“I love you, Vee.”
She squeezed the heck out of my hand and smirked. “I know.”
Vee looked left and then right at the united line of Destined and Doonians stretching along the riverbank as far as the eye could see in both directions. “On the count of three,” she announced, patiently waiting as the word spread down the line.
“Ready? One . . . Two . . . Three . . . FOR DOON!”
We stepped forward. Duncan, Jamie, Vee, Alasdair, and I walked onto the Brig o’ Doon, which, from the kingdom side, ended mid-arch in ruins. The others stopped at the very edge of the river. Mist began to form on the surface of the water, becoming as thick as a winter whiteout in seconds. With a rumble, it devoured everything around us. It swirled around our legs, blocking out the ground and swallowing the sounds of the river.
On the far side of Duncan, Alasdair groaned. Searching his face in the fog, I wondered at how much older he looked. Seeming to be in intense pain, Alasdair’s clear, blue eyes shone with joy. “Thank ye, lad,” he said to Duncan. “For bringing me home one last time.”
The old man’s voice bore the evidence of strain as he turned to Vee. “Yer Highness, it’s been a pleasure to fight alongside o’ you. Yer a credit to our kingdom.”
With those words, the suspended man disintegrated into the mist, trapped between worlds no longer. Had Alasdair known that this would happen when he suggested that we breach the borders? Was this the sacrifice he’d been prepared to pay? I clung tightly to Duncan and Vee, praying that this was not the end, but a new beginning.
CHAPTER 47
Veronica
The mist churned in opaque swirls, a sudden wind sweeping Alasdair MacCrae’s remains away as if he’d never existed. I squeezed Jamie’s hand, and then Mackenna’s, as Duncan looped an arm around her shoulders. I didn’t need to hear their voices in my head to know we were all thinking the same thing: Are we next?
Kenna’s gaze met mine as her lips tilted in a tremulous smile. “See you on the other side, bestie.”
I didn’t know if she meant in the modern world or somewhere beyond. My experiences in Doon had proved to me the undeniable existence of a greater being who loved and cared for us. Therefore, I didn’t fear death. But I wasn’t ready. I had so much more living to do—a kingdom to rebuild with the boy I loved, with our family and friends around us. I’d pictured our future children more times than I cared to admit. We’d have twins; a little girl with my coloring and a little boy with soulful brown eyes, dimples, and golden hair. Our daughter would boss him around, but the little prince would take it in stride. My throat constricted at the thought of the life we could’ve had.
But even if this was the end, I took comfort in the hope that since Alasdair was gone, that meant Adelaide Blackmore Cadell had most likely disintegrated into the earth along with the bones of her skellies.
The fog shifted, the breeze stinging my tear-filled eyes. Jamie squeezed my hand as a gust of cool, sweet-smelling wind pushed down on our heads and the mist parted to reveal a wide expanse of blue sky. Releasing my friends, I spun around, staring up at the soft orange glow of the sun’s fiery rays peeking through the clouds. My ears began to buzz, accompanied by a low rumble vibrating in my chest. “Do you hear that?”
Without waiting for the others to reply, I backtracked across the stones, onto the spongy earth of Doon, and whirled around. A cylindrical shadow moved across the ground, then tilted, revealing its wings. I threw my head back, just as the plane flew over and I stumbled forward. In the distance, gleaming white turrets rose into the sky, framed by gray, snow-capped mountains. Just visible on the far side of the bridge a lamppost glowed with electricity. Doon on one side and the modern world on the other—we’d done it!
I turned around to run back to the riverbank and congratulate the others, but froze mid-step. The Witch of Doon stood before me, alive in all her terrifying glory.
A wall of solid indigo vapor fell like a curtain behind her, blocking me from my friends on the bridge and the others on the riverbank. Immediately, I sent out a frantic call to Kenna and Jamie, but received no response.