Page 116 of Shadow & Stars
“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 mysurgeon days. Can’t let it go. How’s your breaking and entering skills?” He directed that at me.
“Excellent,” I replied.
This wasRoman’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.”
