Page 31 of The Last Aether

King Terra chuckled. “And if it isn’t, she still has to survive four years at Kingwood.”

Smoke gathered around Phoenix at King Terra’s words, and Atlas vibrated behind me. I grabbed Atlas’s hand with one of mine and Phoenix’s with the other, hoping my touch would bring them back from the edge.

It was King Ash who spoke, raising a fireball to his palm. “You speak of treason.”

King Terra didn’t look the slightest bit bothered. He simply shrugged. “It’s not treason to speak the truth. Students at the school will have it out for her. They’ll want to cut her down to prove their strength. And I’m not sure this delicate flower has what it takes to make it through the training here.”

His words stoked the flame deep inside me. Heat rose in my veins. “You don’t know the first thing about me, Your Highness. You don’t know what I’ve survived already. I’m stronger than you could ever imagine.”

Something flared in King Terra’s brown eyes, but he quickly schooled his expression. “Maybe so. But you make my son weak.”

He turned his focus to Atlas. “You should’ve learned the lessons I tried to teach you.” His gaze dropped to our joined hands. “But I can see you’ve already fallen for this charade.”

“She’s my destined mate,” Atlas gritted out.

King Terra shook his head. “She’ll be the tool of your destruction, and I’ll throw a feast at your fall. Because a weakling won’t continue my lineage.”

17

The voices from the television swirled around the living room, but my gaze kept traveling to the hallway. As if staring at that spot would somehow make Atlas appear.

Phoenix leaned forward on the couch, pressing his lips to the base of my neck. “You okay?”

“He hasn’t come out of his room since dinner.” And it had been hours. That wasn’t like Atlas. It had dread clawing at my stomach.

I’d known King Terra wasn’t a good man. I’d known he was downright awful. But seeing his darkness and cruelty firsthand was something else entirely. And now I couldn’t help but worry that some of his words had found a home in Atlas’s head.

Phoenix and Kai shared a look.

“He needs time after a run-in with his dad,” Kai explained.

They all had different ways of dealing with their issues. Riven had taken off the moment his father had left, mumbling about needing to do something. Phoenix had gone out to run the perimeter of the school to check for any Network infiltrators. Kai had asked me if I wanted to go make out. But Atlas? He’d gone stonily silent.

I hated the wall he’d erected between us. He was physically present but mentally a million miles away. And the idea of him feeling alone was almost more than I could bear.

I pushed to my feet, but before I could start out of the room, Phoenix grabbed my hand. “Hey, where are you going?”

I looked back at him and Kai. “I don’t want Atlas to feel alone.”

“Pip—”

I cut Kai off with a shake of my head. “If he doesn’t want the company, he can tell me to go to hell. But I’d rather be yelled at than have him feel like he doesn’t have anyone in his corner.”

Phoenix released his hold on me. “He won’t tell you to go to hell.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. Even though Atlas was my gentle giant, he could bite back when he needed to. And I knew I didn’t always handle it well when someone cut into my brood zone.

I started for the stairs, my stomach churning as I took them one by one. I listened for any signs of life as I closed in on his bedroom. There was nothing.

Stopping outside Atlas’s door, I strained to hear anything, even the creaking of a floorboard. The only thing I managed to catch was the soft strains from the TV show downstairs.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked. No answer.

I worried the spot on the inside of my cheek. For a split second, I thought about going back downstairs, then rejected the idea. Instead, I pushed the door open slowly.

The room was dark, nothing but the faint glow of the moon streaming through the windows. I could just make out the large form on the four-poster bed in the center of the room. I stilled. For a moment, I thought Atlas was asleep. But I could just make out the whites of his eyes.

I shut the door softly behind me and headed for the bed. I didn’t say a word as I climbed onto it and burrowed into Atlas’s side. For a few beats, he didn’t react.