Evie sucked in a breath.
When Chloe opened her eyes, her hand was glowing like before. With all the force she had, she punched the wall at the crack.
A low rumbling, followed by a vibration, and the wall crumbled and gave way, revealing a doorway and a secret passage.
“Oh, my God, Chloe!”
She wobbled on her feet, weakened from the magic. Evie was at her side in an instant, taking the stone from her hand, and pocketing it once more. Chloe suspected since the blood on her palm merely oozed, the power wasn’t as strong as before. Evie wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Can you walk?” she asked.
“Yes. Now, let’s find your keystone.”
“Wait.” Evie clutched her arm. “Shouldn’t we have some sort of a plan before we go in there?”
Chloe worried her lower lip. “The plan is to get your keystone and get out of the castle.”
“Oh, easy, huh? How are we going to find it? Once we do, how do we get out?”
All valid questions. Ones for which she did not have an answer.
“One step at a time,” she said. “We’ll find Bruce. He won’t let it out of his sight.”
Evie peered into the darkness of the passageway, apprehension in her gaze as the cool breeze ruffled the sprigs of hair around the side of her head. Her braid hung over one shoulder, the plaits loosened. Fatigue lined her face. There were dark circles under her eyes.
It was a lot to ask of her, Chloe knew. But she was certain it was the only way. They could wait for Malcolm and Callum but that could be days. She didn’t want to wait any longer. They were no ordinary medieval women, after all.
Bruce had left behind the torch. It still rested in its bracket by the cell door, flickering with its yellow-orange light. She hurried over to it and lifted it out, carrying it back to the opening.
“Hold my hand,” Chloe said. “It will be like when we were kids doing something we knew Mom and Dad wouldn’t like.” She flashed a smile to reassure her sister.
“But we don’t even know where this goes.”
“No, we don’t,” she agreed. “We’ll find out together. If it leads nowhere, we’ll come back.”
After a long moment of silent indecision, Evie grasped her by the hand. Together, they stepped through the door and entered the passageway.
CHAPTER 28
As soon as they had provisions and horses gathered, Malcolm and Callum rode into the night, pounding the ground at a full gallop to get to the meeting point in the village. Malcolm hoped Jamie had all the information needed to get into the MacDonald keep and get the lassies back. But there was a foreboding feeling deep in his gut that was telling him something was wrong.
After nearly two days of hard riding, they arrived at the rendezvous point in the village as the sun was coming up over the horizon, turning the inky sky into shades of indigo and crimson. The blustery wind had never stopped during their frantic journey and, even with his tartan wrapped tight around him, Malcolm was chilled to the bone.
The village itself was starting to come to life slowly.
A misty fog lingered above the fields. Farmers were already hard at work tending to their crops and livestock. The early morning sun cast long shadows along the thatched roofs of the cottages and buildings. White and gray smoke curled in lazy tendrils from the chimneys. The earthy smell of bread baking permeated the air. In the village itself, the market vendors were out early to set up their stalls of food and cloth. Their low chatter between each other was a quiet hum.
The inn was at the end of the street. A tavern connected to it, but since it was still early, it wasn’t open for business yet. There was a fair amount of activity at the inn. When they entered, they headed to the common room, where a servant was stoking the fire. The aroma of fresh bread filled the air, making Malcolm’s stomach rumble. Though they had their own provisions for the ride to the village, they had rationed them to make sure they’d have enough for the lassies on the return trip.
Callum selected a table in the far corner where they both sat and observed the door. A servant bustled over to take their order.
“What can I get ye?” he asked.
“Bread and ale,” Callum said.
As the servant left, Malcolm took in their surroundings. There were several tables around the room, most of them empty save for a few of the early-rising guests. A rough looking man sat alone in the opposite corner. His dark gaze flickered over them before he looked away and hunched over his bowl of porridge.
Two more men entered the inn and headed for the common room. Malcolm met their gazes. They peered at him, then his brother, before taking a table between them and the hunched man in the other corner.
