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Prologue
I’m suffocated by the awareness of regaining my physical form. I fall to the ground; the sharp sensation of the rocky ground brings me back to life. I’m confused for a moment as I struggle to stand up, my mind unable to comprehend what has happened. I stare around at the lonely landscape spread out before me, a far cry from the seaside cliffs that I was in a moment before. The minute passes, and the terrible realization hits me that I’m all alone once again. Gripping my head between my hands, I escape into myself. My heart rolls in my chest, galloping ahead of me into a future I don’t want to have. Alone. A page turned to close out one chapter and open another. It’s never felt more final than in this moment. Small whimpering cries begin to beat out of my throat, and I push them into tremors.
No one will come for me. No one cares that Juliet Caris is suffering in silence, alone. So unbearably alone, without any of the people that I need more than anything in the universe. The grip on my sanity loosens. I think of the man I just left behind. I’m never to feel his heat, his body, his kiss, his strength, his love ever again. I fall slowly over the cliff of reason. What feels like hours fly by, and it’s not until I hear a familiar voice that I struggle above oblivion.
“Juliet.”
Chapter 1
There’s a low hum that vibrates through the air. I still can’t feel anything—relief would be too simple, joy not enough. Fear transitions into doubt and the smallest inclination of hope. There’s too much to wish for, so I construct a wall of numb disinterest around me. The well of emotions that could swing either way is too deep to deal with. I’m afraid of them, afraid to feel anything, so I stare without acknowledgement at the bright green eyes I’ve come to love so much. Liam is here with me.
“Juliet?”
He reaches for me, yet my only movement is to tilt my head as if in contemplation. I’m not thinking, I’m stuck, paralyzed by the raw sting of a new reality that’s hard to believe.
“You’re here,” I whisper.
The air stills around us, and neither of us moves. I allow my eyes to rake up and down his body, taking in details of his figure. He’s just as beautiful as ever, more beautiful if I’m being honest with myself, because he’s unbelievably standing in front of me, not lost to a past that I can’t reach. He stares back at me intensely, studying my face as if he’s seeing it for the first time.
I feast on him, still unable to comprehend that he’s standing here. Was everything a dream? Or is he a specter sent to haunt me in my misery.
“I’m here, baby.”
He reaches for me, and this time I take his hand. Warmth radiates into me and it’s only then I recognize how cold I am. A shiver snakes down my spine and I can’t be certain if it’s from the chill or his simple touch. Liam. Now I’m found. I see him and feel him, yet an air of disbelief still hovers close by.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispers, and I whimper, the closest I can get to a wail. I want to cry, the emotion so close to exploding from me. I can feel the shiver turn into a shake, but I push that down too.
“Easy. We’re okay.”
“Come here.”
He tugs, and I scramble next to him, throwing my arms around him. My lids flutter closed when his heat envelopes me and I sink into the hard lines of his body. I feel the slide into unconsciousness take me away. My last thought is that I’m home.
This dream is heaven. Liam’s deep timbre rumbles underneath me, whispering comforting words and bringing with it a serenity I never hoped to feel again. I revel in the cadence of his words, letting them soak into every crevice and wash away some of the pain. Wait . . . his hands . . . feel him? Heat expands not just at the site of his touch, but around and through me. Where I was cold, I am now warm and comforted. The electricity ever present between us travels down my spine and into each extremity. In the soft exploration of touch, I feel the hard length of his body next to me, my arm draped over his mid-section. Solid, defined muscles of his abdomen rise and fall beneath me, and I can’t help but burrow into the crook of his shoulder. I clutch him tight. A small gasp, and warmth presses into my hair.
“Baby, wake up,” he whispers. At the caress of his hands I wake up…
And realize that it was all a dream, a product of a mind that has officially splintered into a million pieces. Never to be made whole again.
He’s not here. I’m all alone.
A wail seizes my chest. I sound more like a wounded animal than a human as the sound erupts from inside of me. It’s the sound of my soul dying. I let out another wail that’s abruptly cut off from what sounds like a carriage approaching me from behind.
A carriage? I haven’t been to a time that had one of those in a long time...since Gabriel in fact.
As stupid as my heart is, it can’t help but leap at the idea that I could be back in Gabriel’s time somehow. I try and stifle the sobs that are erupting out of my mouth. I can’t get answers if I seem like a mad woman.
Looking behind me at who is approaching, I lose my breath momentarily. The carriage approaching isn’t one that was used in Gabriel’s time. It’s one that was from my time...from James’s time.
I get up off the ground where I’ve been kneeling, still hiccupping hysterically but spurred on by a hope that’s so strong it squeezes my chest, making it so that I can’t breathe.
The carriage comes closer, close enough that the hope in my chest grows exponentially when I see that the driver of the carriage is dressed in period appropriate clothes, a linen shirt with deep cuffs and a long-pointed beard.
I’m sure I look crazed as I run towards the carriage, and I register his look of surprise as he pulls on the reins to stop the horses before they can run me over.
“Excuse me, sir,” I say desperately, a sob caught in my throat. He looks at me with increased concern. “What is the year?” I beg, reaching out to him beseechingly.
He looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “The year?” he asks, and my spirits for some reason rise even more hearing his accent.
