Chapter 12 #2
Malik exhaled through his nose, his expression distant. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. I know nothing about a missing page.”
He leaned back in his chair like a contented king.
I swallowed and set down my fork with a little too much force. “Please don’t toy with me, Malik. My nerves are frayed. Neither of us slept well last night…” I glanced at Emily. “And yet you insist on keeping secrets.”
Like a lightning strike, Malik’s demeanor shifted—dark, menacing.
The air in the dining room seemed to thin, the temperature plummeting. A shiver crept up my spine, and I instinctively curled inward as if bracing for a storm.
“Why do you keep thinking you know my mind?” Malik’s voice was eerily measured as he pulled his napkin from his lap, folded it with precision, and placed it beside his plate.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stay still. I had triggered something in him.
His emerald eyes burned into mine. “Forget the missing page. That is not important right now. What is important is that you need to make a decision.” He leaned forward slightly.
“What are you going to do?” He spoke slowly. “What’s your next move?”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move.
The dining room blurred at the edges, Malik’s stare pinning me in place.
His fingers drummed against the table. What. Are. You. Going. To. Do?
“I… I don’t know,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
The table rattled as his fist slammed against it. Plates and silverware clattered, the harsh sound slicing through the air.
“That is not what I want to hear,” he growled. “You’ve read your mother’s words in the journal. You know the truth. Now you must decide—what will you do with that knowledge?”
Something inside me snapped.
I bolted to my feet, my chair scraping against the floor. “I don’t know!” The words exploded from me. “It was a lot, and I’m still trying to process everything! It’s too much—too fast.” My breaths came short and uneven. “Right now, I just need to clear my head.”
I turned abruptly. “I’m taking Rosie for a walk.”
I blinked, my pulse hammering. A low snarl came from behind me.
“You’d better figure out what you will do next once you clear your head. If you don’t, I’ll toss you out—leave you to face Balthazar alone. And you won’t see Roman again.”
Ice slid down my spine.
I whirled around, ready to confront him—but Malik was gone.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed back into my chair, my body shaking.
Across the table, Rosie stared at me, her big, solemn eyes filled with quiet concern.
Emily, ever composed, busied herself, clearing the table and gathering her plate and silverware before disappearing into the kitchen.
I exhaled shakily and pressed my trembling hands to my face to smooth away my fear.
Rosie slipped from her chair, rounded the table, and patted my hair with her tiny hand. “Everything’s okay.”
I wanted to believe her. I needed to believe her. But I knew the truth.
Nothing was okay.
A drizzle greeted us as we stepped outside, cloaked in our weather gear. The damp earth smelled rich and alive, the scent of rain mixing with the musk of fallen leaves.
Rosie skipped ahead, her little boots splashing in puddles as she eagerly searched for mushrooms and tree frogs—her idea, not mine.
Emily and I lagged, our voices hushed beneath the rhythmic pattern of raindrops.
“Malik’s right, you know,” Emily said as we trekked beneath the dripping trees. “We can’t hide here forever.”
Water slid from the branches above, plopping onto our bonnets.
I sighed, stooping to pick up a sturdy branch for a walking stick.
“Oh, how I wish we could.” My grip tightened around the wood.
“But you’re right. Malik isn’t obligated to help us.
And he is a darkness. For all I know, he could turn on us in an instant.
Kill us.” I exhaled, shaking my head. “And yet… his hospitality has been more than generous.”
Emily traced her fingers over the rough bark of a tree trunk, her voice thoughtful. “So… should we go to Italy, then? Head for the 1500s?”
I swallowed hard, my mind racing.
Because whether I was ready or not…
A decision had to be made.
“To find the Sun Dagger?” I murmured, massaging the tension from my neck. My entire body felt stiff and drained. Malik scared the bejesus out of me.
“Exactly. That’s what you would’ve done before Balthazar got to you,” Emily said.
I stiffened.
I knew she was trying to be supportive, but it was the wrong thing to say.
It yanked me straight back into the abyss of terror, to the suffocating fear that had plagued me ever since Balthazar had torn my life apart. The fear that had settled in my bones the day I lost my unborn child.
I wasn’t that brave, reckless girl anymore.
I was a clucking hen in the barnyard, too afraid to spread my wings, too weak to be anything else.
“Well?” Emily looked at me, hopefully.
“I don’t know, Em.” My boots squelched against the damp forest floor. “I just… I can’t decide.”
Then, movement.
A shape blurred into view.
Before I could react, a man dropped from the trees right before us.
Emily and I screamed.
I flung my walking stick to the ground, my heart hammering in my throat.
Rosie peeked out from behind a massive oak, her hands still clutching the mushroom she’d been examining. Her wide, innocent eyes settled on us, utterly confused.
Then—
Emily let out a strangled gasp and launched herself toward him. “Marcellious!”
The man shoved her away with a snarl. “Step back, bitch.”
Emily stumbled, her face going deathly pale.
“What?” Her voice came out small, broken. “What do you mean? Don’t you remember me? It’s me, Emily. Your wife.”
Her words hung in the damp air like a ghost, distant and haunting.
I took a step forward, heat rising in my chest. We thought he was dead. We grieved him.
“How are you here?” I questioned. “How did you find us? Why are you here?”
Marcellious’ gaze locked onto mine, dark and unreadable.
“I’m here for one reason,” he said, his voice like gravel.
I clenched my fists. “And what’s that?”
Marcellious’ eyes burned with an unhinged, feral madness. His pupils were blown wide, his expression twisted with something raw and volatile.
“I’m here for the journal,” he snarled. “On Balthazar’s orders.”
Terror gripped my limbs, locking me in place. Balthazar’s orders?
“Show me where it is, and no one gets hurt.” His sneer deepened as he seized the front of my dress, his fingers twisting into the fabric. “I need to bring it to Lord Balthazar.”
Something in me snapped.
“Let go of me, you asshole.” I wrenched his hand away, my old fire roaring back to life.
But my mind whirled with a different kind of fear. Had Balthazar poisoned Marcellious’ mind, just like he did to me when he made me try to kill Roman?
Marcellious lunged, fingers reaching for my throat.
I dodged, looking to Emily.
She had collapsed to her knees, her body overcome with gut-wrenching sobs.
“His mind has been poisoned, Em,” I said, trying to reach her. “He doesn’t mean this.”
Emily’s tear-streaked face lifted, her eyes searching mine, clinging to hope.
But Marcellious let out a hollow laugh, shaking his head. “Don’t be ridiculous.” His voice dripped with scorn. “I need the journal. My master needs the journal. And I will get it.”
I clenched my jaw. “What the hell are you talking about, Marcellious? Have you lost your mind? You know Balthazar is a monster. A demon. You fought against him once.” My voice cracked with disbelief. “How could you stand here and say otherwise?”
Marcellious’ hands curled into tight fists.
“I only believe in my master, Lord Balthazar.” His voice vibrated with manic conviction. “Only him.”
Spittle flew from his lips. His entire body taut, his muscles rigid with unnatural devotion.
A sick dread curled in my stomach, cold and suffocating.
He wasn’t just lost.
He was as insane as Balthazar.
I contemplated my next move.
Rosie hid, small and silent behind the tree. Emily remained frozen on the forest floor, her breath in shallow gasps.
There was no way I could gather them both and make a run for the house before Marcellious caught us. And where the hell was Malik? He had to know Marcellious was on his property.
Didn’t he?
Marcellious bared his teeth, his voice a guttural growl. “Give me the fucking journal.”
“We don’t have it,” I said evenly, my pulse hammering. I glanced toward Emily, trying to catch her attention.
“Yes, you do,” he sneered, stalking me in circles. “I’ve been watching you for days. I know you have it.” His eyes gleamed with something feral. “I want it. Hand it over.”
I turned with him, keeping him in sight, my muscles coiled, ready for the slightest opening.
Then, finally, I caught Emily’s gaze and gave her the smallest nod toward Rosie.
Understanding flashed across her face.
She sniffed hard, wiped her eyes, and scurried toward the little girl.
But Marcellious was relentless. His movements became more aggressive.
“I know it’s in the house, bitch.” His voice was thick with rage. “Go get it for me.”
“I’m not your bitch, asshole.”
A frigid wave rolled through the clearing, colder than the rain-soaked ground beneath my boots.
And then—
A second shape blurred into existence before me.
My stomach dropped.
Oh God.
It was Balthazar.
He stood there, leering, his eyes dark pools of endless night.
“Did you miss me, my darling?” His voice was silk-wrapped poison. “It’s been so quiet without me, hasn’t it?”
Every cell in my body screamed at me to run.
But I couldn’t move.
My legs threatened to give out, weak and useless. My arms hung at my sides, numb and slack.
The last time I saw him, he told us to run. And we did. We fled to Malik, convinced his estate would shield us from this predator.
But we weren’t safe.
We were never safe.
Balthazar reached out, his long, razor-sharp fingernail dragging across my cheek.
I shuddered, jerking my face away from his touch, revulsion creeping up my spine.
Balthazar’s smile widened.