“You need to get help,” she whispered. “You almost drowned and—”
“I’ll be fine,” he muttered, his arms dropping against her thighs.
He wouldn’t make it the next twenty minutes. Amaris shifted in the saddle to catch Gris behind them. Maybe she could convince him. He perked for a moment, drawing back his broad shoulders—his incredibly sculpted shoulders.Amaris swallowed and stared at the bear of a man and how he completely blocked any line of sight of Gris.
“You need medical attention.”
“Are you suggesting I see a mystique?”
“Look, I don’t know what religion you people follow or who you go to for medical advice, but I suggest a legit hospital. Getting antibiotics and being admitted for observation.”
“Are you sure you weren’t the one to hit your head? Your words are daft.”
“Are you calling me stupid?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I said your words were. There is a difference.”
She scoffed.What a prick.She’d saved his ass, and instead of thanking her, he insulted her.
Chapter 9
Amaris
The grueling hoursof riding took them well into the night. Amaris had contemplated jumping off several times, but her instincts to protect her patient overpowered the tiny voice screaming at her to run. She’d never abandoned a patient before and wouldn’t start now.
Along with the internal anger, she was kicking herself for not snatching her duffel before she fled her house. She would have given anything for a sweatshirt with the breeze brushing against her damp clothes, and Theodoric wasn’t any help in the matter with his own shivering.
With another twitch of his thigh and the rubbing together of his hands, dread filled her.I’m the worst paramedic ever.She got him breathing again only to kill him from hypothermia. She should’ve thought of it sooner.
“Are we almost there?”
“Soon,” Theodoric whispered.
Every insult and snarky comment riddled through her head, but before she selected her slight, Theodoric draped something over them. It was a cloak. Its dark nature blended against the horse, but a gold stitching along the edge drew the light from the moon. She hugged the edges, getting aninteresting scent of leather clinging to the cotton fabric.
A rush of warmth spread across her cheeks. Embarrassment, anger, confusion. Everything gnawed at her stomach. She’d been about to sling every curse word she knew at him, but his cloak was a surprising anomaly.
They kidnapped me,she reminded herself. What she needed was a hospital for his lungs and her hand, not a damn cloak. She’d removed the glass from her skin, but she worried about a possible infection.
“Back on the riverbank…” he spoke, then hesitated. Maybe he was considering letting her go. “Did you bring me back?”
Amaris peered over her shoulder, disbelief settling over her. His face resembled a chiseled stone statue. He might have had an immaculate jawline, but not a hint of emotion lingered in his eyes. He was serious.
“You weren’t dead.” Amaris’s eyes skimmed the canopy above them. “You may have had one foot in the grave, but your heart was still beating. Youalmostdrowned.”
“But…” he stammered, the first break against his brick wall of a face, “I was at the gates of After.”
After?She contemplated his interesting version of an afterlife before saying, “I don’t know what you think happened, but you weren’t—”
“I was gone.”
Amaris scoffed at him. If he didn’t know what a phone or ambulance was, then he certainly wouldn’t understand basic CPR. Returning her attention to the woods in front of her, her heart leapt as the shadowy forest came to an end. She’d grown accustomed to the steady breaths of the horses and the chirping of insects. It startled her when the clacking of hooves clicked through the air. A cobblestone path sat beneath them, not pavement or asphalt, but actual cobblestone.
She leaned over the horse, squinting to get a better look at the city emerging before her. A list formed in her mind of every surrounding town, but none of them matched what befell her eyes. A main road spiraled through the medieval-styled city, winding and twisting with shops and their darkened windows.
Smaller avenues flowed beyond. Amaris cranked her neck to set eyes on the small wooden and stone houses. The strangest part, though, was the lack of electricity. The only signs of illumination were the candles within the streetlamps.
What is this place?That same tingling sensation seeped down her spine as she took in the few people they passed. She was hoping for someone to save her from her kidnappers, but everyone either waved in greeting or bowed their heads. But the greatest oddity was what they were wearing. Long dresses, knee-length frock coats, tunics, and billowing shirts dressed the occupants of the city. It was as if the laws of societal dress code were gone, and everyone dropped back decades or even centuries.
