magic potion from a fairy tale, and part of me wanted to forget I’d even asked. But something deep inside, that might have been intuition, pushed me on. “If it’s still there, do you think it would be strong enough to impact Addie’s evil?”
“ ’Tis blessed by God, so aye. But—”
Lachlan finished for him. “It’s inside the castle.”
“The castle’s surrounded by Addie’s bewitched guards,” Fergus unnecessarily reminded me.
I shot him a glare and then turned to the boys who were less jaded. If this thing existed, I had to get my hands on it. “There has to be a way in . . . through the catacombs or the dungeon entrance.”
“She would have all of those entrances well-guarded, lass.” Fergus’s face flushed and he clamped his hands behind his back. “I mean . . . um . . . Yer Majesty. And I dinna know for certain the elixir is still there.”
Calum walked over and joined in, his hazel eyes shrewd. “But if it were, it would certainly hold the power to do what you wish.”
Fergus, Calum, Lachlan, and Fabrizio began to debate the probabilities, their voices growing louder as they talked over one another. But I wasn’t listening. Hope burned inside my chest, stealing my breath with its intensity. Could the means to defeat the witch have been under our noses all along? It almost seemed too good to be true.
“I know a way.” Ewan, who’d been oddly silent up to this point, spoke with quiet conviction. When his words failed to reach the others, he hopped up onto the log. “I know a way!”
His voice finally cut through the argument, and all our eyes focused on the fearless farm boy whose gaze fizzed with excitement. “It’s risky, and probably a long shot, but I can get us into the castle.”
CHAPTER 8
Jamie
Time had lost all meaning. With no way to track the sun, the seconds scraped by with every agonizing throb of my pulse. I focused on the single source of light, a sputtering torch just outside the bars of my cell, and assessed my injuries. At least three fingers on my right hand were fractured, both eyes had swollen to slits, my ribs on the left side pierced my insides with every breath—likely broken again—and the rest of me ached with bone-deep bruises. But worst of all, the brands on my chest and bicep failed to heal, the constant burn a painful reminder of the witch’s power over me.
After multiple refusals to cooperate, the witch had me removed from the relative comfort of the antechamber to a freezing cell in the bowels of the castle, where Sean visited frequently but Adelaide did not. A part of me wished to hear the click of her heels on the dusty flagstones. Longed for the respite that only she could provide.
I could not give in to those base instincts, that weakened part of myself that begged for a second of relief. Or the logical side that reasoned; if only I could give her what she wanted and earn her trust, she would heal my pain and return my strength. Then I could defeat her. In truth, there were no circumstances in which I would beg that demon-woman to liberate me.
I pushed up on the vermin-ridden hay pallet with a groan, the clatter of the chains attached to my wrists clanging in my already throbbing skull. Every movement took great effort. I leaned my head back, the icy stones helping to lessen the ache. I despised weakness. Could never understand people who chose the easier, more comfortable path. Now, after only a few days, I was as weak as a child, all of my preparation and training useless.
Carefully, I lifted a hand to the filthy strands of my hair. I’d told Vee that I’d cut it for battle. What a joke. Judging by the severity of Adelaide’s supernatural quake, hundreds of Doonians must be dead, hundreds more pledged to serve Her Evilness. This wasn’t a battle, it was a massacre.
I had to find a way to escape, find the survivors and my queen.
My lips curved and I held tight to the image of Veronica’s face. A tilt of her lips, the arch of a dark brow, and my world slipped off its axis. How had I ever doubted the validity of our Calling? The Protector’s ultimate gift. Veronica was the sun breaking through my dark sky.
These last torturous days, that light had fed and sustained me, but the night had begun to