Page 271 of Emylia

I collapsed forward, my forehead hitting the ground. Ash billowed around me. Blood soaked into my sleeves. I let it. I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

The screams wouldn’t stop. I didn’t know if they were mine anymore. My mouth moved, but there were no words—just the sound of something breaking inside me.

Bone-deep. Soul-deep.

Irreparable.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

I flinched like I’d been stabbed.

“It’s me,” Maalikai said. Gentle. Urgent.

But everything felt false. Even him.

I didn’t turn. I couldn’t.

“They were just children,” I whispered. “They didn’t even run. Theytrustedus.”

My hands curled into fists. Nails bit into skin. I didn’t care.

“I should’ve been here. Ishould’ve been here.”

“Emylia.”

“I let them die.”

“You didn’t?—”

“They DIED.” The scream ripped through me like lightning through bone.

Maalikai didn’t falter. He dropped to his knees and reached for me, but I jerked away, still clutching a body that was no longer anything but weight and silence.

“We have to go,” he said finally.

The words didn’t register.

I was still cradling her. Still pretending there was hope.

Even now.

Even though I knew better.

But he didn’t wait for permission.

He pulled me upright. My legs gave. He held me anyway. My hands smeared blood across his chest. He didn’t notice. Or he didn’t care.

When he pressed my bow into my palm, I didn’t feel its weight. But my fingers curled around it anyway.

I wasn’t ready to move.

I wasn’t ready to breathe.

But I had to. Because the monsters who did this were still out there.

And I was still alive.

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