Mag-log in**ATLAS**“Are you sure this is the right place?”“At this point, I'm not even sure anymore.”Our car sat buried behind a towering thornbush, engine ticking softly in the middle of nowhere while the tall grass outside swallowed every sign that civilization had ever existed.My fingers tightened around the steering as Ledger checked his GPS, and I peered through the window at the area. “Great. The service is down.” He murmured.We had been driving for what seemed like forever, and maybe it was. Three hours excluding traffic. Three hours away from Calista if she needed my help. If I was paranoid enough, I could have sworn that Ledger was just trying to take me far away from her.“Yeah…this is the right place.” He muttered, looking out his window as he reached for the door handle.“Wait!” He turned to glare at me, and I recognised that the voice was truly mine. “What are we waiting for?” He asked, jaw firm.For the sky to fall, for the earth to swallow us whole and keep us infinitie
**CALISTA**I pushed the eggs around my plate with my fork, but my mouth tasted like sawdust and my heart would not stop racing.Atlas had been gone for too long now, long enough to set my heart beating backwards as I sat rigid on the sofa. The small coffee table was propped in front of me, carrying a steaming mug of coffee and a platter of toast, eggs, bacon…none of which registered in any part of me.My birthday…how could I forget?So much anger and hate, so little room for anything else, not even the day I was born. Fate really twisted the knife with this one.Happy birthday, Astrid. I hope your eggs taste like toothpaste and your shoes bruise your ankles when you go shopping with Merrick, you amber eyed gold digger.I bit into a slice of toast and chewed slowly, staring across the room at where Atlas used to be, where he stood and dedicated his life to me while my sister and ex husband actively tried to bury me in hell.The fork was slipping through my sweaty fingers, just like
**ATLAS**The guilt came first.Then Ledger Bennett looked at Calista standing barefoot in my shirt, and I realized there was no point pretending I had kept my word.“You've got to be FUCKING kidding me.” He hissed, green eyes cutting to me.He had every right to look at me like a traitor. After all, I was the idiot who swore I would stay away from Calista—and then handed her my goddamn shirt.“Cool it, Ledge.” I said, voice tight.He raised a brow, crimson lips set in a thin line.“What the fuck is she doing here?”“Atlas…” Calista's voice faltered, and I stepped in front of her, blocking Ledger's murderous glare.Louise had exited the room, leaving the aroma of cinnamon and coffee in her destructive wake. “Let us talk outside.” I said.“The only person who should be outside is this little —”“Ledger. No.” Not after everything she has been through.“No, let him. I actually deserve it.” Calista tried to step out of my shadow, but I blocked her again, for the only thing more dangerous
**CALISTA**I woke to the scent of coconuts and the horrifying realization that somewhere between surviving Merrick and falling asleep in Atlas Kane's bed, I had started to feel safe again.Maybe it was the weighted blankets grounding me into the silk sheets, or the gentle chirping of birds outside my window—his window.I told myself that the coconut scent was a coincidence. Surely his room must have always smelled like this…not like I had ever been here before.For a moment, the air stilled, and I sucked in a breath, bracing for the ache in my ribs. The dull throb rocked my chest, but it was nothing compared to yesterday when Merrick—No.I turned my neck to the side, fixing my gaze on the sunlight streaming in through the open windows. A bird sat perched on the windowsill, and I felt myself freeze as its beady black eyes met mine.A robin. How beautiful…I thought that I could rise from the bed without scaring him, but the moment I heaved the blanket off me, it was gone in an instan
**ATLAS**Calista said yes like a woman stepping into a burning house because the cold outside had finally become unbearable.Somehow, that terrified me more than watching Merrick drag her across a garden like a walking corpse.I should have been focused on the blood drying on her lip or the fact that Merrick was still breathing somewhere behind us, but all I could think about was the way she said the word like it physically hurt her.I drove like a man running on empty, slowing at every red light to glance at her shoulders quivering in the traffic lights. Her face stayed turned to the window, but the glass betrayed the tears that spilled down her cheeks as she tried to muffle her sobs.I wanted to park by the curb and pull her into my arms, to swear my existence solely to her protection, but I would hold on too tight, and it would break her…break all of us.So I said nothing, choking on the metal rising in my chest and gripping the steering wheel until my fingers numbed.The gates s
**CALISTA**Merrick's fingers closed around my arm, and the world narrowed to the crushing pressure of bone against bone.“No…” my breath faltered.“Yes.” Merrick grinned, something dark crossing his eyes.How did he…“How did I find you?” He leaned in, breath burning across my cheek, “it was easy. I just had to find the dumbest bitch on the block.”“Let me go, Merrick,” my teeth chattered, “if you hurt me, I swear—”“Hurt you? My intention was to kill you…but that'll have to wait. You're coming with me.”Oh god…My vision spun as he whirled me around.“Stop—”My breath snagged somewhere between my lungs and my throat as his hand locked around me, ribs screaming the moment I twisted against his grip. He only held tighter.If he was going to kill me in this garden and bury me beneath the roses, then I would not go down pleading.My jaw fell open, and I sucked in all the air my aching lungs could muster. I let out a scream that rattled my throat, and I did not stop. Not until something







