He turned his focus from his thoughts. Pricilla’s help was the only thing that mattered right now. He could sort out his feelings later.
“I… Amaris, you’re—”
“Staying,” she giggled against him.
He closed his eyes, hearing it again. She wanted to stay. He slipped through a servants’ passage to avoid the crowds of the party.
“You said that already,” he breathed, needing to keep her talking. If she was still able to speak, then the poison hadn’t taken hold yet.
“Yes, but…” she muttered. They passed the wall lining the throne room, and the muffled tune of the fiddle and drums grew louder. “Theo, I…”
He stopped in his tracks, not because the sound of his nickname on her lips sent his heart stumbling over itself, but her words came out as agasp. Her fingers fell from his waistcoat, and she took an agonizing breath.
“Amaris?”
He shook her in his arms, but she didn’t respond. His chest constricted and his breaths grew shallow. She took a forced breath, gulping a bit of air.Paralysis.He couldn’t stop all the thoughts swarming in his head. She tried to breathe and let out another gasp, then her chest ceased moving.No.
She wasn’t breathing. He nearly dropped her in his panic. He sank to his knees and drew her closer, feeling for a bit of breath on her lips.
“Amaris?” he choked.
She didn’t answer as she stared lifelessly at him with her eyes glassed over and her chest still. He dropped his head to her chest, feeling the slow beat of her heart. He dragged his hand through his hair, his breaths growing erratic.
What would she do?Amaris was the mystique, not him. She was the one who healed and always found a way. She’d brought him back from death and cured Esaias of a deadly disease.What do I do?
Rescue breathing, that was what she’d called it. Her beautiful voice repeated in his head.When one is giving rescue breaths, you pinch their nose and put your mouth around theirs, and you breathe a breath into them.
He lifted her head and forced a breath through her lips. He further tasted the herix, the poisonous nut Cornelius had been foolish to keep in the tower. Pulling her to his chest, he lifted her off the ground. She’d survived the woods, Bennet’s anger, and his father’s cruelty. Theo wouldn’t let the herix take her.
He sprinted through the passageway, only stopping every few seconds to give her another breath. He came out into the hallway lined with the portraits, and he kicked the library doors open.
“Amaris?” Pricilla’s voice echoed ahead of him as he raced toward her. Alan was perched on a desk beside her.
“Pricilla, come with me upstairs,” he demanded, breathing against Amaris’s lips.
He carried her up the stairs and laid her on the cot. He gave her another breath as his own were becoming more frantic. He sank to his knees at her side, grabbing her face between his hands, but her eyes remained glassed over.
“Amaris, can you hear me?” His voice was ragged.
“What happened?” Pricilla’s voice came from across the room.
“I think she was poisoned. Alan, show me that jar of herix.” There was a loud shuffling of glass, but then Alan produced the jar of deadly nuts. “Several handfuls are missing, Pricilla. Someone must have laced her drink.” Theo tugged at his tight collar, his heart squeezing in his chest. He panted between the next breath.
“Those are strong accusations,” Alan said. “Who do you think did it?”
“I don’t know. I tasted it on her lips, and it made my bottom lip grow numb. Someone, make an antidote or a tonic!” Theo ordered.
Alan started a fire, and Pricilla grabbed whatever herbs she needed. His fingers combed through Amaris’s hair, holding her face as he slid his lips over hers and continued to breathe for her.
He needed them to hurry. He was at his wits’ end, and he couldn’t stop his chest as it beat rapidly and squeezed around his lungs. He gave her another breath.
“Take this. Hold the smoke in your cheeks and blow it into her lungs. Then cover her mouth so it doesn’t escape,” Pricilla said, her own breaths were rapid, with tears sliding down her cheeks.
Her hands trembled as she held the pipe to Theo’s lips, and he inhaled the burning essence into his hollowed cheeks. He pinched Amaris’s nose and quickly encircled her lips, forcing the smoke into her lungs. His hand covered her mouth, and he fought back tears.
She had said an adult needed a breath every five seconds. These were the longest five seconds of his life.
Chapter 34
