Page 111 of Emylia

Even as the thoughts swirled in a tornado in my mind, a small part of me knew something was seriously wrong.

I knew that the thoughts weren’t entirely my own, or if they were, they were being amplified. The power howeverwasentirely my own.

A living, breathing entity coiled within me, its dark tendrils snaking through every molecule of my existence, weaving into my very essence—until even my breath rippled with raw, untamed power.

“Emylia.” The calm rage in Maalikai’s voice pulled me from my heavy daze.

Confusion swallowed me whole as I stared up at him. But it wasn’t enough, the veil that cloaked my emotions settled back over me, covering me in a layer of uncontainable rage.

Using a series of attacks I didn’t even know I was capable of, I dislodged him from my body, facing him with my resolve.

“Emylia.” My name was a breathless whisper on his lips.

A quick kick to his ribs shut him up, making him focus on what was at hand. The next kick he stopped with ease, returning a blow of his own. But I easily blocked it.

Unexpected pain radiated from my thigh, Sebastian’s booted foot connecting with my body.

I whipped around, facing him, spittle frothing from my mouth.

“Em, it’s me. Sebastian.” He was winded, his arms raised, ready to defend himself.

Both men circled me.

Sebastian blocked my fist as I sent it flying for his face, and then the other, as I countered. Before I had a chance to sweep his feet from beneath him, pressure imprisoned my neck, cutting off my airway. Gulping in a mouthful of air, I tried to rip the arm from its confinement, but it was too strong.

“Stop fighting me.” Maalikai’s voice was a low hiss in my ear, commanding me to obey.

My fingernails bit into his skin, scratching at his exposed flesh, trying to get his forearm off my windpipe.

“Emylia!” A guttural roar reverberated through me.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

Starbursts swam before me, threatening to take my consciousness. I fought harder, my gulps of air becoming more frantic.

Flashes of lightning exploded across the sky, showering us in a blaze of fire as it connected with a nearby tree. Smoke instantly tingled my nose, burning my nostrils, but still, I fought. Another series of lightning strikes lit the sky, striking uncomfortably close. Warmth tingled through my body, making the hairs on my arms rise, as the electricity danced along my skin.

“What are you doing, princess?” Maalikai said heavily in my ear, still grunting at the effort to subdue me.

I heard Sebastian shout from somewhere around us, “Neutralize her, Maalikai!”

“I’m sorry,” Maalikai whispered in my ear as his grip became impossibly tighter.

Black starbursts swarmed in front of my eyes until all there was, was midnight abyss.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Slowly, color seeped back in, blurry vision swimming before me. It was Maalikai’s face that came into focus first. His mouth was moving, but my hearing had apparently not returned.

“Wh…?” I trailed off, staring past him to the trees. Some of them were burned. Charred past the point of recognition.

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

My head ached, fuzzy images swimming in and out of focus. “I— I don’t know.”

“I’ve never seen anyone fight like that. You looked like you wanted to killme,” Maalikai said, confused, his biceps bulging as he scratched the back of his head. “You definitelydidwant to kill me.”

“I, um…” I had no answers for him.

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