The three of them remained on guard, waiting for the next assault to come and when it didn’t, Maggie stepped forward. “Brielle! I guess you aren’t interested in this amulet. Perhaps I should just smash it, then.” Maggie made a show of pretending to drop the amulet onto the ground, but she merely concealed it within her closed fist. She lifted her foot as if to crush it, but a whirling sound began, growing louder and louder until Brielle appeared, standing nose to nose with Maggie. Dylan and Richard lunged forward to protect her, but Maggie held up her hand to stop them.
“I’ll take my amulet back.” Brielle bent to retrieve it from the ground, but stopped in place, when she realized the amulet wasn’t there. Slowly, she straightened back up and anger and rage showed on her face and in her posture at being fooled.
“I guess it is of value to you, after all,” Maggie said sweetly. “If you want it back, you’ll need to agree to my terms.”
“Terms!” Brielle scoffed. “I’ll nae agree to anything! You will give me my amulet, or I will turn your friends here to ash!”
“I wouldnae do that if I were you,” Maggie warned.
“Do these men nae have voices of their own? Why do they nae speak? Perhaps they are not real men at all.” It was obvious Brielle was trying to rile them and get a reaction. She eyed Richard curiously, with an impish twinkle in her eye. “Richard, I cannae believe you would betray me! Did ye nae tell me ye wanted yer revenge on the MacKenzies? Have ye changed yer mind?”
“Many things have changed since last we met, Brielle. I no longer seek revenge on the MacKenzie clan,” Richard calmly replied. “In fact, I now stand with Maggie in her efforts to put an end to you and to protect the MacKenzie’s.”
“Then ye have made an enemy of me and for that ye will have to pay.” Brielle vanished and almost instantly reappeared a short distance away. “I will teach ye a lesson ye’ll never forget,SirRichard!”
None of them noticed the fog rolling in from the edge of the woods. Maggie had focused all of her attention on Brielle, aware that she intended to harm Richard in some way. She would prevent it if she possibly could, but to her surprise, Richard inexplicably steppedtowardsBrielle.
“Richard. Stay where ye are!” Maggie shouted, but he didn’t seem to hear her. Richard began to struggle, and it was apparent to Maggie that he was being drawn towards Brielle against his will. Maggie had to do something, before it was too late. Briellecould apparently read her thoughts, because in the instant that Maggie began an incantation to try and release Richard, Brielle let loose with a volley of flames, which roared directly towards Richard. Maggie quickly gathered her wits about her and without conscious thought, sent a wall of water rushing towards the flames. The water engulfed Richard and extinguished the flames at the same time, creating a mass of steam. Brielle was preoccupied with the backwash of water, giving Maggie enough time to search the area for Richard. He had disappeared.
“Where did he go?” Dylan demanded. He, too, was searching the immediate vicinity for Richard.
“How do I know? I’m new at this.” Maggie was afraid she had inadvertently done something terrible. Had she harmed Richard? Was he dead? Maggie began to panic and as she surveyed the horizon, seeking some clue as to where Richard had gone, she noticed the wall of fog, creeping into the woods and dissipating. “Auntie, can ye hear me?” Maggie called to Edna with her mind.
“Aye, lass. It’s all right, Maggie. Don’t worry about Richard, I’ve taken care of him. He’s safe.”
Relief swept over Maggie, followed by a wave of anger directed at Brielle. The evil harridan had really meant to kill Richard! She needed to act fast, before Brielle could turn her attention to Dylan and hurt him. “Destroy the amulet,” Edna’s voice floated in the air to her ears.
“No!” Brielle shrieked, trying to get away from the water that now swirled around her legs. “No!”
Maggie looked over at Dylan who smiled warmly and said, “I love you, Maggie MacKinnon. You can do this. I know you can.”
Maggie dropped the amulet to the ground and stomped on it. “It didnae break!” She tried again, anxiety beginning to build in her chest. “Am I doing something wrong?”
“Let me try,” Dylan said.
“Nae. Dinnae ye remember, it burned ye when ye touched it.” Maggie scanned the area around her. What would work? She ran towards the nearest large boulder and frantically searched the ground for a rock she could use to crush the amulet.
Dylan followed at her heels. “Maggie, what about your dirk? It’s charmed. Maybe that will work.”
“Yes, of course! That has to work.” Maggie took out the dirk and set the amulet upon the stone. As soon as she raised the dirk above the amulet—the piece took on the shape and consistency of a human heart and began pulsing erratically. Maggie looked at Dylan and then over towards Brielle, who had managed to pull herself free from the cascades of water and was rushing straight towards them. The urgency of the situation pressed on Maggie and she used her magic to create a massive gust of wind to block Brielle’s progress for a few seconds more.
“I’ll hold her off,” Dylan announced with determination. He took a fighting stance in front of Maggie.
“I’ll kill him, if ye dinnae give me back my amulet!” Brielle raged, as she fought against Maggie’s magick. “Give it to me!”
Maggie ignored her and swiftly lowered the tip of her dirk to the amulet, which now beat at a frantic pace. As Brielle drew closer, Maggie stabbed the beating amulet with the dirk, penetrating it easily. Black liquid oozed from it and dribbled down the sides of the boulder. She looked up from the heart to see Brielle silently screaming and clawing at the air around her as her body was reduced to the same black liquid and bled into the earth, disappearing from sight with only a slight puff of smoke marking the spot where she’d stood. The amulet had disappeared now too, not a trace remaining behind. Dylan and Maggie stood staring at one another in stunned disbelief at what had just happened.
“She’s gone!” Maggie said. “We did it! She’s gone!”
***
Dylan caught Maggie in his arms as she suddenly slumped to the ground. She had gone deathly pale and weak. The stress of her showdown with Brielle must have sapped Maggie of every last ounce of her strength, so he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the cottage. She would need to rest, in order to regain her strength. Thank goodness she would now be able to do so, because the threat posed by Brielle was finally gone. He lay her carefully on the bed and covered her with a fur, noting that it was strangely peaceful inside the cottage after the battle they’d fought outside. The fire was dying out, so Dylan went to work building it back up again so that Maggie would be warm. Sitting quietly, staring into the flames, Dylan couldn’t believe the things he’d witnessed since coming to Scotland with Jenna, but today had been the most unbelievable of all. His mighty little Maggie had singlehandedly defeated a very evil witch. The thought of it put a smile on his face and glancing back to the bed, a surge of warmth and pride ran through him. Rising to his feet, Dylan made his way to the bed and lay down next to Maggie, who immediately burrowed closer to him in her sleep. He held her like that until he too, fell asleep dreaming of the future they would share together.
Chapter 19
The first thing Maggie thought of upon waking was that Dylan had told her he loved her. Beaming with joy, she shook him awake. “Dylan, you told me you loved me. Do you really?” she asked.
Dylan rubbed the sleep from his eyes and opened them to look fully into hers. “Maggie. You’re awake. Are you okay?”
