She took a step forward, loosening her grip on the book. “That’s it,” the barefoot man said, reaching out, beckoning her on. “Bring it here. You’re doing the right thing.”
She stopped, opening the book and looking down at one blank page after another, flicking through them all. “There are no spells in here.”
“Bring it here,” he said, snapping at her. “The moon will soon rise and the writing will be visible.”
“Look,” she said, seeing the page marked with a bookmark.Bensons - Best for Books.“What’s this?”
“Never mind that,” the barefoot man said. “Give me the book of your own free will and together we can rule the world.”
Rachel’s eyes scanned down the page. The words formed together, ink running into lines across the page. The words meant nothing but she read them out anyway, the words echoing loudly around the clearing.
“No,” the barefoot man said, running toward her. “Stop. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Cam leapt on him and then everything happened at once. The other men pulled their bows, arrows flying toward Cam. The barefoot man couldn’t get past him, scrambling to free himself from Cam’s grip.
She said the last words of the spell and there was a flash of light so bright it burned her eyes. It came from the book, filling the clearing. The light died almost as soon as it came. The barefoot man was gone.
The arrows were broken and bent on the floor, the men turning and running, praying loudly for their souls, fleeing the sight of such witchcraft. Cam was no longer holding the barefoot man. Instead, his arms were wrapped around a tall stone that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“I thought you were going to give him the book,” Cam said, letting go of the stone before tapping it with his finger. “Is that him?”
“I think so,” she replied, closing the book.
“How did you know that spell would work?”
“I didn’t but all the other pages were blank.”
“So no spell to get you home then?”
“I think he might have been able to read it even though we can’t.”
Cam frowned. “What makes you say that?”
“I just get a feeling about it. Now, you said Philip might know another way to get me home.”
“Aye.”
“Then we better go see him, hadn’t we.”
Cam picked up one of the fallen arrows. “I thought I was dead for sure.” He tossed it back to the ground. “Come on then. If our horse hasn’t wandered off on his own, we should be back home by tomorrow night.”
Chapter Eighteen
They spent that night together sleeping under the stars. The weather was warmer than it had been since she arrived.
“The chill grip on the land is fading,” Cam said, feeling the soil under his fingertips. “He no longer has a hold on the Highlands.”
“Is he really gone, do you think?” Rachel asked.
“He’s been turned into solid stone. I doubt he’ll cause us any more trouble.”
“What about his followers?”
“Whatever spell they were under has broken. You saw the speed they ran from the stone circle.”
“So it’s really over?”
Cam nodded, rolling onto his side and tapping the ground next to him. “Aye, I think it is. And all thanks to you.”
