stared blindly back at me. I didn’t need to touch him to know he was gone.
“No . . . no . . . no!” I leaned in and positioned my locked hands over his chest. Before I could make the first compression, Ewan jerked me back.
“Stop! The magic could still be in him.”
“I don’t care!” I jerked out of his grasp, but his arms locked around me and he tugged me away. That’s when I noticed the flesh of Oliver’s right arm had turned purple, with bloody blisters cracking open all over his skin.
“Ye canna save him now, Yer Majesty.”
I struggled against the cage of his arms as he dragged me down the dock. “The magic shouldn’t have been able to kill him! He pledged fealty to the true throne and the Protector.”
Ewan stopped, but kept his hold on me. His breath was harsh in my ear as we both stared at our friend’s inert body. Tears welled in my eyes. This was my fault. I’d concocted this whole crazy, impossible scheme. And I’d missed Kenna’s warning. Somehow, she’d known about the deadly force field and tried to tell me in my dreams. “I have to try to help him.”
Slowly, Ewan released me. “Let me try. Tell me what to do.”
“You . . .”
Oliver blinked and sat straight up with a gasp.
“Oliver!”
We both ran to his side, and Ewan caught the dazed man from behind as he fell back with a groan. “That was a rush.” His words were mumbled, but after several tries he focused on my face. “What happened?”
I laughed and swiped the moisture from my eyes. “Just a little run-in with the forces of darkness.”
Oliver tried to stand and collapsed with a grimace. Clearly, he was too weak to continue on with the mission. Ewan and I helped him hobble over to a spot behind a stand of pines. I had to trust that he would be okay when we left him behind, just as I trusted Kenna had come to me for a reason. Zombie hedge! Her words made perfect sense to me now. To get into the castle, we would have to go up.
Quickly, we pulled the small boat onto the bank and removed the ropes, tying them into one long cord, and then found a towering yew close to the second-story balcony. Ewan climbed as high as he dared, secured the rope to a branch, and swung over. I held my breath, bracing for his violent collision with Addie’s force field. But he landed on the terrace without mishap. Maybe Addie only had enough power to cover the lower entrances to the castle. The thought that she couldn’t be everywhere at once gave me hope. Maybe we could do this after all.
Ewan threw the line back and I swung across to join him. After knotting the rope to the balcony rail, we slipped along the shadowed corridors.
The air felt thick, like walking through dense fog, but without the visual impairment. The effect was disconcerting to say the least.
“Do ye feel that?” Ewan whispered as we entered a back servants’ staircase.
“Yes, it’s magic. Dark magic.” I stopped at the bottom of the staircase and raised a hand for Ewan to wait. When I didn’t hear anything beyond the threshold, I peeked into the hallway. Torches illuminated the corridor with flickering violet flames, throwing monstrous shadows against the walls. Living in the castle had always felt a little like Hogwarts to me, but the witch had stripped my home of its epic mystery, and replaced it with harsh, unrelenting despair.
Anger buzzed through me as I lowered my hand and Ewan followed me into the hallway. We’d only made it a few feet when voices floated to us from around the corner. I tensed and yanked an axe from my belt, more than ready to fight. But before I could position the handle for throwing, I was jerked sideways into a darkened alcove. I shot Ewan a glare as he leaned in and murmured, “Axed guards will draw unnecessary attention.”
His words skittered across my brain without registering, adrenaline coursed through my veins, filling me with reckless energy. The voices drew closer and I wrapped my fingers around the handle of my axe. Taking out two of the witch’s minions would mean two less people to protect her. Two less people to do her bidding. And it would send a message that we’d been here. That we’d penetrated the witch’s defenses. My hands shook with need and I