He stepped even closer, his eyes dark and void of humanity. “Last time, I killed you too quickly. It was a mistake, and I had to wait for you to be reborn. This time, there will be no mercy. Unless, of course, you wish to fight me. But you won’t win, Olivia. You’ll never win.”
My mother stood motionless in the shadows, her silence more haunting than anything Mathias could say. Her betrayal and complicity felt like a blade twisting in my gut.
Mathias went on. “I won’t allow you to take what’s mine—not this time. It ends now, once the dagger is in my hands.”
“Did you follow me to Rome?” My voice broke, a mix of anger and despair giving it an edge.
A twisted smile curled his lips. “Of course I did. I sent the darkness after you. I sent Dahlia. You thought it was Balthazar, didn’t you?”
A gasp escaped me, the horrifying truth settling like ice in my veins.
“And Amara, too,” he added casually, though her name carried no weight. “I had her killed.”
The room spun. Each revelation was a hammer blow, each word a nail in the coffin of the life I thought I knew. Stunned by his confessions, I clung to the only certainty I had left—the steady warmth of my daughter slumbering peacefully in her cradle, blissfully unaware of the monsters surrounding her.
A soft whimper escaped Luna’s lips as I lifted her. Cradling her close to my chest, I edged toward the door, desperate to escape this madness.
Mathias stepped into my path.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he growled, leaning in close until his hot breath fogged my face. “You think you can just walk away without giving me what I want?”
His fingers dug into my arm like sharp blades, drawing blood as he squeezed tighter. “You will tell me where the daggers are, Olivia,” he growled, his eyes blazing with a dangerous obsession. “Now.”
I struggled against his hold, shielding my crying baby as best I could. But his fingers tightened with unrelenting force, and I felt the sharp press of a blade at my neck, its cold edge threatening to draw more blood. My vision blurred as panic surged through me. Mathias was willing to kill me to get what he wanted.
I glanced at my mother lurking in the shadows, her face in a hard line.
“We need to apply more pressure to get her to talk,” she hissed, stepping forward. “Move aside, Father. Let’s see how she deals with this.” She reached for a candle from the dresser, the flickering flame casting ominous shadows across her features. Without hesitation, she thrust the flame against the heavy drapes.
“Stop it!” I screamed as the fabric caught fire, flames licking upward hungrily. “What are you trying to do?”
“That was your last chance, honey,” my mother sneered, her gaze locking on mine as the room filled with smoke. “No one’s coming to save you. The household won’t wake—they’re all sedated. Now, tell me where the blade is.”
The air thickened with suffocating heat. The room closed in around me.
“I swear, I do not have the blade,” I said, my grip tightening around my newborn daughter.
“You would sacrifice your flesh and blood rather than reveal the whereabouts of the Blade of Shadows?” My mother’s eyes flashed with wild, primal hunger. “Give us the blades. We’ll vanish. You’ll be free of us and never see us again.”
Overwhelmed by the crackling sounds of the spreading fire and the stifling heat, I repeated desperately, “I don’t have the blades!”
The fire spread rapidly, consuming the gilded wallpaper. Sparks ignited the rug, flames leaping higher.
Mathias and my mother blocked the exit, shielding their noses and mouths with their arms.
Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the sweat dripping from my forehead. I coughed violently, the acrid smoke invading my lungs. Luna’s cries pierced the air, high and terrified, and I clutched her closer, trying to shield her from the inferno.
“Please,” I said, my voice barely audible over the crackle of the flames that danced closer with every passing second. “I want to stay alive. I don’t have the moon dagger.”
If my life was ending, I at least wanted answers. Answers to the conversation I had overheard between Mathias and my mother. Answers to the confusion swirling around who my mother was.
“All those memories I have of you and the journal you wrote...they were all lies, weren’t they?”
“Yes, Olivia,” she said with chilling finality, her tone as cold as the fire was hot. “That journal was fabricated to lead Balthazar astray and make you believe I was leaving an abusive relationship. But the truth is, I’ve been the true villain all along.”
She stepped closer, her eyes burning with malice. “And now, you will suffer and die in this room with your daughter. Unless...” She leaned in, her voice a venomous whisper. “You tell us where the dagger is.”
Weakness seeped into my limbs, my arms trembling as they clutched Luna to my chest. The heat was unbearable, and Luna’s screams pierced through the thick smoke, drilling into my skull and pushing me to the edge of reason. I could feel my resolve crumbling, the secret threatening to spill from my lips. I wanted to protect my daughter. I had to protect Luna.
