Eric hugged his father, but despite the eternal peace surrounding them, he had no desire to join Gregory. He yearned to be with his wife, to hold her and know that she was safe. Even now he remembered the anguish in her eyes when he had fallen. Her fierce beautiful face would haunt him for eternity. And though they had only spent a little time together, he had known from the first moment he’d seen her, that she was the woman he was meant to love.
He had a thousand questions, and yet, he could feel nothing save desolation. He would surrender everything if he could go back to Katarina.
“What happened to me?” he asked his father. “Why was I sent back to the Viking era?” He felt certain that if he could understand the reasons for journeying through time, he might find a way to return.
Gregory’s face turned haggard as he pulled back. “Your soul was switched with another man’s. A Viking took your place, and you, his.”
Eric nodded. “You speak of Arik Thorgrim.”
“Indeed. He was brought forward through time to Juliana Arthur, the Viscountess Hawthorne. But he could not stay with her, either.”
“So both of us are lost,” he said. “There is no hope.” The thought of an afterlife without Katarina was an eternity he didn’t want to face.
His father’s expression turned sympathetic. “What happened to both of you was part of a larger plan none of us can understand. But there is a legend that a man can only be saved from death if another takes his place.” Gregory reached out and touched Eric’s head. “I have made my choice. And you cannot walk the path I have chosen.”
Upon his father’s face, he saw the regret mingled with love. What did Gregory mean by this? “What have you done?”
“I am old and have lived my life,” his father said quietly. “I was given a choice, and I made it freely. My life for yours.”
The enormity of Gregory’s sacrifice went beyond words. His father had accepted death in exchange for Eric’s second chance at life.
“It matters not if you return to 1811 or if you remain among the Vikings. But after the phases of one moon, you will forget the other life you once knew.”
A rush of hope filled up inside of him as he met his father’s gaze. “Will I be able to go back to Katarina?”
Gregory nodded. “If that is your wish. But only because the child binds you to her.”
It took a moment before understanding dawned over him. It was a paradox that never should have happened—a child born from a father in another millennium. And yet, it joined them in a way that could never be severed.
“I need to go back to her,” he said. “She is everything to me.” The intensity of his feelings blazed through him, making him desperate to see her face.
Gregory touched his forehead to his. “I never imagined you would be anything but my heir, the new Duke of Somerford. But my greatest wish is for your happiness.” His mouth twisted in a faint smile. We will meet again one day in this afterworld. But not for a long time, my son.”
And with that, his father’s spirit vanished.
Katarina walked along the shoreline as dawn slipped over the horizon. The moon had gone through its phases, and during the past few mornings, she had awakened feeling sick. No matter what anyone else believed, she knew that her marriage to Arik Thorgrim had been real. She carried their child within her womb, and it was the most precious gift he could have given her. For a piece of his spirit would live on.
The morning mist clouded the edge of the water, and she watched as the sun’s rays painted the surface gold. It was beautiful, achingly so. She turned back to walk toward the settlement, her thoughts preoccupied.
Oda had accompanied her, but abruptly, the animal grew agitated. She barked loudly, scampering in circles, while her tail wagged with enthusiasm.
“What is it?” Katarina bent down, but the dog took off in a full run across the beach. For a moment she watched the animal sniffing the ground before turning and leaping across the sand. She yipped at the silhouette of a man standing at the water’s edge. The bright sunrise behind him obscured his features for a moment, but Katarina’s heart began to pound at the sight of him.
For a moment, she touched her hand to her mouth in disbelief. Was it possible that this was Eric, returned to her from death? Nothing was impossible for a man who had traveled through time. The gods could do whatever they liked.
She began running toward him, her eyes burning with tears.Please let it be the man I love.
When she knew it was him, Katarina threw her arms around him, crying with joy. Eric embraced her hard, kissing her until she was left with no doubt that he did know her. His mouth was hungry upon hers, reminding her of how much he loved her. The tears fell freely, and her happiness swelled so high, she thought she would break apart from it.
“Eric,” she murmured, smiling as he wiped her cheeks. A blinding smile came over her face as she touched his hands. “You’re alive.”
He bent to kiss her again, and she needed no explanation from him. All that mattered was that he was here with her now. When he broke the kiss, she admitted, “For a time, I thought I imagined all of it.”
He stroked her hair back. “I don’t know what is real, Katarina. But I would cross over another thousand years to be with you.”
She caressed his face, moving her fingers to the pulse at his throat. How could any man return from death? It seemed impossible, and yet, she could not doubt the steady beat beneath her fingertips. He was alive and whole again. She buried her face against his chest, holding him as tightly as she dared.
Then a terrible thought occurred to her. “Will you be forced to leave again?”
