Chapter 44
I woke on the top of the hill, propped up in Nicol’s arms. I could hear chanting to my left, and as I blinked myself awake, I turned to see what was happening.
“Doona worry, lass. Ye are safe.”
“What are they doing? What’s wrong? Where’s Brachan?” I suddenly remembered Paton and broke down into tears. “Paton…he’s…he...”
Nicol’s arms were wrapped around me, and he gently rocked me as he spoke into my hair. “Shh, lass. We know. We know where Paton is. He did the only thing any of us could do.”
“Is the…did his bond break with The Eight?”
Nicol nodded. “Aye, but Machara is not free. Brachan is human now, but by some miracle, his powers remain. The men are initiating him into The Eight now. We’ve still seven men.”
Maddock was quiet on the way back to the castle, and his thoughts were very far away.
I knew what he was thinking, and I hated it.
“Thank you, Maddock.”
He sighed and kept his eyes ahead as he spoke. “For what, lass? For allowing my friend to sacrifice three years of his life for ye when I should’ve been the one to step inside and make such a bargain?”
“You allowed nothing. You have no more control over Paton’s actions than you do over mine. All you did was keep your word, and it means the world to me.”
Maddock let out a strained sob, and he pulled me toward him even more tightly.
“I shall never be able to repay him. He has given ye back to me, and he has given Brachan a new life, as well.”
“He’ll be okay, won’t he?”
Maddock hesitated, but his tone was confident in his answer. “Aye. His magic will protect him. Better him stuck there than ye.”
“I failed, Maddock.” I whispered the words. “Paton saved Brachan, not me. We’re no closer to defeating Machara than we were before. It seems I was wrong—I’m not one of the nine women meant to defeat her.”
“I wouldna be so sure about that, lass. The moment ye and Brachan appeared at the top of the hill, ye lying there unconscious and Brachan fully human, the entire Isle shook from her screaming. She knows she was defeated once again. I believe ye’ve completed yer duty.”
I could see the castle in the distance.
“I hope so. When we get back, she’s the first person I want to see.”
Hand in hand, Brachan and I made our way down to the dungeon. The Machara I’d seen before was gone.
Curled up in the back corner of her cell, she wailed as we looked in at her.
I had nothing to say. I only wanted to see that my job was done.
It was Brachan who needed to make his peace with her. “I am free of ye, and I shall spend every day of my life until ye are good and truly dead making sure ye remain here. Ye are not my mother. Ye never were, and ye never will be.”
Brachan didn’t need to hear her response. Turning, he led me from the dungeon as we closed the door on our part of Machara’s story.