He folded his arms over his chest. “And while ye are distracting the guards and I’m killing them, what is Jamie doing?”
“I’ll be finding the dungeon and rescuing the bonnie lassies,” he said with a grin.
Malcolm glanced from his younger brother to his older one. “Did ye tell him this before?”
Callum shook his head. “No, but sending in wee Jamie is the last thing MacDonald will expect. So, aye, he’ll go in after them.”
“And what if something goes wrong?” Malcolm wanted to know.
He wasn’t sure he liked this plan but it was the only one they had. If it worked, Evie and Chloe would be safe in Jamie’s hands.
“Did ye forget the lassies still have control of their pieces of the keystone?” Callum asked.
“I did no forget such a thing,” Malcolm replied.
“If anything goes wrong…” Callum paused, took a deep breath, and pinpointed Jamie with his glittering blue eyes. “I want ye to tell them to use the power of the stones.”
Malcolm stared at him for a long moment. Jamie seemed unconcerned about the power of the stones, but he had seen what it did to Chloe with his own eyes. It drained her to the point of unconsciousness more than once. What would happen, then, if she and Evie were to use the power of the stones together? It could bloody well kill her.
“Och, brother, yearemad. Ye dinnae ken what yer asking.”
“I do.” Callum turned his gaze to him and locked eyes. “I saw what it did to Chloe. I ken what it does to my own wife when she uses the power of the stone.”
“What does it do?” Jamie asked, genuinely interested.
He hadn’t been around any of the times Chloe had used the power of the past. When Evie had saved them at the previous battle with MacDonald, they were at a distance and unable to see what had happened to her. All Malcolm knew was what Callum had told him.
“It drains their energy,” Malcolm said. “Are ye sure that’s safe for—”
“It might be the only way,” Callum said, cutting him off.
His gaze bored into him and in that one look Malcolm saw the fear and the worry gnawing at him. It was a risk, he knew, as did Callum. A risk he was willing to take if it meant life or death. But the question was, would Evie comply with his request?
“It would be better if we had Angus Sinclair with us,” Malcolm said, trying one last time to get his brother to agree.
But Callum shook his head. “No. We cannae ask him. The three of us do this alone.” He looked at Jamie and asked, “Do ye agree?”
“Aye, I do,” Jamie said, sounding strong and sure.
Callum glanced his way, then. Malcolm clenched his jaw so tight his back teeth ached. Finally, he nodded, though it was against his better judgment.
“Aye, I agree.”
“We havena any time to spare. Can ye ride out tonight, Jamie?”
Jamie was already on his feet striding to the great hall door, as if he hadn’t survived a battle of his own with Welsh mercenaries. That was Jamie. He was resilient and strong.
“I will ready my horse and be gone within the hour.”
As Malcolm watched him walk away, a sense of dread washed over him. He hoped this was the right plan just as he hoped, for Rory MacDonald’s sake, the lassies were alive and unharmed when they found them.
CHAPTER 27
Chloe had lost track of all time. It seemed an eternity had passed being locked up in the dimly lit dungeon. How long had it been? An hour? Two? A day? Her stomach rumbled with hunger. They’d settled on the cold stone floor. Chloe wrapped her arm around Evie. She’d dropped her head on her shoulder and was softly snoring.
Chloe was no closer to figuring out a way out of there than she was when they had first arrived. She thought of the stone in her pocket. She pulled it out with her free hand and stared down at it, resting it against her scarred palm. The lines were faintly glowing.
Evie’s hand rested in her lap with her fingers relaxed. Her palm was scarred, too. Like hers. Idly, she wondered if—when—Brianna arrived if she would have the same scarring on her palm. Chloe was certain her older sister’s arrival was inevitable.
