Page 220 of Emylia

His thumb brushed the back of my hand.

“Trust me,”he said. “After tonight, you’ll conquer healing. I promise.”

“Promise?”I leaned into him.

He pressed his lips to my forehead, lingering.

“Promise,”he whispered again.

And for the first time that day, I let myself believe him.

My footsteps fell into rhythm with his. And even though the ache still lived in my chest, it no longer felt like it was winning.

Maalikai leveled the playing field.

Obliterated it.

ChapterForty-Eight

The sound of crying reached me before I saw her.

Sharp. Shaky. Raw enough to still the air.

I froze, my heart faltering at the unmistakable breaking in Evie’s voice.

"Can you please stay here?" I asked Maalikai, already pushing through the brush.

"You know I'm not meant to," he muttered, his voice a barely restrained growl.

"It's Evie," I said, rolling my eyes. "What's she going to do—stab me with a hairpin? Even if shehada blade, she wouldn’t stand a chance."

Maalikai huffed but caved. "Fine. But I'm not moving from this spot.”

"Suit yourself."

I shoved past the last line of bushes, thorns catching my arms, tearing open skin. I ignored the sting, stepping onto the edge of the stream.

As soon as Evie saw me, she tried—and failed—to scrub her tears away, only succeeding in smearing red dye across her cheeks like war paint.

“It’s okay. It’s just me,” I said, my voice softening.

“I’m not sure if that’s meant to comfort me or not.” She whispered, her voice barely audible.

Ouch.

“Was that an insult?”

She huffed a shaky breath. Then surrendered, her voice cracking on the truth. “The one person I didn’t want to show weakness in front of… is the one person who finds me.”

My heart stuttered—not because of what she said, but because of what she didn’t.

Because I knew.

Gods, I knew.

I knew that fear. That silence.

It was the same thing that crippled me, too. The same fear that haunted my own soul—the fear of being seen in the places we kept buried and then judged unworthy.

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