Chapter 24 Malik #2
“What happened next?” Olivia’s voice was gentle, yet it carried an urgency I could not ignore.
I turned to her, feeling hollow, feeling dead. “Balthazar captured Layla.”
The words felt like shards of glass slicing through my throat.
“He tortured her.” My voice wavered, but I forced myself to continue. “Drained the life from her.” I could still hear her screams, still see the way her bright, fearless eyes dulled into lifelessness.
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “He imprisoned me. And then he unleashed the Timehunters upon me.”
I exhaled, the air burning in my lungs. “I was caged, poisoned, left to rot. The toxins they used were slow and insidious. They stole my strength piece by piece, unraveling me until I was nothing but a shell.”
My mind drifted back to the endless nights, the madness creeping in like a specter.
“I lived in torment, caught in an unending spiral of hallucinations and insanity. Days, weeks, months—maybe years—I lost all concept of time. The pain never ceased. The poison ate at my very essence, stripping me of my power, my mind, my will to exist.”
I turned my haunted gaze to Olivia. “Our daggers are powerful. They can weaken us. Control us. The Sun and Moon Daggers can cure our hunger, grant us eternity… or end us forever. But the Timehunters’ poison?
” I shook my head. “It’s something else entirely.
It seeps into our bones, merciless, until we wither away to nothing.
It immobilizes us, renders us incapable of killing, of moving, of even breathing without agony. ”
A shuddering breath left me. “And so we die—not swiftly, not cleanly—but in agony. A suffering so profound and unrelenting that even surviving it leaves something irreparably broken in you.”
Silence hung between us like a heavy shroud.
“Malik…” Olivia whispered, her voice barely audible. She rolled her lips between her teeth, her expression unreadable.
I looked away, once again lost in the darkness of my nightmares. “I thought I was done for. I had accepted my fate.”
A breath shuddered through me before I forced myself to continue. “Then they brought Layla to me.”
My voice faltered, the memory as fresh as it had happened yesterday.
“She was skeletal, barely clinging to life. She looked like the walking dead. But for the briefest moments, hope—foolish, desperate hope—bloomed in my heart. I thought we could make it. I thought our love was strong enough to pull us through, that somehow, together, we would escape.”
My eyes narrowed to slits, rage curling in my gut like smoldering embers. “And that’s when Balthazar drove his blade through her heart.”
Silence. Suffocating. Unforgiving.
“He killed her.”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “I couldn’t even catch her as she fell. I was bound in chains, too weak to move. I could only watch.”
The pain of that moment was seared into my soul. My vision blurred. The fire before me became nothing but a haze of flaming light.
“The ringing in my ears… the sting in my eyes… every bone in my body felt like it was burning alive.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I lay there and watched her die. And then I watched as her body decayed, as the days blurred together into an endless hell.”
A hollow laugh escaped me, brittle and broken. “I lost my mind.”
I could still hear my voice from those long, agonizing days.
“I spoke to her incessantly, murmuring words of love and whispering promises I could no longer keep. Then I raged against her.” My voice cracked.
“I screamed, ‘Why can’t you get up and free me?’ I begged her to wake up.
” I closed my eyes. “But she never did.”
A strangled silence filled the room.
When I opened my eyes again, Olivia’s gaze was glassy with unshed tears. Roman held her tightly, his arm wrapped protectively around her.
I forced myself to continue.
“Alina came to me during that time.” The words emerged in a hoarse whisper. “I told her to find John James—one of the scholars who knew the secrets of the Timebornes.” I inhaled shakily. “And then I bid her goodbye, hoping death would claim me soon. I had nothing left to live for.”
My brow furrowed as the next recollection surfaced, a memory so distant and surreal that it still felt like a fever dream.
“But then… something remarkable happened.”
I dragged a hand through my hair, my mind sifting through the hazy details. “A man sneaked into Balthazar’s dungeons. He freed me from my chains, from my living nightmare.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know how he did it. I was too weak to comprehend anything. But somehow, he managed to set fire to the Timehunters who held me captive. He carried me away from that place. Took me to his home. Helped me regain my strength.”
A harsh intake of breath. Then—
“Who is this man?” Olivia blurted, leaning forward, her eyes wide with anticipation.
I cocked my head, studying them, deciding how much I was willing to reveal. “The only thing I will tell you is his name—Alastair. That’s all you need to know.”
Olivia’s frustration was immediate. “Come on, Malik! Tell us more. Is he still alive? Where is he? Do you still speak to him?”
I sighed, shaking my head. “I won’t tell you, Olivia, so stop pushing.” My voice carried finality, but it did little to deter her curiosity. “All you need to know is that I owe Alastair my life. And for that, I will always be grateful.”
I let my gaze drift past them to the fire’s dying embers.
“When I was strong enough to stand again, the only thing I knew how to do was kill. And so, I did. I relapsed into my old, insatiable ways. The rage consumed me—I hated everyone and everything. I became the monster Balthazar always wanted me to be.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and heavy.
Then Olivia asked softly, “But Alastair found you again, didn’t he?”
I nodded. “Yes. He pulled me back from the abyss. He taught me that darkness doesn’t have to be a curse.” My voice turned quiet, reverent. “He showed me that I could serve a purpose. That I could turn my hunger into something… necessary.”
I met Olivia’s gaze, my words deliberate. “I learned to kill for a cause. The wicked. The rapists. The sadists. The murderers. I became a cleansing force. A shadow that rid the world of true evil.”
A flicker of something crossed her face—understanding, perhaps, or wariness.
Then she asked the one question I had hoped she wouldn’t.
“Is Alastair the darkness?”
I shifted my focus to the dwindling fire. “It’s not important.”
A chill hung in the air, creeping in through the stone walls. Without another word, I picked up a log from the iron holder and placed it into the fireplace. The dry wood hissed as I stoked the embers, coaxing the flames back to life.
The warmth returned, but I felt none of it.
I leaned against the mantel and closed my eyes as the turret clock chimed. The deep, measured tones echoed through the silence.
Three in the morning.
The hour of ghosts. The hour of reckoning.
And the hour when the past felt the most alive.
My voice embodied years of purpose when I opened my eyes.
“Just know this—Alastair cured me of the need to kill indiscriminately. He gave me a purpose beyond my own suffering. He told me I must travel to another time, heal, regain my strength… and when the moment was right, I must destroy Balthazar forever.”
I let those words settle, watching the flicker of firelight dance across their faces. “That has been my focus ever since I was rescued. My vengeance. My retribution.”
I leaned forward, my fingers grazing the arm of my chair.
“I time traveled. But I was still weak. My body hadn’t fully recovered, and the strain of traveling shattered my sense of time and place.
I could barely hold myself together.” An exhale escaped me.
“But when I finally came to, I realized where I was—Britannia, the year 1359 AD.”
I smiled, warmth creeping into my tone. “That’s where you lived. That’s when I met you both.”
Roman’s brow furrowed, his fingers tightening slightly around Olivia’s.
“You had a wonderful life,” I murmured, tinged with bittersweet nostalgia. “Two daughters. A son. A home filled with laughter.” I held their gazes. “You took me in. You gave me a place in your world. Because of you, I found my strength again. Because of you, I healed.”
I turned to Roman. “You found me in a field.”
Recognition reflected in his eyes. “I can almost recall it.”
I chuckled softly. “And Olivia, you were a healer. You nursed me back from the brink. You fed me herbs and good food from your own hands. Rabbit stew. Roasted venison. Vegetables from your garden.”
Olivia frowned as if reaching for memories buried beneath layers of time.
“Roman, you and I hunted together. Life was good.” I sighed, pushing away from the wall and settling back into my chair. “But the hunger never left me. I still had to kill.”
I let my gaze drift to the flames. “I chose my prey carefully. The corrupt. The wicked. Those who thrived on cruelty and destruction. I watched them for days, ensuring they were deserving of their fate. And when the time came… I ended them. Took their souls for strength.”
I met Roman’s gaze, searching for any judgment. “You saw me kill once.”
His jaw tightened slightly, but he said nothing.
“You didn’t turn away. You didn’t fear me. Instead, you made me a promise.” My voice softened. “That’s when you said it—‘I was born a monster, but I won’t die one.’”
A spark of recognition lit in Roman’s eyes. He snapped his fingers. “Yes! I remember that moment. As clearly as if it were yesterday.”
I nodded. “We returned home, and I noticed the two daggers mounted over the headboard in your bedroom. That was when I asked if you were Timebornes.”
I inhaled deeply, the memory playing like an old melody. “You both told me you had been born with the blades but knew nothing about them. The villagers saw the daggers as a divine sign—God’s intervention. They believed you were meant to be together. So, they married you.”
A faint smile ghosted across my lips before fading. “I brought trouble into your lives.” My voice dipped, heavy with regret. “Before I arrived, everything was normal. But I knew what the daggers meant. I knew what they were capable of.”
I let out a breath. “I told you the truth about them. About your abilities. About Balthazar. And I asked for your help.”
I glanced between them, remembering the doubt in their eyes, the disbelief written across their faces all those years ago.
“At first, you refused to believe me. It was too much, too impossible. But then you conferred with one another, deciding the truth of what I had told you. And in the end, you chose to trust me.” My voice softened.
“You took on the quest with pride and honor.”
Roman’s eyes darkened with memory. “We left our home,” he murmured. “Took the children and searched for the Sun and Moon Daggers.”
I nodded. “Yes. We scoured the surrounding lands, searching for the blades. And in that time, we became a family. Your children loved me. And I—” My throat tightened. “I loved them.”
I paused, staring into the fire as it illuminated the cold stone walls. “For the first time in my life, I felt content. Whole.”
Silence stretched between us.
Then, in a quieter voice, I continued. “But traveling with three young children became too dangerous, too burdensome. Roman, you decided to search for the Moon Dagger alone while I stayed behind to care for Isabelle and the children.”
I hesitated. I could have said more.
But some memories were too painful to resurrect.
The quiet settled thick and heavy until Roman finally broke it.
“You’re telling us about the cycle of reincarnation.” His voice was measured and thoughtful. “That Olivia and I have lived before… that we once knew you in another life.”
His gaze met mine. “Do you live forever, Malik? While the rest of us are reborn again and again?”
“Yes and no,” I murmured. “The darkness ages… but ever so slowly. It takes time.”
Roman frowned, his mind still turning over the implications. “Then tell me this—if I can remember pieces of our past, why doesn’t Olivia seem to?”
I exhaled, leaning my weight against the mantel. “I can’t say for certain,” I admitted. “Perhaps Olivia is resistant to knowing. Maybe her soul refuses to awaken those memories.”
Roman shuddered. “What if we ended up in a place and time where another of our past selves existed?”
The thought alone seemed to unsettle him, and for good reason.
“I don’t have an answer for that either,” I said honestly. “As far as I know, that has never happened. The dagger… it possesses a wisdom all its own. It guides. It protects. Perhaps it even prevents such a paradox.”
But that wasn’t the whole truth.
There was so much more to say beyond the mechanics of time travel and reincarnation. The words clawed at my throat, caught between the need to remain hidden and the unbearable truth I had carried alone for too long.
I wish I could forget it.
But some truths refused to stay buried.
“What aren’t you telling us, Malik?” Olivia asked, pressing for an explanation. “Spill it.”
I turned to face her, my chest tightening under the force of her gaze.
Then, quietly, I said the words that had been rotting inside me for days.
“With Armand gone… that’s when it happened.” My voice was barely more than a whisper. “That’s when I became obsessed with you, Olivia.”
Her breath hitched, but I didn’t stop.
“That obsession led you and Armand to your deaths.”