this?”
“To show you that we can be happy together.” She tilted her head, and her perfectly-shaped lips curled into a serene smile.
The familiar expression hit me in the gut, my own lips longing to respond in kind. Bile rose in my throat. She was not my Veronica.
“The moment you had Sean on his knees at your mercy, and then met my gaze just before you cut his throat, I knew. I knew you were my equal. The one I’ve been searching for my entire immortal existence.” A violet spark ignited deep in her eyes, transforming the clear turquoise into an unnatural lavender-blue.
“A Calling canna be—”
She sprang forward and stopped inches from my face. “Do not speak to me of Callings,” she spat. “They are for the weak-minded who refuse to choose for themselves. Do you really think that yer Calling is valid now that you’ve broken the covenant with your Protector? That your righteous little queen will still want you after what you’ve done?”
I stared at her hard as Veronica’s musical voice dripped words of poison. “Quiet your blasphemy, witch. I willna hear it.”
She leaned back on her haunches and took my lifeless hand in both of hers. “Jamie, you murdered one of your own. Committed the gravest sin of your faith. Do you truly believe you’ll be accepted back as the golden crown prince? The shining specimen of honor and virtue?”
My breath caught and I worked to prevent the impact of her words from showing on my face. A part of me knew she was right, that I could never be the leader I’d been, once confident that others would follow my example.
She moved closer, her thigh pressed against mine, and she reached up to hook a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’ve been fighting your base impulses for a long time, Jamie. I’ve been watching. So much delicious anger rolls just beneath the surface. But I accept you with all your flaws. I embrace them.”
I shook my head and forced my gaze away from her beloved face. “I dinna want your acceptance.” But with every word she spoke, my heart crumbled under the tremendous weight of my guilt. The images of Sean’s brothers and his sweet ma, whom I’d known my entire life, flooded my vision. What would I tell them? How could I explain?
Veronica’s wee hand brushed along my cheek, igniting a tingle across my skin, and I clenched my jaw against my body’s betrayal.
“We could be happy, you and I. We could lead the people into a new era of freedoms and pleasures they’ve never been allowed. We would rule side by side as equals.” Her gaze ran over me from head to toe, her eyes heavy, her lips pursed. “I can be the Veronica you’ve always wished for—uninhibited, compliant, yet powerful. And I can share that power with you.”
I closed my eyes, my only defense when I longed to wrap my hands around her throat. “Get away from me, witch.”
“I can see that you’re hurting. But through every trial and torture, you’ve remained stronger than I believed possible. You’re a god among men, Jamie MacCrae, and for the first time in my life, I know what love feels like.”
Love? Surely she was jesting. Desire, maybe, but she was incapable of love.
Her odd periwinkle eyes glistened in the sunlight and her mouth turned down at the corners, just like Vee’s when she fought back tears. I bit off the words of comfort that rose in my throat.
“This is a lot for you to accept, I realize. I’ll let you get some rest. I shall return on the morrow, my beautiful warrior.” She leaned in, strands of silky, dark hair clinging to her cheeks as she brushed her lips against my forehead, and I had to work hard not to weep like a babe. This was not Veronica. Not my Veronica. But my soul ached for her so desperately that I watched her every movement like a starving man at a banquet as she crawled off the bed and glided across the room.
At the door, she turned back, and her eyes narrowed in a purely Addie expression. “I’ve endured unimaginable loss. Plotted and schemed for centuries in order to gain vengeance and sit on the throne of Doon. I can wait out one strong-willed prince. Inevitably, you will see that you belong to me.” She blew me a kiss and then slipped out. I heard the bolt slide home and her spell fell away, my capacity