“No, they shared women, but not Alina.” John James drifted off into thought. When his gaze re-focused, he said, “Malik is different than Balthazar. Even though he trained under Balthazar, Malik is smart—he’s far smarter than Balthazar. Malik sees everything in detail. He’s cunning and calculating, and knows how to manipulate emotions. Everything was going well with Balthazar until Malik fell in love with a Timeborne. Her name was Layla. She became hiseverything. He wasobsessedwith her.”
He tapped his lips. “Anyway, when she found out of his dark ways, she protested and put her foot down. She said, ‘I want a normal life!’ You can imagine that’s an impossible task for a demon to provide. Still, Malik tried to alter his behavior somewhat. Sadly, it didn’t work. He needed to kill to retain his power. So, Layla discovered that the sun and the moon daggers would help erase his darkness.”
“Really?” I said, lifting my palms to my cheeks.
“Yes. Someone told Layla this. She and Malik also learned that Balthazar also wanted to get his hands on the knives. Only he wanted them to increase his power.” John James shuddered. “Oh, goodness, it would be bad if Balthazar got his hands on the sun and the moon blades. Terrible indeed. The entire world would be in chaos.”
“How so?” Marcellious said.
“Balthazar could rule the world!” John James spread his arms wide. “He could make the world dark and kill everyone!”
I gasped. Even though I was weak, the impulse to find the daggers and keep them out of Balthazar’s hands grew enormous, filling me with resolve.
John James shook his head, and his eyes creased with worry. “Oh, it would be awful. He’d make people kill one another, then consume their souls. He’d become so powerful, nothing and no one could stop him!”
I turned to Marcellious. “We can’t let him get his hands on those weapons!”
“Finally, we have a plan,” Marcellious said, smirking.
I scoffed, dismissing him.
“So, Malik wanted to find the two blades to stop killing and be with Layla forever. He went to Balthazar and laid out his plan. This was a mistake, but he was in love.” John James let out a huge sigh. “He said, ‘if I find the sun and the moon daggers, I will stop killing and remain with Layla. You can stop killing and be with Alina.’ Apparently, he begged and pleaded with Balthazar. But the only thing Balthazar wants is power. He’s consumed by his drive to conquer the world. So, what did Balthazar do? He killed Layla. Then, he imprisoned Malik for growing weak with love.”
I touched my fingertips to my mouth. “Oh, God! What a bastard! Malik can’t be dead, right? If he has knowledge of my mother’s journal, he has to be alive.”
“I don’t know. Some say he’s dead. Some reported seeing Malik alive.” John James pressed his lips together.
“What doyouthink?” I asked.
“I think he’s alive somewhere. I believe he’s escaped.” John James fixed his blue-eyed gaze on me. “Balthazar thinks he’s dead. But I think…no, IknowMalik is hiding in the shadows, biding his time, waiting for his time to strike. He’s plotting and scheming; I guarantee you that. Malik knows Balthazar’s secrets—his weaknesses. Hell, he knows everything about Balthazar. That’s why if you find him, he’ll help you. You can all help one another.”
I cast a glance at Marcellious. Was he thinking what I was thinking?
My attention was right back on John James. “What do you mean he hides in the shadows?”
“Just that. My sources tell me he lurks. He stalks. He hides in the shadows. And he waits, like the super predator he is.” John James’ expression closed down like he’d secured the premises, preparing for a storm. “If anyone can wait patiently, plotting his attack against Balthazar, it’s Malik. Time has only fueled his anger. You should not mess with Malik, but he will also help you.”
“I think I know who he is. I think I’ve seen him.”
I might as well have lit a bomb by the expressions on both Marcellious’ and John James’ faces.
“Tell me more,” John James said, leaning forward.
“Someone’s been watching me. He always lurks in the shadows. He even came into my teepee after I lost my baby. He told me to stay strong and not give up. But I couldn’t see him—it was too dark. And then—poof! He disappeared as if he was never there. I thought I made him up.” A whirlwind of excitement uncoiled in my belly.
John James bobbed his head up and down. “He lives in the night’s shadows like a whisper in the wind. Together, you can take Balthazar down! You must find him.”
Olivia
Marcellious and I stared at one another, our eyes as wide as silver moons. Eyan Malik, the mysterious, shadowy figure who had saved Roman from his prison and comforted me after losing my baby, held the key to destroying Balthazar. At last, after all these fruitless months of searching, I had hope. I’d finally found Balthazar’s weakness. Balthazar had raised Malik as his own son. Taught him everything. Malik knew Balthazar’s flaws and foibles as intimately as he knew his own breath. Yet, Balthazar had made one fatal move—he’d killed Malik’s true love.
Malik hated Balthazar and sought revenge, watching, waiting, and biding his time like a predator.
Yet, as jubilant as I was to have found an answer, fear trembled through my veins. Both Balthazar and Malik were powerful demons. What made me consider that Malik would help me and not destroy me? Just because he’d shown kindness, he was still darkness, and the darkness could not be trusted.
Outside of John James’ tiny cottage, the gurgling creek drew my attention back to the present. We sat around John James’ makeshift table inside his cozy, cluttered environment. A breeze blew through the open sash window, lifting some of John James’ papers he’d left on the bed and sending them spinning.
“Oh, dear,” John James said, scurrying across the room to gather the parchment now strewn across the floor. He picked them up, placed them back on the bed, and closed the window before returning to his seat across from me.
