The silence between us was thick, suffocating. I refused to look at him, staring instead at the road ahead, my mind a flurry of emotions.
Anger. At how he had nearly lost control—at how he had nearly killed me.
Disgust. Whatever I had once felt for him was now tainted by the suffocating truth—Malik was the darkness, and when it came down to it, he could snuff me out without a second thought.
He clucked to the horses, and the carriage lurched forward, carrying us away from the villa.
I waited. I waited for the tension in my chest to ease, for the swirling tempest inside me to settle into something manageable. I finally spoke only when Vincenzo’s home had faded into the distance.
“Who is this Raul Costa?”
Giovanni’s death. The Sun Dagger’s disappearance. Malik’s hands around my throat.
The only thing keeping me from unleashing all my rage upon the man beside me was the one glimmer of hope that burned inside me like a beacon?—
Roman was nearby.
And soon, I would see him again.
I caught Malik’s gaze, and his face contorted with a dangerous emotion.
“He’s not someone you want to mess with,” he said darkly. “He’s a Timehunter. His society is the one that held me prisoner for years.”
He snapped the reins, urging the horses into a faster trot.
I gripped the seat as the carriage jolted over the uneven road. “How is that possible? Nothing can hurt you, weaken you, or kill you. Only the blades we’re searching for can?—”
“There is still much you don’t know, Olivia.” Malik’s voice was grim, his gaze fixed straight ahead. “But know this—Raul Costa is a Timehunter who will want to kill you.”
A shiver ran through me. The danger around me felt suffocating.
Malik’s lips curled in a sneer. “And that fool Vincenzo speaks of the masquerade, confronting Raul and getting back the blade as if it were simple. Ha! That fucker.”
I studied his profile. His jaw was tight, and his muscles coiled like a predator on edge. He wasn’t afraid, but something was wrong.
I stayed silent the rest of the ride, tension knotting in my stomach. The world blurred past me, but I barely noticed.
When we pulled up to Malik’s palatial home, a groomsman stood ready, waiting to take the horses.
Malik leaped down from the driver’s seat and strode toward the house, his movements restless.
He didn’t wait for me.
Didn’t offer me a hand down.
Didn’t even glance my way.
My frustration mounted as I followed him inside.
Once in the grand foyer, I hesitated. Should I see Emily? Disappear into my room?
Before I could decide, Malik whirled around, suddenly standing before me.
His presence was overwhelming.
“I don’t understand why your husband isn’t following my orders,” he growled.
My stomach lurched. “What? When did you talk to Roman?”
