The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(78)

Chapter 15





Something dripped down my face. Blood? Tears?

I stared at Matt's lifeless form and a well of sorrow opened up inside me. It swallowed me whole, taking all my courage and hope and even my soul into its depths.

The carriage slowed and came to a stop. I lost my balance and found myself on top of Matt again. I sobbed into his chest.

My watch chimed, then chimed again. It still hung around my neck where it now burned so hot I could feel it through the layers of clothing. Another warning? Had the killer come back to make sure his work was done?

And then I felt another warmth, not from my watch, but beneath me. It came from the inside pocket of Matt's jacket. My watch chimed again and again, so loud that I could hear it clear above the shouts outside.

Matt's watch! I scrabbled at his jacket and waistcoat, but my shaking fingers couldn't manipulate the buttons. I wrenched the clothes open and the buttons scattered. The heat from both his watch and mine combined within me, raging like a furnace as if they were communicating through me.

I felt the carriage rock and heard someone inquire if anyone was inside, but I didn't answer as I flipped open the watch case, removed Matt's glove and pressed the watch into his hand. The purple glow flowed from the watch into his skin, racing along his veins, shooting out again above his collar, up his throat and over his face.

His chest expanded with his gasped breath. His eyes flew open and stared wildly back at me.

I burst into tears and clasped his hand in mine so that he did not let go of the watch too soon.

"Ma'am?" a man behind me said. "Ma'am, are you all right?"

I shielded Matt and smiled down at him through my tears. It must have looked crooked and wobbly but I didn't care. I laid my hand over his chest and silently thanked God, Chronos and Dr. Parsons that his heart beat steadily.

He lifted a hand to my face. "You're bleeding," he said.

His first words after coming back from death were concern for me? I cried even harder.

"Ma'am, let me help you." I felt a hand on my shoulder and hissed in pain.

"India?" Matt snapped his watch case closed and his veins cleared. He sat up and that's when I realized I was still sitting on him. "India, you're hurt."

I peered up at the two men perched on the carriage's side, the door open between them. I took their hands and they helped me through and passed me down to someone standing on the road.

"Come with me, Miss Steele," said the familiar voice of Bristow. "We'll go home and call the doctor. Is Mr. Glass…?"

"He's all right," I said, clutching the butler to stop myself falling. "He saved my life."

Bristow looked past me and then I was handed to someone else. Someone with familiar arms and smell. Someone who felt strong and capable, and not at all near death. Matt scooped me into his arms and I nestled into him, my head beneath his chin.

"Bristow, see to things here." Matt's voice rumbled through me, calming me a little. He was alive, thank God. "Bryce?" he added.

"Peter is with him now," Bristow said. "I don't know his condition yet, sir."

"Make sure he has all the care he needs. And my aunt?"

"Miss Glass is out."

"A small mercy," Matt muttered.

A wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm me. I concentrated on breathing evenly and steadying my nerves, but it was an impossible task. I stopped crying, only to find that I'd begun to shake. I couldn't stop.

Matt carried me back to the house and Mrs. Bristow took charge, directing her daughter the maid to fetch clean cloths.

"Polly has already gone to fetch the doctor in anticipation," she assured Matt. "Take Miss Steele to her room and I'll be there— Sir! Your head. There's a lot of blood at the back. Are you injured badly?"

"I'm fine," he said.

He carried me up the stairs then laid me gently on my bed. He sat on the mattress beside me. "India, say something. You're too quiet."

I opened my eyes and blinked up at him. He was a marvelously wonderful sight, despite the blood, the disheveled hair and the deep worry lines scoring his forehead. "Am I not usually this quiet?"

He lifted my hand to his lips and smiled against my knuckles. "That's better."

I tried to sit up and, despite the pain in my right side, managed it with his help. The nausea had vanished, thank goodness, and I felt as though I had all my wits about me once again. "Your watch," I began. "It…saved you."

"That's what it's for."

"Yes, but—"

Mrs. Bristow entered carrying tea, her daughter behind her with an armful of towels. She ordered Matt to leave, and for a moment I thought he'd refuse but as Mrs. Bristow undid the buttons on my jacket, he bowed out and closed the door.

The housekeeper cleaned away some blood from a cut on my cheek and inspected my injuries. The doctor arrived some time later and inspected me all over again. He declared nothing to be broken but my hip and shoulder would sport bruises for a few weeks. The pain ought to lessen in a day or two.

He went in search of Matt, and I was left alone to rest. But I couldn't rest. My mind whirled with questions about Matt, Bryce and the horses, not to mention the shooter.