“Like hell I am.” Marcellious gripped his stomach and let out an awful groan as if he were in agony.
“And how is it that you speak in English? Is this where you’re from?”
“None of your damn business,” he snapped.
“You’re an asshole, you know that? I’m trying to put the past behind me. I’m tending to your injuries, and yet still you complain.” I tsked.
“I didn’t ask for your help, did I?” He clutched the coat tighter around him. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
I rolled my eyes and glanced at the hare roasting over the fire. The skin was blistered and burned, so I used a stick to move it off the embers.
We would have to split the hare four ways, but I didn’t care—Roman was back, and we were together.
I turned back to Marcellious and placed my hand on his forehead, checking for signs of a fever. If he had sepsis, there was little I could do for him. Thankfully, he still felt cool to the touch.
“Get your hand off of me,” he snarled, directing his angry, brown-eyed gaze at me. “Why did you force me to time travel? I don’t want to be here at all, but I definitely don’t want to be here with you two.”
“And yet here we all are,” I said, shaking my head. “I got you out of Rome, didn’t I?”
“I never wanted to leave Rome. I didn’t care if I died in Rome, either,” he said. “You’re going to pay for this, bitch.”
“You should be thanking me,” I said. I was starting to regret bringing him here. “Can’t you be nice for one second? I’ve given you my coat. Emily has gone to fetch herbs to help you heal, yet you still complain about everything.”
Marcellious opened his mouth to retort, but Emily interrupted, approaching us from the creek with Roman by her side.
They both carried leaves cupped in their hands.
“What a boorish man you are,” Emily said. “This woman saved me. She’s an angel. That is what she is. How dare you speak to her so rudely.”
She crouched next to him and set her leaves next to her. A gooey, green paste sat inside the leaves.
“You can set your willow bark here,” she said to Roman, pointing to the ground next to her, then turned to Marcellious. “You, sir, need to learn some manners.”
She dabbed some paste on his wound. “She’s here tending to your injuries, and you are ungrateful. Shame on you. We should leave you here and let the animals devour you.”
I was surprised by Emily’s bold words and courage to stand up to Marcellious on my behalf.
Marcellious blinked. “Who are you?”
“I’m Emily. And Olivia is my friend. I don’t appreciate you speaking to her so harshly.”
Marcellious simply stared at her, speechless for once.
Once she’d applied the concoction to his flesh, she scooped more of the goo onto two fingers. She held them over Marcellious’ face. “Open up. Eat this. Willow bark helps ease the pain.”
He did so willingly, like a docile child.
Roman and I exchanged stunned glances.
“We need to let the poultice dry before we rebandage it,” Emily said.
I appreciated her no-nonsense attitude.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s share the roasted rabbit while we wait.”
We all settled on our rumps in a small circle around the fire. I passed chunks of the cooling meat to everyone, even snarky Marcellious, and we all ate like ravenous beasts. While it wasn’t much, it would keep us going for a little while until Roman or I caught more game.
While we ate, Roman and I exchanged tales of our journey thus far. Both of us carefully concealed the fact that we appeared out of nowhere at a time we were unfamiliar with.
