Past Addie’s crouched form, Jamie glared holes in the witch’s back. With great effort he opened his mouth and called to me. “Vee—”
The witch’s eyes widened in surprise before she stood and spun to face him. “I see our obstinate hero is back.” Her entire body was coiled and tense as she walked to Jamie’s bound, vulnerable form. Flipping back her sleeve, she glanced at her watch and smiled—a wide, maniacal leer that made my blood run cold.
“Not long now, young man. I canna wait to watch you disappear into the mist, along with your beloved kingdom. What would yer dear departed mother say if she knew her favored son was the cause of Doon’s ultimate demise?” She shook her head and made a tsking sound with her tongue.
Barely a whisper, Jamie labored to contradict her. “She’d say Doon’s blessing is yer curse … and it always will be.”
“Not for long—”
He shook his head feebly. “Aye. Forever.”
Emboldened by Jamie’s strength in the face of certain death, I scrambled to my feet. I knew only one thing: I couldn’t watch him disintegrate before my eyes, or whatever horrific thing would happen to him at the stroke of midnight. I had to find a way to save him and Doon, no matter what the cost. The Ring of Aontacht had to be the key. Fiona had asked me to put it on in the chapel just before the spell around the journal shattered, and it had led me to Jamie. This was no benign piece of jewelry; it contained power, if I could just figure out how to use it.
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.”