Anger #3
When I realized everyone was looking at me, my stomach immediately tightened. Atlas sat beside me, Aster reclaimed his position against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, and Lazaros settled opposite me to the left of his brother.
Then they all looked at me and waited.
“I don’t really know where to start,” I admitted.
Atlas reached for my hand, threading his fingers through mine on the table.
The gesture shouldn’t have affected me as much as it did, yet warmth immediately spread through my chest. Since the moment he had stepped through the Rift, leaving me on the other side, I had wanted nothing more than to be near him again, to reassure myself that he was real and alive and not another thing I had lost. Now, with his hand wrapped around mine, some of the anxiety twisting inside me finally began to ease.
Unable to stop myself, I glanced up at him.
His gaze was already waiting for mine.
A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth, softening the tension that had dominated his features ever since we had reunited, and something in my chest fluttered in response.
Despite the conversation hanging over us and the uncertainty of everything still to come, the rest of the room seemed to fade into the background.
Unfortunately, Lazaros chose that exact moment to smirk.
The expression was impossible to miss in my peripheral vision, and heat immediately rushed to my cheeks. I looked away from Atlas before either of them could say anything.
“Okay, well, answer this,” Atlas said, his voice calm and encouraging. “How did you know? About Lazaros being possessed?”
My stomach immediately knotted.
Of all the questions he could have asked, that was the one I had been hoping to avoid.
Explaining the Labyrinth would be difficult enough.
Explaining the visions would be worse. Explaining how I had come to know about his brother being used by an estranged brother, neither of them even knew about… even worse.
“It’s complicated.”
“Complicated how?” he asked, and it was clear he was trying to be patient.
I looked away.
The towering bookshelves lining the walls suddenly became fascinating.
Ancient tomes filled every shelf from floor to ceiling, and above them, painted across the domed ceiling, were constellations so intricate and beautiful that I found myself staring far longer than necessary.
Anything was preferable to looking directly at Atlas while I figured out how to answer.
Beside me, his fingers tightened around mine. The gesture wasn’t demanding. It was reassuring. Encouraging even. Slowly, I released a long breath and forced myself to meet his gaze once more.
“You’re going to be angry.”
The words hung in the air between us, and Atlas just stared at me, but I saw the subtle shift in his expression.
The warmth faded first, followed by the patience, replaced by a growing intensity that immediately made me regret opening my mouth at all.
It wasn’t fear for myself that settled in my chest. Atlas would never direct that anger towards me.
No, the person I worried about was whoever happened to be standing at the center of this particular shitstorm once he learned what I had been keeping from him.
And judging by the way his jaw tightened, I had a feeling he already suspected that person wasn’t going to be me.
“I rarely get angry,” Atlas said defensively.
The statement was so ridiculous that even Lazaros scoffed, though he quickly coughed when Atlas sent a scowl in his direction. The room fell quiet once more, the silence stretching between us as I tried to gather the courage to answer the question he had asked.
The fingertips of my free hand tapped restlessly against the wooden table, and when I glanced across at Lazaros, I found him watching me.
The humor had faded from his expression, replaced by something more knowing.
There was guilt in his eyes but understanding too.
He knew exactly who I was trying to protect, and judging by the sadness lingering there, he knew why I was struggling to find the words.
I opened my mouth, intending to finally explain everything, only for my thoughts to tangle together again. Every version of the truth seemed impossible to say out loud. Every explanation felt like it would somehow make things worse.
“It’s alright, little human, go ahead,” Aster said when my panicked gaze met his, as he, too, knew exactly what I was afraid of.
“You two have grown close in my absence,” Atlas observed, yet there was no jealousy in his voice, only a quiet resignation that suggested he was beginning to realize just how much had happened while we were apart.
“Aster saved my life,” I said, unable to stop the smile that touched my lips. “On more than one occasion, actually… erm, but it started when he… he… saved my life from Riley,” I said, and this was finally when Atlas let go of my hand, slamming them down on the table as he erupted from his seat.
“WHAT?!” he shouted.
And my only response was…
“I thought you said you wouldn’t get angry.”