Chapter 37 Malik #2
His voice cracked slightly, but he pressed on. “We were staying at the cottage where you found me.” He gestured toward his modest home in the distance, barely visible through the rain.
“I came to the tavern because I was getting nowhere.” Osman’s expression darkened. “That’s where I met Roman and Marcellious. They protected me.”
His words should have meant something. It should have brought me back to reality.
But all I could see were the corpses. Blood washing down the cobblestones in winding rivulets, the night swallowing my sins whole.
I gave a nod.
“The solar eclipse is coming soon,” Osman continued. “The Timehunters will be out in full force, hunting Timebornes and Timebounds.” His voice dropped. “None of you are safe.”
A chill rippled down my spine.
Roman sat back on his haunches, studying me. “You’re not afraid of a solar eclipse, are you?”
I exhaled sharply. “It’s not the eclipse itself. It’s what it means for us.”
Roman frowned. “And what’s that?”
“That’s the only day when the darkness isn’t the darkness.” I met his gaze, letting the truth settle between us. “For twenty-four hours, we have no power.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were.” The very thought of it made my stomach twist. “On that day, we’re not even human. We’re nothing. We have to lock ourselves away and disappear. It’s complete misery.”
Even now, bloated with the spirits of the dead, an unfamiliar exhaustion pulled at me, threatening to drag me under.
I shook it off. “Where’s your brother, Roman? Where’s Marcellious?”
Roman’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know.”
Osman began speaking rapidly, his words tripping over each other.
“I saw Roman and Marcellious at the tavern. Then Costa came in. And then some man named Balthazar. I’m pretty sure he took your brother, Roman.
Then I watched you help Roman escape. You were both affected by the poison.
” He exhaled, rubbing his hands over his face.
“We can help each other. I’ve already been helping Roman for days. ”
The rain was starting to seep into my bones, cold and unrelenting. I pushed myself to my feet and extended a hand to Roman.
He took it, rising unsteadily.
The three of us moved under the tavern’s eaves, the narrow overhang offering some reprieve from the downpour.
I turned to Osman. “How do you know so much?”
Osman ran a hand through his rain-drenched hair, droplets flinging into the air. He squared his shoulders. “I already told you—I’m a scholar and a healer.” His voice dropped lower, tinged with something darker. “I come from Anatolia, where the Timehunters are known as the Black Assassins.”
Roman stiffened beside me.
Osman continued, his gaze far away. “Their society in Constantinople is far more powerful than the one here. Their tortures? Far worse. Worse than anything Costa and his men could dream of.” He let out a breath.
“My betrothed and I came here searching for answers about the Timehunters and the Moon Dagger. And now we’re stuck. ”
His hands clenched into fists before shoving deep into his pockets.
“I don’t know where my Reyna is.” His voice cracked, but he kept speaking. “They probably already killed her. I’ll probably never get her back.”
For the first time, something other than hunger stirred in my chest.
Because I knew exactly what it was like to lose everything.
A low growl rumbled in my throat.
Goddamned Montego. He swore nothing would happen if he traveled with us. He promised my companions would be safe. Yet now Marcellious was gone, and Balthazar and Costa prowled these lands, leaving their savage mark behind.
I clenched my fists. We had to get back.
“We need to get on the road,” I said, shaking off my despair. “Marcellious can handle anything. He’s been through worse.”
I turned to Osman. “You’re coming with us. Fate doesn’t cross paths like this without reason.”
Then, without waiting for a response, I strode toward his dwelling, my long strides eating up the road.
Roman, despite his lingering weakness, kept pace beside me.
“Wait!” Osman called, hurrying after us. “I’m honored to be invited into your company, but—” he hesitated. “Might I know your name?”
I glanced at him, my eyes smoldering. “I’m known as Malik.”
Once we stood before his modest home, I leveled him with a firm gaze. “Gather your belongings. You’re never coming back. If the Timehunters have your betrothed, they’re watching you too.”
Osman’s eyes widened, pools of fear gathering on his face. But then, as if snapping back to reality, he nodded and rushed inside to pack.
Roman chuckled. “Nothing like putting the fear of God into a man.”
I slid my gaze toward him, a knowing smirk curling my lips. “We both know God isn’t the one he should fear.”
A dark laugh passed between us.
When Osman rejoined us, we wasted no time, heading to the stables where our horses had been kept for the cave expedition.
A stableboy shot up from his makeshift bed of hay, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “Good sirs, how may I help you?”
“Prepare our horses.” I fished a coin from my pocket and tossed it to him. “And if you hire someone to deliver our supplies to where we’re staying, there’s more gold in it for you.”
The boy’s eyes gleamed with greed as he clutched the coin. “Right away, sir.”
The horses were saddled within minutes, and we were galloping through the darkening countryside.
After more than a week of travel, we finally reached the foothills, where a light snowfall dusted our cloaks.
As we pressed on, the drifts thickened, forcing our horses to trudge through the ever-deepening snow.
Each mile grew harder, our progress slowed to a crawl—but at last, the count’s enormous estate emerged in the moonlight, its silhouette stark against the endless white.
We dismounted in the stables, letting the horses rest with generous flakes of hay before making our way toward the front door.
The moment I stepped inside, unease prickled down my spine.
Silence.
No bustling maids. No clinking dishes from the kitchen. No voices.
Nothing.
I followed the faint hum of movement into the Noir Room.
There, Rosie sat quietly on the carpet, playing, oblivious to the tension filling the house like a suffocating fog.
I crouched before her. “Sweetheart,” I murmured, keeping my voice soft. “Where is everyone?”
She shrugged. “I was told to stay down here and play.”
I forced a reassuring smile, tapping her nose before kissing her head. “Then you must do as you’re told.”
Rising to my feet, I turned to Roman and Osman. “Something’s wrong. One of you take Rosie to her room and stay with her.”
“I’ll take her,” Osman said quickly. “I’m good with children.”
I wasted no time.
Charging from the room, I took the stairs two at a time, Roman on my heels.
We stopped short in the open doorway of Emily’s bedroom.
The sight before us sent a chill slicing through my veins.
Balthazar knelt on the floor, cradling Tristan’s lifeless head in his hands. Blood cascaded down the severed neck, pooling in thick, glistening streams.
And towering over them, like a dark sentinel, stood Mathias.
Power radiated from him—raw, unbridled, lethal.
So.
He had revealed himself.
My gaze fell to Olivia, sprawled on the floor.
She looked at us—her eyes wide, full of something between terror and disbelief.
Then, without a word—
She fainted.