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. Our Protector does no’ make mistakes … by marrying my son … its queen.”
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.”