Chapter 37

37

ROMAN

I f things weren't crazy enough, a bubble of golden lights shielded me from the dust cloud. It buzzed like an electric fence, the glitter popping like fireworks.

Is this you? I asked my minions.

Yes, they answered together in their final act.

Is this really final?

Everything for your life, they confirmed.

Translation: If they hadn't gone inside me, I'd be dead now.

I… Thanks so much. What happens to you?

No need to worry… Those words echoed in my head, fading into the distance just like my energy.

Bye…

The power left me, gone like ashes on the wind. Over way too soon. I kind of wanted to test it out on a few more dickheads.

Oh, well. At least I was alive.

But what about Xavier?

When the dust cleared, I got to my feet. Still full of energy, but the regular kind I was used to. No problem. My arse-kicking skills were ready for action.

I turned to the ruined Horse Guards Parade, a lump in my throat. Oh, shit. What if?—

"Stop it," I told myself out loud. "Don't even go there."

"Xa—"

"There you are," a voice cut off my call, gluing me to the spot.

Butterfly now joined the party, clutching the time jar in his left hand, a scalpel in his right.

What the hell?

"Interesting," he said. "The right time has come, it seems."

God, I hated this demon. "Yeah, for me to take that off your hands and get down to business."

He shook his head, not one spec of dirt on him, no strand of purple hair out of place.

Where had he been hiding?

His eyes narrowed into angry slits. "I want my device back." He made a point of making the scalpel blade glint.

"What happened to your big war?" I countered.

"Are you blind to the destruction going on around you?"

Oh, hell no. He did not get to sass me. "Fuck off. This is your fault. Now I'm taking the jar, cleaning it up, and you're going to face your death like a good little insect. Problem solved."

"No, Roman. I'm taking my device."

I placed a protective hand over my chest. "I thought it wasn't yours to use."

"Things have changed." He flipped his hair. "Come here. Let me set you free."

"You come here first."

He smiled his pretty, irritating smile. "I…" His head tilted to the side. "I sense beauty."

Huh?

"He is here," he whispered. "The rat. So close…"

Darcy lunged from the shadows, driving a knife straight into his jugular.

"You got that right!" my bestie cried.

"Whoa!" I jumped straight in the air like a surprised cat.

Darcy withdrew the blade, snatching the time jar from Butterfly. "Never underestimate the might of this rodent."

Butterfly twitched, slapping a hand over his wound. Black blood seeped through his fingers, streaming down his neck. He fell to his knees, trying to speak, but only blood passed his lips.

"That's for hurting my best friend." Darcy pushed him onto his side with his foot. "Bastard."

I gaped at the dying Butterfly, and at my badarse bestie. What a turn out for the books.

Darcy grinned at me. "There. All better."

Drifting in shock, I said, "Technically, you're not a rodent anymore."

He rolled his eyes. "You had to crap on it, didn't you?"

I grabbed him into a bear hug. "How did you get here?"

Ugh. Here came my waterworks, spilling onto his shoulder.

"I told you I'd follow you." He lifted his head, kissing me on the cheek. "How's that? Better than a lick with a tiny tongue?"

I hugged him tighter. "I love you so much."

"You too, Roman. You too." He patted my back. "Where's Xavier?"

My boyfriend's name tore me out of the hug, the next word exploding like a volcano. "Xavier!"

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

He appeared, hurrying across the rubble. My device leaped into my throat, the relief like ten tidal waves at once.

He's here. He's here. He's here.

He's alive.

I remembered to breathe, running to meet him, tears streaming down my face.

He's. Alive.

We collided, arms locking around each other in desperate longing. The way my insides turned upside down made me realize I loved him more than I'd loved any other man. And the hot tears gushing down my face only confirmed it.

I lifted my head to get a look at him. Black smears stained his pale complexion.

"What happened?" I wiped his demon tears, kissed his glossy lips.

He told me about killing Ismael, resting his forehead on mine.

"Shit. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I reached up and stroked his hair, holding him against his new loss. "I'm so sorry."

"It had to be done." His hands found my waist. "As long as I have you, I can…" He didn't finish the sentence.

"You'll always have me."

"First you need to open this." Darcy's voice broke us apart, a much-needed antidote to this darkness.

"Fix now, shag later," he added, holding up the jar.

"Seriously?" I went over to him, taking the essence of time from his hand.

The storm within the glass hummed against my palm, my hands tingling all the way to my fingertips.

I looked at the dead body of Butterfly, waiting for him to get up in one final act of desperation. But he stayed dead in a pool of his blood.

Good.

Thunder cracked overhead. A reminder that we were wasting time.

"Okay," I said, giving the lid a twist. It moved, so I kept going until it came free.

My device whirred to painful life, every cog shaking my body.

"Fuck!" I bellowed, sounding like I was sat on a washing machine on a spin cycle.

The tiny storm cloud rolled out of the jar, forming into a serpent-like shape. It lingered in the air for a few beats, then shot straight into my chest and filled my device with new power, a massive surge sending me onto my arse.

I barley felt it, high on the pure essence of time. Power that didn't actually have much time before Butterfly's dust destroyed it. So, it granted my wish without me making one. It knew I wanted to go back and fix things, and could handle things from here.

I broke apart into a billion pieces just like the first time I'd gone back in time. Spinning, spinning, spinning. Hurtling back, back, back at the mercy of the device's action.

Make this right, pretty please. No tricks, no silliness. Just a course correction.

It already knew that.

I still begged some more, though. To be safe.

I came back together in the dungeon corridor under Buckingham Palace. Right at the moment before Queen Margarite shot me in the chest.