“I just want to be happy,” I whispered, my chest shaking with quiet, broken sobs. “Is that too much to ask?”
Costa’s response was cold. “How about you bleed him out? He’ll start talking then.”
Balthazar tightened his grip on my arm. The blade sliced—my skin split. Blood seeped.
“He’ll be drained soon enough,” he murmured.
Pain blurred the world. “I’d rather die than tell you anything more.”
“Don’t you want to see your child? Be a father?” Balthazar’s tone turned coaxing. “We could be allies again.”
I laughed—ragged, bitter. “No. All you do is lie. You don’t have your dagger. We will win. We’re ahead of the game. You’re angry because you’re losing.”
Where had this defiance come from? Some last shred of resistance flickering in the darkness?
Costa grabbed me by the collar, yanking me forward until his face was inches from mine. His breath was hot. “I’ve seen a lot of time travelers. But you—” he searched my face, eyes narrowing. “You’re different, Marcellious. Join us. We’re stronger together. Tell us where the caves are, and we’ll work with you.”
His face swam in my vision, shifting in and out of focus. The world tilted, spinning.
“You can kill me,” I rasped. “You can destroy me. But Emily, Olivia, and Malik will ruin you. We have the stronger team.”
Costa snarled and shoved me backward. My skull cracked against the stone wall. Pain detonated through my skull, blurring my vision in a haze of white-hot agony.
“I’m going to check on Reyna, our other prisoner,” Costa muttered. The heavy door groaned open, then slammed shut behind him, leaving me alone with Balthazar.
I was too high to be afraid.
Balthazar exhaled, his voice dropping into a low, soothing tone. “I’m losing my patience. Tell me where Emily is. I want to know her. And who is Count Montego?”
My hallucinating mind betrayed me.
I coughed up the address.
Balthazar practically purred with satisfaction. “I knew, in the end, you’d come through for me. You’re a good son, Marcellious.”
He strode toward the door, slipping into the shadows.
“Where are you going?” I rasped, panic clawing up my throat. “Don’t leave me alone.”
He didn’t even turn back. “What does it matter? I’m done with you.”
The door slammed shut.
The cell swallowed me whole.
I beat my head against the granite, fighting the spiraling madness. I let the belladonna consume me.
And now, my beloved Emily—and my child—would soon be dead.
Chapter 35
Olivia
Iwrenched open Count Montego’s heavy front door and stepped into the howling storm. The wind lashed against my face, icy rain slicing through the night, stinging my skin. My hair whipped wildly as I squinted into the whiteout, desperately searching for any trace of Roman.
The trees around me looked like cowering beasts, their skeletal branches bowing under the relentless fury of the blizzard.
“Olivia!”
