my eyes against her, drawing on the vision of Veronica’s face. Her smile.
The witch stopped so close, I could feel her breath on my neck. “I know . . .” Fingers trailed down my cheekbone to brush against my lips. “I know you want what I can give you, James. I feel you shaking. But first, tell me . . . Gideon just completed an extensive search of the catacombs, and they’re clear. Tell me where she is. Where are your people hiding?”
“I’ve told ye. I dinna know. Your men caught me before I could find them myself.”
She pressed close, and the heat of her body against my damp skin made me shudder. “But you must have some ideas. Hmm?”
When I was silent, she walked her fingers along my chest, up to my injured shoulder. The heat of her magic penetrated muscle and bone, her painted nails digging into my flesh. I clamped my teeth together to keep from sighing in relief as the ligaments and bones snapped back into place.
“I have more where that came from, young prince.” She took a step back and smoothed her hands down the silk hugging her hips. At first glance she was beautiful, but all one had to do was look beyond the surface to see her true nature—the evil lurking beneath the façade. I knew her plan, had figured it out the first day Sean had beat me senseless and she’d then healed me with her sick, sweet words and a wave of her hand. She couldn’t enthrall me like the rest because I’d already pledged to the true queen, but she could condition me; break me down and then build me up until I became her slave.
Much like I’d trained Veronica’s pup with a sharp word and the reward of a bit of bacon, the witch had me salivating for what she could provide. But I was no dog. I would accept her healing, if only to stay alive, and then I would turn on her with a vengeance.
Addie must have seen the set of my jaw or the renewed determination in my eyes, because she ran her fingers down my bare chest. “If it’s possible, I think ye are even more attractive beaten down as ye are now. All covered in blood and sweat.”
Her touch left a trail of fire, scorching my flesh. I hissed through my teeth and stared at the arched beams above her head, reigning in my reaction. I refused to give her the satisfaction, but the trick of reciting Doonian names was of no help. The burning continued in loops and swirls across my left pectoral muscle as the witch muttered under her breath.
Exhaling the stench of my melting flesh, I lowered my gaze to the corner of the antechamber where I’d kissed Veronica for the last time, right after I’d given her the ribbons for our handfasting. It was a moment I’d relived over and over again in this room to push out my new reality, but as much as it grieved me, the memory had lost its sharpness, becoming fuzzy around the edges like a dream I’d invented in my head.
“There, all finished.” Addie lifted her hand from my smoldering chest and brushed her palms together in satisfaction. “Take a look at my masterpiece, young James.”
When I leveled my gaze on the witch’s face, her smile resembled that blasted fictional cat from one of my brother’s books—wide and satisfied. Shutting out all emotion, I met her eyes, but did not look at her handiwork on my chest.
“I do so enjoy the strong, stolid Jamie, but I need the carefree young man to appreciate my art.” She waved her hand and the scalding pain faded to a residual sting. “I have more healin’ where tha’ came from, and I’ll remove your shackles and perhaps give ye a real bed for the night. All I ask is that ye look.”
At the mention of healing, all my wounds throbbed in a symphony of agony. My legs buckled and the metal cuffs cut into my lacerated wrists. An end to the torment and a good night’s sleep was more than I could resist. Regaining my feet, I glanced down at my chest to find a snake swallowing its own tail branded into my skin. An ouroboros. The serpent in a perpetual circle had been a symbol for witchery in Doon for generations.
Anger erupted from my core, pure and hot. I could not endure having her evil mark upon