Doon (Doon Novel, A) (15 page)

Because he’s in love with someone else
.

The thought dropped into my mind like a hand grenade without the pin, the reverberations shaking me straight to my toes.

Jamie’s in love with Sofia and thinks I’m some deranged witch’s minion bent on destroying his kingdom
.

I lowered my face into my hands. So why was it when I looked at him, my heart said
Mine
?

“Vee? Sweetie, are you okay?”

I straightened at the sound of Kenna’s voice and wiped the wetness from my cheeks with my palms. “I’m fine.” I tried to smile, but the effort came out as a sob. She wrapped me in a hug, and I buried my face against her shoulder.

“I can see that you’re fine. Just tell me who I need to kill.” Kenna patted my back with enough force to pull me out of my self-centered musings. “I could put some serious hurt on Prince Not-So-Charming if I need to.”

In danger of being crushed, I extricated myself from her not-so-comforting embrace. Smiling for real this time, I shook my head at her, my voice not steady enough yet to explain.

“It’s not a big deal. Jamie can’t help it if I got the wrong idea simply because he showed up in my life.” I shrugged, turning back to look at the lake.

“The wrong idea? Wasn’t he asking you to come to the bridge?”

“Sort of …”

“Well, he obviously wanted you to come here. Why else would he have done the whole, ‘Come ta me, Verranica’ bit?” Kenna’s imitation of Jamie’s accent was so dead-on that I chuckled.

“Maybe he didn’t know he was doing it. Haven’t you ever had a dream that when you woke up, you had no idea where it came from?”

“Like the time I dreamt I was in Greg-the-stage-tech’s bed, naked?”

“Exactly!” I chuckled and wiped the residual tears from under my eyes.

“But as much as I don’t believe in the preordained destiny thing, you have to admit a
Calling
works a little differently than your normal relationship.”

“Yeah, if it’s mutual, but we have no proof Jamie shared my visions.” Kenna opened her mouth to object, but I cut her off. “And even if he did, does that mean he has to pick me just because I somehow pulled him into my head?”

“No. That’s as stupid as picking Sofia just because his mommy liked her.”

“What did you say?” I spun on my friend, whose eyes had become as big as silver dollars.

“Ah, well it’s no biggie.” Kenna turned to lean heavily on the stone wall, avoiding my probing gaze.

“Who told you that?”

“Duncan might have mentioned that—” Kenna sighed and then rushed on. “That their mother favored Sofia.”

And Jamie loves her. Perfect
.

I turned to stare out at the lake, the natural beauty had lost its powers. Sofia being Jamie’s sainted mother’s favorite was just another confirmation that he and I weren’t meant to be together. “What else did Duncan say?”

Before Kenna could answer, Fiona joined us by the battlement wall. “M’ladies, ye are not supposed ta be wandering alone.”

“We’re perfectly fine …” Kenna’s words dropped off as we turned toward Fiona, who tilted her head to the side, gesturing toward the dark outline of a man concealed in the opposite corner of the stone terrace.

“’Tis Gideon,” Fiona stated matter-of-factly.

As the captain of the guard stepped out into the moonlight, I almost didn’t recognize him. Dark purple bruises shadowed his sunken eyes. His normally ruddy complexion appeared pale, almost translucent. “Is something wrong with him?”

“I’m beginning to wonder,” Fiona replied, her brows gathering in concern.

“Well, Gideon can go take a flying leap off a turret! In fact—” Kenna turned toward the skulking shadow.

“Nay, Mackenna.” Fiona’s voice was firm as she grabbed Kenna’s upper arm to stop her. “’Tis clear he is only watching ye. Dinna provoke him.”

Kenna stared angrily at Fiona for a brief moment before her irritation melted from her face and she shrugged. “Sorry, Fiona, I’m just not used to my every move being stalked, and it’s putting me on edge.”

I knew the feeling. It was beginning to see my time in Doon as one big test of patience. Glancing at the shadowy corner, I could no longer see Gideon but knew in my gut he still lingered.

“Gideon has a lot on his mind. We’ve just received reports that black petunias have sprouted around the witches’ cottage.” Fiona wrung her fingers, her eyes darting around the open area of the battlements furtively. The contrast between her current demeanor and her usual ultra-calm manner was a bit disconcerting.

“Didn’t Duncan say nothing has grown there since the witches were destroyed?” I asked.

“Aye. But the black flowers are spreading in waves as if—” She trailed off, swallowing the rest of her words.

“As if what?” Kenna prompted.

“Nothin’ you need to worry about.” A too-bright smile chased away the trepidation on Fiona’s face. “I’ve had the kitchen prepare a tray of hot cocoa and cookies ta be sent to yer rooms. Would ye fancy some girl time?”

I hesitated, debating whether or not to pursue the questions spinning in my head.
Black
flowers growing where nothing has grown for hundreds of years?
As if …
As if the witches were back. As if the witches were us. No wonder Jamie treated me with suspicion; on the surface I looked guilty as sin. I would
have to find a way to prove my innocence, starting tomorrow. Tonight I needed to take a break from the drama that was or wasn’t going on between me and the future ruler of Doon.

Linking arms with my new friend, I said, “Girl time sounds like heaven to me.” Kenna took Fiona’s other arm and we moved toward a doorway to the side of the Great Hall. I had no interest in returning to the festivities to watch Jamie romance half the kingdom, especially not a certain petite Italian.

T
he girl time and hot chocolate didn’t relax me as I’d hoped. Quietly, I slipped from the oversized bed I shared with Kenna and grabbed the enormous green robe she’d left on the chair. Duncan’s suite sometimes made me feel like I was a dwarf co-existing with giants.

Moving into the sitting room, I slipped my arms into the robe and rolled the sleeves up several times. A profound quiet filled the air as I stared into the glowing embers of the banked fire. The peaceful hush was in such discordance with my restless spirit, it filled me with the insane urge to run screaming through the castle. Well, maybe not the crazy-screaming part. But with nothing to wear besides heavy skirts or a nightdress, I couldn’t even go for a run to calm my nerves.

Hoping a bit of reading would do the trick, I found the leather-bound book Fiona had brought me from the library earlier that day;
Doon: An Esteemed Legacy
. I ran my fingers over the embossed letters. The MacCrae family crest—two lions back to back, one with an arrow clamped in its teeth,
the other holding a sword—filled the center of the cover, and written below in looping script:
In Unity There Is Great Power
. Hefting the Bible-sized tome to the window seat, I cracked it open and scanned the table of contents by moonlight.

A Calling. Perfect!

Maybe I could find some clue as to why the visions that’d rocked my entire world had no effect on the one I shared the visions with. Finding the correct page, I leaned forward and drank in every word.

Skimming over the information about those being called to Doon for a vocational purpose, I ran my finger quickly down the paragraphs to a passage that appeared to jump off the page:

If I chose to stay in Doon, would Jamie no longer have a choice? His feelings for Sofia would … what? Simply disappear? Taking a deep breath, I continued to read:

I slammed the book closed, pushed the giant tome away, and shot to my feet. I couldn’t breathe. The room began to shrink around me.

Rushing to the door, I tugged it open just enough to see that the guard on duty was fast asleep. I slipped into the hallway, and pulled the door closed behind me, tiptoeing down the corridor. The flannel robe dragged on the stones and made a subtle
whooshing
noise I prayed was too soft to detect. After rounding the corner, I leaned against the wall and struggled to control my breathing.

I couldn’t think, couldn’t still my mind. So I could choose to stay and accept the Calling, but Jamie could still choose Sofia? If so, I’d be stranded in Doon and bound to Jamie for a lifetime; an aging spinster, living for a brief glimpse of his beautiful face as he swept through the village, his lovely queen at his side. Screw that.

Needing to move, but having no plan of where to go next, I hurried along the circular hallway toward an open window. If I couldn’t get outside, this would have to do. I stood on my toes and leaned on the thick ledge, pulling in a deep breath of the crisp night air. The full moon illuminated a panorama of pristine mountains and forest. The kingdom’s unspoiled beauty quieted my soul. It was truly a marvel.

“I wouldna jump if I were you.”

With a squeak, my heart accelerated like a stampede of
wild horses as I spun around to find Jamie leaning on the wall directly behind me. His arms were crossed in front of his broad chest, one knee bent, his booted foot propped on the rough stones behind him. The bored look on his face made it appear as if he’d been standing there for hours.

“I wasn’t planning to, Your Highness.” Sarcasm seemed to be my best defense. I needed to keep him at a distance until I could work through my jumbled feelings.

Jamie answered with a disdainful smile and pushed himself off the wall. Arms still crossed, he moved to stand in front of me, stopping so close I had to tilt my head back to see his face.

“What are ye doing out of bed?”

“Why are you such a close talker?”

“Pardon?” He narrowed his eyes and took another step forward. “I asked why yer out of bed?”

“I … ah.” My sarcasm shield dissolved on the spot. I gulped down the nervousness his nearness brought out in me and summoned the image of him gliding across the dance floor with Sofia in his arms. I cocked my head to one side and continued in a calm voice, “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to get some air. Is that a crime?”

Turning my back on him, I moved back to lean against the windowsill.

The opening was wide, but when he leaned down next to me, resting his forearms on the ledge, our shoulders touched. His heat reached me through the thick fabric of the robe, causing my nerve endings to tingle, but I couldn’t move away. I glanced at his left ear where he’d taken a club to the head for me the day before, but there was no sign of the injury beneath the golden layers of hair. I jerked my gaze away; no way would I ask him about that again.

After several seconds of silence, my attention shifted from
the moon-washed landscape to his large, well-formed hands as he played with a ring on his right index finger. The thick gold band had an intricately carved lion head in the center, its onyx eyes glinting in the moonlight.

As if there’d been no break in the conversation, Jamie said, “Of course being out of bed is no’ a crime. As long as you dinna leave the tower.”

I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what he could do with his tower when he said, “Why can’t ye sleep?” His voice sounded strained, as if it took a herculean effort for him to form a polite question.

Choosing to accept his peace offering, I answered truthfully, “I feel antsy.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his head angle in my direction.

“What do ye mean by antsy?”

I glanced at Jamie, and turned back to the view so I could think rationally. “You know, restless. I’m used to physical activity, which I haven’t gotten much of since we’ve been here.”

“Aye. That I can understand.” I got the feeling he could relate to more than just the physical nature of my restlessness. “We’ve been cooped up in meetings to plan the Gathering and the Centennial for weeks.” He cleared his throat. “Speaking of the Gathering—the committee was wondering if you or your friend have anythin’ that would be of benefit to examine. Such as inventions, devices, or footwear.”

“They want to see my shoes?” I stared at his profile, the strong nose and the high slope of his cheekbone shaded by dark gold stubble.

“You can tell a lot about a civilization by the construction of their garments.” He turned and met my stare, coffee-colored eyes raking over my face. “But anything ye brought with you from the mortal world would be helpful.”

“Okay … I did bring a cell phone, and—” I choked on my next words, my stomach jumping into my throat. I’d been about to tell him about Gracie’s journal, but something—some instinctive warning—stopped me.

“Are you all right?”

Gasping for breath, I muttered, “Yes” and looked away from his searching eyes. I’d finished reading the journal, so what was my deal? I had no good reason for keeping it a secret. All I knew was I needed to keep it to myself for the time being.

“What is a cell phone?”

Grateful for the change of subject, I said, “Oh, it’s a tiny communication device. But the battery—” His brows drew together over his nose. “I mean, the energy source died, so it doesn’t work.”

“I would love to take a look at this cell phone. It seems we will learn much through this Gathering.”

We both turned back to the view, a sudden silence stretched between us and I became very aware of his large body so close to mine.

Abruptly, Jamie stood up, and I turned to see him drag his fingers through his gold hair. As he lowered his hand, his bangs fell over his forehead, softening the strong angles of his face. In that moment he looked exactly like the boy I’d first seen in the parking lot.

“Why are ye smiling, lass?” I hadn’t realized my lips were curved until he spoke. Jamie smiled back, looking sheepish.

“Ah … nothing.” The smile dropped from my face. I wasn’t ready to have that conversation yet.

His eyes narrowed, and a muscle began to flex in his jaw. Clearly, something was on his mind, but I was oddly content to drink in the sight of him as he worked it out. What was it about this boy that I couldn’t resist? It was more than his appearance.
The pull felt natural, like gravity or thirst—an inevitable force drawing me toward him. A force I needed to find the strength to fight … or did I?

“Shall we plan to get some exercise on the morrow?” Jamie asked, his dark eyes lighting up with boyish excitement. “We could take a hike to Muir Lea and then have a bit of archery practice?”

Finding my knees unexpectedly weak, I was grateful for the steady wall behind my back. Was Jamie MacCrae asking me on a date? Should I say no? Ask him what Sophia would think? Or maybe I needed to see this thing through, get to know him as a person, find out if he’d been envisioning me too. How could it hurt to spend a single afternoon with him?

Pushing off the wall, the question that popped out of my mouth surprised even me. “I thought you believed me to be in league with the witch.”

He arched a brow and considered for a moment before answering. “That remains to be seen.”

“But aren’t you afraid to be alone with me?” My pulse accelerated as he moved closer again, his eyes traveling from my bare toes up my body and finally resting on my face.

His lips slid into a slow grin. “Not in the way ye might think.”

Unwilling to analyze what he meant by that, I focused on answering his original question. “Okay, I’ll go. Sounds like fun.” I shrugged, trying to appear calm even though my pulse accelered with every heartbeat.

“Excellent.” He took a step closer, his eyes never leaving mine. I crossed my arms in front of my chest. Feeling the voluminous folds of fabric under my arms reminded me that I must look like a drowning rat in the huge robe. Jamie stopped so
close I could smell the warm sweetness of his breath. “After chapel, then?”

I nodded, my eyes wandering to the adorable dimple in the center of his scruffy chin.

“Verranica?” I jerked slightly, wondering how the sound of my name on his lips could rock me every single time. Raising my eyes to his, the intensity of his stare took me by surprise. “Is that my brother’s robe yer wearing?”

“Uh-huh,” I answered distractedly as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The gentle touch of his fingers sent a wave of something like magma all the way to my core. Quickly, he jerked his hand away from my face and clenched his fingers into a tight fist. A vein pulsed in his throat, but his expression had gone stony again.

“See that Fiona gets you your own.” And with that parting order, he was gone.

Even as the echo of his footsteps faded, I questioned the sanity of agreeing to go anywhere with this boy. His presence lingered in my blood like a drug, making my head spin. What would a whole afternoon spent with him do to me? I took a deep, steadying breath. Regardless, I had to find out if he was the reason I was here. And more importantly, if he wanted me to stay.