a mindless dimwit had not escaped me. Before I could brace, Sean MacNally’s fist slammed into my already massacred ribs like a hammer, pushing the air from my lungs and stealing my vision.
Saints! I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to stay alert. Rosetti . . . MacPhee . . . Fairshaw. Blacking-out was not an option. The last time I’d lost consciousness, I’d awoken as a knife sliced open my chest. That was when the true torment began.
“Good Lord, MacCrae, would it kill ye to show a bit o’ weakness,” Sean hissed in my ear before he rammed the butt of his knife in the precise spot where he’d just fractured my rib. My knees buckled as the bone broke loose, ripping a path of fire through my insides. Slowly, the pain fanned out, less sharp but no less horrendous, and I became aware of the shackles ripping the flesh from my wrists as they bore my weight.
I sank lower and lower until I floated weightless, swallowed by warmth. The agony abated, and I opened my eyes to aqua blue, sunlight shimmering through translucent waters. Just like the postcard of the Caribbean Sea Veronica had shown me. Weightless, I moved my arms through the silken texture and spun in a circle to find her there, floating, eyes shining brighter than the turquoise surrounding us, her dark hair fanned around her face in mermaid-like waves. Then she smiled; that beautiful smile that had the power to ignite my soul. She reached out. My arms moved with excruciating slowness as red drops descended like rain. Faster and faster, their crimson spread through the blue. I kicked forward and yelled her name, water flooding my lungs.
With a gasp, my eyes popped open and I choked as icy liquid cascaded over my head and into my mouth. The loss of her felt like a tiny death. But she still lived and I would keep fighting. For her.
“I’m awake, blast it!” I regained my feet and shook my soaked hair, droplets of water and blood flying.
“So he does speak.” Sean dropped the bucket with a plunk.
“There’s a difference between speakin’ and cryin’, MacNally, as ye’ll do well to remember when I get my hands on ye.” For days, I’d kept my silence, afraid if I made a peep I may never stop screaming.
Sean’s beady eyes narrowed, his mouth taking on a cruel set that should’ve had me shaking. The man had caused me more suffering in the last days than a body should experience over a lifetime. He stalked forward, grasped my shoulder in one hand and my arm in the other, and wrenched them in opposite directions, effectively tearing the ligament around my collarbone. I let the pain drive me. Leaning into his face, I growled, “I will kill you.”
“Now, now, my sweet prince, Sean is only followin’ orders.”
Relief washed through me at the sound of the witch’s voice. And I hated myself for it. Hated my weakness. The part of me that knew she brought respite, however brief, and craved her presence.
Sean pushed a single finger against the arm hanging limp in the shackles above my head and laughed. I swallowed a groan as black closed in on me again. Inhaling as deeply as my busted rib would allow, my head began to clear. I could not let my guard down now.
“That will be all, Sean darlin’.” Addie caressed Sean’s bearded face and gazed into his bloodshot eyes. He reached for her waist, but she stepped back. “Not yet, young man. But ye’ve earned a meal and a rest. Run along.” She flicked her fingers toward the door and turned, her violet gaze raking over me. “It’s my turn to play.”
Sean marched out the door and shut it behind him. Clearly, he was under her spell, but his hatred for me was real, which served to fuel the witch’s evil inside him and likely strengthened her hold on his mind.
Addie slinked toward me and my heart accelerated. She seemed to want to take her centuries-old grudge against Doon out on me personally, as if hurting me could bring back her mother and sisters, or her perceived claim to the throne through the affections of King Angus. Underestimating her would be a grave mistake.
And yet, with every step she took, my anticipation grew for the magic that would mend my bones and flesh, and take away the agony of the injuries clawing through me with unbearable intensity. Muscles trembling, I closed