked.
It was different from when everything was locked away after Atlas drank from me. I could feel the burning under my skin. The slippery cold winding around the fire. There was another force that pushed against me, stopping all of it.
“You stupid fucking child,” Eris snarled, his lips twisting into a smirk. “I thought that memory loss was an act you fed my pathetic son.No forms of violent magic are allowed on these grounds. You can thank you father for that when you see him.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, a dark figure slowly moved through the back of the temple. I refused to look toward it, keeping my gaze locked on to Eris.
“You need me,” I reminded him as I tried to stand.
My hands shook as I raised myself to a crouch. Eris didn’t let me get any further as a kick to the chest sent me sliding back. A gasp left me as I crashed into the wall behind me. My throbbing shoulder burned before the throbbing stopped. At least that was still working.
“I don’t need anyone. Look at all I’ve accomplished.” He threw his arms open, gesturing around us.
“You’re proud of this?” I scoffed, leaning my head back against the wall. “The fear and pain you’ve caused? The deaths?”
Eris just laughed at my words. I gritted my teeth in response to the anger that coursed through me. My skin burned from the rolling fire that simmered just beneath the surface. It begged to be let loose on him. Oh, how I wished I could let it in this moment.
My mouth opened with my next words, but they were cut off in a choked off sob as the shadowed figure hopped onto the stage. His sword glinted in the small rays of light that came through the broken window. His dark horns cast shadows down his face. That wasn’t what caught my eye and made the tears start streaming down my eyes. It was his brown eyes whose gaze immediately found mine. There had been a deep ache in my chest that finally stopped as I looked at my Atlas. His gaze softened as they locked onto mine. He gave me a soft smile that was matching the one stretching my own features.
Our greeting only lasted mere moments before I pulled my attention back to Eris, but it was enough for him. There was a twitch in his eyebrow as his gaze narrowed. His head started to turn slowly toward Atlas.
“What’s your plan now, then?” I blurted out, pulling his attention away from his son creeping along the wood platform. “Kill me then travel across all of Alryne? Tormenting everyone you see?” My lips curled into a snarl as I imagined it: his leaving Feycrest to torture people that were blissfully unaware of his existence.
“I don’t see why it would matter. Neither one of you will survive to experience it.” His words were rushed out as his hand jerked up.
His fingers wrapped around the handle of his weapon. I threw my hands up, closing my eyes as I waited for the hit.
Instead, Atlas yelled in front of me. The sound of wood splintering echoed around the room. Lowering my hands, I peeked my eyes open. Eris was twisted around, his mace lodged into the ground where Atlas had snuck up on him. Atlas reached up, grabbing his sword and swinging it down onto his father.
Eris was still faster than him, though. Any advantage Atlas had from drinking my blood was gone. By the time Atlas had pulled his sword from its sheath, Eris had ripped his mace from the flooring. I jerked back as more chunks of wood went sailing everywhere as Eris struck at Atlas again.
