“Fear not, my love,” he murmured, his voice dripping with twisted affection. “I shall take the utmost care of you and your son. Yes, I’ve done terrible things—I even tried to kill you a few times—but none of that matters now. Because when I look at you, I see her.” His eyes darkened. “The one woman I could never forget.”
Emily shook her head, tears streaming. “You’re insane.”
Balthazar ignored her. He held Leo up slightly, inspecting the newborn with reverence. “And you, little prince, shall take your rightful place. I will raise you as if you were my flesh and blood. You will be the next Timebound prince.”
A faint shimmer glowed around Leo’s neck as if responding to his words.
A delicate, glinting necklace appeared—a symbol of the Timebound lineage.
Emily let out a strangled sob.
Balthazar’s grin stretched wider, a victorious gleam in his eyes.
“Behold our proof,” he cackled darkly. “He may be Timebound—but under my hand, he will become unstoppable.”
Emily’s cries filled the room.
And I stood there, paralyzed in a nightmare that had only just begun.
My mind spun in frantic circles. I didn’t have my dagger—Costa had it. And bullets? Useless against Balthazar. I had nothing—nothing but my bare hands against his relentless wickedness.
“Tristan! Help your sister out of bed!” Balthazar barked.
He rose, stepping back from Emily as if she were already his possession to command.
Tristan snapped out of his stunned silence and lurched toward the bed. He seized Emily’s arm, trying to wrestle her from the mattress as she screamed and thrashed in his grip.
“Shit! I can’t do this!” he snarled, throwing up his hands in frustration.
Balthazar scowled, disgust curling his lips. “You’re pathetic, you know that?”
Then, as if nothing was amiss, he bounced Leo in his arms, cooing to the wailing infant. “Who’s my sweet boy, huh? My precious grandson. I still can’t believe it.”
A red haze of fury blinded me.
I lunged for Balthazar, hands outstretched, ready to rip that smug expression off his face.
Leo’s screams rose to an ear-splitting pitch, his tiny body arched and writhing in distress.
Balthazar turned on me with a vicious sneer and struck me across the face with the back of his hand.
Pain exploded across my cheek, and my head snapped sideways.
“You should be grateful you’re still alive, bitch,” he spat, his voice brimming with cruelty. “The only reason you’re breathing is because my daughter cares for you.”
I stumbled back, swallowing the thick taste of rage and blood.
Then, like a lightning bolt, a voice thundered through the room.
“BALTHAZAR! Give the child back to Emily!”
Mathias stormed through the doorway, his eyes alight with anger.
Panic spiked through my veins. No—he couldn’t get involved in this. Balthazar would kill him.
I rushed toward him, grasping his forearm. “Don’t, Mathias! This man is dangerous!”
But Mathias barely acknowledged me. With a single flick of his arm, he shrugged me off like I was weightless. His entire body was rigid, his presence crackling with something dark. Something I did not understand.
