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“And you arrived at?”

“About half past four, I think.” I looked to Lake for confirmation.

He thought for a moment. “It was later than that. The clock in the cab said half past before we got here. But it was no later than a quarter to.”

Griffin was already pulling candles out of his bag, the familiar necromancer routine oddly comforting after seeing Calisto do it so many times.

“You realize,” Ben said, continuing his scrutiny of the room, “how much trouble everyone’s going to be in for this tonight?”

“Including you?” Lake asked.

“Including me,” Ben confirmed. “Contrary to popular opinion, we do have rules we’re expected to follow. One of those is not taking matters into our own hands.” He took out his phone and began photographing Jamie. “He’ll move if he’s revived,” he explained. “Which is generally frowned upon when it comes to forensic investigation.” He snapped a couple more pictures, then frowned.

Sensing his husband’s sudden stillness, Griffin lifted his head. “What?”

Ben slipped his phone away and approached the bed, his gaze shifting to me. “Please tell me that one of you checked his pulse. That you didn’t just assume he was dead.”

When both Lake and I shook our heads, he swore. He placed two fingers against the side of Jamie’s neck, his expression tightening with concentration.

“Is he…?” I asked. The seconds that followed stretched into an eternity. He couldn’t be alive, could he? We’d stood there watching him for some time, and there’d been no sign of life. No movement. No rise and fall of his chest. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited for Ben’s verdict.

“He’s alive,” Ben said finally. “His pulse is extremely weak, but it’s there. Someone call an ambulance.”

The instruction was unnecessary, Asher already on the phone.

I dragged in a breath, feeling like it was the first I’d taken in a long while. Jamie was alive. Relief flooded me, but beneath it lurked a darker concern. If he didn’t regain consciousness, we’d lose our chance to get the information we needed. There was no way they’d let us anywhere near him once he was in hospital.

Which made me something of a bastard.

Or maybe just damn scared.