CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
(When Joy Met Fear)
The afternoon sun spilled gently through the tall glass windows of the hotel room, painting the floor in warm gold. Linah sat by the balcony, one hand resting on her belly, the sea breeze brushing softly against her skin.
Then it happened.
A sudden flutter.
Linah froze.
At first, she thought it was her imagination — a trick of nerves or hunger. But then it came again. Stronger this time. A small, undeniable movement from within.
Her breath caught.
"My baby…" she whispered, eyes widening.
A smile bloomed across her face, radiant and full of wonder. Tears gathered in her eyes as joy rushed through her like a tide. For the first time, she was not just carrying life — she could feel it answering her.
"Mako!" she called out, her voice trembling with excitement. "Mako, come quickly!"
Mako emerged from the adjoining room, concern already in his eyes.
"What is it? Are you feeling unwell?"
Linah shook her head eagerly and reached for his hand, pulling him closer. "No. It's the baby. Our baby… it moved."
Mako's breath hitched.
Slowly, carefully, he knelt beside her and placed his hand against her belly. For a moment, there was only silence — the distant sound of waves crashing below.
Then he felt it.
A gentle kick.
His face transformed instantly. Awe, disbelief, and tenderness softened his sharp features. His lips parted in a quiet laugh, and his eyes shone.
"Our child," he murmured. "He's greeting us."
Linah laughed softly, resting her forehead against his. "Or she."
For a brief, fragile moment, the world felt whole.
But as Mako kept his hand there, the warmth in his smile began to fade.
The dream returned to him.
The prophecy.
The blood.
The war waiting beyond the horizon.
This child was not just theirs.
This child was a key.
A weapon the darkness feared.
Mako's fingers stiffened.
All he had ever wanted was simple — a peaceful life, a quiet home, laughter filling their mornings. He wanted to teach his child how to walk by the sea, how to love without fear. Not this. Never this.
Linah noticed the change immediately.
"Mako?" she asked softly, searching his face. "Why did you stop smiling?"
He forced himself to look at her, to mask the storm rising inside him. "It's nothing, my love. Just… thoughts."
But Linah knew him too well.
Her joy dimmed, replaced by unease. Since the accident, since the whispers of danger, Mako had grown more guarded.
More distant in moments like these.
That evening, when Mako stepped out to attend to a call, Linah reached for her phone. She wanted to hear her mother's voice — to share the joy of the baby's first movement.
But her phone was not where she had left it.
She searched the bedside table. The sofa. Her bag.
Nothing.
A strange chill crept into her chest.
Why would Mako move her phone?
On the other side of the world — beneath layers of shadow and fire — the Evil Ruler watched.
His fury had not cooled. If anything, it had grown sharper.
The sea had denied him.
The spirits had blocked him.
And the child still lived.
Left with few options, he chose the most dangerous one.
He crossed into the human world.
The Evil Ruler's essence slipped into the body of a young waitress working in the hotel — a woman unnoticed, unguarded, invisible.
Her eyes darkened for a brief second before returning to normal.
But inside her, something ancient and hateful stirred.
That night, she moved deliberately — brushing past Mako in the hallway, letting her fingers linger too long against his arm. Her voice softened when she spoke, her smile practiced and inviting.
Mako felt it immediately.
A pressure in the air. A wrongness.
He stepped back, his gaze cold. "Keep your distance."
The waitress smiled wider.
Jealousy burned within the Evil Ruler — not of Linah's beauty alone, but of the bond Mako and Linah shared. A bond he could not corrupt.
If he could not pull Mako away…
Then Linah would die.
As Linah stood by the balcony later that night, watching the moon reflect on the sea, she felt it — a sudden heaviness in the air. Her baby kicked again, harder this time, almost as if warning her.
She placed both hands on her belly, her heart racing.
Something was coming.
And this time, it was closer than ever.
END OF CHAPTER THIRTY TWO