Destined for Doon (35 page)
“My point is he’d murder us all — and then sleep like a baby. If the opportunity presents itself, maybe we should think about giving him a shove into the limbus.”
She sighed in resignation. “No. We were heading that way anyway. This way you’re spared the trauma of riding a horse, and I’m spared from hearing about your horrific horse-riding experience. I’d call that win-win.”
Despite her teasing words, she couldn’t quite sell her sunny side of the street perspective. But she was right about riding horseback. Remembering my aching thighs from the time we’d galloped to the bridge to save Jamie, I counted the cart as a small blessing. The only horse I wanted to see was the wooden kind used for building scenery.
Grabbing the duffel, I conceded her point by saying, “We should conserve our energy . . . And change shoes.”
Rummaging in the bag, I pulled out two pairs of Nikes and threw the purple size sixes at her. We were too exposed to
change out of our gowns, but at least we could face the zombie fungus in sensible footwear.
Before closing the bag, I fished out the rings and handed Vee hers before slipping mine on. That way I would have some warning of the limbus before we drove obliviously into it. I was not about to leave our safety in the hands of Beardy and his half-wit henchmen — discernment was clearly not in their wheelhouse, or they wouldn’t have opposed Vee.
For the next hour we bumped along in silence. I had just begun to doze off when a whistle sounded from the first cart. It pulled over to the side of the road, and our vehicle followed. Beardy hopped down and approached us. “The path to the Brig o’ Doon is over yon, on the other side of the clearing. We go the rest of the way on foot.”
In the first wagon, one of the henchmen raised his sword. With two
thwacks!
he cut the bindings on Duncan’s and Jamie’s legs. The princes climbed awkwardly from the cart with their hands still tied behind their backs. Several henchmen surrounded them as Cabbage Guy wrenched my arm and commanded, “Walk.”
The full moon sat high in the sky — just like in Vee’s vision. Pale light bathed the field, making it easier to pick our way across the uneven ground. I could just make out the heavily wooded path to the Brig o’ Doon through the trees at the far end of the clearing.
As we approached the forest, the path grew more discernable, as did the narrow line of black petunias that cut across it — and the smell. On the other side of the flowers, I clearly saw the bare-boned trees and dank, oozing moss of the zombie fungus. Only this time, I could glimpse movement and hear creatures rustling in the darkness. Chills crept up my back as I
tried not to picture what might be scurrying, scuttling, or even slithering on the other side.
“What is it?” Vee’s concern reminded me that for the moment I was safe.
“See the flowers?” I asked.
“Yes. I can see them clearly in the moonlight, but beyond . . .” She shuddered as if suddenly scared or freezing — maybe both. “Beyond is like there’s no moon at all. It’s nearly pitch black.”
She should’ve seen it from my angle — but that horror would be her reality soon enough.
One of the henchmen, sent ahead to scout the tree line, called for us to halt. “The mark of the witch is upon the trail,” he cried. “Her flowers swallow the path ta the Brig o’ Doon in darkness.”
Sean MacNally peered into the trees. When he saw the flowers, he crossed himself. Then he took the axe from his henchman and handed it to me. “Time to prove yer loyalty, lassies.”
For a moment I fantasized about chopping him in half. My thought must’ve been obvious, because Beardy clucked at me. He gestured toward his men restraining Duncan at knifepoint. “If you have any regard for Prince MacCrae, ye’ll march inta the limbus as ye’ve been told.”
Duncan appeared unafraid despite the variety of blades pointed at him. His right eye — the one that’d taken his brother’s fist — was swollen and discolored. I wondered if I would ever see his ridiculously gorgeous, slightly imperfect face again. I didn’t even care if I survived as long as I saved him and his beloved kingdom. His image shimmered, and I blinked to clear my glassy vision. I wanted my last memory of him to be a clear one.
Unable to help myself, I slowly crossed to my prince. The men who held him watched me carefully as I approached. As
if he could read my thoughts, Duncan growled my name as a warning to keep away.
I shook my head and took another step forward. With his hands tied behind his back and armed men on both sides, he was unable to stop me from fitting my body against his. I pressed my cheek gently against his jaw and whispered, “A night of lasts, remember?”
I didn’t care that I was in full view of our captors. They already knew that Duncan MacCrae was my weakness. The only thing that mattered was that he knew it. “I’ve already said good-bye to Doon.” I pulled back to cherish his bangedup face — perfect brows, blackened eye, slightly crooked nose, amazing cheek bones, and lips worth dying for.
“All that’s left is to say good-bye to you,” I whispered.
“Don’t!” His velvet-brown eyes pleaded with me to stop. But it was the last midnight, and we were out of chances. Raising up on my toes, I placed my hands flat against his chest as I angled my mouth over his until we shared the same breath. My eyelids drifted shut. When my lips touched his, he turned to granite. His mouth refused to respond as I tried to steal one last kiss.
Utterly humiliated, I stepped back. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I maybe shouldn’t have done that.”
“I’ll no’ kiss you good-bye.” He pierced me with his man of steel glare. “You’re goin’ to come out of this just fine. You were called here to destroy the limbus. As soon as it’s done, I’ll see you safely back to your chosen life. Just as I promised ye I would.”
Duncan was right — a last kiss wasn’t in the job description. He’d made it clear all along that I was only here because they needed me to destroy the limbus. I’d let the bleakness of the moment play on my emotions, but now that the whole kingdom knew our Calling was a ruse, we no longer had reason to pretend.
He wanted to move on with Analisa . . . And me? Maybe I would start collecting cats. Or better yet audition for
Cats
: the international tour. I could spend night after night lamenting what I’d lost in German until he was purged from my system. But in truth, I suspected I would never get over Duncan. I’d been mourning him since I was twelve years old. And I would never stop.
K
enna turned to me, blinking back tears. But her show of emotion wasn’t the result of a poignant Austenesque kind of epilogue. In so many words, Duncan had told her to do her duty and get the heck out. I’d been positive he still secretly loved my best friend, but now I doubted those instincts. I moved toward her, the wounded look in her eyes making me want to both comfort her and sucker punch a particular tall, dark, and brooding prince.
But before I could do either, Sean MacNally intercepted me. “This is it, girl.” He gave me a rough shove toward the limbus. “If yer really the queen, go fix it!”
I stumbled, caught my balance, and spun on the leader of the mob. I had one more thing to do before I cashed in my ticket to Zombieland. “
Not
until you untie Jamie and let me say good-bye.”
He narrowed his eyes, sweat dotting his scarlet cheekbones above his beard. “No.”
I lifted my chin and stared him straight in his beady eyes. “I
might die saving your sorry hide, Mr. MacNally. But if I don’t, I’ll still be your queen and you’ll wish you’d treated me with more respect.”
He blanched. “Ye’ve got one minute.” He gave a curt nod of assent to his goons.
The moment they cut Jamie’s bonds, he jerked out of their grasp and sprinted toward me. Picking up my gown, I ran to meet him and threw myself into his arms. He pulled me tight against his chest.
“So this was your brilliant plan? Sacrifice yourself to stop the limbus?”
“I — ”
“I canna do this.” He drew back and cradled my face in his hands. “I’m not like my brother. I canna watch you walk to your death.”
“That’s not how this ends.” I took his hands and enfolded them in mine. “I’ve seen it, Jamie. Kenna
will
break the curse. We just have to be brave enough to follow the Protector’s will.”
“Do ye really think it’s going to be that easy?” His brows hunched over his eyes, his grip on my fingers verging on painful. “The limbus is pure malevolence.
Anythin’
could happen in there. Did the vision happen to show you getting out alive?”
I shook my head and my heart stuttered in my chest. The prophecy had ended with us breaking the stone. Was it possible the curse could take us with it? Suck us into its vortex of evil as the limbus drained away? For the first time, I let myself admit that we knew next to nothing about what we were about to face. But I pasted on a smile for Jamie’s sake. “No, but the rings will protect us. We’ll be — ”
“Time’s up!”
Jamie’s dark gaze intent on my face, he leaned in. Hyperaware this could be our last kiss, I closed my eyes and
drank in the whisper of his breath before rough hands yanked me back.
Two men restrained Jamie’s arms. Rage contorting his face, he twisted out of their grasp and spun, his fist smashing into a goon’s nose with a loud crack. He caught the other one’s punch just before it hit his face, countering with an uppercut that snapped the man’s head back and dropped him to the ground. The fight was over before I could take a breath.
Jamie turned murderous eyes on the ringleader and rushed him. Duncan, still at knife point, yelped his brother’s name. Jamie hesitated mere inches from his target’s face. “If we survive this, MacNally, I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you.”
Three men jumped Jamie from behind. One subdued him with an arm around his throat, while the other two secured his arms and forced him away from their leader.
Now that Jamie was restrained, Sean followed. “We shall see about that,
my laird,
” he spat as he rammed a fist into Jamie’s stomach.
Jamie’s face paled and the breath whooshed from his lungs.
When Sean reared back to deliver another blow, I leapt forward and grabbed his meaty arm in a death grip. “Stop, you bloody coward!”
MacNally whirled on me with clenched fists, bloodlust gleaming in his eyes. I braced for the impact, determined not to go down. But the hit never came. Instead, he spat, “I granted your request, girl. Now get to it.” He gave me a mighty shove in Kenna’s direction.
I tripped sideways and bumped into my friend, both of us stumbling over our skirts. Kenna grunted as I grabbed her arm to steady us. With a glare at MacNally, I gained my balance and straightened my dress. I may not allow Jamie to kill the man,
but letting him beat the snot out of the jerk was a definite possibility. I turned to Kenna. “All set?”
Her face as white as snow in the moonlight, she held up the Arm o’ the Bruce in answer. She glanced over her shoulder at Duncan, who gave her a solemn nod. Then side by side we began to move toward the edge of the forest, the unnatural darkness waiting to swallow us whole. Cold curled in my gut and tingled over my skin.
A visceral touch, like the brush of silent fingers, made me pause. I turned to find my warrior prince tied to a tree, a knife held against his ribs. His searing stare cut across the clearing and our eyes locked, the moment freezing in time.
“Come back to me, love.”
Like the first time he’d spoken to me in the parking lot of Bainbridge High, the deep timbre of his voice reverberated deep inside me.
Promises of hope and security and courage flooded my soul as I backed away, holding Jamie’s face in my gaze as long as I could. Then, I turned and marched into the forest with renewed resolve.
On the other side of the trees, Kenna took my hand, and the stench of putrefaction radiating from the limbus blasted into me. I gagged and covered my mouth with my free hand. Kenna made a choking sound as we staggered forward.
At the edge of a line of black petunias we stopped. The undulating abyss on the other side was hypnotizing, like staring into the depths of the ocean — fathomless and utterly alien. A shiver ran through me. My stomach rolled and my vision spun. I reached in my pocket and squeezed the pendant until the points of metal pressed into my flesh. This was no time for a migraine.
Taking a deep breath, I asked, “Ready?”
“I guess.” Kenna glanced at me and then back to the murky wall. “I just wish I was wearing nicer underwear.”
“What?”
“I
really
don’t want to die in my granny panties.”
“For the last time — we
are not
going to die.” I repositioned my hand so it was more firmly in hers. “Come on. Three steps and we’re in. Let’s count it off together.”
We stepped forward, “One . . .” The rings ignited, and the stench faded into a minor annoyance.
“Two . . .” The flowers shriveled under our feet.
“. . . Three!” We stepped into the black hole.
As soon as our feet crossed the border, the blessed Rings of Aontacht blazed, lighting the path before us, but that protection did nothing to block the wind ripping into our hair and tugging at our gowns. Leaning into the gale, we found the narrow path to the bridge. Gnarled trees arched overhead. Their naked limbs linked like a tunnel made of long, spindly fingers. Part of me knew we were safe, but some other more primitive portion of my brain screamed a warning signal.
Run! Get out or die!
To my right, a rapacious cry rent the air. I jumped and stepped on the hem of Kenna’s gown, our shoulders bumping.
“Hey, we’re fine.” She held up our linked hands, the rings glowing like sparklers on the Fourth of July. “These puppies protect us, remember?”
The desperate caw sounded again, closer. I jerked my eyes up, searching the branches above. There, just beyond the circle of our ring’s light, perched the most hideous creature I’d ever laid eyes on. Decomposing flesh peeled from its bones, and only a smattering of feathers peppered its remaining gray skin. The zombified crow cocked its head, voracious red eyes watchful.