Page 47 of Emylia

I clenched my jaw. “Fine,” I practically spat the words of my defeat. “You win. I’ll play along.”

With the cockiness of a God, he flashed me an outrageously fiendish smile. “Excellent.”

I took a step forward–then froze. In my haste, I’d forgotten that I didn’t have a bow. Mine was broken. And his? Completely unusable to me.

Did I just lose this bet by default?

I whipped around in outrage, fixing him with lethal eyes. “Cheater! I don’t have anything to shoot with!”

Maalikai raised his brows and calmly reached for the outer sides of his thighs, producing two wickedly beautiful daggers. “How do you feel about throwing knives?”

My fingers curled around the hilt of one. Warm leather. Perfect weight. It felt good.

Too good.

“This’ll do.”

As my grip tightened, I realized–with grim satisfaction–that this would be the second law I’d broken in less than half an hour. And Maalikai, of course, was my witnessyet again.

Without hesitation, I turned and hurled the blade at the target. It sliced through the air and slammed into the leather, embedding in the bright red center–or maybe just a hair to the right.

Maalikai’s eyes snapped to mine, disbelief flickering through those impossibly blue hues.

“You better pray to Noctharis that you’re good.” I said, smirking without apology.

He took his eyes off me for a fraction of a second, flinging his own blade at the target. I heard a dullthud, followed by a sharper sound–metal against metal. I spun, heart pounding so hard it echoed in my bones.

His dagger sat neatly next to mine, not even a breath of air between them, skewering the dead center of the target.

Crap.

“I’m not good, I’m the best. No prayer needed.” He cocked that insatiably seductive eyebrow at me.

Screw him.

What was I supposed to do now?

I lost fair and square, and I wasn’t one to back out of a deal. I would just have to suck it up and spend the afternoon with him.

Besides, seeing him better me in a knife-throwing contest was undeniably sexy.

Growling in defeat, I turned to him, my arms snaking across my chest. “So, are you going to tell me where we’re going? Or if you plan to murder me?”

“Nope.” He popped the ‘p’ for emphasis. He turned, expecting me to follow and started walking the opposite direction of Ophelia.

“Seriously?”

He looked over his shoulder, his eyes stealing my gaze and holding it prisoner. His smile came slowly–like a secret slipping through a crack in stone–one I was starting to suspect he only revealed around me.

It was unexpected. Out of character. Almost dangerous. Yet it was too beautiful not to claim a part of my soul, willingly or not.

I looked away before it could unravel me anymore than it already had. Or before the guilt could consume me.

“Seriously.” One word from that torturous mouth of his.

I scoffed. “So, I’m just supposed to follow you blindly to Gods’ knows where with no logical reason why? That sounds pretty stupid to me.” I threw out my arms in exasperation.

Maalikai stopped just long enough to pick up his discarded quiver, securing it on his back.

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