Chapter 38 Olivia #2
His expression was eerily calm, his green eyes like polished jade—cold, impassive. “I’m sorry I couldn’t,” he said evenly. “Mathias is Alastair—my mentor. He and I have been plotting Balthazar’s destruction for a long time.”
“It’s true,” Mathias confirmed. “But believe me, I would never harm you or Emily. I am only grateful to have you in my life. Everything I do is for you, Olivia. So, you will never have to deal with this again.” His voice softened. “I promise—I will make things right.”
His words should have comforted me.
But I felt nothing.
No relief. No warmth. Just a numb apathy spreading through me like ice in my veins. I shut down completely, unwilling to let my guard down. Vulnerability felt dangerous.
I swallowed hard. “Where is Balthazar?”
Mathias hesitated, just for a moment. But I caught it.
His gaze flickered before locking onto mine. “As I mentioned, he’s in my dungeon.” A pause. “Downstairs… beneath the house.”
Of course, he had a dungeon beneath the house.
It was probably filled with torture devices.
“I want to see him,” I said.
Mathias glanced at Roman.
I lifted my chin. “It’s not his decision. It’s mine.”
Mathias inclined his head. “As you wish.”
I turned to Roman, my voice softening. “I’d like to do this alone…without you.”
Roman’s brow furrowed. “But—”
“I’ll be safe,” I assured him, forcing the faintest smile. “I’ll be with the darkest of the dark.”
Roman didn’t argue. He stood and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I’ll check on Rosie and the friend we brought.”
“Thank you.” I hugged him, inhaling his scent, grounding myself in his presence before stepping away.
Then, without another word, I followed Mathias deeper into the estate.
With every step, fear coiled tighter in my chest.
Mathias was powerful—ten times more powerful than Balthazar.
So, what the hell was I doing, following him alone into a dungeon to face my worst enemy?
I couldn’t answer that.
We stopped before a carved wall, its surface decorated with slender, ethereal maidens prancing around horses and soaring on the backs of dragons. The porcelain gleamed as white as alabaster, eerily pure against the shadows curling around us.
Mathias pressed his fingers into specific indentations in the carvings, muttering strange words under his breath.
The wall groaned.
I flinched as it creaked open, revealing a dark passageway.
Of course. The darkest of the dark would naturally have a creepy secret dungeon.
Mathias turned to me, placing his hands firmly on my shoulders. His commanding gaze locked onto mine.
“Now, don’t be frightened,” he said. “Balthazar is subdued. He can’t harm you.”
It was strange looking into this man’s eyes—my grandfather.
What was I supposed to say? Thanks, Gramps. No problem, Grandpa? Appreciate it, Big Bad Darkness?
None of those seemed particularly fitting for a man who terrified me.
Instead, I settled for a simple, “Okay.”
With that, we descended.
The stone stairs were impossibly smooth beneath my feet, the air turning colder with every descent. The sconces flickered along the passage, their dim light stretching long, distorted shadows over the damp stone walls.
I swallowed hard.
I was walking straight into the belly of the beast.
In the foyer, stone faces leered at me, their carved eyes seeming to follow my every move as I scurried behind Mathias. The further we went, the more the air thickened, pressing against my lungs like an unseen force.
We came upon a doorway—not just any doorway. This one was made of solid metal, blackened and ancient.
Mathias reached into his waistcoat and withdrew a key. He fit it into the lock, turning it with precision. A snick echoed through the chamber as the mechanism gave way.
As soon as the door creaked open, a bolt of fear lanced through my spine.
“Mathias, wait!” The words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them. Shame burned my cheeks.
He turned, his gaze unreadable. “Yes, my dear?”
I hesitated, feeling unbearably exposed. “I’m…scared.”
Of you. Of Balthazar. Of everything this place represents.
Mathias studied me for a long moment, his expression softening. A tenderness in his eyes nearly tumbled the walls I had hastily built. But then I remembered—the iron grip of his control beneath the refinement, the darkness curling beneath his polished words.
Could I truly trust him?
“I will not let anything or anyone harm you,” he said. “Not now. Not ever.”
But his words did not comfort me.
With a motion, he pushed the door open and stepped across the threshold.
I followed.
The chamber was small, carved from the living rock beneath the estate. The walls were uneven, damp with moisture that dripped in a rhythmic pattern.
A glass enclosure was nearly a foot thick at the center of the room.
Inside, Balthazar.
He lay sprawled across the crystalline floor like a discarded marionette, his limbs at unnatural angles.
A fine, white mist drifted from a tiny hole near the bottom of the enclosure, coiling around him in lazy wisps.
Belladonna? Or something worse? Something that could even subdue a demon?
Mathias reached up and pulled a slender red cord hanging from the ceiling.
A deep, resonant clang rang through the chamber as a large brass bell reverberated inside the prison cell.
Balthazar’s eyelids fluttered open. His gaze was heavy-lidded, the reptilian stare of something barely clinging to consciousness.
With effort, he pushed himself upright, his movements stiff and awkward.
“Finally,” Mathias murmured with dark satisfaction. “After all these years, I caught you.” He propped his hands on his hips, looking down at Balthazar as if he were nothing more than a nuisance to be disposed of.
His words carried effortlessly through the thick glass, evidenced by how Balthazar winced and clamped his hands over his ears.
“Stop screaming,” Balthazar rasped.
Mathias tilted his head. “I’m not screaming,” he smiled. “I’m merely savoring the victory.”
Balthazar’s body convulsed with a deep, phlegmy cough that sent a wave of bile up my throat.
I forced myself to swallow it down.
Then, in a voice that sounded decades older, weaker, Balthazar croaked, “What’s the point?” His lips curled into something between a sneer and a grimace. “I still won.”
Mathias didn’t move.
Balthazar’s cracked lips stretched wider, revealing white teeth, his voice little more than a rasp.
“I beat the teacher.”
I strained to hear him, my pulse hammering.
I was puzzled by how Mathias could project his voice so clearly through the dense silicate. But then, nearly everything about the darkness was an enigma.
Mathias didn’t so much as flinch. He crossed his arms, tilting his head. “How so?” His voice almost amused. “What makes you think you’ve won?”
Balthazar forced his way upright, staggering toward the glass wall.
I instinctively shrank back.
Mathias remained unmoved.
Balthazar steadied himself with both palms against the barrier, his breath fogging the surface as he sneered.
“I killed Cora,” he whispered, eyes glinting with malice. “Took over your school. Made every darkness as evil as me. I seduced your beloved daughter, Alina. I took her for myself.”
A twisted grin spread across his face.
“If only you knew Alina’s true colors.”
Then, he threw back his head and laughed.
A jagged, wretched sound that sent an icy shudder down my spine.
The laughter dissolved into a brutal coughing fit, racking his body so hard he collapsed onto the floor.
Curled in on himself, his hands clutched over his abdomen, he gasped through the pain. But still, he kept talking.
“Now, I finally know who this mysterious Count Montego is…” His eyelids fluttered, his energy draining fast, yet his voice carried a venomous glee.
“And yet, I can still see that I’ve won.
I killed the most precious thing you ever knew.
I destroyed your wife. I took your daughter.
I killed…” His eyes began to slip shut. “I killed them both.”
Silence crashed over the chamber.
Then—
Mathias laughed.
So hard, so deeply, that tears streamed down his face. He laughed like he had just heard the greatest joke of all time.
I stiffened. What the hell?
Balthazar groaned, barely able to lift his head, blinking sluggishly as if struggling to focus.
Mathias wiped his eyes, shaking his head.
“Oh, Balthazar. You’re still the biggest fucking idiot I’ve ever known.
” His voice turned icy, his smile fading.
“You actually think you won?” He let out a dark chuckle.
“How pathetic. You always were a fool. You thought that killing Alina would be your victory?”
Balthazar stared, silent.
Mathias leaned closer to the glass, his voice a near-whisper now. “What if I told you Alina has been alive this whole time?”
A sharp breath left my lungs.
I jerked at his words.
Balthazar’s expression twisted into pure confusion. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Then—
Footsteps.
Fast, determined footsteps descending the stairs.
My body froze.
I whirled toward the doorway, my heart slamming into my ribs.
Two figures emerged, gliding through the open entrance.
My breath caught.
No.
No fucking way.
My stomach lurched, and my vision tunneled. I clenched my fists, rubbing my eyes to clear my sight.
But when I looked again—
They were still there.
I barely managed to choke out the words.
“Mom?” My voice wavered. “You’re alive?”
Alina stood at the threshold, Moon Lee at her side.
She turned to him briefly before looking at me, before flashing me a warm, gentle smile.
“Yes, honey,” she said softly.
“I’ve been alive this whole time.”
The Journey Continues….
Blade of Shadows Book 4: Wicked Lovers of Time
Balthazar and Alina's Story