Malik continued, his tone unshaken, absolute. “I had to send him to another time to heal… and to gather something for me.”
The moment broke.
I jerked my hand away. “What things? Where is he?”
Malik didn’t answer.
Instead, he stood and, with an effortless pull, drew me up with him.
“You and Emily are exhausted and hungry,” he said. “You must eat. Rest.”
He turned, guiding me toward the stairs.
I resisted, planting my feet. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Malik ignored my protest.
His hand pressed against my back—a whisper of command—and I moved.
Not because I wanted to.
But because his power compelled me.
“How do you know our names?” I demanded, shaking off the haze. “How do you seem to know so much about me when I know nothing about you?”
We reached the foyer, and his voice drifted over me, resonant—a sound carried across time.
“You’re a Timeborne,” he said. “And Emily is a Timebound.”
Then, his hand disappeared from my back.
And Malik… glided past me.
Moving in a way that shouldn’t be possible.
Moving in a way that defied gravity itself.
“What do you mean Emily is a Timebound?”
As always, Malik ignored me.
Instead, he did something that stunned me.
He crouched before Rosie, his expression softening as he gently kissed her forehead.
“Hello, little friend,” he murmured, smiling. “Where did you come from?”
Rosie shifted from foot to foot, shy but unafraid. Then, to my utter surprise, she touched his cheek.
Malik chuckled, the sound warm, unexpectedly tender. “You’re a sweetheart,” he said. “Do you have a name? My name is Eyan Malik.”
Rosie glanced at me, hesitating.
Emily spoke up. “Her name’s Rosie. Olivia and I found her at the site of a carriage crash. Her parents died.”
Malik’s gaze darkened—not with malice, but something else. Something ancient and knowing. He tapped Rosie’s nose lightly.
“That’s a sad thing for a child to endure,” he said. “I’m glad you are here, and I’ll help you however I can.”
