Chapter 40

40

XAVIER

O nce again, time was my enemy.

How much of it did Roman have? How long before I heard him draw his last breath?

His lungs continued to work, his chest rising and falling, his slow pulse beat against me, the device still working as his heart with labored effort.

With Buckingham Palace destroyed, and many lives lost, the hospitals would be working overtime. I considered calling Piper, but we hadn't met yet. If she didn't retain her memories during time's reversal, we could run into more problems.

I wouldn't take that risk.

Jaz was the only answer, the one to take one of my hearts and give it to Roman.

You'll be on your feet again soon, I thought down at my sleeping love.

I stole a car, making the fifty-minute journey to Luton in under thirty minutes.

This had to work. We'd come too far for it to end here. I suppressed every fear, every dark thought trying to trip me up. There was no other way forward without my witch. No other suggestion would ever be permitted to hinder my quest to see those amber eyes again.

Carrying Roman with Darcy on my shoulder, I kicked the boarded door down.

"What the fuck?" a man howled from upstairs.

"You have to save him!" I bellowed back.

Jaz appeared on the stairs, hidden by shadows. "Roman?"

"And me," Darcy said, offering a little squeak.

Jaz gasped. "What…"

"There's no time for any of this. We need you to save his life. Now. I know you can do it."

"But—"

"Do something good again," Darcy cut him off. "Like you used to."

No answer. Did I have to torture him into saving my love?

"We both love this man," Darcy continued. "Please. I'm begging you. We're begging you."

Still no answer.

The rat scurried down my body, climbing a few stairs. "I knew you would be here in our…dream place."

"Darcy…" Jaz whispered.

The rat climbed another step. "I've never asked you for anything, but I am now. Please save Roman's life. He's so special to us."

Hearing Darcy speak weakened my resolve. I held onto it even as it became threadbare.

Jaz came down the stairs, his face in full view. He glanced between us. "We crossed paths. In the future. This… This is… Fuck it. What is it you want me to do?"

I put in my request, ready to owe him a billion favors.

He nodded, scratching his chin. If he was rattled by my request, he hid it well. "I have some equipment here from my surgeon days. Can't let it go. How's your breaking and entering skills?" He directed that at me.

"Excellent," I replied.

This was Roman's field of expertise. Using Skele, he would have made short work of the lock, breaking into the doctor's office with much more discretion.

I broke the lock, smashing the alarm system before it could scream for long.

"Interesting," Jaz said, going off to clean himself up and prepare another bed for me.

Darcy kept watch at the front, peering out of the reception area window.

At least the door could still close, not hanging off its hinges from me kicking it down.

I'd come close.

There were facilities here for minor surgeries, but Jaz said he could make it work with the limited resources available.

Good. He'd better.

I carried Roman into a small operating theater, laying him down on the bed.

Still breathing.

Still here.

I kissed his forehead.

"You must come through this, Roman. You must come back to me."

He looked so ill, so fragile. I couldn't stand it. I wanted to vent my rage at this sting in the tale, to burn the world if it kept him alive.

I sounded like Ismael. Only, he approached things through hate, while I did things through love. The two might well be bedfellows, but not here in this room, in this time.

Only love thrived here.

Jaz returned. "I'm ready."

A question came to me—one I hadn't considered in my haste. "Can he survive with a demon heart?"

"If he lived all this time with that thing inside his chest, your heart will work just fine," the doctor answered. "But it might change him."

I stroked Roman's hair. "Change him how?"

"Well, there'll be a permanent piece of demon inside him. That's a big change in itself."

I kissed Roman again. "Whatever it takes."