She stared down at the ring her grandmother had given her, the same ring that had been Anastasia’s engagement ring. “A ring doesn’t allow a person to travel through time.” Or take over a person’s body…
“Not by itself, no,” he conceded. “This allows you to with some limitations.” Mathias took a deep breath. “You have a gift, Anya. It’s special and rare. It allows you to travel to another time, as long as the object you are focusing on is from the past. It gives you access to that time, through another person.”
“That’s…it…” Anya’s voice trailed off and she had to remind herself to breathe. “You’re wrong. It can’t be true.” Because, if it was, she possessed Anastasia’s body and ended up leading her to her death.
“It is,” he insisted. “Usually it’s only for a short time. It’s too hard to hold on to the connection. I can usually only manage several hours, the longest was two days. You were gone for weeks. If not for Vivi recognizing your ring and Catherine’s vision, we would not have made the connection.”
Anya shook her head several times. She couldn’t believe it had been real. She wouldn’t. It was all her fault. She’d killed them both by being a stupid wretch. Both Anastasia and Arthur…. She stopped and met his gaze. Those silver blue eyes she’d found familiar before. The ones that reminded her of Arthur. “I think it is time how you explain how you have intimate knowledge about my supposed time travel.” Anger replaced the shock and reverberated through her. She suspected she knew the truth, but she wanted to hear him say it aloud.
“Ah,” he began. “You’re starting to believe me” Mathias’s lips tilted upward into a winsome smile. “You recognize him in me, don’t you? It’s the eyes,” he admitted. “It’s the only part of us that seems to travel with us. Kind of creepy if you ask me, but no one ever notices except those of us who have the same gift.”
“You were Arthur?” she asked, silently willing him to tell her.
“I was,” he finally admitted. “Some of the time, not all. You slipped once and told me your real name. I was patient, waiting, and when you did, I knew we would meet again. It took longer than I’d have liked though. For you, it’s been no more than days since you returned, for me it has been a couple years.”
Anya didn’t like it. None of it. She had to get away from him. The betrayal seemed too keen, and it burned through her. They had died. Both of them, and he’d insisted they marry. What had that been about. “Did you know they were going to die?”
“No.” He shook his head several times. “I had no way of knowing. They’re not important to history, so there’s nothing written about them. I truly believed that marriage would protect you, them, us. It could have if they made it back to the embassy.”
“What about Anastasia’s father?” she asked. “Your family knew him.” Knew her…
“He died in the war,” he said. “My father lost contact with him, but later learned about his defection to the Nazi cause, and the death of Anastasia. I asked about it after…” He swallowed hard. “It had seemed too real. I needed to understand it, as you do now.”
“That’s generous of you,” she replied bitterly. Anya stared down at the ring on her finger, hating the sight of it. She took it off and threw it at him. “I’m leaving.” Somehow, the ring represented something horrible. A time when she believed she could make a difference, and perhaps she had, and a time she might have experienced love. With his admission, that last part didn’t seem real. He had taken something precious and ruined it. The memory hurt even more knowing the falsehood behind it. He’d known she wasn’t Ana and could have told her at any time. Why hadn’t he?
She didn’t give him a chance to respond. He’d led her down to the beach so that she had to work to escape, but she would not let that treacherous path prevent her from leaving. It all made sense to her now that she knew the truth. Anya thought she didn’t love Arthur, and that was the truth. She hadn’t loved him. No, it was much, much worse. She’d fallen in love with Mathias, pretending to be Arthur, and that is why it had been so devastating to see him die. It also explained why Arthur had sometimes been indifferent to her while other times he seemed devoted. It was the worst sort of betrayal. He had known she was someone else and Anya had been in the dark. She needed time to sort out her feelings.
* * *
Anya had madeit back to the manor without incident. Mathias had stayed on the beach. She didn’t know why he’d let her go. Perhaps he understood she needed the time away from him. She wandered into the library where he’d taken her the night of her arrival and went over to the mirror. She skimmed her fingers along the edge of it, unable to resist touching it.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Lady Vivian said from behind her.
She turned toward her and said, “Yes. What is it about this mirror?” It had called to her before, and it did now. If she stepped into it, would it deliver on its promise? Would it take her away from all her misery and take her someplace different? If it did, would that even help?
“It’s allows certain individuals to travel through time,” she admitted. “Though I’ve never experienced it. For us, it’s a myth or legend my family has told each generation.” She walked over and skimmed the side with her fingertips. “I’m not as gifted as my brother. I can’t travel at all. The mirror doesn’t speak to me and never will.”
“Why not,” she asked. It spoke to her. What did that say about her? “Does it not work for anyone with gifts?”
“It is supposed to.” Lady Vivian stepped back. “But no one has traveled for generations. The gifts are…weaker, at least in my case. The only one of us that has been able to travel in any fashion is Mathias.” She turned to face Anya. “You have the same gift he does. He’s been looking for you for some time. My gifts are…analytical in nature. I remember things is a better way of saying it. He mentioned your name and described the ring one day, and it clicked.” Her ring…the one she’d tossed at him? Anya stared at her finger, now bare, and frowned. Had she made another mistake? “After he knew your identity in this time, he started planning. My brother loves you.” Lady Vivian tilted her head to the side, and said, “The question is how do you feel about him?”
Anya still had trouble accepting all of it. She had woken up from what she thought to be a dream, only to discover it had all been real. Her feelings for him were complicated. “I don’t know.”
“Figure it out,” she said. “He’s a good man. While I don’t always agree with his choices, I do know that much. Don’t hurt him.” With those words, she spun on her heels and left the room.
Lady Vivian had given her a little more to think about. Did she want to give him a chance? Could she really trust him?
She stared at the mirror for several heartbeats uncertain what her next move should be. Should she go look for Mathias? Wait for him to come to her? Would she want a relationship with him that extended beyond their time together in the past? Anya had never been so conflicted in her life.
“I passed my sister in the hall,” Mathias said as he entered the room. There was concern in his voice and a little trepidation. Anya couldn’t blame him after the way she’d acted previously. She’d be wary too in his place. “She didn’t give you too much trouble, did she?”
“No,” Anya told him. “She was helping me understand everything a little better.” Should she apologize for acting like a spoiled child? He had kept things from her, but maybe he had reasons she’d failed to understand. Sometimes she reacted before actually listening.
“And did she?” He moved closer to her. Her stomach fluttered with nervous energy. She wasn’t sure what she wanted from him, but she was ready to stop running. “Help you, that is?”
Anya nodded. “A little.” She still had many questions, and it would probably be quite a while before she had a full comprehension of it all.
“Is there anything I can tell you that would alleviate any of your concerns?” He stepped even closer. “What can I do to help you? Name it, and I’ll make it happen.”
