As I approached the library, creaking wood and shattering glass filled the air. The heavy wooden door hung askew, barely clinging to its frame, one hinge broken. Through the gap, I saw Osman lying on the floor, his lower body pinned beneath a massive beam. His face twisted in pain, every attempt to move etched with pure agony.
“Roman...” His voice was weak. “I won’t make it. Go! Protect your family. Protect my Reyna.”
“No!” I dropped to my knees at his side, coughing as smoke clawed at my throat. My hands shook as I grasped the timber, desperate to lift it. But when I heaved, Osman screamed—a sound so raw and visceral it tore through the chaos around us.
“It’s too late for me, Roman!” he rasped, his words final, a sentence I refused to accept.
“Damn it, Osman, I won’t let you die!” My voice was fierce, defiant, a command hurled at the encroaching inevitability of death. I braced myself again, muscles straining against the weight, my world reduced to the task.
The fire roared closer, flames devouring the room with insatiable hunger. Smoke blurred my vision, but I refused to look away from Osman. His once strong, commanding voice had faded to a faint whisper, resignation shadowing his features. The light in his eyes flickered, a flame on the verge of extinction.
“I’m beyond saving,” he gasped, blood bubbling at the corners of his lips. “The fire will consume me, and death’s icy grip tightens around my heart. But you must flee this cursed place. Seek out Pasha Hassan in Anatolia. He holds the key to the blades’ history... Only he can guide you on this perilous path.”
His voice faded into a guttural rasp, each word laced with an urgency that demanded to be heeded.
The weight of his plea struck me harder than the sweltering heat enveloping us. “No, Osman, I won’t let you die,” I cried out, shielding my face from the encroaching flames with my arm.
“Roman, save yourself,” he whispered, the light in his eyes dimming. “I am grateful for our time together. It was an honor to meet you.” Though meant as solace, his words felt like knives against my soul. There was no honor in abandoning a man to die amidst the ruins of a demon’s home.
Above us, the ceiling groaned ominously, a harbinger of imminent collapse. I hesitated, caught between the impossible’s pull and the inevitable’s weight. My survival instinct surged at that moment, overpowering my defiance of fate. I lunged backward as burning timbers crashed where I had been seconds before. The debris fell upon Osman, silencing his final cry in a devastating instant. For a moment, I stood frozen, staring at the motionless silhouette of a man who had fought until his last breath. The image seared into my mind, an indelible mark of guilt and sorrow. With a heavy heart, I turned away, each step weighted with the unbearable truth of what I was leaving behind.
“Olivia!” I called hoarsely, my voice frayed and raw. Panic clawed at my chest, relentless and savage, as the fear of losing her and our child consumed me. Room by room, I searched, but hope withered with each space, flickering like the final embers of a dying flame.
Up ahead, Malik emerged from the haze, a dark silhouette against the inferno’s backdrop. His expression mirrored my own—a blend of desperation and unspoken terror.
Without words, we understood each other. We were kindred souls amidst the chaos, clinging to the fragile hope that those we loved had escaped the fire’s merciless wrath.
“Help me find her!” I yelled, my voice cracking under the strain.
We navigated the smoldering maze together, shouting names swallowed by the roaring inferno. The foundation shuddered violently beneath us, a dire warning that the end was near. It was a choice between fleeing or perishing.
“Go!” Malik shouted, gripping my arm with a strength born of desperation.
We raced toward the exit, the fiery glow casting elongated shadows ahead of us as if even they sought escape. The ground trembled beneath our feet, and with a deafening roar, the house gave way, collapsing into a smoldering heap of ruin and ash.
We staggered to a safe distance, breathless and beaten, watching the once-grand estate crumble into nothingness. The air was thick with smoke, stinging our lungs and coating our mouths with the acrid taste of despair.
“Olivia,” I whispered, the name breaking from my lips like a prayer. My heart clenched painfully. She was my world, my soul. And our baby—where were they in this hour of devastation?
Malik stood silently beside me, his eyes reflecting the sorrow deeply on my face. His presence was not a comfort but a shared acknowledgment of the grief and dread that clung to us like the smoke swirling in the night.
Ashes danced on the wind, cruel specters of what had been illuminated by the cold silver of the moon. The bitter stench of charred memories hung heavy in the air. Malik and I stood among the ruins, two helpless figures in a scene of unspeakable loss.
Silence reigned where life had once thrived. Balthazar had vanished into the chaos, leaving only betrayal in his wake. And Raul—his mangled, lifeless body—remained a grim testament to the horrors unleashed. The sight gnawed at my soul.
Malik’s face mirrored my horror, etched with lines of grief, disbelief, and quiet rage.
“I don’t know what to do.” His voice sounded hollow against the backdrop of destruction. “How did this happen? Is it déjà vu?”
“What do you mean?” My words came out more as a demand than a question, fueled by the adrenaline still coursing through my veins.
Malik’s eyes, rimmed red and hollow, locked onto mine as we stood in the shadowed stillness of the abandoned farmhouse. The air between us felt thick, weighted with memories neither wanted to confront. His voice dropped to a whisper, raw with emotion. “Do you remember your past lives as Isabelle and Armand? The fire that destroyed everything?”
His voice cracked, splintered by the unbearable pain of centuries past.
A shiver of unease coiled through my body, tightening like a noose.
“I don’t want to think about the past,” I snapped, pushing away the unwelcome intrusion of lives long gone. “We must focus on finding Olivia, Reyna, Rosie, and Luna.”
