wore your body. Spoke wi’ your voice. But when our lips met, I knew . . . She begged me to join her, ta rule by her side. And for a fraction of a second, I considered it—if only to gain her trust and infiltrate her confidence. But I knew I didna dare.”
I rubbed my chilled arms and then dipped them into the heated water, emotions battling for control inside of me—rage, jealousy, fear, and sorrow. The witch had taken my form and touched Jamie. Kissed him. Tried to seduce him to her side, and she’d almost succeeded.
Jamie let out a deep sigh. “Ye should know, she imagines herself in love wi’ me.”
I clasped my hands and stared at their wavering image beneath the water. “That much I know.”
“How?”
“In my dreams, she’s claimed you as her own. But I think it’s less about love and more about destroying me. Ever since I thwarted her plan with the journal and outwitted her by using the ring to save you and take the throne, she’s seen me as her greatest obstacle.”
I paused and after a moment raised my eyes to his beloved face. “When I believed you dead, it almost killed me. There were moments I knew I wouldn’t survive without you. Eventually, I found my strength in the Protector and decided to honor you by becoming the queen you always knew I could be. But if she stole your heart from me . . .” I shook my head, the thought filling my eyes with tears. “I fear she’ll come for you before the battle.”
He clasped both my hands, his face set in hard lines. “I’ll die before I let her take me again.”
Our gazes locked, steam rising between us in swirls that reminded me of the time he’d appeared to me in Aunt Gracie’s cottage, the mist stealing him away across the Brig o’ Doon. This time, he wasn’t going anywhere. I wouldn’t let him. I moved closer, so that our knees intertwined. “Jamie, do you really believe that after all we’ve been through, I would abandon our Calling? That I would abandon you?”
“Vee, I dinna deserve to be by your side. I was tested and I failed. How can I lead Doon when I’ve committed the gravest sin of our faith? If the people knew, they would never trust me. Never follow me.”
The tears flooding his eyes shattered my heart. And I knew Sofia was right; Addie had done her best to destroy Jamie’s confidence and pull us apart. But her plan would fail. There was no way I was letting him go without a fight.
I squeezed his hands and forced him to look at me. “Jamie, that’s the witch talking. Everyone falls sometimes. If anything, that makes you more qualified to lead. If you didn’t care, that would be different. But your remorse wipes the slate clean. I forgive you and the Protector has not abandoned you. He rescued you! Brought you back to me.” I clutched his hands tight. “If you let that one mistake stop you from achieving your destiny, then you’ve let Addie win. Doon needs you . . . I need you!”
His eyes searched my face, tears spiking his lashes. As quick as a blink, he grabbed me and pulled me to his chest. I threw my arms around him and held him with all my strength. “I’m sorry, Vee. I’m so verra sorry.”
“You said I had to make a choice.” I leaned back and took his face in my hands. “I choose you. I choose our Calling. I will always choose you.” I kissed his mouth and lowered my hands.
A slow smile spread across his face as he tucked a wet strand of hair behind my ear. “We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.”
“I know that quote. Sir Francis Bacon, right?”
“Aye. Marry me, Verranica. Tonight! Before the moon rises.”
With deliberation, he unleashed the dazzling, full-dimpled grin that stole my breath. He wasn’t quite the churro-eating, ball cap-wearing guy I longed to see—we still had a battle to win, after all—but his smile told me his heart was lighter and he was on his way to becoming the confident boy-king I’d fallen head over heels in love with.
He looped an arm around my waist, and the buoyancy of the water did the work for him as he tugged me onto his lap. His lips brushed my neck, then moved to my jaw, his fingers