My excitement cooled instantly. “What is it?” I said, pivoting back to him.
He laced his fingers together, tilting his head slightly. “If you, Olivia, die wherever you’ve traveled, Emily is stuck in that time.”
The blood drained from my face.
I reeled back. “Just like that?”
“Just like that,” Malik confirmed, tapping a lazy rhythm against the desk. “Unless, of course, another Timeborne happens to land in that period and finds the Timebound.” His smirk returned. “Though that’s quite rare since Timebornes tend to keep their identities hidden.”
I swallowed hard.
“That’s where the name Timebound comes from,” Malik continued. “It means being stuck in a particular time and place—bound by it.”
A heavy silence settled between us.
Malik arched a brow.
“So… what about Rosie?” His voice was too smooth, like he was enjoying watching us scramble. “Have you thought this plan through?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “Because let me be clear—you cannot assume I’m on childcare duty while you two go gallivanting through time.”
Emily’s hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh! Oh!” Her eyes widened with horror. “We forgot about Rosie.” She turned tome, clutching my arm. “I’ll stay behind with her, Olivia. You have to go and find the dagger yourself.”
I opened my mouth to protest?—
But then, Malik smirked.
That damn secretive smile.
I wanted to roll my eyes, but my frustration simmered too deep.
He was always like this. He was always holding something back, always keeping his cards so close to his chest that it felt like a calculated move even when he did reveal something.
“Rosie will time travel with me,” Malik said.
Emily and I both froze.
“You?” I echoed.
“I am the darkness,” he said as if that explained everything. “I have certain abilities—one of which is the power to time travel with a single person.”
A cold bolt of unease shot through me.
I stared up at him, my gaze like ice.
If Emily weren’t standing beside me—if it were just the two of us—would I finally have the courage to say it?
To tell him exactly how much his secretive nature grated on me?
How his power plays, his carefully veiled truths, made me want to shake the answers out of him.
But deep down, I knew the truth.
It wouldn’t matter.
Malik was too powerful.
He didn’t answer to anyone.
