Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A nger consumed me as I stormed away. A cold breeze rustled my hair, pulling loose strands in every direction. Ignoring the goosebumps prickling my skin, I pulled as much of my hair into a high ponytail, letting it fall halfway down my back. The air around me thickened, and I looked to the sky.
How dare he!
Any rational thought blew out with the breeze. This was my life. It was my choice if I put myself in danger, not his.
I understood his need to protect me, but I didn’t need his protection. I needed his trust. Trust that I was capable; a weapon worth wielding. He still only saw me as too weak to defend myself.
I felt the thunder before I heard it. Tension ebbed between my shoulders as I marched to the stables. Meandering through the stalls, I found Stormfire; she was in a stall three bays down, a whinny superseding my arrival.
Even without seeing me, Stormfire always knew when I was close. I couldn’t help but feel Stormfire and I shared an unbreakable connection, not once had the mare ever come close to letting me down.
Stormfire was my rock, the anchor that kept me in place when it felt like I was being ripped from the turmoil inside. Right now, a little grounding was exactly what I needed.
I let Stormfire’s muzzle lean on my shoulder, our heads resting against each other. Scratching her behind the ears, I took several deep breaths letting my anger slip away. I knew my uncle was just trying to protect me, it was hard to hate him for it. But, damn, was it infuriating.
“Am I interrupting?” I didn’t even bother looking at Sebastian.
“Glad to see you finally decided to join me.” I threw over my shoulder.
“You’re in a rather pissy mood this morning.” I ignored him. “And now you’re ignoring me.” A hole almost burnt straight through me from the intensity of Sebastian’s stare, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of looking up.
“I wonder why?” I said sarcastically.
“Are you implying I have anything to do with your crappy mood?” His mock-indignation was laughable.
I turned around, arms crossed against my chest. “What more do you want me to do? Last night I chose you and yet you still had to rub it in, like I was a prize to be won.” I was half furious, half fire, and he knew it. But for once, the joke didn’t come.
He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling hard. “Look, I’m trying .” His voice cracked, stripped of its usual ease. “I don’t know how to do this—I’m not good at this.” He met my gaze, his heart wide open and burning.
Another stuttered breath escaped him. “I am so undeniably in love with you and it’s wrecking me. And I want you to be happy, I really do. But for Ezekiel’s sake, Em…” His voice fractured, barely holding it together. “I am so in love with you, it hurts. And knowing that that guy, has a chance with you, destroys me. The only one I ever want you to be with… is me.”
The words shattered something in the air between us—something fragile and sacred. My breath caught. My heart cracked wide open. For half a second, silence stretched between us.
Volatile.
Trembling.
He looked like he regretted his words already—like he’d just ripped his soul out and handed it to me. And I was just standing here, holding it, like I didn’t know what to do with it.
Then I kissed him.
It wasn’t careful. It wasn’t sweet. It was everything I hadn’t said. Everything I couldn’t say.
My hands gripped his shirt, dragging him down to me like I was drowning and he was the only thing keeping me above water. Our mouths met in a collision—too much, too fast, too desperate. He froze for a heartbeat—stunned, maybe. Or terrified this was something I’d take back.
But I didn’t.
And Gods, when he kissed me back— really kissed me back —it was like setting fire to everything I thought I was supposed to want. I told myself this wasn’t a choice. That I still hadn’t made one. But this kiss was violent, raw and irreversible.
No logic.
No caution.
Just need.
And I knew, I wasn’t just walking away from my choice, I was obliterating it in this moment, so I could never go back to Maalikai–there was no way he would want to be with me now.
In this moment, just for a single second. I chose Sebastian. Even if it burned everything else down.
And although definitive heartbreak was waiting at the end of it… for now, all that mattered was the way he held me, like I was the answer to every prayer he’d never dared speak aloud.
“Fuck Em.” He rested his forehead against mine, his breath coming in sharp waves. “Why?”
I exhaled, broken. “Because I can’t seem to let you go. And even though I can’t choose you. I also can’t choose him either. So why not burn everything to the ground?”
A single tear escaped me, rolling over my cheek, he caught it before it could fall, the tiny droplet a perfect translucent arch on his fingertip.
The he gave me a look that was undeniably him, half-wrecked, half-wicked. “Is this the perfect time to tell you I got you a present?”
A ripple of shock ran through me. “You got me a present?”
“Well,” he said with a cocky grin, “I made you a present.”
There was always a catch with Sebastian—usually something ridiculous that left me mildly traumatised.
Warily, I studied him, arms crossed. A sigh escaped me as I caved, just like he knew I would. “Alright. What is this magikally life-altering gift?”
Sebastian reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded cloth, no bigger than my palm. Gently, he placed it in my open hand. I regarded it with suspicion—rightfully so. Knowing him, it could be literally anything.
“Go on,” he urged, eyes glinting with excitement. “Open it.”
Hesitantly, I unwrapped the cloth until something hard and jagged dropped into my palm. I turned the object over slowly, confused. “Why would you give me an arrowhead?”
“This isn’t just any arrowhead.” Sebastian stepped closer, voice softer. “This is the one you used to save my life.”
My breath caught. My eyes snapped to his, throat dry. “This is the arrow I used to kill someone.”
He took my hands in his. “No. This is the arrow you used to save me. If you hadn’t acted, I’d be dead.”
A weight slammed into my chest. I knew what he was trying to say. And given the chance, I’d do it all over again to protect him. But what kind of person did that make me?
“I have blood on my hands,” I whispered.
Sebastian stepped forward, his grip firm, gaze unwavering. “You’re a hero. My hero. I don’t ever want you to forget that. I owe you my life.”
“Bastian—”
“It’s true. Without you, I’d be gone. Probably drinking frozen agave cocktails with Ezekiel.” A short laugh escaped him, but it was cracked, raw. “And not just from yesterday. You’ve always been the one who holds me together. Without you… I’d be a wreck. A complete, hopeless mess. The truth is, I don’t even know who I am without you.” My lungs stuttered. His eyes burned into me like I was his tether to this world. “Look, I engraved it.”
My breath hitched.
He held the arrowhead between us like it was fragile.
Sacred.
My fingers turned the arrowhead over in my palm, slower this time, studying every surface, as if I might miss something if I blinked.
On one side, etched in sharp, beautiful lettering—Warrioress.
Of course.
That was the Sebastian I loved.
Bold.
Honest.
A little cocky.
But entirely him.
I flipped it over, expecting something ridiculous, something to make me roll my eyes.
Instead, I froze.
My chest squeezed when I saw the two words carved into the metal—impossibly neat, slanted, unmistakably Sebastian’s scrawl. The words were smaller, more precise. Like he’d taken his time. Like it had mattered.
My everything.
Etched beneath it was the most breathtaking engraving—a Cindralyx, wings outstretched in eternal flight.
The creature that symbolized our bond.
Not some polished emblem.
Not some delicate crest.
It looked like it had clawed its way into the metal—wings outstretched, mid-howl, ascending into the constellations.
Fiery.
Unyielding.
Reborn.
It wasn’t just a mark.
It was a promise.
It was us.
Not just our bond, but our fire. Our defiance. Our fury. Our refusal to stay down. We didn’t just survive—we came back burning.
No matter how many times we shattered, we would always rise—together.
The breath left my lungs. My throat clenched–trembling, traitorous–as if the words knew they’d unravel me the moment they tasted air. “You did this?” I whispered.
He nodded once, voice low. “I meant to give it to you earlier, but the timing didn't feel right.”
I stared at it, at him, completely shattered. This wasn’t just a gift. It was a confession.
A vow.
A promise.
Sebastian dug into his pocket and pulled out a strip of black leather, a small ring already attached to the top of the arrowhead. “May I?”
I nodded, wordless.
He threaded the strap with practiced ease and stepped closer, hands brushing against the bare skin at the nape of my neck as he tied it into place.
I reached up, fingers closing around the cool weight now resting against my collarbone. The metal seemed to hum with meaning.
Turning me gently, Sebastian leaned back just enough to look at the necklace—and then at me. “There,” he murmured. “Now you will always know.”
I swallowed hard, eyes stinging, “know what?”
“That you’re my everything.”
Tears threatened to spill fourth as I stared at him like he was my sun, moon and stars all burning in one giant eclipse.
I opened my mouth to say something but I was at a loss to tell him what he meant to me.
And then everything froze.
It was as though my soul sensed Maalikai’s presence before my eyes even found him—like something in me had always been tethered to him, like fate had entwined our souls in the same eternal thread.
The air shifted. My breath hitched. And before I could process what was happening, I turned.
His eyes caught mine—and stole them.
The world narrowed to nothing but his gaze.
But I was still acutely aware of Sebastian—the heat of him, the weight of everything that still lingered like smoke. He stood so close behind me I could feel it—his presence, his hope, the pull of what we’d shared just seconds before.
I didn’t have to look to know he was watching. I could feel the fire of it licking at my back, like he was trying to hold me here. Trying to tether me to the version of myself that belonged with him.
The silence stretched—sharp and volatile, like it might ignite if one of us moved.
“Em?” he asked, quiet but sure.
When our eyes collided, they fractured. I was already shattering.
“I–ah…” Damn. How was I meant to navigate this? “Just one minute. Please.”
His eyes darkened with the weight of what I was asking, and I knew it broke him. He didn’t move at first. Just stood there, gaze locked on mine like he could see into my soul. Like he understood how much choosing between them broke every part of me.
Then—slowly—he stepped closer.
His voice brushed against me, quiet and raw. “You don’t have to decide right now.”
I blinked, caught off guard. “What?”
“If you still don’t know what you want… then find out.” His eyes held mine like the truth was too big to contain. “Be sure. Be damn sure. And if that means seeing what it’s like to be with him too…” His jaw clenched, like the words physically hurt. “Then do it.”
My breath caught. My heart cracked straight down the middle.
“Because what we have?” He leaned in, lips grazing the edge of my cheek like a brand. “Nothing will ever come close. But I won’t beg you to see it. I’ll let you feel it.” His voice dropped, softer now. “Just… don’t forget to give me the chance to show you what we could be. What it would feel like, to completely be loved by me.”
It wasn’t a dare.
It was permission.
And then—he stepped back.
Not far. Just enough.
Enough to knock the breath from my lungs. Because he never stepped back. Sebastian was fire and chaos and the kind of stubborn that always fought for us. For me.
But now, for the first time, he didn’t.
He chose to let me go.
At least enough to show he trusted me. Trusted me to choose myself. To give me the choice that could ruin us both.
And the worst part?
I let him.
I let him be the better man—and I hated myself for it. Because it should’ve been him.
It had always been him.
But I wasn’t sure anymore.