Page 292 of Emylia

The house stood still. Silent.

Too silent.

A chill prickled down my spine.

There had been no ward barring our entrance. Which was what I'd expected—Mom had planned on resting while I was in Ophelia—but for some reason, its absence felt wrong.

Like a sign.

A silent signal that something wasn’t right.

I tightened my grip on my bow, fingers slick with sweat despite the cold seeping into my bones.

Every instinct screamed at me—louder than my heartbeat thundering in my ears—but I forced myself to scan the clearing.

Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

No forced entry into the house. No smoke curling from shattered windows. No warriors lounging with bloodied blades and smug grins.

All good signs.

At least, that’s what logic told me.

But logic was a traitor.

All because I hadn’t seen my mother with my own eyes. It shouldn’t have meant anything. She could easily be inside, sewing, humming a lullaby under her breath the way she always did when she thought no one was listening.

But the suffocating nausea twisting through my gut didn’t believe that.

Something was wrong.

Terrifyingly, soul-achingly wrong.

The trees around us creaked. The wind barely stirred. Even the birds had gone silent, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

"Cover me," Maalikai whispered, his voice stripped of everything but lethal focus.

Before I could stop him, he sprinted out of the cover, moving like a shadow, slipping from the trees, every step calculated, quiet, deadly.

And then—a flicker of movement snapped my attention.

Someone darted out of the barn, low and fast, hugging the side of the house like a shadow tearing itself from the walls.

Sunlight caught the edge of his sword, transforming it into a second sun—a flash of silver death.

My blood turned to ice.

Shit.

They were here.

“You’ve got this,” I whispered to myself–even though they were for Maalikai–the words barely audible over the thundering in my veins.

No mercy. No forgiveness.

Only cold, lethal certainty.

My arrow flew, slicing through the air with a soundless promise.

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