Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
A breath of air whooshed from me as I forced myself to take a step forward. For some reason, this felt more nerve-wracking than when I’d first attempted to wield magik—like this time, something real was expected of me.
If I fell short now, what then?
Could I live with being a failure?
My breath came too fast—too deep, too heavy, coated in too much expectation. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was so scared of. I’d already commanded water magik before—in the clouds, in the rain. That’s why I’d chosen it first.
Because it felt familiar.
Safe.
But today, it didn’t feel like safety. It felt like pressure.
Sebastian’s hand found mine, his fingers sliding between mine until they couldn’t go any further—imprisoning them in the warmth of everything that was uniquely him. Grounding me. Steadying me.
And still, the fear of failing wrapped around my ribs like a vice.
If I couldn’t hone this power—if I couldn’t bend it to my will and forge it into something useful—then what was the point of any of this?
I wouldn’t be able to protect Ophelia from the Warlord. Everyone I loved would be in danger. And all this pain, all the impossible choices—between Maalikai and Sebastian—would be for nothing.
So I had to be stronger than my fear.
I had to be more than the swirling mess inside me.
I had to be unapologetically me.
Sebastian squeezed my hand. “You okay?”
That quick, easy smirk sent my heart stuttering. It pulled me straight back to the other night—to the way his lips had branded mine, tasting and teasing until I couldn’t think anymore.
The boy I’d loved my whole life had taken my virginity.
No—that wasn’t right.
I’d given it to him. Freely.
Without hesitation or regret.
It had always been his.
And now he had it—a piece of me no one else would ever be able to take. A part of me that was ours .
“Nervous,” I admitted, voice thin.
He grinned. “That you’ll drown us all if you lose control?”
My heart thundered. Great. I hadn’t even considered that. I was panicking about failing to control the water—he’d just casually introduced the concept of mass watery death.
Fantastic.
Maalikai must’ve seen the flicker of panic in my eyes, because he added coolly, “you’ll do fine. Just be your perfect self.”
“I heard drowning’s the most peaceful way to go,” Sebastian offered. “So, you know... there’s always that.”
I glared at one of the guys who had stolen my heart. “Not helping, Bastian.”
He shrugged like it was a perfectly reasonable contribution. “Just trying to be supportive.”
“Sure you are.”
Maalikai cut in, his voice low and clipped. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and give her some space.”
Sebastian smirked. “Looks like you’re the only one in danger of drowning, then.”
I rolled my eyes. There was no calming the storm that was Sebastian.
“Emylia,” my mother called gently, “ignore them. Focus on me.”
I nodded, dragging my gaze away from Sebastian, who had flopped down near the edge of the lake—his boots haphazardly kicked off beside him, feet dangling in the crystal-clear water. Ripples curved outward from where his toes broke the surface, like even now, he couldn’t help but stir up everything he touched.
And then there was Maalikai, who had retreated in the opposite direction. He was leaning against a tree—watching with an unreadable expression, his brow slightly furrowed in a way that felt almost tender compared to his usual stormy glower.
“What you need to do,” my mother continued, “is listen. The water is alive. It breathes. It moves. Let yourself feel it. The ebb and flow. The rhythm it follows—the way it waits for your command.”
I closed my eyes.
The wind hushed.
The lake exhaled.
And somewhere deep inside me, something stirred in response.
My mother’s voice curled around me, quiet and steady. “Breathe, Emylia. You’re not bending it to your will. You’re asking it to listen.”
Easier said than done.
Taking another deep breath, I opened my eyes and focused on the water in front of me, hoping the visual anchor would help unlock something deeper.
The lake shimmered like liquid glass, wind catching its surface in subtle, rippling shivers.
I extended my hand, fingers trembling—not from fear, but from the overwhelming hum of potential threading beneath my skin. Like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting to see if I would rise… or unravel.
“Do you feel how the water calls to you?” my mother said softly. “Like it recognizes the power you have over it. Waiting until you whisper a command?”
When she said it like that, it was almost possible to believe. I didn’t feel like the rattled girl I was a moment ago.
Screw it.
I refused to be weak or vulnerable.
This was my magik.
And no one—not even me—was going to make me cower.
If I couldn’t control it, then let it consume me.
I closed my eyes and gave in to every magikal atom that flowed through my veins.
Then I felt it.
Not like fire—wild and hungry.
Water moved differently.
It swayed. It sang. It shimmered with an otherworldly beauty, like it held the secrets of a thousand forgotten worlds. Beneath the surface, something softer… deeper… began to unfurl. A current I didn’t know existed inside me began to churn, syncing with the pulse of the lake.
My hand twitched.
The lake answered.
A tendril of water lifted from the surface, weightless and swaying, mimicking the rhythm of my breath. It danced toward me, ripples of flowing motion curling through it like a beautifully choreographed spell. It was gentle at first, tentative—but as my confidence grew, so did its grace, as if it was drawn to the cadence of my heartbeat.
“You’re doing it,” Maalikai murmured, barely audible.
I didn’t answer. I wasn’t here anymore.
I was part of the lake. Part of the watery depths of that world. Part of the thing inside me that was no longer sleeping.
“Thought you had complete faith in her,” Sebastian muttered, but there was something bitter in it—something that coiled low in my stomach.
The tendril turned violent. It shuddered. Snapped. Shot skyward like a geyser gone rogue.
“Emylia,” my mother called, sharp with command.
But I couldn’t stop.
The water surged, rising like a tidal wave summoned by a storm. Destructive. Lethal. It climbed higher, paused, trembling—then began to fall.
“Shit.” Sebastian was already running toward me—but he wasn’t fast enough.
My eyes locked with his.
I was going to kill us all.
Without a word, my mother stepped in front of me, shielding me with her body.
The wave hit.
The impact ripped into the earth—sending debris flying, water crashing in every direction.
But the blow never came.
A shimmering sphere of energy surrounded me, golden and humming with magik. My mother’s magik.
A ward.
And then I saw it—Sebastian, encased in his own protective shell. Then Maalikai, his face stunned as he reached out and touched the invisible barrier around him.
My mother dropped to her knees, her strength draining.
I bolted foward, throwing my arms around her, lending her everything I had. Everything I was.
And then… silence.
The water retreated. The lake smoothed.
Like nothing had ever happened.
I was soaked, shivering. The weight of the surge still thrumming in my bones.
But I smiled.
Because for the first time…
The magik had listened when I’d called.