Chapter 25
Amaris
Sobs eviscerated Amaris’s throat as she fumbled with her knife in the lock.
Her hands trembled and the tears clouded her vision.
It was useless. She returned her knife to her boot, fighting the urge to hurl it across the cell as she crumbled to the floor.
She was never getting out of here. She’d never hear Viv’s laugh or the blare of a siren again.
Charlie’s smile as they raced to a call would only ever be a distant memory, and Derek—she needed to know if what she saw would be her future.
Were she and Derek destined to always fight?
The gate at the top of the stairs flew open, and footsteps ran toward her. There was a rattling of keys and then Sephardi standing in the open door. She kneeled by Amaris’s side, scanning her for any injuries.
“Bennet didn’t hurt me,” Amaris whispered.
“Good,” she muttered. “I need you to go to your room and stay there. No matter what you hear, promise me you won’t leave.”
“What’s going on? Where’s Theodoric?”
A deafening crack resonated off the stone walls of the dungeon. Amaris had never heard anything like it. It was a sharp snap like a gunshot. Sephardi winced.
“What was that?” Again, she heard the thundering crack.
“Amaris,” Sephardi breathed.
“What is that?” she demanded, standing and heading outside.
A cry of agony followed another piercing clap.
It carried through the grim morning air as storm clouds shrouded the bay in a gloomy rain.
Another one sent Amaris’s pulse racing. She sprinted toward the sound.
It couldn’t be. She’d never heard him cry, but the wail hit her hard as he cried out again.
She stopped dead at the edge of the garden where a small crowd of soldiers gathered around to watch.
Theodoric was pinned against the short stone wall wreathing the garden.
He thrashed against the soldiers locking down his arms. Blood spilled down his back.
Red welts were open to the damp air. Behind him, Gerard stood with a whip in his hand.
He released his wrist, and another lash shot through her ears as Theodoric’s left leg buckled beneath him.
Amaris gasped. No. Another flick and another scream.
“He’s flashing back, you idiots!” Esaias screamed as two soldiers fought to hold him.
Another line of blood dripped down his back, but it wasn’t the red welts or flayed flesh that caught her attention. Lines ran across his skin, wrinkly indents and jagged scars.
All the pieces to the mysterious puzzle were falling into place. His panic attacks, his missing time during the war. Flashbacks. He’d been captured, but had he been...? Amaris couldn’t hold the thought back. Tortured.
Amaris took a step forward, but Sephardi grabbed her arm. “I have to stop this,” she insisted, daring a look at Theodoric as another lash came down on his back. Blood spurted across the soldiers struggling to hold him. He released another cry.
“You’ll only make things worse for yourself and for him. He’s doing this for you,” Sephardi whispered as she pulled her to hide in the back of the crowd.
Amaris took in the sight of Theodoric’s blood dripping down his back, staining the back of his pants. His body trembled, and his right knee shook. She tugged at her arm, but Sephardi tightened her grip.
“Amaris.” Pricilla’s soft voice came from behind her. “Oh my.” Her expression paled. Pricilla’s hair was damp with the morning rain, and her dress clung to her hips.
Gerard’s hand came down, and the whip met Theodoric’s back. It tore away another piece of flesh. His other leg gave out, but the soldiers tried to heft him up and keep him standing.
“Stand up!” Bennet roared, but Theodoric was lost to his nightmare, his body mindlessly thrashing against the men restraining him. “Hold him still!”
“He can’t help it!” Esaias’s voice cracked as he fought to run for his cousin.
Alan stood off to the side, his face pale as his fingers hovered over his daggers, his features laced with something resembling dread or fear.
Why won’t anyone help him?
“This is what happens when one disobeys orders! Everyone must follow them, even the son of the duke. Fifty lashes, Gerard!” Bennet yelled.
Fifty lashes? Why? All of this because he stood up for her?
Desperately, she scanned the crowd, her eyes stopping on the duke himself.
He stood away from the others under the shelter of the protruding roof.
His arms were crossed, and no expression of emotion overcame his face.
Gerard raised his hand to unleash another lash.
Theodoric had stepped in for her, fought against them dragging her to the dungeons.
He risked his career, his life, all for her.
Being a firefighter and paramedic was all she’d ever known.
It was all she had left in her crumbling world, but even that had turned into a disaster after she nearly got herself, Charlie, and Viv killed.
She didn’t know who she was without her badge.
You don’t sit back and play it safe. Charlie’s words after that fire rang through her head.
“Help me,” Amaris mouthed to Pricilla and eyed Sephardi’s grip around her arm.
Pricilla nodded and shoved with the weight of her body into Sephardi’s side. Amaris slipped free of her hold and sprinted through the mud. She slid, halting herself in front of Theodoric. She raised her arm and the whip came down, encircling her forearm.
She’d received burns from fires, but nothing compared to the pain as the whip latched around her arm, leaving a spiral of raised red welts behind.
She fell to her knees, the mud splashing up at her.
Bennet ripped the whip from Gerard’s hand.
She couldn’t stop the sting of tears even if she tried.
But they were camouflaged by the raindrops streaking her face.
She placed one foot underneath herself and stood to meet Bennet’s furious glare.
He held the whip, ready to unleash his rage on her.
“He did nothing wrong.” She held her stance.
“Get out of my way, you little bitch.” Bennet was more than angry, more than furious. There wasn’t a word to describe the hell about to erupt.
“No.”
She stood her ground, hugging her arm to her chest, her voice strong.
Theodoric raged behind her, but she didn’t break her deadlock.
Over Bennet’s shoulder, Adelaide pushed to the front of the crowd.
She was covered in sand, her face red with exhaustion and her hand readied on the hilt of her sword.
No. Amaris’s eyes shot to her. She wouldn’t allow another Fastrada child to face Bennet’s wrath on her account.
“Restrain her!” Bennet shouted.
“No!” But it was too late.
Gerard had Amaris in his clutches, and he dragged her away from Theodoric. She squirmed in his hold, but he only tightened his grip on her arms. Theodoric turned to her as she opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Black storms filled his eyes.
Another lash, and he grimaced. “Please,” he pleaded. Rain battered his face, but Amaris knew tears leaked from the corners of his eyes.
Bennet unleashed the whip again and again, tearing open his flesh. Amaris flinched, but she didn’t turn away. It was because of her. With each strike of the whip, her muscles grew taut.
“Please, stop,” Amaris begged. “I’m the one you want to punish, not him!”
Bennet chose to ignore her. He flung the whip back, administering lash after lash. Sephardi grabbed ahold of Adelaide, dragging her into the manor with her feet kicking.
“You’re going to kill him!” Esaias screamed, getting one arm free.
“Then he should have thought about that before his actions!” Bennet wouldn’t stop.
Theodoric’s wails grew hoarse and soon died to breathless gasps. He’d risked everything to keep Bennet and his father at bay, and now she couldn’t do anything. Bennet’s teeth ground together as he raised his arm, ready to unleash another blow.
“That’s enough.” The duke’s voice broke through the clamor.
It wasn’t a yell of anger but a loud bellow of authority.
He stepped out into the rain, away from the protection of the manor’s roof.
Taking one look at Bennet, he jerked his head toward the kitchen doors.
Bennet stormed after him, taking Gerard to follow in the duke’s wake.
Amaris ran to Theodoric, stopping to stare at his back and the blood spilling from his wounds.
His head hung limp against his chest. She held his chin in her hands.
There wasn’t a flicker of an eyelid, only shallow breaths.
As Alan rushed to replace one of the soldiers and Esaias the other, Amaris swallowed and took in his chest. More burn marks and scars spread across his skin.
“Get him to my tower,” she ordered Alan and Esaias, struggling to keep her composure.
Neither one of them hesitated to follow her leadership. They hoisted Theodoric and began the trek to the tower. His feet dragged behind. Amaris kept ahead of them, watching his chest rise and fall. He woke once they entered the library and fought against Alan and Esaias. They sped up their pace.
She raced up the tower steps with them following close behind her. They set him on his stomach on the cot with his head near the edge. Esaias kicked a bucket below his mouth. Theodoric’s groan echoed off the vaulted ceiling. He fought passing out, his hands clenching the cot.
“Alan, start a fire,” Amaris ordered, another demand he briskly followed.
Theodoric tried to sit up, but Amaris had no idea how he even had the strength to. Esaias forced his shoulders down. An awful gag erupted from Theodoric, and he hurled, luckily aiming into the bucket.
Amaris drew a candle closer, examining the skin of his back. Red welts covered his back, but even more were bloody gashes. She reached to touch one, to see how deep it was. Theodoric jerked and yelped.
“He needs a sedative!” Esaias shouted, gritting his teeth as he fought to hold Theodoric down.