“Did you ever meet him?”
“No,” Lee admitted with a shake of his head. “But before she died, she returned to his time and gave him her journal.”
He sighed, rubbing his fingers together as if recalling something long lost. “Her journal was her most prized possession. She was always writing in that damn thing—her secrets, her adventures, the mysteries of her past. If she gave it to Malik… it means she saw something in him.”
Excitement bloomed in my chest. “Yes! The journal! Olivia and I have to find the book containing her writings.”
Lee’s expression darkened, clouds storming his eyes. “You’ll never find it.”
I stiffened. “Why not?”
“Because Malik has it.”
A heavy silence settled between us as I digested the revelation.
Across the room, Jack continued bustling in the kitchen, rinsing dishes and placing them into what I’d recently learned was adishwasher.
If Malik had the journal, how would we ever retrieve it? And without it, how would we find Tristan?
Lee interrupted my thoughts. “I wonder why Malik needs Tristan.” His brows furrowed. “I always found Tristan strange… mysterious. But I could never put my finger on it. He must be important if Malik insists you find him.”
“Well, we’d better locate him.” I pushed back from the table, wincing as pain lanced through my chest. “I need to time travel with him in tow.”
“No.” Lee placed a firm hand on my forearm, his grip grounding me. “You need to rest and recover.”
Frustration flowed through me. I slammed my fist against the table, rattling the dishes. “Ineedto time travel! Balthazar is hunting us!”
A visible ripple of shock rolled off Lee as if my words had struck him like a physical blow. His jaw tightened. “Tell me more about Olivia. How has she handled Balthazar?”
I exhaled, running a hand through my hair. “She’s terrified. She struggles to understand him… and her darkness. She tries to fight against him, but so far, she’s been unsuccessful.” My voice dropped lower. “None of us truly know the depths of his depravity or the supernatural skill with which he moves through the natural world.”
Lee stroked his chin, his gaze distant as he stared out the window.
I clenched my fists, my voice breaking with urgency. “Olivia—my wife—is pregnant. And I’mnot thereto help her. I’m not there to protect her from thathideous demon.”
Lee’s burnished skin paled. His fingers tightened around his mug, his expression unreadable.
“There must be a way to find out how she is,” Lee murmured. “Even from another time and place.”
In the kitchen, Jack continued clattering about, the sounds of metal and ceramic filling the silence. But I barely heard him.
I could only think of Olivia. Of the life growing inside her. Of the darkness closing in.
And of how, no matter what it took, I had to get back to her.
“Thereisa way,” Lee said at last. “When you married Olivia, did Grey Feather bind your daggers?”
“Yes,” I said, my heart hammering. “Grey Feather cut our hands during the ceremony and recited the ancient scriptures. He said we were now bound—that if we were ever separated, we could find one another through the blade.”
Lee’s face brightened, and he sat upright. “Where is your dagger?”
I hesitated, then turned to Jack.
Jack wiped his hands on a dish towel. “I put it away for safekeeping. I’ll get it.”
He shuffled out of the room and returned carrying a parcel wrapped in red silk. He placed it gently on the table before me and reverently peeled back the fabric.
The light caught the blade, and my dagger glistened like liquid fire.
