Chapter 27 #2
“If you ever hurt him, betray him, or so much as think about killing him, I will destroy you. Do I make myself clear?”
I nodded stiffly, unable to find my voice.
He leaned in, the black pits of his eyes searing into mine.
“Remember this,” he said. “You get one chance. Don’t fail.”
“I-I would never hurt Jack,” I stammered, my voice brittle. “You don’t even know me.”
He held my gaze, unblinking. “I know exactly who you are. I’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re a vicious little serpent. But don’t mistake that for invincibility. I can still kill you.”
The words hit like ice water down my spine.
“Kill me?” I sputtered, the absurdity rising like bile in my throat. I let out a short, bitter laugh. “You’re hobbling. You look old and frail.”
But the man didn’t flinch. He smiled.
And somehow, that smile unsettled me.
“Appearances,” he said softly, “can be deceiving. Your thirst for the blades is insatiable. You’ve lied to everyone in your path. But I know the truth. I know your darkest secrets.”
His voice dropped into something colder. Deeper.
“One false move,” he whispered, “and I will snuff out your life like a candle in the wind. You didn’t save Jack out of compassion. You saved him because you need him. But Jack James is precious to me.”
His lips curled into something cruel and knowing. “Don’t underestimate me. Or my power. I made you a Timeborne, Alina. And I can just as easily take it away.”
He stepped forward.
Agony exploded in my chest.
I cried out and collapsed to my knees, clutching my heart as fire seared through my ribcage—like he’d carved a mark into my soul.
“Now,” he murmured, “do not make the same mistake twice. If you hurt Jack… I will make sure you suffer.”
I stumbled backward, my breath ragged—a pulsing heat radiated from my chest, a warning burned into my core. My blood surged, fast and furious, like a dam had broken open inside me—filling me with strength, rage, and terror.
“You don’t know who you’re threatening,” I spat, rising to my feet. “Balthazar is my lover. He’s not someone you toy with. He could reduce you to ash with a glance if I commanded it.”
The words echoed in the silence between us.
But the man only laughed—a hollow, mirthless sound.
“Oh, Alina,” he said. “You used Balthazar’s love like a knife. You bent his trust, poisoned his mind against Malik, and then turned on him the moment it suited your ambitions.”
He stepped closer. I couldn’t move.
“I see through every lie you’ve ever told,” he hissed. “If you cross me, I’ll unleash Balthazar on you—not the lover you once knew, but the part of him you fear most. And I will make certain he drags you into a cataclysm of tortures so excruciating you’ll beg for death long before it comes.”
His words landed like a flurry of blades, each one striking the bruised flesh of my past.
Icy dread clawed its way up my spine.
I was playing with forces far beyond my control—and I knew it. One misstep and everything I’d built, everything I’d schemed for, would collapse.
And then—he was gone.
Vanished.
No flash of light. No sound. Just absence.
I stood there momentarily, shivering in the bright afternoon light, the stranger’s warning still burning against my ribs like a brand. My heart pounded, breath shallow, body trembling from something far colder than fear—pure, primal dread.
Then I turned and fled back inside the apartment.
Jack and Lee were seated on the couch, beers in hand, laughing like old friends. Their ease was jarring. It felt like I had stepped through a portal into a different reality.
Lee was the first to notice. His laughter faded as his eyes locked onto mine. The intensity of his gaze snapped me upright.
He furrowed his brow. “Where’s the damn food?”
I opened my mouth and fumbled for an answer. “It’s… It’s too hot to go shopping,” I whispered, barely audible.
Jack’s face lit up with uncontainable joy. “Come on, girl, grab a beer and join us! We’re having a wonderful conversation.”
“Thanks… I think I will,” I murmured, stumbling toward the kitchen like a ghost.
Once behind the counter, I pressed my palms against the chipped tile, gasping for breath. My chest ached with the phantom echo of that man’s power. It hadn’t just scared me. It had unmade me. Whoever he was, he was beyond anything I had ever encountered.
Get it together.
I clenched my fists. I couldn’t afford to break now. I had a role to play—a purpose to fulfill. The daggers were within reach—I could feel it.
I breathed deeply into my lungs, opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, twisted the cap off, and downed a long, numbing swallow.
As the buzz slid into my veins, I felt control return.
I walked back to the front room and perched on the arm of the sofa, flashing a smooth, practiced smile. “Tell me about yourself, Jack. Who’s your family?”
Jack’s expression shifted. His voice fell to a whisper. “I’m an orphan. No family. No friends. But I’ve always had this fire for time travel—and the Sun and Moon Daggers.”
I sat straighter. My pulse quickened.
“What do you know about the daggers?” I asked, feigning casual interest, though every nerve in my body strained toward him like metal to a magnet.
Jack’s eyes lit up—not with joy, but with something darker. Fiercer.
His entire demeanor shifted. His features sharpened, intensity flickering beneath his skin like lightning behind clouds.
“The power of the first eclipse was so immense,” he said, his hands moving in frenzied gestures, “that one single blade—one impossibly strong sword—shattered into two. The Sun and Moon Daggers. Born from cosmic force, split by fate.”
Awe filled his voice. “They’re a reminder that anything is possible—creation, destruction, purity, evil. And no one can predict which will rise.”
His expression clouded as he fell behind a veil of thought. Then, eyes snapping back to mine, he added, “The blades were said to be forged in the ancient city of Ugarit.”
“Ugarit?” I echoed, carefully.
“Yes. The city was obliterated when the daggers emerged. Some say it was divine punishment; others claim it was a temporal collapse caused by the forging. Maybe it’s just a myth—but I’ve read every record I can find, spoken to scholars, poured over lost documents.
” He looked at me then—looked—and something dreamlike softened his expression. “You believe me, don’t you?”
I smiled. Silent. Calculating.
Lee cut in, “Jack, would you excuse us for a sec? I need to have a word with my roommate.”
Jack blinked, confused. “Sure. I think this beer’s hitting me anyway. Where’s your bathroom?”
“First door on the right,” Lee said.
Jack wandered off, wobbling slightly. As soon as the door clicked shut, Lee whirled toward me.
“Jack’s a good guy,” he hissed. “He’s sweet on you. Don’t mess with that. I mean it, Alina. If you hurt him—I swear, I will stop you.”
I narrowed my eyes, still rattled from the man outside. “What are you implying? I know what I’m doing.”
“Do you?” Lee snapped. “Because I’m not convinced.”
“Please,” I snapped back, voice low and seething. “Stop doubting me.”
“Listen to me,” Lee said, grabbing my arm. His voice dropped, hoarse with urgency. “We don’t know if there are Timehunters in this city. You need to stay low. Blend in. Don’t say anything to Jack about who you are. Act normal—as if your life depends on it.”
I jerked my arm free, fists clenched at my sides. “I know that. I’ll play the part. I’ll be the perfect student. I don’t need you to babysit me.”
But the chill crawling through my veins said otherwise.
Could the man outside have been a Timehunter?
No.
He was more than that. Far more powerful. But what, then?
I marched into the kitchen, drained the rest of my beer in one long pull, and slammed the bottle into the trash.
Then I glanced toward the window.
And froze.
He was still there.
The hooded man. Standing just beyond the edge of the complex, black eyes fixed on mine. Watching. Waiting.
As if reminding me he hadn’t left.
As if daring me to make the wrong move.