He’d embraced destiny only to have it torn away in a heartbeat.
The pain of that loss was more terrible than the recovery from his injuries. Sent from Germany to an army hospital, recovery was a difficult task for a man who felt he had little left to live for. Upon his return to his own estate in Ballantrae just a week before, his mother had coddled him within an inch of his life. But through her constant, cheery conversation, Jace had heard of the auction.
In the sales list he’d seen items he knew. Initially, he equated the familiarity with his previous visits to the castle. Until he’d seen the family history and made the connection between his experience and documented history, he hadn’t understood what happened to him. He had not traveled through time or hallucinated the entire experience but instead made a journey into another man’s very body and mind.
It was a realization Jace shared with no one.
For who would’ve believed him?
He’d been left with nothing but memories until the auction was announced. He’d thought to gain some physical remembrance of Hero…
Was there more to gain?
Would he find the answers in this Mikah Bauer?
Cursing himself and the entire situation, Jace followed the couple out onto the ramparts. In their modern clothing, they were able to walk side-by-side along the narrow path between the walls. With one arm, the woman clung to the man’s arm as the brisk chill of the winter wind buffeted them.
But her other hand…
It skimmed along the top of the outer wall… and lifted, fluttering over the first gap before descending once more. Jace held his breath as she continued along.
One…two…three…four…five…
Swallowing back the lump that suddenly formed in his throat, he curled his trembling hands into fists.
Six.
Keep going,he thought, then contrarily his inner voice begged,God, please stop.
She did.
He closed his eyes, torn between hope and denial.
The waves were crashing against the rocks, just as they had for hundreds of years, and the wild winds of the firth lifted the spray upward until Mikah imagined she could feel it against her cheeks. Bile climbed in her throat as she clung to Kris for support, but still she wasn’t certain she had the strength to do it. The cold winter wind numbed her cheeks and nose before she reached the sixth indentation and stopped.
She couldn’t believe that she had braved a walk out on the ramparts overlooking the Firth of Clyde. The height and intimate knowledge of the sheer drop set her nerves on edge, but it was the last thing she needed to do to put it all behind her. Now, other than the pagoda where Hero and Ian had wed, she’d revisited all the places that held the dearest memories. Remembered them finally without regret and only a touch of sadness. When she left tomorrow, she was certain she would be able to put the past where it belonged.
Still, there were memories specific to this once-favorite spot she couldn’t defend against. She remembered Ian’s arms around her, keeping the chill away. She remembered him softly chuckling in her ear, remembered him nuzzling the back of her neck.
With a sigh, she leaned against the wall, then sprang back and tested its strength before she leaned against it once more. The wall had been repaired, of course. No sign of Camron Kennedy’s duplicity remained, but that wasn’t enough to circumvent the worst memory she had of Cuilean. Remembering those final moments, she morbidly wondered if the bodies had ever been recovered.
Or if that glorious tomb held nothing but memories.
“You hanging in there?”
Mikah winced at Kris’s words that coincided so closely to the memory, and told him about those final moments. He winced as well. “Ouch, sorry about that. So this is it, then?” he asked, looking over the edge as he pulled his wool coat tightly around him. “Aren’t you cold?”
She shrugged. “They loved it out here.”
“What were you like?”
“It wasn’t me, remember? It was her.” Her new mantra.
“Six of these and a half dozen of the other,” he countered. “Was she as sassy as you are?”
“No,” she said decisively. But they were alike in so many ways, Mikah knew. Humor. Interests. Their love of art and family. She looked over the edge of the wall warily. At least now she knew where her fear of falling had come from. She laughed reluctantly. “Maybe she had the potential to be, but she was a lady to the bone. Very well-mannered.”
“Maybe itwasall a dream.”
