It didn't take long for Victoria to make her move. The moment she switched to Latin, I took that as my cue.
Grabbing my coffee, I muttered some weak excuse about getting ready and slipped out of the kitchen, retreating back into the bedroom Pippa and I shared. She was still blissfully asleep, completely untouched by any of this.
I shut the door behind me, then drew in a slow breath.
Then another.
Trying, and failing, to ease the tightness coiling in my chest.
I paced the small room, finishing my coffee in a few hurried gulps before setting the cup down on the table with a thud louder than I intended.
"What the fuck?" Pippa mumbled into her pillow. "It's too early, Elena. Fuck off."
"On the contrary," I said, forcing my voice to steady despite the restless energy buzzing under my skin, "it's nine. You said we'd leave in thirty minutes last night."
"Fucking hell," she groaned. "Why did I agree to something that early?"
I placed my hands on my hips, staring at her unmoving form.
Pippa had always been a deep sleeper, and absolutely not a morning person. Between the two of us, I'd always managed on less sleep. Years of early shifts had seen to that.
"I'm going to get changed," I said, already turning away. "You'd better be wide awake when I'm back."
The moment I stepped out of the bedroom with my bag of toiletries in one hand, and a change of clothes in the other, I stopped dead in my tracks. My body refused to move, as if something unseen had rooted me to the spot.
My grip slackened, and for a second, I nearly dropped everything where I stood.
In the kitchen, right where I had been sitting not long ago, was Marcus. He leaned back against the marble counter, one hand braced behind him, his posture relaxed in a way that didn't sit right with me.
And Victoria stood between his legs.
Her hands rested lightly on his shoulders, all too familiar, too close. Marcus was looking up at her, his expression unreadable. His gaze fixed on her face as though nothing else in the room existed.
Not even me.
She tipped her head toward him then, leaning in just enough to murmur something soft against his ear. I couldn't make out the words, her voice was too low to carry, but it didn't matter.
He didn't pull away, didn't even move.
He simply sat there, while I stood and watched for a moment longer than I should have.
This was ridiculous. I shouldn't feel this way toward a man I barely knew, a stranger. Someone I had slept with once, and in the same breath, had offered me something far too serious to be real. It didn't make sense. None of this did. And yet, the tightness in my chest simply refused to ease.
It was getting complicated. More complicated than I ever intended.
So I forced my feet to move, turning away before I could think better of it. I pivoted toward the bathroom, keeping my steps as quiet as possible, as though slipping away unnoticed might somehow make the moment disappear.
"Elena—"
My name.
Low and familiar.
Maybe I had imagined it. Maybe it hadn't meant for me at all. The sound of my pulse was already too loud in my ears, drowning everything else out.
The door shut softly behind me.
I set my toiletries down on the sink, draped my towel and fresh clothes over the hanger, then gripped the edges of the marble counter. My fingers tightened against the cool surface as I stilled myself, drawing in a slow breath. Then another.
The same measured rhythm I had taught my patients so many times.
Steady, controlled, deliberate.
Now I needed it for myself.
It was for the best. No matter what Marcus chose, whether he stayed or returned to his time, Victoria could help him. She understood his world in a way I never could. She had lived it, survived it and somehow learned to exist here.
She knew what he would be giving up.
Which was why, it shouldn't be me.
"Elena."
I nearly staggered at the sound of his voice.
He simply stood there, closer than I expected.
"Marcus," I managed, clutching my things tighter against my chest, as if it might steady the sudden, erratic rhythm of my heart.
At least he had put on his trousers. Even though his chest remained bare.
"If you need the bathroom—" I started, already shifting to move past him.
He pushed himself off the wall, blocking my way.
"I do," he said, stepping closer. His voice was calm, measured. "But there are other matters I would speak of first."
My breath caught. "What is it?"
His hand rose, slow and deliberate, fingers brushing beneath my chin before tipping my face up to his. The touch was firm, possessive without force.
"You should understand this," he said, his gaze holding mine. "Though men of my world were granted...liberties, I am not one to take them without cause."
My lips parted, confusion flickering through me. "What?"
"If I am to bind you to me," he continued, his voice lowering, rougher now, as he leaned closer, his breath ghosting against my ear, "then I would hold myself to the same measure."
A shiver ran through me.
"It is only just," he murmured. "There is nothing between Victoria and I. Nor will there be."
His thumb brushed lightly along my jaw.
"Unless," he added, quieter still, "you would have it otherwise."
I shut my eyes, gathering what little willpower I had left and stepped out of his hold.
"You can do as you wish, Marcus," I said, my voice quieter than I intended. "I will not bind you when there is nothing between us."
"Is that so?" he asked, his tone shifting but unmistakably challenging. "Even after I made myself clear last night?"
"Yes," I bit out, sharper this time.
Then he nodded. "Very well."
Something in my chest faltered at how easily he accepted it.
I hesitated, just for a second too long, before forcing myself to turn away. I didn't know why it felt like I was the one retreating, but I walked anyway, leaving him standing there.
I ignored the curious look Victoria gave me as I hurried past, practically sprinting back into the guest room.
I needed to get out of here. The longer I stayed, the more I was starting to lose my wits.
Soon as they were ready to leave for the ancient Roman ruins, I'd head back to St.Albans. They wouldn't need me anymore. This, whatever this had become, was far beyond anything an ordinary nurse like me was equipped to handle.
Marcus was already in capable hands. He didn't me. Someone else could take care of his bandages, anyone could.
By the time I shut the bedroom door behind me with a soft click, Pippa had just ended a call. She let out a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose, tension etching into every line of her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked quietly.
"I have to leave," she said. "I am needed back. And I'm afraid I'd have to take Marcus's sword back with me."
My stomach dropped. "What happened?"
"Some of the first-years uncovered additional artifacts," Pippa said, her voice low but urgent. "Weapons, military issue. All dating back to Marcus's era."
I frowned. "Isn't that a good thing?"
"Not when they weren't there before," she replied sharply. "We've been excavating that site for months, Elena. Thoroughly. Those pieces should have surfaced long ago."
A chill crept up my spine.
"People are starting to ask questions," she went on. "And the last thing we need is anyone connecting those artifacts to him."
"To Marcus," I murmured.
She nodded once. "I have to get ahead of this. My dad's already on his way t othe site, and I need to be there to manage the situation before it spirals."
She stepped closer, her gaze locking onto mine.
"But you—you're staying."
I blinked. "What?"
"You're staying here with him," she said, more firmly now. "Someone has to. And it can't be just anyone."
My grip tightened around my bag. "Pippa—"
"Listen," she cut in, her tone softening just enough to steady me. "If Marcus wants to return to his time...the only way we know is through that site. Surrounded by what belongs to him. Anchored to it."
My heart began to pound.
"And it won't happen without a cost," she added quietly. "It has to be severe enough that brings him to the edge between life and death. That's what triggered it before."
I swallowed hard.
"But he hasn't even decided," I said, the words barely leaving my throat.
"No," she agreed. "He hasn't. And you're going to help him decide."
My chest tightened.
"He needs to make that choice before Garrick gets to him," she continued. "Whatever Garrick wants, whatever he thinks Marcus is, he's not going to stop."
Silence stretched between us.
And just like that, my way out was gone.