“But it didn’t stop there,” I continued. “The rumors followed you just as relentlessly as I did. Wherever you settled, whispers of a Timeborne in the area would surface. The fear of the unknown, the fear of power—it always led to the same outcome.”
I met Olivia’s gaze, my voice darkening. “Neighbors would betray you. They would run to the Timehunters and tell them where to find you. Once, you barely escaped before they came. I watched from the shadows as they ransacked your home. And then they burned it to the ground.”
I exhaled, the memory still vivid, seared into my bones’ marrow.
“And then one night,” I said, my voice quieter now, “I overheard you, Olivia.”
Her breath caught.
“You told Roman to find me.” My eyes locked onto hers, holding her inplace. “You said, ‘We should have believed in him. We shouldn’t have cast him out.”
I turned to Roman, letting my words settle. “And you agreed.”
A bitter smile tugged at my lips. “But I couldn’t allow you to find me.”
I leaned back, shaking my head. “I had stayed hidden in the shadows for too long. And through it all, Olivia…” My voice turned ragged, raw. “My love for you both only grew. It became unbearable. A terrible burden. A hunger I could never satisfy, a craving to possess what I could never have.”
The weight of my confession dragged me down. I dropped my head into my hands, dark memories surging to the surface like ghosts that refused to rest.
When I finally lifted my head, my gaze found Olivia’s once more.
“And then you became pregnant,” I whispered. “Against my warning. Against my desperate pleas.”
A flicker of emotion crossed her face—something unreadable, something fragile.
“You both thought you were clever enough to escape the Timehunters,” I said, my voice barely above a breath. “That if you just kept moving, you could outrun them.”
My eyes darkened.
“But when the birth became imminent, you couldn’t run anymore. You had no choice but to stay in that house, in that place, in that moment.”
“And that was when everything changed,” he said quietly, his gaze distant.
“That’s when the Timehunters struck again.” My voice was cold, hollow. “It was as if they knew. As if they had been waiting for your moment of weakness.”
I forced myself to relive the night that had haunted me for centuries. “They rode through the village like demons, torches in hand, setting fire to everything in their path. They wanted to leave nothing behind. No survivors. No hope.”
My gaze darkened. “Your house was to be last.”
I turned to Olivia. “You had given birth that morning. You were asleep when they arrived.”
Before I could continue, Roman interrupted.
“I ran outside to stop them,” he recalled. “I fought as hard as I could.”
His words landed like a blow, heavy and final.
Then his glare snapped to me, burning with fury. “If you were sworn to watch over us—to protect us—why didn’t you intervene?”
A muscle in my jaw ticked. I stared at him for a long moment, letting his accusation settle between us.
Finally, I spoke.
“Because I had given up on you both.”
The admission tasted like ash.
“I had finally moved on. Or at least, I told myself I had.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I convinced myself that I had done enough damage. That you were better off without me.”
