Shades of Doon (9 page)
“Duncan.” She leaned into his chest and gave a little shiver. “I’m cold and tired. I promise we’ll explain everything over a nice cup of tea back at the castle.”
Duncan and Jamie exchanged a nod and then helped us up onto their mounts. Jamie swung up behind me and told me to lean back and relax. His way of saying he’d hold off his questions — for now.
He wheeled Crusoe in a circle with one hand on the reins, his other arm tucked around my waist, holding me close. The horse gave a snort and then trotted forward with a rhythmic sway. Snuggled into Jamie’s warmth, my head resting on his shoulder, his delicious stormy scent filling me with every breath, I tried unsuccessfully to keep my mind from going to the dark side. What if it happened again? What if next time I couldn’t get back? And I was separated from everything and everyone I loved, forever?
D
uncan’s massive chest pressed against my back as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Let’s keep going . . .”
Mabel bristled in her stride and tossed her black mane, causing me to focus more on the beast beneath me than the hot boy behind me. Duncan straightened and tightened the reins to bring his steed into instant submission. He murmured to her in a soothing voice that sounded infuriatingly similar to the one he occasionally used on me, and she obeyed.
The horse loved him. Me, she tolerated only when absolutely necessary.
Now that I had no concerns of Analisa poaching my boyfriend, Mabel had become my new nemesis. Whenever Duncan wasn’t looking, she yanked my hair with her teeth, slapped me across the face with her tail, or nudged me into the filthy hay in the corner of her stall. One time I swear she bit my butt, but when I said as much to Duncan he’d defended her saying she didn’t have a jealous bone in her body. On that we could agree. Mabel didn’t have
a
jealous bone, she had
two hundred and
five
of them — a fact I’d looked up in the castle library just to be sure.
“ . . . could bypass the castle and be to the hunting lodge by nightfall.” It took me a minute to realize that Duncan’s two thoughts were connected and he that he was suggesting we not go straight back.
Around the bend in the lane stood the village of Doon, and rising into the distance beyond, our destination, the Castle MacCrae.
Home . . .
I tested the word out. It felt foreign, like when Mario Rosetti lapsed into his native Italian. I couldn’t remember the last time a place had felt like home. Not my studio in Chicago, or the house in Arkansas that my dad had uprooted me to at the start of senior year. Maybe before that, in my old house in Bainbridge, Indiana . . . but even then, only when Vee was there with me.
It was the same way with Dunbrae Cottage. My aunt Gracie’s death had left a void, as if the magical spark had ebbed away, leaving cold wood and plaster behind. Home wasn’t a place, it was the people I loved — my royal best friend, the amazing boy at my back, and friends who were more like family than actual blood relatives. Because of them, I belonged here and, in time, I hoped I would feel the truth of it.
At the bend, the road forked leading to the village on the right and the start of the high road into the mountains to the left. As we approached, Duncan slowed Mabel to a walk. “Hmmm? Which shall it be?” The intimacy of his voice, pitched low and close to my ear, sent shivers rippling across my neck.
Why would he want to go to the hunting lodge if our best chance of figuring out what had happened to Vee and I was joining the brain trust back at the castle? I leaned back against him and slightly off to the side so I could look up at his face and ask. He prefaced his answer with a pained smile. “To pretend —
even if just for a little while — that nothing could ever separate us again.”
He looked out toward the village with a frown. “Because I’m half mad with the need to lock you away in a tower where ye’ll be safe.” His dark, imploring eyes fastened on mine, starting a butterfly chorus line in my stomach. Although I never fancied myself as a cloistered princess, I could indulge in a little cosplay for my prince’s sake. “Humor me and say we’ll go — if not at present then soon.”
“Okay. Soon.” I promised, before straining upward to plant a kiss on his jawline. He responded by tipping his face down to capture my mouth with his. The kiss wasn’t sweet. It was rough and desperate, like we were both trying to hold on to the other person to keep the moment from slipping through our grasp. Which happened anyway as the horse beneath us reared up.
Duncan immediately broke off the kiss and pulled at her reins. Ears pinned flat, she bared her teeth and tossed her head in annoyance. “Mabel!” Duncan admonished. “What’s gotten into ye?”
Her tail swished back and forth as she snorted, stamping her feet. Her owner looked at me with chagrin. “Mayhap, she’s a wee bit jealous o’ you.”
“Ya think?” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. In her defense, she did have him first. But she was going to have to deal with the fact that he was mine too. And I wasn’t going anywhere — at least, not if I could help it.
With a sigh, Duncan reluctantly steered Mabel toward the village of Doon. “I guess I’ll just have to content myself with sleeping at your doorstep.”
Just like at the cottage in Alloway, when he’d slept in the hallway in front of my room . . . I’d nearly forgotten about that.
At the time I’d assumed that he’d been trying to keep me on lockdown because he was following orders. “Why did you do that? Sleep in the hall in front of my door at Aunt Gracie’s?”
“I desired to be as close to you as possible.” He chuckled softly. “That was a wretched night.”
“Because the floor was so uncomfortable?”
“Nay. Because you weren’t nearly close enough. Plus, it was the first time ye’d been out of my sight since our reunion. The separation was so unbearable, I couldna sleep.”
“I was out of your sight when you took a shower at my apartment.” That had been unbearably torturous for me, but I wasn’t about to admit to it.
“That was wretched too. There wasn’t enough cold water on the planet to numb me to your presence.” He guided Mabel around the outskirts of the village, clearly in no hurry to catch up to his brother and Vee. “I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you in Chicago that I never wished to be parted again. I couldna bear it.”
Exactly how I had felt. Whenever he left my sight I’d been plagued with irrational fear that I was dreaming and would wake up at any moment to find myself alone in my studio apartment. If Duncan was my home, I was his heart. Without the other, we would cease to function. That was the point of the Calling, I supposed. A gift from the Protector, revealing the person who was not only our other half but the one who would challenge us in the best ways possible to grow into the people we were destined to be.
Not consciously thinking about my words, I blurted out, “What do you think about Vee and Jamie getting handfasted?”
Geez!
I sounded like a desperate girlfriend in
Bye Bye Birdie
.
Did you hear about Hugo and Kim? They got pinned, the lucky ducks. I sure wish it would happen to me.
“Aye,” Duncan said evenly so that his tone betrayed nothing. “I think it suits them.”
“Not that I’m jealous — ’cause I’m not.” I immediately started backpedaling so Duncan wouldn’t think that I was fishing for a commitment. “I’m just making conversation, since it’s a fairly recent development.”
Shut up, Kenna.
Duncan brought his horse to a stop. The front gates of Castle MacCrae loomed just ahead. Carefully dismounting, he stood looking up at me, his soul bared in the depths of his chocolate-brown eyes. Taking my free hand, he placed it flush over his heart. “Mackenna, I am committed to ye in every way a lad can be committed to a lass. Ye need never doubt that.”
“I don’t.”
He blinked up at me, love radiating from his eyes. “What is it, then?”
I shrugged. “I guess I’m just afraid. There are so many things that could separate us. What if I get sucked back to the modern world? Or something happens to you?”
“Shhh.” His hands circled my waist, and he helped me to dismount. As soon as I was on solid ground, he gently captured my chin and tipped my face up toward his. “I dinna believe we’ve come all this way just to be at the end of our story. I trust that we’ve many wonderful chapters ahead.”
This time when his lips met mine, the kiss was soft, as if I was fragile — no, not fragile,
precious
. He slowly pulled back, his fingers cupping my jaw as he pressed his forehead against mine, and his eyelids fluttered shut. I closed my eyes as well, hoping we could prolong the moment forever. Which lasted all of about five seconds before Mabel butted me in the side and nudged us apart with her freakishly hard head.
Like a jealous house pet, the mare positioned her body
between us. As my boyfriend took her reins, she gleefully flicked my cheek with her whip-like tail.
Snicker all you like, Horseface. This is only round one.
If it came to a livestock showdown, I was fairly certain Elsie and the whole bovine community would have my back. We’d go all
West Side Story
on Mabel before she had a hope of rallying her equine posse.
Horses and cows as Sharks and Jets made me remember this great gender-bending production of the Bernstein musical I’d seen at the Windy City Players. The star-crossed lovers, Antonia and Mario, instead of Tony and Maria, were
meh
, but the girl who’d played Riffy had blown me away.
Duncan firmly forced Mabel to the outside so that he could walk between his two girls. “What are ye thinkin’ about?”
“Chicago. I wish circumstances had been different. I would’ve loved to show you around.”
“Do ye wish you were back in the modern world?” His words were light, but there was a wariness in his eyes.
“No,” I replied without hesitation. “But there are things from my old life that I would’ve loved to share with you.”
Duncan wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer. “Ye still can. Tell me about them — and I will cherish every detail.”
I had no doubt that he would . . . but no amount of words would be the same as him experiencing my world first-hand.
Flanked by the princes and Eòran, Vee and I wound our way through the castle to the appointed meeting spot. When I stepped into the council chamber, eight sets of familiar eyes greeted me. Our little Scooby Gang had grown. Although I had
some reservations about more people joining our group, I had the feeling we were going to need all the help we could get.
As well as Fergus and Fiona, Doon’s happy newlyweds, four of the Destined had joined our inner circle. Typically the Destined were called to Doon for love, a soul mate waiting for them on the other side of the Brig o’ Doon. But during the last Centennial a few months ago, an unprecedented number of individuals had been Called from the modern world because the kingdom had need of their skills — something that, if you really pondered it, felt both troubling and reassuring.
Of the four newcomers in the council room, only Emily had been Called to Doon for love, and unfortunately her soul mate had been the first victim of the zombie fungus. Analisa had been called for her unique-yet-questionable criminal talents. Adam had an extensive background in environmental science, which had proved invaluable in figuring out the nature of the limbus. Oliver Ambrose, seated next to him, was the other scientist — a mechanical engineer, to be exact. And although I didn’t understand what he did, he was crazy smart. Vee referred to him as the Tony Stark of the Destined, but even with his unruly dark hair and manscaped goatee, I failed to see any resemblance to Robert Downey, Jr.
The final additions to the gang were the oldest Rosetti boy, Giancarlo, who according to Duncan was fearless with a sharp strategic mind, and his little sister, Gabriella.
As soon as Vee cleared the doorway, Gabby rushed her. “We’re so glad you’re back, Your Highness — I mean, Vee — Veronica.” The force of the hug sent Vee stumbling backward into Jamie, who clasped her arms to keep her from toppling over.
Mortified, Gabby simultaneously let go and hopped back. She had attached herself as Vee’s lady-in-waiting and doted on
her queen with something akin to hero worship. She always reminded me of a puppy, due to her gangly body and unchecked enthusiasm. Gabby tucked a wayward lock of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Veronica — I mean, Your Highness. Please pardon my behavior.”
My best friend chuckled self-consciously. “Vee’s fine. And there’s nothing to apologize for.” Placing a hand on Gabby’s back, Vee diplomatically guided her to the table. “Why don’t you take a seat so we can get started?”
Eòran stood dutifully by the closed door as Vee settled herself at the head with Jamie to her left and me to her right. Duncan sat on my other side. I could smell his fragrance of summer sunshine and fresh leather as his fingers twined with mine under the table. It felt soothing to have him so close.
An empty chair remained between Gabby and Fiona. Vee nodded to it, but before she could get her question out, the door opened. The oldest Rosetti sister, Sofia, burst into the room. Hair disheveled, cheeks flushed, she stared at our little gang with bright, feverish eyes. “Sorry! I wasn’t going to come, but then . . .” She looked helplessly around the room until her eyes found Fiona, who gave her an encouraging nod. “I thought I might be of use.”
