Forever Doon (25 page)

“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!”

B
irds.”

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 o' Doon in early evening, and although I
could feel Duncan next to me, I could no longer see him or the hundreds of people waiting to cross.

Spill.
I raised my brows, doing my best imitation of the Evil Highney.

Later
, she promised.
Did you hear me about the skellies? They're assembling at the bridge.

How many?
I asked, doing my best to estimate how many we'd seen in the field.

Adelaide's army has grown into the thousands,
Jamie answered.
Pushin' them back without the Destined army as reinforcements is unlikely. And even with your troops, we're outnumbered two to one.

So not used to this,
I interjected.
Hold on . . .

Opening my eyes, I quickly filled Duncan in on the skellie situation and the new three-way Calling. Duncan frowned as he absorbed the news. “Tell Jamie not to face them without us.”

“ ‘Kay.” I shut my eyes again and relayed the message to Jamie.

Vee's apprehensive gaze darted between her boyfriend and me.
Could we try the mountain pass?

Jamie shrugged.
There's no guarantee that rebuilding the bridge also restored the portal in the pass. That's a long way to go, and a lot o' lives to risk without assurances.

Vee wound a strand of hair in her hand, one of her “thinking” tells.
Maybe there's a way we could check.

And what if the skellie army goes on the offensive? We have to at least try to lure them away from the bridge.

As I waited for them to get on the same page, Duncan tugged at my sleeve.
One sec, guys . . .

I blinked up at Duncan's anxious face. “Is he listenin' to ye?”

I shook my head. “He wants to try to lure the skellies away from the bridge.”

“Nay.” Duncan invaded my space as if he were actually talking to his brother instead of me. “Tell Jamie—”

“Stop.” I was tired of being the MacCraes' personal go-between. Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned my focus back to Vee.
How did you connect Jamie into our Calling?

We got handfasted. The Completing
, they answered at the same time.

I held up my hand, indicating that they should hold on. Turning my attention back to Duncan, I asked, “You love me, right?”

“Aye.”

“Quick, now tell me you're mine.”

“Mackenna, what—”

“Just do it, okay?”

He shrugged. “Mackenna Reid, you may be daft in the head, but I am completely yours.”

“And I'm yours. For always. Forever. Now, take my hand and close your eyes.” I grabbed Duncan's hand and let my eyelids drift shut. Vee and Jamie were waiting on the bridge under the stars right where I left them, and Duncan . . . was definitely not with us.

Nuts!

Opening my eyes, I regarded Duncan with a sigh. “What do you want me to say to your brother?”

Duncan's brows pinched together like I was truly cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. “Tell him not to confront the skellies in some misguided suicide mission. Tha's a terrible idea.”

I held up my hand indicating he should hold on while I relayed the message. After listening to Jamie curse for several minutes, I opened my eyes, and replied, “I'm not going to repeat your brother word for word. But he does want to know if you have a better idea.”

“Tell him I do.” My boyfriend chuckled sheepishly. “But he's no' gonna like it.”

I
crouched at the mouth of the miniature bridge in the castle gardens, ring hand extended. Waiting. The minutes ticked by, and my arm began to shake. Were we crazy to think that hundreds of people would be able to cross into Doon on a tiny five-foot wide bridge without being noticed? Probably so, but it had to work. We had no time for an alternative.

Where are you, Ken?

There was a soft touch on my shoulder before Jamie whispered, “Any sign from Mackenna?”

I shook my head. “I'm going onto the bridge.”

“Nay, ye'll be too exposed,” he hissed under his breath.

“Then use that big bad arrow machine of yours to cover me.”

Staying low, I crept farther up the incline of stone. We'd decided on a small party to accompany us: Ana, Fergus, and a small unit of royal guards. We were all armed to the teeth, including the crossbow Jamie had purchased back in Indiana. Oliver had wanted to come and “kick some skellie-bum,” but he was still too weak from his injuries. As a compromise, I'd
agreed to bring a few of his smaller explosive devises. One of them jangled in my right pocket, ratcheting up my nerves. The round metal ball had a pin like a grenade, but I didn't entirely trust the bomb not to detonate and blow me to smithereens.

I stopped at the top of the arch, hunched behind the stone balustrade, and fingered the tear-shaped bottle in my right pocket. Some thought it was a useless vial of lake water—Fergus among them—but I had to believe it would work. Why else would Jamie have come to me in a dream to lead me to it?

The ring pulsed, buzzing up my arm, and I yanked my hand out of my pocket, just as two quick whistles sounded behind me. The warning signal. Still crouched, I held out my glowing hand and glanced over my shoulder. Jamie and the others had moved into the formation that we'd practiced—the royal guardsmen fanning out and moving forward, while Jamie, Ana, and Fergus hung back to guard the mouth of the bridge.

I strained to see the threat through the dark, but heard them before they came into view.

Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.

Bone against bone. To use Kenna's analogy, they sounded like a thousand giant cicadas moving as one. Jamie raised his bow, signaling Fergus and Ana to do the same as the four guards pulled their swords and disappeared into the darkness.

“Come on, Kenna.”

As the words left my mouth, I turned to find the air flickering in front of me, the light of my ring transitioning from red to white. This was exactly the scenario we'd hoped to avoid. The Destined greeted by an army of creatures as they crossed into the kingdom. I rose slightly and whisper-yelled back to Jamie, “The portal's opening!”

“Ready. Aim. Fire!”

The swish of arrows filled the night as Kenna and Duncan shimmered into view.

I raced forward to warn them and lost my power of speech as I saw the hundreds of unfamiliar faces lined up behind them. Recovering quickly, I grabbed Kenna's hand. “The skellies are here!”

“We're ready for them,” Duncan assured me. He put his fingers in his mouth and made three sharp whistles. Did they train all princes to whistle like that?

Without turning, Jamie directed our crew to split down the middle. They moved to either side of the bridge, still firing. The skellies moved into the light, and I watched in horror as arrows bounced off of them like Nerf darts. Addie's protection spell guarded them from being harmed. We weren't even slowing them down.

Clearly realizing they were wasting ammunition, Jamie ordered a ceasefire and unsheathed his sword, but I feared it would do little good. I spun to face Kenna and Duncan. “The force field is protecting the skellies. Maybe you should turn back.”

“Nay.” Duncan's brows crouched over his eyes. “We're prepared to defend Doon or die tryin'.”

I glanced past him to the people waiting—Destined who'd been called from all over the world, some of them barely older than children—and all I could see was an impending bloodbath. I opened my mouth to order them back, when Kenna stepped forward and fully into Doon. “Vee, let them do what the Protector called them to do. If nothing else, we can help you get safely back to camp.”

The
click-clack
had grown louder and I knew the army would soon be upon us. “Okay. But hurry!”

I rushed off the bridge just as the skellies reached the front
line of royal guards. One of the men swung his sword in a wide arc, aiming for the closest creature's head, but when he made contact his arms bounced back and he stumbled. Not quite the blow Duncan had taken when the creatures were immobile, but still devastating. It was just as we feared; we couldn't touch them.

As the Destined swarmed off the bridge and divided to either side, the skellies began to attack. The guardsmen raised their swords to defend themselves, but could do nothing to stop the creatures from surrounding them.

Jamie yelled, “Retreat!”

I rushed to Jamie's side as one of our men fell and the creatures swarmed him. Jamie tensed to move, but I stopped him. “No, we have to be smart. Find a way to slow them so we can escape back to camp.”

Another guard fell as he was trying to run back to us. The skellies fell on him, swords first, while the army swarmed around them and kept coming.

Jamie pulled a bomb from his pocket. “I dinna dare try this, but what if—”

“We can try to use the rings to weaken the protection spell first!” I finished for him.

I spun to find Kenna directing the last of the Destined off the bridge. “Kenna!”

She raced to my side, and I was so intent on my goal to take down the witch's barrier spell that our rings began to glow before she even reached me. “Take my hand and focus on the protective spell around the monsters.”

She nodded and, hands linked, we moved forward. Fergus and the others flanked us, but there was little they could do as we drew closer. I didn't dare shut my eyes to focus as the creatures advanced. They were within twenty feet of us now, close enough that we could see the pale violet glow of their eyes.

Fear knotted my gut as I remembered the rings' ineffectiveness against the skellies in the field. But in that moment I'd let the witch get in my head and my belief had wavered—my faith in myself and the Protector. I wouldn't make that mistake again.

“Envision it, Ken . . . the rings' magic taking down the skeletons' protection, just like we envisioned the force field around camp.”

We raised our linked hands above our heads and a beam of scalding golden light blasted from the rings. I raised my other hand to shield my eyes, but could see the monsters falling back. The two remaining guards raced toward us, bleeding but alive.

Fergus, who was the best shot among us, let an arrow fly. I think my heart may have stopped as it sailed through the air and struck home in a skellie's eye socket. The creature stumbled back, regained its feet, and kept coming. The shot proved we could now hurt them, but one arrow at a time would not do the trick.

“Jamie, the bomb!” Before the words left my mouth, he had the device out of his pocket. Taking aim, he pulled the pin, drew his arm back like a bowler, and flung it forward. It rolled in a steady, straight line into the midst of the advancing creatures, who didn't pay it a bit of attention.

“Retreat! Everyone get behind the bridge,” Duncan cried.

Hands guided Kenna and me away. In unspoken agreement, we lowered our hands and unlinked our fingers, letting the beam from our rings fade. The explosion that followed shook the ground and we fell back, heat washing over us.

A cheer rose behind us. And I sat up to find the creatures had turned into a pile of fiery bones. With the few partially intact, hobbling around in circles. Then the bones dissolved, as if they longed to return to the earth where they belonged.

Kenna leaned over and helped me to my feet. “All right, Highney?”

“Yes, but . . .” My voice trailed off as I watched Jamie and Duncan rush to check the fallen guards. Duncan placed two fingers on the first man's neck and then shook his head with a frown. When Jamie reached the second guard, I could tell by his body language that he still lived.

“He wishes a word, Yer Majesty!” Jamie called.

“Ken, have Fergus and Ana lead the Destined back to camp. And tell them to hurry before Addie's reinforcements show up.”

She nodded and I jogged to where the MacCrae brothers leaned over the young man who'd just crossed the bridge with Kenna and Duncan—it was Rabbie MacGregor, Duncan's apprentice. Slowly, I knelt beside him and took his blood-soaked hand.

Duncan knelt on his other side. “Yer gonna make it, Rabbie. Just hold on.”

His dark gaze bore into mine. “Yer Majesty, please tell . . . my sister, Hannah, I love her.” His eyes closed and a sick gurgle bubbled in his throat.

Choking on a sob, I felt Jamie place a hand on my shoulders for support. I swallowed and forced the words past my burning throat. “Of course, Rabbie, I'll tell her. Is there anything else?”

He turned his head toward Duncan, his eyes flickered and then cracked open. “Hannah wishes . . . ta become a . . . royal guard.” A tiny smile tilted his mouth. “Like me.”

Tears coursed down Duncan's face. “I'll make it so.”

Rabbie clutched his hand. “ 'Twas an . . . honor to . . . die . . . protectin' Doon.”

A last breath shuddered from his chest and then he was gone.

“Well, isn't tha' touching. Another useless death caused by the American simpleton who fancies herself a queen.”

Addie's unmistakable, hideous voice froze my grief. I whipped around to find the witch holding Kenna in front of her, a knife pressed to the front of her throat. Raising my hand, the ring blazed to life. Jamie and Duncan flanked me on either side, swords drawn, Duncan practically vibrating with anger.

“No need to pull out the big guns, dear. I'm just here to make a trade.” Addie lifted her hand and crooked a finger, and in
my
voice, said, “Jamie, come to me.”

After a moment's hesitation, he took a step forward. My brain told me to stop him, but I couldn't move. Was he really going to her willingly? Or did she have some sort of hold on him? As he took another step, shock buzzed through my limbs and I lowered my ring, afraid to catch him in the crossfire.

“Release Mackenna and I'll come wi' you.”

At Jamie's words, relief washed through me. He wasn't entranced, just attempting to rescue my best friend.

Jamie lowered his sword and took another slow step forward. “My friends leave here unharmed and I'll do as ye ask.”

“See, little queenie, he really does want me,” Addie boasted, no longer using my voice. “He just needed the right . . . incentive. Together, we will take Doon piece by piece, until ye have nothin' left ta rule. Then I'll watch as your
true love
kills you and bathe in your blood!”

I fingered the handle of one of the axes hanging from my weapons belt, calculating whether I could bury it in the witch's face before she could slit Kenna's throat. It wasn't worth the risk. Kenna's gaze caught mine and I could tell she was trying to communicate. Suddenly her words slammed into my brain.
“I've got this. Back off!”

Jamie stopped. He must've heard it too.

She might think she could handle the witch, but I wasn't taking any chances. Mustering every ounce of acting skill
I'd absorbed from my best friend over the years, I rushed to Jamie's side and gripped his arm. “Jamie! Please don't do this! Don't leave me for
her
!”

He stared down at me like I'd lost my brains. “Vee, get back.”

I glanced quickly at the witch to see if she was buying my act. Her chin tilted as she watched us with narrowed eyes, her lips curling in satisfaction.
Perfect.
Jamie tried to take my arm to push me behind him, but I flung myself against his chest and moaned, “She can't make you happy! We can win this fight together.”

And then I slipped the bomb into his pocket. I felt the tension in his body the moment he understood.

Giving my hand a quick squeeze, he shoved me away from him. “ 'Tis over between us! I'm sick o' bein' on the losing side!” He glanced at Addie, whose smile had grown huge. “I'm in love wi' someone else now.”

As he spoke, I dropped my hand into my pocket and flicked the cap off of the elixir. Jamie turned away on his heel as if to join Addie and gave Kenna a quick nod.

In a seamless sequence of motion, Kenna threw her head back into Addie's chin, pulled the knife away from her neck with both hands, and bent forward, forcing the witch off balance. Then with a screech, she rammed her elbow into Addie's stomach and twisted her knife arm painfully to the side.

Seeing my opening, I leapt forward as I pulled the vial from my pocket and splashed Saint Sabastian's elixir into the witch's stunned face.

“Kenna, get clear,” Duncan shouted.

Kenna knocked the knife from Addie's hand and grabbed it out of the air before sprinting toward us.

I waited. For what, I didn't know. Addie's skin to boil and blister like a vampire in the sun. Her old, haggish self to appear
the way a werewolf morphs back into a man. Perhaps for her body to shrivel away to dust like her monsters. To shriek, “I'm melting!” and disappear into a puddle of fabric. Something.

What I didn't expect was for her to throw her head back with a resounding cackle. “You stupid, stupid girl, I've been immortal for hundreds o' years, and ye think a bit o' holy water will hurt me? This isn't Oz!” Violet light blasted from her eyes. Her hair whipped around her head like Medusa as she raised her palms directly at us. “But you have given me a wonderful idea.”