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returned for Cae It hen he'd co Ca Campbell kinsmen, that he'd vowed to destroy MacColla once and for all

But first he'd see him suffer

Finola stiffened With a sharp inhale, she rolled her eyes back and swayed, her breath co forward and back, forward and back, she intoned:

Cloaked in black of night I call the elements Hear me By the blood of my enemy-

Chanting and quaking madly now, she swept her hand over the clay crown of the corpse's head

Grant me dominion over fire Grant me dominion over wind, Grant me dominion over earth, Grant me dominion over water

Campbell was uneasy once more That she'd taken his own blood for her ritual disturbed him, and his hand inched to the dirk at his side

Uncertainty nagged at him, and dread that he'd stepped upon a path from which there was no return It wouldn't sit ith his clan to know the lengths he went to Black witchcraft was feared in the Highlands He'd never known anybody who'd resorted to its use Or at least none who'd confess to it

But his noble Lowland peers, they'd simply have his head if they discovered he dallied in such devilish abominations

I shall bathe in the lustral fire, I shall bathe in pools of wine

Her hands waved over the flaray smoke to her breast She cast palrily, shooting pluht Campbell hastily pulled a handkerchief fro hissuch evil

I shall bathe in the tears of mothers, I shall bathe in rivers of blood

White sparks crackled out fro into darkness Ca around in panicked horror, his hand finally seizing the hilt of his weapon

Finola stood suddenly, and the flames rose with her

Caed back from the fire

The whites of her eyes filled her sockets and shone an eerie, translucent gray in the night Her voice ju, inhuman voice

Thine art the ht beloved

Thine art the black swan

Thine art the prince of the night

Hear rant dominion over the stars

The witch fell to her knees and stared into the fire Its hot blue center swelled, and yet its crest split into what see in a frenzy She leaned close, as if she would breathe the flames into her, to welcome the fire into her nose and mouth like a lover

It was going too far He'd stop the witch before she summoned the devil himself to them Campbell reached his hand out, felt the heat of the flaertips One slight movement and he could push the woman in, baptize her in fire as any witch should be It was his o back, to choose a different path than that of evil Her body would burn, and none would know of Campbell's flirtations with the dark arts

Eyes tearing, her thin, dry lips cracked into a smile “I see,” she whispered

Campbell drew his arm back He felt Finola's sudden serenity like a breeze in the night And he found his own resolve He would see as the witch saw Use her powers just this once

He'd wait for now Her death would come in time

Finola sightlessly took a wooden panel froan franticallyan incantation

Her tiny dagger glittered silver white in the ht as she hacked and carved at the small square of wood Untouched by the heat, she retrieved a chunk of charred kindling froe of the fire and used it to etch lines and circles on the panel She worked quickly, as if in a trance, sketching with a loose arures

“I call for you she who is most able to shatter MacColla” Finola slammed the wooden panel down before Cae of a large ray and black

“I call the woman ould be his bride”

Chapter One

Boston, present day

Haley rubbed her finger over the blade Metal was a curious material It assumed the body's heat, and yet would never beShe turned it in her hand It was the oddest weapon she'd ever laid eyes on