I closed the ring in my fist and channeled my desperation into a question—How can I defeat the witch? Several seconds ticked by, and then I heard the auld laird’s lilting brogue resonate in my mind. “When the time comes ye must be willing to sacrifice … for Jamie’s sake.” Echoed by Fiona’s parting advice: “Pure, unselfish love can break any spell.”
Bits and pieces of information slipped into place, and a perfectly crazy plan took shape. Before I could put too much thought into where my scheme would lead, I stepped forward and said, “Maybe I have something to offer you after all, Addie.”
Jamie’s eyes pleaded with me, as if he knew what I was about to say. Clearly, he’d fought against the enthrallment to speak, and it had cost him. He no longer raged against his bonds, but sat hunched over in the chair, bruises of exhaustion under his eyes.
I took a deep breath, faced Addie, and announced with all the confidence I could muster, “I want to trade places with him.”
Jamie groaned, “Vee, nooo.”
Addie stilled. Now that I had her attention, I continued. “I know I can invoke some sort of exchange using this ring.” I rotated the stone around on my finger and lifted my hand.
She stared at it as if examining it for flaws and then lifted her gaze to me, her eyes burning with something I couldn’t identify. “Ye want ta offer yerself in sacrificial substitution?”
That sounded about right. I nodded. “My life for Jamie’s.”
“Why should I?” Addie’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Searching for a compelling reason to give her, I dared a glance at my prince, and my heart contracted. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, and his muscles trembled as he strained to break his bonds.
“Adelaide, dinna listen to her. I’m the one you want.” His voice was low, but his words were underscored with steel. “Leave Vee out of this.”
The effort it took him to speak appeared to drain the last of his strength. His shoulders slumped and his eyes fell shut. I crossed to him and cupped his rough cheek in my hand. His eyes cracked open, blazing at me under heavy lids.
My true destiny clear for the first time in this journey, I quietly pleaded, “It has to be this way. Don’t you see? This world would be much too dark a place without you in it.”
Jamie’s mom had said there was a price for everything, and now I finally understood. I placed a single lingering kiss on his warm lips and then leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “I would pay any price for you.”
Addie clapped her hands in glee. “Aww, how verra sweet! I was going ta enjoy his death at midnight, but victory will be even sweeter witnessing his suffering as he watches you die along with his precious kingdom. Not to mention I get to keep the lovely young king as my plaything.”
A sliver of fear shot through me as I met her wide, bone-chilling grin. I clenched my teeth tight to keep them from chattering and nodded. This was it, my last hope.
“Place your hand on yer prince’s shoulder.”
I complied and she lifted her ring to her lips, muttering secret words against the precious stone. Her eyes glowed neon green in the gloom as she declared, “So it shall be.”
A light flashed and then a blinding blackness engulfed me, followed by a quick, intense pain, like fire shooting through my veins. Maybe her spell was too powerful. Was I dying?
Weightlessness pulled me toward oblivion. I struggled against the welcoming dark, and a flash of memory pierced the swirling abyss. “Veronica … Doon did no’ call ye here to become its queen by marrying my son. Ye are here for a reason.
With a flutter, I opened my eyes. I was sitting in the wooden chair, Jamie standing between me and the Witch of Doon. All traces of Addie’s enchantment over him had vanished.
“As a citizen o’ Doon by blood,” he spat, “ye must surrender to me.” He had no weapon, but his fingers twitched as if ready to rip her apart with his bare hands.
Addie’s laughter was as evil as any Wicked Witch of the West I’d ever heard in the movies. “Dinna test me, James.”
Jamie took a menacing step forward, doing just that.
“I could kill you both without so much as a word.” Then, as if to make her point, she lifted her hand and Jamie flew through the air, hitting the wall with a sickening thud. “But where would the fun be in that?”
Still weak, I stood on shaky legs and made my way to his side. His dazed eyes met mine as I crouched beside him and whispered, “Are you all right?”
He nodded and then closed his lids, grimacing in pain.
I sprang to my full height and spat, “Don’t ever touch him again!”
Addie advanced, evil triumph radiating from her countenance. She flicked her wrist and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. It was as if invisible hands were pressing on my windpipe. “Poor deluded Veronica. Just as you are nothing ta Jamie, yer irrelevant to me. Because you are nothing.”
Stars were dancing before my eyes when she released me with a chuckle. I sucked in shallow, ragged breaths and clutched my burning throat as she turned to address Jamie. “See what a weak coward you’ve chosen? She’s nothing but a child.”
Weak coward—the exact phrase I’d used so many times to describe my father. Too cowardly to stick around when things got hard, too weak to face his problems and fight for the people he loved. But I wasn’t like him, at least not anymore.
Suddenly, the Ring of Aontacht burned on my finger, each symbol branding my skin. I’d researched every rune until I knew them by heart. And yet I still felt like I was missing something—some greater significance that I sensed but couldn’t see. I flipped the characters in my mind’s eye, examining each one.
Jamie struggled to his feet, every line of his face etched in pain, but his voice was strong and clear. “As yer king, I command ye to release us at once!”
“I’m terribly sorry, young James, but since Veronica so selflessly took yer place, not only are ye no longer a citizen o’ Doon but”—she narrowed her eyes, a malevolent smile twisting her lips—“Doon no longer has a king.”
The ring’s symbols tumbled in my mind until they were one connected blur. Symbols became pictures, pictures became words, and then everything clicked into place.
Addie raised her fist, and the black stone on her ring glowed with an ethereal energy. I stepped toward her. With confidence born of a higher purpose, I lifted my hand, my own ring gleaming on my finger, and stared evil incarnate directly in her brilliant green eyes.
“No, but Doon has a queen.”
CHAPTER 37
Veronica
Adelaide Dell let loose an unearthly wail—like a banshee going through a wood chipper—and leveled her ring at my chest.
“Vee! What’ve ye done?” Jamie stepped closer, intending to shield me with his body.
With a shout of warning, I wrenched him back as white-hot light shot out of my ring, slamming into the violet power blasting toward me. I had no idea how, but the ring on my finger was neutralizing the witch’s spell. An explosion of white, purple, and fuchsia sparks filled the air, cascading around us like fireworks. I held my arm steady, spots dancing in front of my eyes as the embers of magic dissipated.
The fury in Addie’s now violet irises rivaled something out of a monster movie. Her voice filled the hollow space, low and lethal as she growled, “How did ye know?”
Neither one of us lowered our arms as I lifted my chin and forced myself to meet her turbulent stare. “I finally saw it. The symbols on the rings have individual meanings, but
