“No one asked,” Adelaide threw at him.
A few steps shuffled toward them, and Esaias slumped back on his cot, groaning. “Onika, your services are not required at the moment.”
Onika let out a frustrated huff of breath, completely ignoring him as she shoved him over and sat beside him. She was in a bright-green gown, probably from the Conjugation, but there were tears in the skirt and blood soaked through in large splashes.
“Eat this before I’m forced to stick my fingers in your mouth and rub jam over your gums again,” Onika said, handing him a bowl of porridge.
Onika turned to Amaris, sucking in her lips as she offered her a wry smile.
Adelaide brushed aside their bantering and demanded, “Tell me everything. What happened after I saved Esaias from certain death?”
Esaias shot her a scowl, but Onika swatted him on the arm.
Amaris looked around, taking in the decorations for the first time, or at least what felt like the first time. She began with how she’d snuck off toward the ship but was quickly interrupted by Esaias to explain how they’d fended off Deavopan soldiers and then raced to the beach to save Adelaide. With a flat look and then an eye roll, Amaris jumped back in.
She sat for what felt like forever, going over the night. Each of them filled in their own gaps, reliving the battles they’d fought, but Amaris omitted her conversation with Drauna and Sephardi. She assessed their injuries. Esaias’s face had stopped bleeding, and he was able to clear the blood from his eye. He also seemed to be in decent spirits. She hoped he paid Onika well for her splendid job of managing his diabetes.No,mamat.
She finally pulled herself from their grasps and made her way around the hall. She stopped by some of her gravest of patients, who she’d worried wouldn’t make it through the night. Most were faring well, but others weren’t as lucky. Soldiers who were awake and uninjured helped carry their bodies away. She stepped from the hall after the last one was brought out, unable to stand the grieving beginning around her.
“Amaris!” Pricilla whisper-shouted from across the hall.
Amaris turned and they collided. Pricilla was covered in dried blood, but by the smile on her face, it wasn’t hers. She dragged Amaris out into the hall and secured them in a small alcove. She slammed the curtain closed and shook with what was either excitement or the need to use the restroom.
“What?” Amaris laughed.
“You’re from another realm!”
Oh that.“You believe me?” Amaris asked, brushing aside the hair fallen from her braid.
“Are you kidding me? Of all people?”
Amaris’s whistling laugh was replaced by a nervous giggle. She swallowed the lump in her throat.Fuck, here we go.It all spilled out, everything. She told her about Viv, Charlie, and Derek. She fended off several tears, but with Pricilla’s hands grasping hers, it pushed away the panic and anger.
Amaris even tried to describe what it was like being a firefighter paramedic. Pricilla was astonished by the idea of running into a fire and begged for more. She went into as much detail as she could about technology. She even did her best to describe a car, which blew Pricilla’s mind, but the entire time Pricilla never once questioned it. She sat with those violet eyes brighter than Amaris had ever seen them.
“You still believe me?” she joked.
“I won’t lie, it’s quite a lot to digest, but you’ve experienced magic! You’ve come from another realm!”
“I don’t know exactly how it happened. I mean, I fell through a tree.”
“It’s most likely a gate that connects our two realms,” Pricilla corrected. “I can’t wait to start reading more on this!”
“If you can find anything else on it. The journal is probably the only thing. For now, if there’s anything you want to know, go ahead and ask, because we are totally secluding ourselves in the library all week so you can teach me everything about this realm. I can’t keep running around pulling shit out of my ass.”
Pricilla laughed. “I can’t imagine what it’s like walking around with this secret.”
“You’re telling me. I’ve been dying over here!”
“Where do I even start?” She sighed. “Well, you passed through a gate. Does your world have magic then?”
Amaris folded her arms, leaning against the cold stones at her back. “I never thought magic existed until I came here, and that even took a while to finally grasp.”
“But one of our worlds has to have magic.” Pricilla paced the small alcove, her tulle dress bouncing around her with each turn.
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure that’s not Earth, unless you call microwaves magic.”
Pricilla gave her a peculiar look but blew off her joke.
