The ring sparked and I focused every ounce of power left in my being at the invisible barrier in front of me. Crimson waves shot down my arms and legs and then exploded from the ring, hitting the door like a bazooka. Addie’s spell disintegrated in a burst of violet embers, and the door flew off its hinges and slammed against the wall.
“Holy Saints!” Ewan’s arm tightened around my waist, but as I lowered my arm, I pulled away from his grip, realizing my full strength had returned.
“We need to hurry. Someone may have heard that.” Feeling like I could lift a car with my bare hands, I strode into the vault.
The elixir was mine, and this dragon was about to swallow a witch whole.
CHAPTER 16
Jamie
The moon had set and the sun was yet to rise, but I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, my dreams were haunted with nightmarish images of Veronica, pale and frozen like a cursed princess from a fairy tale. Danger hovered all around her with fangs and horns and bloody claws.
There is nowhere you can go, nothin’ that can keep us from finding our way back to each other.
It was a vow I intended to keep.
By the flame of a single lantern, I lowered a sliver of wood toward the lock in my ankle cuff. I’d already snapped a dozen shards, but this one was sturdier than the rest. With my elbow propped on the inside of my knee, I inserted the narrow end into the hole and carefully felt around for the lever that would release the latch. I closed my eyes, felt the pressure and slight give of the mechanism as a trail of sweat trickled down the side of my face.
Gideon had managed to have the magical shield removed from my bed, and replaced by an ankle cuff. When he’d suggested to Adelaide that the only other option was a nappy, the witch had readily agreed to give me more mobility. The chain, attached to a support beam, only allowed me to reach the loo and the bed. I couldn’t even glance out the window. And as far as I knew, Adelaide possessed the only key.
Life with the thing that spoke like Adelaide and looked like Veronica had become unbearable. Every visit, her voice, her touch, her face assaulted my sense of reality, defiling my memories. Even worse than when Sean broke my bones and starved me. At least then I could escape inside my head to my safe place—to Veronica. The witch had stripped me of that comfort. Every time she entered the room, my soul lifted at the sight of Vee’s beloved face, and then crumpled like a dry leaf in the witch’s fist as she opened her mouth. If I didn’t get away from her soon, my sanity would break.
Crack.
“Blasted saints of Midar’s army!” I slammed the splintered stick onto the coverlet.
After permitting myself a moment of anger, I stood and gathered the slivers of wood, then dropped to my hands and knees. Peering under the bed, I tucked the fragments between the mattress and bedrail with the rest of my failed lock-picking attempts. But as I reached under to dig out another sliver, I paused. Sturdy wooden slats, as wide as my palm, were nailed at even intervals beneath the mattress. I lowered to my back, the stone icy-cold through the thin cotton of my shirt, and wiggled into the tight space underneath the bed.
The middle slat bowed with the weight of the bedding, the nails worked partially out. I gave the board three good whacks with my palm and the right side came free with a shattering pop. Dust and bits of straw rained down, settling in my throat. I coughed as I gripped the other end of the plank and broke it loose.
Yanking one of the nails from the board, I pushed it into the keyhole on my manacle, but it was too large to fit through the narrow opening.
Nail-studded slat in hand, I crawled back out and dusted myself off. Then I tucked back under the covers, hiding my makeshift weapon at my side. The next time the Addie-Vee thing entered my room, I would do whatever it took to escape.
Just as I drifted off to sleep, footsteps sounded outside my door. The witch had already made her evening visit, and although she didn’t make a habit of returning in the dead of night, I clutched my makeshift weapon tight. I thought about