sake of my kingdom if necessary. But Mother never told me what to do when I made the wrong choice. When it was too late to reverse what you’d already done.
A soft click sounded and I arched up, facing the door as it slowly swung open. Addie never entered a room with caution. Perhaps it was a servant bringing food, one I could coerce to help me. A dark-haired girl peeked into the room—a girl whose face was imprinted on my very soul. It couldn’t be. My muscles froze as the name tore from my throat: “Verranica?”
She shut the door behind her and threw the lock. A plain, black cloak covered her from neck to feet, but could not disguise the innate grace of her movements, the familiar tilt of her head as she allowed her eyes to adjust to the gloom. “Jamie?”
My heart pounded with such force, it muffled my reply. “Aye, Vee. I’m here!”
She stepped forward, searching. Her eyes were wide with fear, but the line of her jaw remained set in determination. “Jamie?”
Could she not see me behind Addie’s magic? She stumbled over to the window and threw the curtains wide. I raised my arm against the onslaught of light, but when she turned back, she looked right past me. “Use the ring. I’m behind a spell, right in front of you.”
She raised her hand and a flash blinded my already sensitive eyes. Before I could recover, I felt her slight weight on the bed, her thin arms around my neck. “I found you. I found you . . . They told me you were dead, but I refused to believe it.”
For one delicious moment, I allowed myself to hold her. I ran my hand down the silky length of her hair and pressed the soft skin of her cheek to my neck. I breathed in deep. But her usual sweet scent of honeyed berries was absent. Perhaps the cold air and days camping in the wild had masked it.
Gripping her arms, I pulled back so I could see her face. Saints, she was even more beautiful than I’d remembered. “I could hold ye forever, but we need to go. Who did ye bring with you?”
She gave one slow blink, her eyes shifting away and then back. “No one. But we’ll be fine for now. The door’s locked. I just need to touch you.” She reached her palm to cup my face.
But the weight of what I’d done made me turn away. I didn’t deserve the worshipful look in her eyes. If I told her the truth, would she still look at me the same way? Or would she rear back in fear and disgust?
“What is it, babe?” Her thumb moved in slow circles against the stubble on my jaw. “Everything will be all right now that we’re together.”
“No.” I moved away, her normally soothing touch grating against my raw hurt. “Nothin’ will ever be the same. I’m not who you thought I was . . . not who I thought I was.” My throat tightened as I stared at my hands, the hands that had wrapped the chain around Sean’s neck. The hands that had pulled the blade from my own side. The bloody hands that had held his head and slit his throat. And I didn’t think I could ever touch her again.
Gently, she lifted my chin, forcing me to return her steady blue gaze. “I don’t care what you’ve done. You are my perfect match.”
Lost in the deep, crystal pools of her eyes, my guilt began to ease and I could breathe again. She rose up onto her knees and leaned toward me, her stare fastened on my mouth, her face filled with longing. A fierce need awakened within me. This is what I needed—to lose myself in her, in us. I rose to meet her, grabbed the back of her head, and captured her lips with mine.
And almost gagged.
I jerked back, my head slamming against the wall with the force of my retreat. “What in all that’s holy?” My chest heaved up and down. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, trying desperately to clear my vision. “You’re no’ Verranica.”
“Please, don’t be afraid.” She lifted her palm to me. Veronica’s delicate palm.
I tried to get away, but I could no longer move a muscle, frozen by magic from the neck down. That’s when I knew the girl wearing Veronica’s exquisite face was really the Witch of Doon. “Why?” I sputtered. “Why have ye done