the bridge. “Kenna!”
She raced to my side, and I was so intent on my goal to take down the witch’s barrier spell that our rings began to glow before she even reached me. “Take my hand and focus on the protective spell around the monsters.”
She nodded and, hands linked, we moved forward. Fergus and the others flanked us, but there was little they could do as we drew closer. I didn’t dare shut my eyes to focus as the creatures advanced. They were within twenty feet of us now, close enough that we could see the pale violet glow of their eyes.
Fear knotted my gut as I remembered the rings’ ineffectiveness against the skellies in the field. But in that moment I’d let the witch get in my head and my belief had wavered—my faith in myself and the Protector. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“Envision it, Ken . . . the rings’ magic taking down the skeletons’ protection, just like we envisioned the force field around camp.”
We raised our linked hands above our heads and a beam of scalding golden light blasted from the rings. I raised my other hand to shield my eyes, but could see the monsters falling back. The two remaining guards raced toward us, bleeding but alive.
Fergus, who was the best shot among us, let an arrow fly. I think my heart may have stopped as it sailed through the air and struck home in a skellie’s eye socket. The creature stumbled back, regained its feet, and kept coming. The shot proved we could now hurt them, but one arrow at a time would not do the trick.
“Jamie, the bomb!” Before the words left my mouth, he had the device out of his pocket. Taking aim, he pulled the pin, drew his arm back like a bowler, and flung it forward. It rolled in a steady, straight line into the midst of the advancing creatures, who didn’t pay it a bit of attention.
“Retreat! Everyone get behind the bridge,” Duncan cried.
Hands guided Kenna and me away. In unspoken agreement, we lowered our hands and unlinked our fingers, letting the beam from our rings fade. The explosion that followed shook the ground and we fell back, heat washing over us.
A cheer rose behind us. And I sat up to find the creatures had turned into a pile of fiery bones. With the few partially intact, hobbling around in circles. Then the bones dissolved, as if they longed to return to the earth where they belonged.
Kenna leaned over and helped me to my feet. “All right, Highney?”
“Yes, but . . .” My voice trailed off as I watched Jamie and Duncan rush to check the fallen guards. Duncan placed two fingers on the first man’s neck and then shook his head with a frown. When Jamie reached the second guard, I could tell by his body language that he still lived.
“He wishes a word, Yer Majesty!” Jamie called.
“Ken, have Fergus and Ana lead the Destined back to camp. And tell them to hurry before Addie’s reinforcements show up.”
She nodded and I jogged to where the MacCrae brothers leaned over the young man who’d just crossed the bridge with Kenna and Duncan—it was Rabbie MacGregor, Duncan’s apprentice. Slowly, I knelt beside him and took his blood-soaked hand.
Duncan knelt on his other side. “Yer gonna make it, Rabbie. Just hold on.”
His dark gaze bore into mine. “Yer Majesty, please tell . . . my sister, Hannah, I love her.” His eyes closed and a sick gurgle bubbled in his throat.
Choking on a sob, I felt Jamie place a hand on my shoulders for support. I swallowed and forced the words past my burning throat. “Of course, Rabbie, I’ll tell her. Is there anything else?”
He turned his head toward Duncan, his eyes flickered and then cracked open. “Hannah wishes . . . ta become a . . . royal guard.” A tiny smile tilted his mouth. “Like me.”
Tears coursed down Duncan’s face. “I’ll make it so.”
Rabbie clutched his hand. “ ’Twas an . . . honor to . . . die . . . protectin’ Doon.”
A last breath shuddered from his chest and then he was gone.
“Well, isn’t tha’ touching. Another useless death caused by the American simpleton who fancies herself a queen.”
Addie’s unmistakable, hideous voice froze my grief. I whipped around to find the witch holding Kenna in front of her, a knife pressed to the front of her throat. Raising my hand, the ring blazed to life. Jamie and