Ah, okay. The way I understand that part of the story is this:
Tempus is in prehistoric Dakota. Hank and Petal go back in time to offer him the deal. Instead, they find that he's dead. This means that their plan of last resort will not work.
Now, the follow question came up: If talking to Tempus was their last hope, and if it can't work because Tempus is dead, then why not just go back in time to shortly before Tempus was killed, grab him away, and then talk to him.
Madge thinks about this and is tempted, but she realizes that doing so would effectively be raising the dead. He is dead. His bones (or what she assumes are his bones) are in her lab. She could save the day by going back and preventing that death, but doing so would be highly immoral.
Paul
