Doon (Doon Novel, A) (32 page)

T
hrough a haze of agonizing pain, I saw Kenna’s finger wiggle behind her back. The emerald stone of her ring shimmered luminously in the shadows. A spark of life bloomed in my heart, and with it hope pushed against the darkness, driving back my growing despair. I may not have been able to defeat the witch on my own, but fortunately I wouldn’t have to.

My own fingers twitched as I clenched my eyes and focused outside of myself, on my purpose—our purpose. Kenna and I had always been stronger as a team. Even the rings we wore symbolized unity. My ring had allowed me to neutralize the witch’s earlier attack, so what if combining the rings made them even more powerful? Blood began to flow back into my knotted muscles as my strength returned. Addie may have won the battle, but she would not use me to harm the people I loved. She would not win this war.

Visualizing my purpose as a sledgehammer, I crashed through the pall that threatened to crush my will and lunged toward Kenna. “Now!”

Our hands locked and Ken pulled me to my feet. The witch’s shriek of protest echoed in the small room as our rings’ power fused. The red and green united, and energy crackled through me like a lightning storm. Instantly, the lingering weight of the witch’s hex lifted.

“Yer going ta regret that, little queen!” Addie screeched.

Furtively, my eyes shifted to Jamie. He edged nearer, still battling the serpents—beating them with the flat of his sword. Even in the midst of fighting for his life, he was amazing.

Addie cackled, pulling my attention back to her. The hair at the back of my neck stood on end as her hands moved in a circle like she was caressing an imaginary ball. Words I couldn’t understand spewed from her lips. A purple haze swirled between her palms, growing more solid by the second.

My chest tightened for the impending blow of magic as cold sweat trickled down my back. The glow of my ring began to dim. I’d broken free from her binding curse, but that was only half the battle. What was I supposed to do now? I met Kenna’s frantic stare, searching for answers she didn’t have.

And then Jamie was there. His dark eyes locked on mine, and something beyond reason, beyond even time, passed between us. His gaze surrounded me like a physical force and ran deep inside my soul. A slow, confident smile spread across his face. He didn’t need to speak; faith shone from his eyes, filling me with strength. And I knew not even a maniacal, power-hungry witch would stop me from saving him.

Addie continued to chant, the violet mist between her palms growing stronger. The dark magic illuminated her face like a ghastly X-ray, revealing her jawbone and every tooth beneath the transparent veil of her skin. The ball knitted faster in her hands.

I turned and squeezed Kenna’s fingers. “We have to do this together.”

She nodded and we lifted our joined hands. The ring’s combined power blazed, brilliant and sparkling like the sun reflecting on a fresh blanket of snow. We moved forward as one, and Addie froze in place, the midnight shine of her spell fading rapidly. The demonic sphere swirled faster and faster, until with a high-pitched squeal it imploded into nothingness.

As Kenna and I advanced, I chanced a quick glance in her direction. She arched her eyebrows in challenge. “Are you the queen or aren’t you? Take that witch down!”

With a slight nod of my head, I turned back to Addie. She mumbled words that seemed to wilt in the wake of the divine power arching from our rings. Her magic faltered. But I needed to do something more, something that would keep her from hurting those I loved ever again.

Remembering how Fiona and I had broken the spell on the journal, I pictured Doon in my mind—the cobbled streets, castle turrets reaching into the sky, the old chapel emanating the glory of the souls within, and lastly, the faces: Jamie, Duncan, Fiona, Fergus, Mario and Sharron, the Rosetti sisters, and even poor, abused Gideon.

The people were the essence of Doon. I focused every ounce of my being on saving them and their enchanted kingdom, which I’d come to love with all my heart. Then I sent up a desperate plea to Doon’s Protector.

Blinding beams shot from the rings, passing through the witch’s torso. Addie twitched as if burning from the inside out, purged by fire and righteousness.

She screamed in outrage, “Nooo!”

A hellish shriek rent the air, and Addie slumped over, her body aging rapidly before my eyes. Her lush blonde hair grew
stringy and gray. Her skin turned sallow and shriveled into a thousand wrinkles. Her gorgeous figure shrunk, bending into her drab medieval dress and cape. Behind her, the self-perpetuating serpents began to deflate like damaged tires, dissolving into putrid lumps of ebony slime and ash on the floor.

Pure, unadulterated shock crossed Addie’s rapidly aging face. Her eyes became huge and buglike as she clutched at her throat. “What have ye done?”

“What someone should’ve done a long time ago.” I released Kenna’s fingers. This one I could handle on my own. Stepping forward, I balled my hand into a fist and punched the old woman smack in the face. “That’s for hurting Jamie!”

“And for calling me a sidekick!” Kenna added as the hag dropped to her knees and crumpled into a heap on the floor. Stripped of her wickedness, she appeared nothing more than a pathetic old woman. Innocuous, if not benign.

I stared at the miraculous ring on my finger, wondering how such an innocent-looking object could harness the power of the Almighty Protector of Doon—who somewhere along the way had become my guardian as well. I harbored no delusions that Kenna and I possessed latent superpowers; it’d simply taken an unwavering belief in the light to extinguish the dark.

Jamie rushed to my side and gathered me in his strong arms. I gratefully leaned into his solid warmth, clinging to him as fatigue washed through me. Being a warrior was seriously exhausting!

“How did ye know?” His voice was as gentle as I’d ever heard it, filled with wonder and something more intimate, meant only for me.

Leaning back, I searched his dark eyes. “Know what?”

“How did you know that you had to be willing to die to invoke the power of the substitution?”

“It was something the king—your father—said to me. That when the time came I’d have to be willing to make a sacrifice for your sake.” I lowered my head and then glanced at him from under my lashes, tapping the left side of my chest with two fingers. “It wasn’t a hard decision. I just followed my heart.”

J
ust when I thought real life couldn’t get more theatrical, hag-Addie started to cackle again. Her hateful, brittle laugh scraped over me like dead branches in February. Vee spun in Jamie’s embrace just as Fergus and Duncan moved toward the witch with weapons drawn. But with a puff of wind, she … vanished.

The room went oddly silent as scenes flitted through my mind: the Phantom vanishing on Christine, Sondheim’s witch disappearing into the woods, the Wicked Witch of the West shrieking, “I’m melting!” That was always the end, right? There ought to have been music underscoring the moment so we could rejoice it was over and that we’d won.

Fergus kicked Addie’s empty cape with the tip of his boot. “She’s gone.”

When Vee started to frown, Jamie picked her up off her feet and twirled her in a circle. “Tha’s a good thing. Ye did it! You beat her.”

Over their whirling forms, I looked to Duncan for final
confirmation. As he watched his brother and my best friend, he grinned, his smile equal parts smirky and awestruck. He brushed his dark hair back from his forehead so that it stuck up in those fantastic damp spikes. There was something so familiar—so comfortable and endearing—in the gesture, as if my heart had known him a lifetime. Our eyes locked. His velvet brown gaze radiated with expectancy that tugged at my soul.

The gossamer strands of a long-forgotten memory floated across my consciousness. Sunshine and summer heat. Someone standing on the Brig o’ Doon waiting for me. As I struggled to remember, a clock chimed from somewhere in the house. The melody of the bells pierced the thought and snapped me back to the present.

Duncan’s face grew pale, his smile slack. Heavy with shock, he murmured, “Midnight.”

With a gasp, Vee pushed out of Jamie’s arms to face me with round eyes. “Please tell me you set the clocks ahead.”

A couple of minutes. “Not enough.”

In my head, I could imagine Addie still cackling from wherever she’d gone and gloating, “Ye will never make it back across the bridge in time ta save your beloved Doon.”

Jamie clutched Vee’s arm. His manner became clipped and efficient as he pulled the new queen to his side. “The fastest way to the riverbank?”

In spite of the panic on her face, Vee remained calm. “Up the stairs and out the back door.” Before her words were finished, they were moving toward the exit.

Duncan crossed the room in a half dozen determined strides. My stomach plummeted as he reached for me. I longed for him to take me in the shelter of his arms and kiss me senseless. Instead, I grasped his powerful hand and let him drag me behind Jamie and Vee.

Just before the door, I pulled away long enough to scoop up Aunt Gracie’s journal and the upended duffel. I stuffed the book into the bag and thrust it at Vee. “Take this. Whatever you do, don’t drop it.” There were questions in her eyes but she slipped the strap horizontally across her torso and rushed into the pitch-black corridor.

Duncan waited at the doorway, his eyes voicing a particular question. He would never return to Doon if I didn’t. Or at least if he didn’t think I was going back. Before he could say anything, I grabbed his arm, tugged him into the hallway, and whispered, “I’ve changed my mind about staying in Doon.”

Feeling physically sick, I watched as wonder crossed his face, followed by relief and a new determination to get to the bridge. Duncan’s hands pressed into my back, urging me to climb the stairs two at a time. As we raced through the darkened house and out the back door, I thought of Aunt Gracie. How before she died, she’d promised me she was going to recover. But she couldn’t.

The clock from Alloway’s main strip started to toll the hour.
One!
The low muffled clang reverberated through our bodies as we dashed toward the trail that would get us across the bridge.

Once on the footpath, Duncan interlaced his fingers with mine. Anchored to his side, I had no choice but to match his long gait stride for stride. Just ahead of us, Jamie propelled Vee in a similar manner while Fergus sped past us to take the lead.

My side ached.
Two!
My lungs burned from lack of oxygen. I ignored my protesting body and pushed through the pain. The distance separating the cottage from the bridge seemed impossibly far. Yet I refused to abandon hope.

I focused on the bend that led to the Brig o’ Doon.
Three!
Fergus rounded it first and declared, “I see the brig!”

In front of me, Jamie and Vee seemed to run even faster—if
such a thing was possible—as they caught their first glimpse of the portal that would lead them home.
Four!
With a shout, Jamie urged us on. “Keep going!”

We sprinted through the curve. Ahead, the Brig o’ Doon was barely discernible in the haze of the riverbank. Duncan’s fingers tightened over mine in wordless assurance, and his pace quickened.
Five!

I was doing the right thing. I had to believe it. But we were running out of time. As we neared the mouth of the bridge, thick tentacles of mist reached for us. All that remained visible of the Brig o’ Doon was the lamppost on our side.
Six!
If not for that dull yellow halo of light, we’d have lost our way for certain.

The disembodied voice of Fergus echoed from the oblivion. “I’m across!”

My timing had to be perfect. As I took the first jarring step onto the cobbled stones of the bridge and the mist swallowed us, my hand slipped from Duncan’s.

“Mackenna!” he called out in alarm.

“Right here.” I struggled to keep my response as reassuring as possible.
Seven!
Although he was only inches away, I couldn’t see any part of him. How I wished in that moment I could see his ridiculously gorgeous face one last time. “Keep running!”

Then I stopped.

Eight!

Using the parapet wall as a guide, I quickly edged my way backward toward Alloway. I wasn’t sure how far I’d crossed, but I needed to ensure I was past the halfway point before the last toll.

Ahead, I heard Jamie exclaim, “We’ve made it!” followed by Vee’s bell-like laugh of relief and Duncan’s hoot of victory.
Nine!

Now for the hard part.

Duncan’s voice held a sense of urgency. “Mackenna? Where are ye?”

Ten!

I labored to make my mouth speak the terrible truth. “I’m not coming.”

I heard Duncan rush toward me instantly, followed by the sounds of a struggle as Jamie and Fergus restrained him. His voice wavered with disbelief. “But you said—”

“I lied.” If he could find a way, he would come after me. The only way he would stay where he belonged was if he never wanted to see me again.

Some promises couldn’t be kept, despite our best intentions.
Eleven!
A sob hitched in my throat as I stepped back onto the firm ground of Alloway and waited for the final toll.

From the other side of the Brig o’ Doon, Vee gasped. “Kenna, what are you doing?”

“Come ta me!” Duncan’s frantic plea caused me to sink to my knees in an effort to hold my ground and not to rush to him. The ache in my chest was excruciating.

“Mackenna!” Already his voice sounded distant—coming from someplace far, far away. “Please!”

Twelve!

The mists began to dissipate. For several moments, I stood in shock and watched the Brig o’ Doon reappear. Staring at the vacant passage, I struggled with the reality of what I’d done. I’d abandoned my best friend and broken trust with the boy I loved.

I could only hope when Vee went through the bag and found Uncle Cameron’s ring that she would understand. Like her, the rings belonged in Doon—I did not. She’d probably still be furious, but eventually she would forgive me—and she’d help Duncan to do the same. In time, he would find someone who could make him happy and move on. Unlike me.

Stars filled the sky as I walked numbly back to the cottage. Now that the kingdom was safe, I wasn’t afraid of Addie. Even if Vee hadn’t stripped her of her power, she’d still lost. But I needn’t have worried, because the chamber under the cottage was as empty as a tomb. She’d disappeared, hopefully for good.

All traces of Doon were gone from my life—as if it’d never been more than a terrible and lovely dream.