Page 59 of Night Fae

Malik's heart stuttered.

"You need to stop this." Zev stepped back, severing the connection between them.

"Stop what?"

"Acting like you're disposable. Offering yourself up like some kind of sacrifice."

The intensity in Zev's voice startled Malik. "I didn't mean…"

"I don't want your sacrifice."

The dream meadow darkened around them. A gust of wind picked up and swept through Malik's hair, making him shiver.

Zev's hands curled into fists at his sides. "Do you think I want another person to die because they cared about me?"

The question hit hard. Zev was right; Malik hadn't considered Zev's trauma. Only his own. "I'm not Rhys."

"No," Zev agreed. "You're not."

They regarded each other silently until the sky shifted above them, colors rippling through the darkness. The dream began to fray at the edges. Something tugged at Malik—his physical body registering touch, voices. The healers Zev had mentioned? "I think I'm waking up."

Zev nodded, his form already dissolving, becoming transparent.

Malik wanted to call out to him, to ask if Zev would come see him in the waking world.

But Zev was already gone.

CHAPTER 13

It took Malik some serious effort to claw his way back to consciousness. His eyelids weighed tons, his mouth felt packed with sand, and every inch of his body ached with a peculiar hollowness, as if something vital had been scooped out from inside him.

He tried to swallow. Failed. Tried again.

Voices filtered through the fog in his brain, familiar yet distant.

"—think he's waking up. Get the water?—"

"—should we call the healers back?"

Cool fingers pressed against his forehead. Malik forced his eyes open, immediately regretting it as light stabbed his retinas. He squeezed them shut again with a groan.

"Easy," someone murmured. Daniel. "Take it slow."

Malik tried again, opening his eyes to narrow slits. The room gradually came into focus—amber crystals floating near the ceiling cast a soft glow over dark stone walls.

Daniel's concerned face hovered above him, hair a shock of faded blue and purple against the darkness.

"Where...?" Malik's voice emerged as a painful rasp.

"Shadow Kingdom." Daniel lifted Malik's head gently, pressing a cup to his lips. "Small sips."

The water felt like heaven against his parched throat. Malik drank greedily until Daniel pulled the cup away.

"Not too fast. You'll make yourself sick."

Adrian appeared at Daniel's side, relief evident in his expression. "Welcome back. You had us worried."

Malik nodded slowly. He remembered their escape from the Shadow Kingdom, but what stood out even more starkly was the memory of the dream he'd had before waking. The violet meadow. Zev's guilt-ridden eyes.