Page 52 of Emylia

A soft, nearly silent sigh escaped him. “There’s something about this forest. Something I can’t explain.” He paused, eyes closing, fingertips twitching as they traced the bark. He looked like he was listening to something I couldn’t hear.

Could he feel the heartbeat beneath the surface too?

“It’s a feeling,” he murmured. “Like this place used to be something sacred… like it remembers. Most people are afraid of it—like the power is too much. It takes someone special to appreciate the beauty without being afraid.” His eyes opened slowly. My breath caught at the vulnerability in them. “I knew there had to be someone else who could see what I see.”

“What made you so sure it was me?”

A quiet, almost unearthly smile touched his lips. In the fading light, his skin glowed with something more than warmth.

“Because when I look at you, I see the same beauty.”

My stomach twisted, hollow and tight. My mind scrambled for a response that wasn’t awkward. Failing miserably, I defaulted to humor.

“I have the same beauty as an old, decrepit tree?”

Maalikai didn’t dignify it with a response. He stepped closer, the air between us growing heavier.

“An ancient power. Unapologetic. Pure. Like it doesn’t know the beauty or danger it holds. You can feel it, can’t you?”

My fingers twitched against the bark. The slumbering power crackled beneath my skin—undeniable.

“…Yes,” I breathed. “I feel it.”

“It’s beautiful.” He looked at me like his gaze could burn straight through flesh. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

My heart kicked violently in my chest as I followed him into the trees—it was like a pack of Cindralyx were clawing at my ribs—restless, volatile, wild, and thrumming with power—hungry for something I couldn’t name.

The moment I stepped under the canopy, a chill crept over me. I’d never been inside this part of the forest before. The feeling was almost… unnatural.

And yet, something called to me.

Something deep.

Something lost.

Maalikai glanced back, his eyes raking down my body like the ghost of a tender caress.

“Are you okay?” I nodded, not trusting my voice. “It’s okay to feel overwhelmed,” he said. “It’s just the forest—and the magik within.”

At the wordmagik, goosebumps raced across my skin.

A strange hum stirred through me, tendrils reaching deep—something primal and impossible uncoiled in my blood, pulsing like it had always been there.

I stopped short, lips parting.

The sensation slipped away before I could name it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Maalikai asked from ahead.

He blurred in my vision like smoke. My eyes snapped to his. I opened my mouth… but no sound came. Swallowing, I closed my eyes.

The feeling was gone.

“I’m fine,” I managed.

He didn’t look convinced. “Most men won’t even set foot in Aelinthian Forrest.”

I snorted. “Most men are idiots.”

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