Page 184 of Emylia

I held her gaze, guarded, daring her to say more. “Maybe.”

“You still think I’m going to turn you in, don’t you?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

“Please,” she drawled, popping a slice of apple into her mouth, “if you didn’t trust me, you wouldn’t have invited me to come watch you practice.”

“I hadn’t decided if I was going to let you watch yet,” I shot back with no heat.

She shrugged. “Think about it this way—if Ididtell anyone, which I’m not going to, they wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

Well, that was true. Magik was now just a legend—a story told to children. Long forgotten in the world we lived in.

Or so I’d thought.

No one would believe I—an outcast and destroyer of the very fabric of Ophelian law—had been blessed by the Gods.

My smile was instant. “I guess it’s decided then. You’re coming with me.”

“No, she’s not.” His voice was sharp, low–a warning wrapped in steel.

My eyes collided with Maalikai’s. “Excuse me?”

He didn’t blink. Just picked up a piece of bacon and took a slow, deliberate bite, chewing like he had all the time in the world.

“You heard me,”he said, speaking around it. “She’s not coming.”

I planted both palms on the table, voice tight. “Why not?”

He shrugged one shoulder, unbothered. “Plans have changed. No magik today. You and I have one-on-one sparring.”

I scoffed, grabbing my cup and taking a sip, just to stop myself from throwing something at his pretty little face. “What about Sebastian?”

Maalikai wiped the grease from his hands on a folded yellow napkin before discarding it.

“He’s on an errand. So it’s just you and me.”

I straightened, defiance prickling up my spine. “Can Evie still come?”

He glanced at Evie, then back at me. “Normally I’d say yes. But not today.”

Before I could argue, he turned and walked off like the conversation was already buried.

I turned to Evie, guilt already clawing at me. “I’m so sorry.”

She waved it off with a half-smile. “It’s okay. Next time.”

But I saw the disappointment flicker in her eyes. Quiet. Raw.

I was so going to make Maalikai pay for this.

I grabbed the dagger I’d left on the table—the one I’d used to slice my own apple—wiped it on my dress, and sheathed it with a sharp click. Then I jogged after him, boots thudding across the stone floor.

The sun blinded me as I stepped outside the mess hall, momentarily making me falter. Blinking against the glare, I caught a flicker of black disappearing into the first row of trees.

Maalikai had already reached the forest.

Gods, how did he move that fast?

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