Chapter 38

38

ROMAN

I remembered every haunting word she'd spewed at me before firing that gun: My Shadow is meek. My Shadow is pathetic. My Shadow has fallen from my grace. He has sullied his body. He has doomed his soul. You lay with killers of love, destroyers of worlds. I can never forgive you.

They didn't come.

"Roman?" She lowered the gun, a red light flashing above her head. "I… I recall… I recall… Everything." Tremors rocked her hands, her complexion taking on deathly gray hues. "My daughter taking my throne. My death. Helping you. Giving my life to… I can't… I can't." She clutched her chest, tears running down her face.

Everything that'd happened remained in my brain. I might have gone back in time, but that didn't change anything. And it hurt. My God, it hurt thinking of Grandma, the deaths, the carnage, the shit ton of trauma.

A hand landed on my shoulder. Xavier, his heat flowing into my body.

I sighed, leaning into him.

"I remember everything, too," he whispered.

The queen looked me dead in the eyes. "Everything. Everything. Everything. Did… Did my daughter die when the sky fell?"

This was a second chance. Our only chance not to let that future come to pass. Magic still lived inside me.

"Yes," I answered her, the device releasing a gentle whir.

What was it up to?

Margarite dropped the gun, struggling for breath.

"Your Majesty?"

"My heart…" She collapsed into the wall at the exact same time a series of agonizing twinges rocked my chest

"Oh my God…" I breathed, falling to my knees.

"Roman!" Xavier cried.

Breaking. Ending. The device… Shit. It began to decay, telling me the time had come to say goodbye. The power inside it leaked like battery acid, burning in my veins, set on ending my life.

If the device couldn't be the device, it would end, dragging its host with it.

I should've asked Butterfly to show me the small print before he died.

At least he'd stay dead now. That was a good price to pay. Not so good that I'd be dead soon. I guess there were always consequences to these things.

"Shit…" I collapsed into Xavier's arms, the world blurring out of focus, everything inching toward darkness.

Man, I'd really hoped for a second chance at a brighter future. But the thing in my chest left my soul soaked in too much blood after all the chaos it generated. If this had to be my time, I'd rather die in the arms of the demon I loved than in some gutter.

"Hold on, Roman…" Xavier lifted me up, charging for the exit.

Darkness dragged me under within less than a minute.

Going.

Going.

Goodbye…