Chapter Twenty-Three #2
Outside their cell, she heard a faint clink of a key. Chloe’s gaze swiveled to the door as they both stared at it, waiting, holding their breath for the enemy to show himself. The lock to their door clicked and moments later it swung open.
But it was not the enemy standing on the other side of the threshold.
“Roslyn!” Evie breathed.
“Come, lassies.” She waved frantically for them to step out of the cell while she checked the hallway.
They both hurried through the door.
“I dinnae ken what happened in the great hall, but there is no’ much left of the room,” the woman said.
“What do you mean?” Chloe asked.
“I mean there was a flash of light and a bang and then nothing. The room is in ruins. All of ye were unconscious when I found ye. I tried to wake ye but MacDonald’s men came.
So I hid again and waited as they rounded ye up and brought ye down here.
They tied up Brianna. They want to make her use the keystone. ”
It was worse than Evie had feared. “We have to find a way back to her. We have to get her out of there.”
“How did you get the keys?” Chloe asked.
“I took them off the sleeping guard. Here.” She pressed the keys into Evie’s hand. “The lads are just there.” She pointed to a cell at the other end of the dungeon.
“Where are the MacDonalds?” Evie asked.
“They’re camped outside the castle walls, scheming, debating what to do with the two of ye,” she said, her voice tight with worry. A shadow of fear flickered across her face before she swallowed hard. “They intend to keep the other lass. They need her, they think. They want to kill the lads.”
The words trembled into the air, heavy with dread, her eyes searching for some kind of reassurance, some promise that they still had a chance.
“Get to safety, Roslyn,” Evie said. “You’ve done more than enough.”
“Godspeed to ye all.” Her voice barely carried above a whisper before she turned, feet silent against the stone as she hurried away. In an instant, she melted into the gloom, swallowed by the darkness like a wraith slipping between worlds.
“How are we going to get that stone back?” Chloe asked.
“We’ll think of something.”
Right now, she had something more important to do.
Evie’s heart pounded as she rushed to the cell door, fingers fumbling with the key in the lock.
It clicked and she pulled open the door.
Callum was the first one out. He swept her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, relief flooding his face.
She whispered his name and buried her face there, reassuring him she was all right.
It was a comfort to be in his arms once again.
Behind him, Malcolm wasted no time reaching Chloe and taking her in his arms. His grip was firm, protective. She fell against him, the tension dissolving from her features into unguarded, unrestrained solace.
Jamie was last to step through the doorway, hesitating for a moment. Blood crusted the side of his face, streaking through the dirt smearing his cheeks. His gaze flickered from Evie to Chloe and back again, his expression tight with worry.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“They have her,” Evie said, her voice quivering with her fear. “They want her to use the stone.”
Fury erupted on his face as he clenched his fists.
“Well, they willna be able to do that without it.” He reached into his sporran and brought out the stone, holding it up for them all to see.
Chloe hissed a breath of surprise. Evie gaped in shock. Words froze in her throat as questions flew through her mind.
“Well done, lad,” Callum said. Pride showed in his face.
“God’s teeth, man, how did ye get it?” Malcolm asked. “The last thing I remember was the flash of light. Then nothing.”
“That’s all I remember, too,” Evie said.
“Aye,” Jamie said. “But Brianna turned to me. She pressed the glowing keystone into my hand and though she said nothing, I ken she wanted me to keep it safe.”
“Your hand,” Chloe said on a whisper. “It’s burned like ours.”
Jamie pocketed the stone and held up his hand into the light to get a better look.
There, in the center of his palm was the brand similar to hers and Chloe’s and Brianna’s.
But it was not the same. This brand was the imprint of the whole stone.
The Celtic triskelion with the circle going through it.
He stared down at it as though trying to understand how it had happened.
“I took the stone from Brianna,” he said. “It was hot to the touch. My hand closed over it. That was the last thing I remembered before I passed out.”
“What does it mean, I wonder?” Evie asked.
“This feels significant somehow,” Chloe said.
Jamie dropped his hand to his side. “We’ve tarried long enough.”
Urgency was in his voice. He shoved past Malcolm and Callum both and headed for the exit.
“Wait, Jamie, it’s no’ safe,” Callum called.
He spun to face his older brother, his eyes blazing with fury. “They have her. I mean to get her back. They dinnae ken I have the wee stone.”
Callum released Evie to move toward his younger brother. He clapped a hand on his shoulder to calm him, reassure him.
“Aye, and we will. But we must have a plan first.”
“Let’s get to the armory,” Malcolm suggested. “We can hide out there while we make a plan.”
“Yes, we can’t stay here,” Evie agreed as she joined her husband, slipping her hand in his.
“Let’s go, then,” Jamie said.
He didn’t wait for a reply as he headed out of the dank dungeon.