Page 304 of Emylia

It wasn't enough.

But it was something.

More than I'd given anyone else I loved today.

ChapterSixty-Seven

Oh my Gods.

Sebastian.

Evie.

Their names hit me in the heart, sharp and merciless. The air ripped from my lungs.

“We have to find them.” The words tore from my throat, too jagged, too broken to sound human.

Maalikai shook his head.

Slow. Crushed.

"We can't," he said. "It's too risky."

"You don't understand!" My voice cracked, fists trembling, nails biting deep into my palms—moon-shaped crescents bleeding into my skin.

“Evie–I just got her back, and Sebastian–he's only out there because of me! Because I broke him! Because I didn't choose him!" My voice splintered. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't— "I have to save him," I gasped. "I have to save them.”

Maalikai’s eyes darkened—not with jealousy.

With something worse. Something that shattered him.

"What would you have me do?" he asked, voice low, ragged, barely holding the fury together.

"Risk your life for theirs?”

"YES!" I screamed it.

I didn't care who heard. I didn't care if it broke me.

"Yes, Maalik! If that's what it takes—my life for theirs—then yes!"

Pain cracked across his face. The kind of pain you never recover from.

"If you found him, them” Maalikai said, voice shaking, "you’d put them in even more danger."

I froze.

No.

No.

"After today," he rasped, "every force that breathes will come for us. Every warlord. Every mercenary. Every bastard who thinks they can leash you. They will want to harness you, harness your power.”

He stepped closer, stealing my air as he pressed his forehead to mine. "After today, they’ll know," he whispered. "They’ll know magik exists. And they'll want to own it."

Another stuttered breath, his eyes betraying how much his words broke him. Because I knew voicing this aloud felt like he was sealing my fate.

“There will be no safe place left, Princess. Not for you. Not for me. Not for them.”

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