Page 26 of Voices in the Stars
A sharp sting radiated through my face as my head was knocked to the side. I blinked as the light returned to the ground around me. When I turned back, Atlas was the one standing in front of me, his hand still raised as his body shook with ragged breaths. His gaze roamed my face, nothing but concern in his eyes. He had thin, bleeding marks trailing down his face. His other hand was the only thing keeping me from falling to the ground in our half-crouched position.
“Are you okay?” His voice was the softest I’d heard it.
I glanced behind him. It was a normal forest once again. No monsters. I could even see where the light shone through the leaves.
“I didn’t mean to hit you that hard,” he muttered, looking at where my face burned.
“I’m fine,” I said, hoping my voice wasn’t shaking as much as it felt like.
I had to say something. The way he acted now didn’t sit right with me. Was he going to turn around and threaten my life again? Maybe that was his first attempt before he realized I couldn’t hear him.
I pulled out of his hold. His hand weakly floppedback down to his side as he stared down at me. The corners of his lips pulled down in a frown.
“Don’t we have somewhere to be?” I reminded him, trying to ignore the way my heart clenched at the thought of wandering through another forest.
His gaze scanned across my face again before glancing back. This was the softest I had seen him. No harsh angles of anger etched into his face like I’d seen since he took me from Klyn’s house. It felt wrong. My shoulders tensed as I waited for the anger. The seething hatred to return when he looked back at me.
“This is the fastest way to go,” he whispered to himself. His words were quiet enough that they didn’t seem meant for me.
I took a couple of slow, measured breaths before I started walking again. I felt him staring as I passed him. My heart hammered as I forced myself to keep going.Just stay calm and everything will be fine.At least this time I had a murdering kidnapper by my side. I was sure those monsters would be no match for him. Or we were both about to walk to our deaths.
He only let me lead for a few steps before he was walking next to me. My hands clenched at my sides as we reached the edge of the forest. I slowed until Atlas was walking ahead again. He paused after he passed the threshold.
His brows pulled together as I walked toward him. Each step slow. I was sure I looked crazy to him as I kept my breathing even.
“What’s your name?” he slowly asked instead.
“You kidnapped me without knowing my name?” I questioned instead as I joined him in the woods. Though I wasn’t sure why I was fighting this conversation. It was pulling my focus from the dimly lit area around us.
“Don’t be dramatic,” he said, rolling his eyes while matching my pace. “My father didn’t care enough to tell me.”
“Cares enough to send you after me, but not enough to know my name? How nice,” I remarked, keeping an eye on our surroundings. “It’s Cece,” I still offered to him. His hum was the only sign he heard me.
There weren’t many differences between the twoforests. Most of the trees were large, their canopies billowing above us. There were a few that were completely bare. Their branches twisted together as they snaked through the leaves of other trees. Roots were exposed around their base.
A twig snapped somewhere in the distance. I jumped, head snapping around as I looked for the monsters. I knocked into Atlas; his hands grabbed my sides to steady me. My heart thrummed at the heat radiating from him. Our gazes locked for a moment, the brown in his eyes turned molten with the heated stare he gave me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, stepping away from him.
“I remember you being much braver with a dagger to your throat.” His voice was light, one corner of his lips curled up.
“That was before I was almost killed again,” I snapped, feeling the stress of our surroundings starting to get to me.
We walked in silence after that. I tried to keep my mind together as we walked deeper. That didn’t stop my hands from shaking as a cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck. I flipped the hood back so I could fully watch my surroundings. It still felt like the trees were crowding me, working together to block out what little sky was left.
I glanced over at Atlas as he seemed lost in his own mind. He was next to me, yet it didn’t feel like it. We were worlds apart as we were forced to travel together. There was something more to him. He pulled me out of my panic when he could’ve left me. His voice was soft when just earlier, he almost killed me.
“Do you have a family?” he asked, quickly meeting my gaze.
“Think most people do,” I retorted, glancing around. My fingers found my ring, twisting it around once again.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the band.
“My engagement ring?” I asked, holding it up.
Atlas nodded. “That explains why you don’t want to be here.”
I snorted, at a loss for words. There were many reasons I didn’t want to be here with him. My sad excuse of a fiancé had nothing to do with it. He was one of several reasons I was still somewhat glad to be away from Donnaway. Atlas didn’t deserve any of those explanations, though.
