since she’d crept back toward the church with Jamie in pursuit. Was that the last time I’d seen her?
“Jamie, where’s Veronica?”
The tight smile on his face melted into alarm that mirrored my own. “Isn’t she with you?”
“No. I haven’t seen her all afternoon.” In an effort to stay calm, I over-enunciated each word. Accusation flashed across his features and I clarified somewhat defensively, “She was upset and I was trying to give her some space.”
Jamie’s dark eyes grew as round as saucers as he, too, began to scour the crowd. “You let her leave?”
I began to doubt the assumptions that seemed so reasonable at the time. “I didn’t let her do anything. She left. I was going to go after her—but then I saw you follow, so—I thought—” Jamie’s lack of recognition made me want to hurl. “Why’d you go back toward the church if you weren’t following Vee?”
“To pray for my father’s soul. ’Tis customary before the final rites.” His voice was thick with condemnation, as if my being an outsider didn’t excuse my ignorance.
Vee’d been missing for hours.
I sagged onto a nearby bench. Duncan’s arms caught me just before my backside hit the wood and he eased me the rest of the way down. My chest tightened. The air squeezed from my lungs and made it difficult to speak around my fear. “You really didn’t see her?”
Equal measures of rage and concern mingled in Jamie’s scowl. He looked capable of flaying someone alive. “Nay.”
Fergus cast a sheepish glance over the group. “She’s not been with Fiona since the service. I woulda noticed.”
Duncan still held me loosely from behind, the soft, reassuring brush of his fingertips as he stroked my back at odds with the steel in his voice. “How long has she been missing?”
I did some hasty mental gymnastics. “Three hours, at least. Maybe more.”
Jamie swore and whirled around to bark at Fergus. “Where’s Gideon?”
The gentle giant shot Duncan a guilty look while clearing his throat before answering his new king. Little beads of sweat appeared on his pink brow. Apparently lying was not one of his strong suits. “Gideon and his men are still in the eastern paddocks following a lead on the disappearances. But we’ve no’ heard from him since yesterday.”
“Bloody hell!” Jamie addressed me without apology. “Mackenna, are ye sure she didna return to the castle on foot?”
“It’s possible.” I negated the words with a shake of my head. “But I don’t think so. We’ve been stuck in the castle for days. She’d be too stir-crazy to go back.”
Fergus’s lips formed a grim line of resolve as he towered over us. I could see the self-recrimination on his face. He’d been focused on Fiona when his job had been to watch us—watch Vee. Now, he felt responsible. “I’ll have one of the lads organize a search o’ the castle. But we should search the village and the woods at the same time, m’ lairds.”
Jamie’s response was practically a snarl. “Get it done, man.”
Fiona put a gentle hand on my shoulder and spoke over my head to Duncan. “I’ll get Mackenna back ta the castle, m’ laird.”
As I watched Fergus hurry away, my attention shifted to a single white speck floating downward from the sky. In slow motion, I reached out my hand and wondered as the tiny object came to a rest in my palm. A nearly perfect snowflake.
“It snows in summer here?”
Duncan, Fiona, and Jamie stopped mid-discussion to stare into my cupped hand. They watched the already melting snowflake dissolve into a speck of water. Duncan gaped in wide-eyed shock as Fiona pronounced, “Veronica’s tryin’ ta cross through the mountains.”
Already on the move, Jamie growled at us from over his shoulder. “I’ll get Fergus to stop the search parties.”
Totally confused by Jamie and Duncan’s reaction to the wintery weather, I twisted first toward Duncan and then Fiona. “Why is he calling off the search parties? And how do you know where she is? And what—”
Duncan gently, but firmly, cut me off. “We’ve no time for this right now.”
“Time for what?” I struggled free of Duncan’s arms and back onto my feet as Jamie and Fergus barreled toward us at a full run. Obviously, I was missing something. Something huge. “What the hell is going on?”
“Hell is right.” Jamie skidded to a halt. His nostrils flared like a bull and his fisted hands jerked as if seeking something to hit.
Fiona looked at me, sympathy radiating from her kind face. I knew that look—it was the one people gave before breaking terrible news. “Your friend’s tryin’ ta leave the kingdom.”
“No, she’s not. She loves it here.” If anything, I’d have to hog-tie and carry her back to Alloway when the bridge opened for the Centennial. “And she’d never leave without me.”
But the panic on the faces of the three guys before me made me ask, “Why do you think Vee’s trying to leave?”
“Because—” Jamie harshly snatched another errant snowflake and held it before me as evidence. “The borders are tryin’ to stop her any way they can.”
Fergus cleared his throat. “We must hurry, m’ lairds. The mountain range is vast. We’ll need ta split up.”
I grabbed at Duncan’s arm in desperation. “I’m going with you.”
“Nay. If your friend doesna turn back, there’s to be a full-on blizzard comin’. We’ll not risk any more lives than is necessary. Fergus and I will go.” Duncan stepped in front of Jamie and angled his body to block him. “You’re our king now. You should stay behind as well.”
“Not a chance.” Jamie’s eyes were hard slits providing no context to his granite features or his flat voice.
Duncan pulled free of my grasp and crowded his brother’s personal space. “So you’d risk the crown then?”
Just as forcefully, Jamie leaned forward until their chests were less than an inch apart. “This isn’t just about Verranica. If she makes it across the mountains and through ta the other side, we’re all doomed.”
“Whoa!” I appealed to Fiona and Fergus. “Would someone please explain?”
As the brothers glared at one another, Fiona tersely elaborated for my benefit. “Doon’s borders are enchanted. Impassable. If anyone tries ta breach them, the kingdom itself’ll stop them.”
I thought of Vee—of how stubborn she could be when she got an idea in her head. I had no idea what motivated her to leave, but she would not give up easily. “What if she succeeds?”
“If she succeeds, the pact between Doon and our Protector will be broken,” Jamie ground out.
As much as I dreaded what he’d left unsaid, I needed to hear it. “And?”
He ran a trembling hand through his snow-coated hair, combing the wet, blond strands away from his face. “If she doesn’t get herself killed in her attempt to reach the border, the Covenant will be destroyed, and Doon will vanish into the mists. Don’t you see? If she succeeds, it will be the end of us all.”
The end? Numerous questions flitted through my head, but now was not the time. The snowfall was thicker, making it difficult to look at Jamie without shielding my eyes. “What do you need me to do?”
“Just get out of my way. I’m going after her. Alone.” He growled as I scrambled out of his way. But Duncan didn’t move. Coiled and ready to strike, Jamie angled himself closer to his baby brother. “You too.”
When Duncan still didn’t budge, Jamie raged, “Thas’ an order from your king! Stand down!”
A muscle ticked in Duncan’s jaw as he mutely took a halfstep to the side. Without the slightest hint of remorse, Jamie continued, “Don’t let that one”—he jerked his head my direction—“out of your sight until I return. That, too, is an order.”
As Jamie shouldered his brother the rest of the way out of his path, Fergus pleaded with him. “But, m’ laird, how will you know where to look for the lass?”
Jamie tensed, but didn’t turn around. In a voice thick with condemnation and colder than the winter storm, he answered, “Because I willingly gave her everything she needed, including her escape route. If Verranica succeeds, it will be me who’s destroyed Doon.”
