Page 61 of Who Owns You?

“Careful, this castle is ours now, and we need to take care of it.”

A shadow whizzes into the room, nearly knocking me over. The magic it brings into the room stalls my lungs, but I smile. Sparks of green, blue, and yellow fly off him as Atlas makes hisstop beside Marcus. He’s grinning, no longer the uncomfortable youngling he was a few decades ago.

“Think you can keep up with me, old man?” Atlas snickers at Marcus, who gapes at him.

“I am not old! Darius is old!”

“Enough of this, both of you,” I say with a chuckle. “We have patrols to begin.”

A sudden knock thunders into the small space. Each of us stands at the ready as I stride toward the door and pull it open, appearing like a mortal. The man in the door is of middle age, with some graying at his temples and an air of displeasure so thick it could choke me.

“You have something of mine, and I would like it back.” His voice is gravelly from disuse, and I catch sight of his yellowing teeth.

He reeks of death.

“I have never seen you in my life. Who might you be?” I ask, trying to keep my temper.

My instincts instantly dislike this man, and the pinch in my gut tells me something is terribly wrong.

“Do not play coy with me, boy. Give it back to me, or I will make you regret it,” the old man snarls.

His teeth, now more exposed, show further signs of decay, a sign of prolonged use of the darkest magic.

My eyes widen, and I stumble a step back before someone is at my back, catching me.

“You have no power over any of us, and you have no power to make demands of the Colbéliard nest.” Atlas’ voice is sharp and cold, slicing like an obsidian knife.

The old witch’s eyes widen, and he grinds those vile teeth together. Magic, the same acid green I remember from that night beside the tree, rolls off him like mist from the loch.

“You worthless whelp, cost me more to put together than you were ever worth. If you will not be of use to me, then you deserve to return to dust.”

Atlas stiffens, and I stand more squarely in front of the younger gargoyle.

Putting myself between him and his maker, I tell the witch, “Atlas is one of us.”

CHARLOTTE

I startle awake sometime later, tossing the blankets off from over my head. The room is pitch black around me, the night having settled in while I was dozing.

Fear and adrenaline that don’t belong to me course through my veins as I come down from that dream.Anger. Disgust. Pure terror. The frightened youngling’s emotions—Atlas’emotions.

“Those were not my dreams.” I scrub my hands over my face, trying to ignore the urge to rub that stink off my skin. “Gods, that guy smelled terrible.”

Atlas’ maker was one ugly son of a witch, who certainly was not kind or good. Of course, he doesn’t like witches and seems to merely tolerate Eloise when she visits. Even if I didn’t know I was a witch, he knew from the moment I stepped into their home and took it over before basically demanding that things go back to normal for them.

My own world might have been flipped by supernaturals, but Atlas’ world had been shoved into a blender and set to high by me.

Atlas was the one who really needed me the most. He pushed and pushed because he thought I would be the same as his abuser. I did nothing to reassure him I was different. Reaching for my plushies, I pull Darius, Marcus, and then Julius into my lap before taking Atlas and holding him to my chest. His heart beats but not as strongly as before, his warmth fading against my fingertips.

“Oh no.”

Chapter 27

MARCUS

Sittingat the top of the castle always calms me down. Darius is going mad with worry, and Julius has gotten all sullen. I can’t even help Charlotte feel any better, no matter how much I try to make her laugh. The only place I’m any use to them is on the roof, playing lookout.

Atlas has been gone for two weeks, and we’ve searched everywhere. Well, everywhere in Continental Europe and the Isles. But that is everywhere. Crossing into other protected territory would only cause more problems. Atlas was good at sticking to our places and coming back, but apparently, this was just too much.

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