Forever Doon (19 page)

O
ne of the songs on Veronica's tiny music box claimed that the best love is insane. As I watched Veronica hike up the mountain beside Ewan Murray, laughing at his jokes, letting him touch her, and help her over muddy patches of earth, I had to agree. Waves of heat pulsed across my skin and I had to keep rolling my neck to loosen the knot between my shoulder blades.

It didn't help that it was my own blasted fault. When we'd first set off, she'd walked by my side, but then she'd begun to probe into my time as Addie's captive and I'd dismissed her, saying we needed to focus on finding our people. Now I walked alone.

Melting rivers of snow and mud made the crag treacherous, so Duncan and I were switching off taking point. We'd all agreed it was best to only use the rings' guidance when absolutely necessary, since their light could attract unwanted attention. Currently, I was guarding our flank, which put me in perfect view of everyone in our small party.

Directly behind Duncan, Alasdair MacCrae hiked the trail like a mountain goat despite being centuries old. Still unsure if we could trust him, we'd surmised it was better to keep him in our sights. Next, Kenna kept pace with surprising endurance and minimal complaints, but Duncan didn't acknowledge her presence except for a brusque order now and then. Their interactions had been thus since their return home. I had a good notion why, and if my suspicions proved true, intended to speak to my brother of his folly.

Eòran trudged on in forced silence. The man had stepped directly back into his role as the leader of Vee's personal guard and since our confrontation at the bridge, spent most of his time watching me. And maybe he was right to. Since my escape from the castle something dark and volatile simmered just below the surface, begging for release.

Murray had been invited along to help old Alasdair, which turned out to be unnecessary, and left the farm boy plenty of time to assist the ladies. Or one lady in particular.

Vee's boots began to slip on loose pebbles. I lurched forward and reached out, but Ewan got there first, wrapping an arm around her waist and then trotting her to the side in a little jig. Her soft laughter floated back to me and I drank it up like ambrosia.

A pain shot into my left eye and I forced my jaw to unclench. I used to make her laugh like that. But now, I felt wrong, different, like I'd never be the person I was before my capture—that confident bloke who had been sure every decision he made was indisputably right. If truth be told, humility had not been one of my virtues. But that was before I'd thought and done things I could never escape—horrendous things. My fortitude had been tested and I'd failed.

I dropped my hand to my side, realizing I'd been rubbing
the witch's brand burned into my skin. What would Vee think when she saw it? She would grieve to be sure, but would she secretly hate me for not being strong enough or smart enough to find a way out sooner?

“Jamie!” Sharp knuckles cuffed my shoulder and on reflex I spun and punched my attacker square in the chest. Not expecting it, Duncan stumbled back, his feet sliding back through the mud before I caught him by the arm.

Once he'd regained his balance, I released him and ran a hand over my eyes. “Apologies,
mo bráthair
. I'm a wee bit edgy.”

Duncan stared at me hard as he rubbed his chest. “A wee bit? What on earth is wrong with ye? I said your name three times.”

Choosing not to answer, I watched as the girls stopped up ahead and linked hands.

“There's a huge fissure cuttin' the path in two,” Duncan explained. “We need to find an alternate route.”

The rings ignited and golden light shot up and to the east. Shielding my eyes from the late afternoon sun, I followed the ring's sparkling ray through a dense patch of forest, to a field of boulders that ended in an almost vertical cliff face. The trail had been steep in places, but this would require a whole new level of skill. “Isna Gilgog's Face just beyond that ridge?” I pointed northeast.

Duncan moved to my left to get a better angle. “Aye, it appears so.”

“Armpit's Cave,” we said at the same time as we exchanged a grin.

We'd discovered Oxter's Cave as boys. Narrow at its mouth, it opened into a domed cavern dripping with thin stalactites that Duncan and I had thought resembled underarm hair—thus the nickname.

“Verranica,” I called. “Tha's enough.” The girls disengaged the rings and the glittering beam winked out.

Duncan and I trekked into the forest and scouted until we found the trampled grass and broken brush of a narrow deer trail. It wasn't ideal, but it would make the going a bit easier for the others. “I'll take point for this leg. Ye should speak to Mackenna.”

My brother spun around, crossing his arms and widening his stance in the classic MacCrae defensive posture.

I ignored it and pressed on. “I'm no' blind, ye know. Ye're pushing her away because you're afraid of losing her.”
Like you thought you lost me.
I didn't say the last bit, but I didn't need to.

Duncan's eyes narrowed and his mouth pressed into a flat line, telling me I'd read him accurately. “Why don't ye mind your own affairs?”

“Dinna look so costive.” I gripped him by the shoulder, giving him a little push back toward the main trail. He walked ahead. “What ye feel for each other is no' a vulnerability if ye use it to your advantage.”

“Ye dinna understand.” He wacked at a low branch with his dirk, cutting it out of his path. “She's more concerned for my welfare than her own. She's impulsive and reckless. In battle, tha's a liability for us both.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes to the heavens, glad he couldn't see me. “And how do ye think you'd react if ye saw her get cut down? Would ye continue to fight or drop everythin' and go to her?”

His silence gave me the only answer I needed.

“In unity there is great power.” I spoke the motto that accompanied the Doon coat of arms, as I'd done in different situations throughout my life. This time the words cut into my own pain, making me question some of my recent decisions.

Not far from the main trail, Duncan spun to face me. “Ye mean fight wi' her back to back? Keep her close?”

“Aye.”

“But if I do that . . .” He stared past me and scratched his brow. “I canna see her.”

“Ye canna see me either, when we fight.”

“But I trust that ye can take care of yourself. And me, should it come to that.”

I was already nodding. “Exactly. Ye've trained the girl, ye love her, now trust her.”

My brother's eyes shifted down and he ran his mud-crusted boot through the pine needles at our feet. And I knew the one thing I could say that would taunt him into listening. A mantra that I'd repeated so often in my head during my capture that it had lost all significance. But for Duncan the meaning would still ring true. “You're
not
scairt.”

His head snapped up and a grin tilted one side of his mouth just as a scream echoed through the forest. I spun and ran, drawing my sword as I crashed out of the trees and onto the main path. Six of the witch's guards converged on Vee and the others. Eyes glowing incandescent violet, their moves uncannily synchronized, I didn't recognize any of them. Whether they'd once been Doonians, I couldn't say. These men had become soulless beings, irrevocably surrendered to the witch's control.

As if in slow motion, I saw that Eòran was already down and ran toward the soldier raising his sword to the queen. Veronica spun, braid flying out behind her as she hurled an ax into the dead center of the creature's throat.

Make that five.

Another guard rushed her and I rammed into him, knocking him off his feet. The sword flew out of his hand and I finished him quickly.

I leapt to my feet as Mackenna took out another with a left jab, followed by a knife to the thing's gut. Duncan and Ewan fought the remaining three and I rushed to join the fray. Not one to be left out, Alasdair brandished a dirk in front of him. “Come at me, ye witless neffits!”

A guard stepped toward him, and without hesitation the old man threw the knife and it stuck in the creature's shoulder. The wound wasn't deep, but the soldier froze and stared into space before taking off down the path like a shot.

“Murray! Don't let him escape!” I ordered.

Ewan only hesitated a second before sprinting after the defector. Duncan and I fought the two remaining soldiers, but with every clash of bone-jarring steel, it became more obvious that these were no ordinary men. As I'd feared she would, the witch had magically enhanced their strength and skill.

And whether I wanted to admit it or no, I was not yet at full strength after my ordeal. Even as I thought it, a blow drove me to one knee. The soldier raised his sword above me and I gripped mine to block, unsure if I had the balance to hold him off. But before the guard could land the deathblow, an ax whizzed past my head and wedged in the creature's thigh. Without even acknowledging that he'd been hit, the soldier swung at my head. I ducked and rolled away, then jumped to my feet and spun, landing a kick to the guard's ribs. I heard a satisfying crack, and the thing's eyes widened in shock.

Mackenna joined the fight, showing considerable skill as she helped Duncan push his opponent back. I side-stepped my own attacker and caught a glimpse of Kenna's sword being yanked out of her hand. She pulled a dagger, but Duncan jumped in front of her and yelled, “Stay back, woman!”

A fist landed in my face and I stumbled back. Deciding to change strategies and focus on my opponent's weakness, I
came in low and managed to slice into his other leg. He didn't even react. Fine. If we couldn't out fight them, we'd have to outwit them. I took quick stock of our surroundings; muddy sloping trail, forest on my left, a wall of boulders on my right. Boulders on my right . . .

I deflected another thrust, but not fast enough. The tip of the blade sliced through my bicep with searing pain. Red clouding my vision, I channeled the rage that lived within me and yelled, “Hurley!” A code word Duncan and I had devised to indicate we needed a distraction.

Duncan's eyes cut toward me and I knew he'd understood. With a growl, I swung my sword with all my strength and succeeded in throwing my opponent off balance a step. Duncan whirled and kicked the soldier square in the solar plexus. The guard's breath whooshed out and he lurched back, giving me the opening I needed.

Sprinting at full speed, I raced up the wall of boulders, then leapt into the air, sword raised. My opponent began to turn, but it was too late. I arched my arm back and brought my weapon down, slicing the witch's monster neck to chest. I landed on my feet and spun, but he didn't get back up.

I turned just as the last soldier smashed his fist into my brother's throat. Duncan's eyes bulged and his mouth gaped open. With a growl of uncontrolled fury, I charged, but the guard smashed his sword into mine, knocking it from my grasp. Duncan, still gasping for air, tossed me his sword. But it flew wide. I crouched and pulled my dagger, knowing it was no match for a magically enhanced soldier with a claymore.

A scream like that of dueling banshees rent the air and a missile zoomed past my ear. A tiny ax thunked into the guard's chest and he lost his footing. I turned to find Veronica and Mackenna swooping in like avenging warriors. Veronica had
another ax at the ready, but Kenna raised her sword, and with a violent shriek ran the creature through.

The last soldier fell, and for a moment no one spoke.

Post-fight adrenaline going to my head, I twirled my dagger around my right hand, then re-sheathed it and turned to Duncan, who was bent at the waist sucking in air. “I take back what I said earlier, brother. Perhaps ye should be scared.”

The color returning to his face, his lips quirked and he shook his head.

Veronica helped Eòran back to his feet. He'd taken a hard hit to the head, but as luck would have it, the man possessed a skull of concrete.

We all turned to see Ewan returning up the hill. “I lost him. I'm light on my feet, but he was wildly fast.”

“Wicked fast,” Kenna clarified as she hovered near Duncan, seemingly afraid to touch him.

No such reservations, Alasdair placed a hand on Duncan's back. “Are ye all right, lad?”

Duncan straightened. “Aye,” he answered, his voice craggy.

Alasdair then turned to Eòran. “And you?” The guard rubbed his head and nodded. “Then we should hurry. That guard will have gone to alert the witch.”

The old man's warning drained the vestiges of my adrenaline, leaving me appropriately sober.

Veronica stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Right. Let's clean up these er . . . clear this . . .” She stared at each one of the bloodied bodies in turn and then looked up at me, her eyes luminous with tears. I reached out and tugged her sleeve, drawing her tight to my chest. I knew what she was feeling; these men may have pledged themselves to evil, but they were her people. It was the sort of thing that left a permanent mark on one's soul.

“I killed them,” Vee choked out. “Men that used to be my guards.”

My own throat tightened as her sobs shook my chest. I buried my face in her hair, wishing I could cry along with her.

“Laird, look.” Murray bent over the first soldier Vee had killed, a pair of empty boots in his hands. The body had disappeared; only the clothes remained.

I turned to the other guards. “Vee, you should see this.”

She peeked up from my chest, just as the body closest to us turned from a putrid violet to black, and then shriveled like a raisin before my eyes. Within seconds, the cadaver vanished completely. Creatures, indeed.

Kenna walked up beside us and took Vee's hand. “They were no longer human.”

“Aye,” Alasdair said as he approached. “These men where long dead, Yer Majesty.”