“Vee!” Jamie cried.
I sucked air into my burning lungs and searched for the source of attack. Through the gloom, a slight figure with long, wavy blonde hair emerged. “Allyson?” She glanced up at me, her green eyes huge in her pale face, her diamond nose ring glittering in the candlelight. She wasn’t bound like Jamie, but she was trembling. There was no one else in the room—it didn’t make sense. “Ally, run and get help! My friends are upstairs.” I pushed to my feet. “I’ll untie him and meet you there.”
Hyperaware of the time slipping away, I stumbled over to Jamie, who barely seemed to be able to lift his head. “Jamie?”
He turned toward my voice, his eyes unfocused. “It’s her.”
“What?” I began working on the rope binding his hands behind his back, but it was stuck tight.
“Veronica.” It was Allyson’s voice but—different. A chill rushed down my spine. I raised my eyes to find the girl walking steadily toward us, her edges strangely blurred. “You’ve done well.”
Something was wrong with her face. Slowly, I straightened and placed my hands on Jamie’s shoulders, my heart dropping to the floor. Impossibly, Ally’s hair began to shrink, growing shorter and straighter before my eyes. Her rounded cheeks sharpened, the skin on her face pulling tighter over her cheekbones. As she drew closer, tiny lines spidered out from her eyes. The nose ring was gone and her mother, Addie Dell, stood before me.
Oh no. I shook my head in denial as my knees grew weak and I gripped Jamie’s shoulders harder. Allyson and Addie were the same person? And they were both Adelaide Cadell—the witch of Doon.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the terrible excitement lighting her face as she purred in a silken voice, “I’m so glad to see you. Come here, my dear.”
“Stay away from her!” Jamie growled. The wooden chair legs knocked against the floor as he struggled against his bonds.
It occurred to me that my hands should’ve been resting on his shoulders, but he was suddenly several feet away. I hesitated mid-step, unsure how I’d gotten halfway across the room.
“Be still and silent, young king o’ Doon,” Addie commanded. She flicked her wrist in Jamie’s direction and he froze, unable even to speak.
“Strong willed, that one,” Addie said with a glow of appreciation in her eyes. “I’ve had ta enthrall him thrice now.”
Focusing her full attention back to me, she announced, “Veronica, I wanted ta thank ye for delivering my spell inta the proper hands.”
I stared in shock at Jamie’s eerie, lifeless form across the room. “I didn’t deliver anything for you.”
“’Tis no matter, really. It got ta him somehow. I must admit, though, I was beginning ta despair that my plan had failed.”
Blood rushed in my ears as I clenched my hands into fists. I already knew she’d manipulated me like an empty-headed marionette, but hearing her gloat about it made me dizzy with rage. I’d never wanted to punch someone more in my life. “And what plan would that be?”
“My plan to destroy Doon, o’ course.” Addie arched a golden brow. “It’s just an added bonus that ye’re here ta watch your sweetheart die at midnight along with his kingdom.”