before. Forcing out my fear, I plunged the weapon toward the Vee-Addie thing’s heart. And she disappeared, my blade slicing harmlessly into the damp earth.
My gut clenched and I rammed my fist into the mud. What a blasted idiot! How had I let her fool me again? As I rose up, a tickle of purple smoke drifted past my ear. “Aww . . . ye do miss me.”
I spun around and sprang to my feet, yelling as I moved. “Vee, get back inside the shield!”
Unwittingly, we’d stepped just outside of the ring’s protection in our eagerness to get to Gideon and the fake wounded soldier. Veronica turned and fled, and it only took two steps for her to make it back inside. Wicked laughter buzzed around my head as I helped Doc Benoir drag Gideon’s body back to safety.
The witch was playing with me. Quite literally, getting inside my head, trying to steal my joy. Now she knew about the handfasting and that I was bound to Veronica for eternity—a fact that would surely inflame her wrath. And worse, she knew the Destined army assembled on the other side of the bridge. We had lost the element of surprise, our strongest advantage.
Inside the safety of the bubble, my head clear of Adelaide’s taunts, I knelt beside Gideon and checked his pulse, but Doc Benoir was already shaking his head. Fergus ran to join us and dropped to his knees with a gasp. He’d become Gideon’s apprentice at the tender age of ten, and had told me many times the man was like a father to him. With a quiet sob, Fergus closed his mentor’s eyes for the last time. Vee knelt beside him and held his hand.
Reverend Guthrie spoke a quick prayer for the commander’s soul as tears streamed down Fergus’ ruddy cheeks. I felt his pain. As a lad, Gideon had been my hero—and today, despite my doubts about him in the last months, he’d proved worthy of the title. He’d died to save the queen’s life, and in turn, mine.
Grasping Fergus’s trembling shoulder, I whispered the only words of comfort I could. “He died with honor, my friend.”
I stood and helped Veronica to her feet, my mind turning to Gideon’s last warning. “Ye need to reach Mackenna through your Calling. Tell them no’ to cross until we can hold off the army.”
She swiped tears from her cheeks and nodded. “Our connection is shaky at best . . . I don’t know if it will work.”
“Try, love. Use your emotion—your fear for our people, your anger at the witch.”
She searched my face and then closed her eyes. People surged all around us. Men arrived and helped Fergus carry away Gideon’s body. The doc and Reverend Guthrie left to attend to their various duties, and finally, Vee opened her eyes.
“I can’t reach her,” she squeaked. “It’s like she’s just on the other side of a curtain—I can hear her, but she can’t hear me.”
A hand clamped onto my shoulder. I turned to find old Alasdair. “Hold her hands, lad. Her connection with Mackenna is fading now that ye’ve committed your souls to one another.”
Vee’s eyes appeared to take up half her face as I took her hands. “How do we—”
“Just do what ye were doin’, Veronica,” Alasdair instructed. “Jamie, lend her your strength.”
Vee closed her eyes and I held tight to her hands, doing the same. With all my will, I projected power into her and suddenly I could hear Vee’s voice in my head. “Ken, don’t cross the bridge yet. The skellies are on their way. It’s an ambush. Kenna, can you hear me? It’s a trap!”
CHAPTER 35
Mackenna
Birds.”
Duncan raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“Yep. I’m getting birds . . . and sunshine.” I shrugged. “Like a Disney princess montage. That’s it.”
My boyfriend and I stood in the middle of the newly restored bridge just after sundown. Doonians and Destined, packed and armed to the teeth, waited restlessly on the riverbank for me and my best friend to open the portal. “Let me try again.”
Crouching Tiger to Hidden Dragon—Come in, Hidden Dragon. I shook my head to indicate the Calling still wasn’t working. Hidden Dragon, if you can hear me, we’re at the bridge. Waiting for your cue.
I closed my eyes and held my breath as Vee flickered like a hologram and then materialized with Jamie at her side. What’s he doing here?
Um, that’s a long story. She blushed. The three of us were standing on the Brig