My Heart's in the Highlands by Angeline Fortin (best english novels for beginners .TXT) 📗

lives that werethe most turbulent and emotional were often the ones people wouldremember. Given the way it had ended, Kris could clearly see how itwould have “haunted” Mikah over the course of her life.

Then they found a website on past liferegression, talking about how people might be hypnotized back intotheir previous lives. “One often visits a past life to repair awrong, to set their path right,” Kris read aloud.

“But I didn’t change anything! Ian died. Idied,” Mikah whispered softly. “I’ve lost him.”

A part of Kris wanted to point out that shehadn’t lost him, that it hadn’t been her life, but he could seethat her pain was real, that, reality or not, Mikah loved this guy.Rationality in a situation like this wasn’t the play of a truefriend. “So maybe you should do this past life regressionthing.”

Mikah shook her head with a shudder. “I wanthim back, but I don’t want him for a day or a memory. I alreadyhave those. So, I’m not crazy.”

“Not certifiable.”

Punching her friend lightly on the arm, Mikahcracked a smile. “So what now?”

“You’re going to go to this auction.”

“What for?”

“To see it for yourself. To take somesatisfaction in the fact that it is a real place. To pick up asouvenir or two,” Kris shrugged. “Do what you’ve got to do, buthoney, when it’s over you need to put all this behind you and moveon. You need to make your own life and stop living someoneelse’s.”

“Ouch,” Mikah winced. “Thanks.”

“That’s what friends are for, and to provehow good a friend I am, I’m going to come with you.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“Who’s asking?”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Dùn Cuilean, Scotland

December 2012

“Nice place,” Kris whispered as their cabdropped them off in the courtyard drive at the north side of thecastle. “Wonder what the heating bill is every month.”

“Probably a little more than your apartment,”Mikah told him as they entered Cuilean through the entry hall tofind a small area that was now staged as a check-in area.

A jovial Scottish woman named Mary greetedthem and asked for their names and credit card. “I see yourequested the Lady’s Chamber,” Mary said as she typed theirinformation into the computer. “Are you sure you still wantit?”

Mikah did. When she had found out that therenamed marchioness’s chamber was available, she had jumped at thechance to stay in her—or Hero’s—rooms once again. “Why?”

“We are expecting a crush this weekend withthe auction,” Mary said. “There are a couple other rooms availablethat would be less … well, out of the way of our tours and thehallway traffic.”

“Oh, no, that’s all right.” Mikah took thekey and turned away, pushing Kris toward a connecting door that ledto the armory.

“Don’t you need directions to your room?” theclerk called.

“Nope, I’m good!”

“Pushy much?” Kris complained as Mikah pushedhim into the armory. His brows shot to his hairline as he took inthe thousands of firearms and weapons that were displayed inpatterns on all four walls of the room and on the ceiling as well.“Wow, I wonder who’s for dinner?”

Mikah laughed at that, thankful to feel someof the tension sliding away. She’d gotten a little shaken on thecab ride to the castle. When they had passed under the archedaqueduct and Cuilean had come into view, Mikah had beendisappointed to find that the wide lawns in front of the castlewere not sporting the tidy English hedgerows she remembered. Thewide pool and fountain now sat alone on the lawns.

There was also a huge wing attached to thesouth end of the castle that hadn’t been there before. At leastthat explained how the castle had been able to function as a hotel.There had been only ten bedchambers before, if one counted thenursery.

Or had there been?

The differences between what she rememberedand what she saw had confused Mikah almost to the point that shehadn’t wanted to stay at all. Kris had had to pry her out of thecab.

The armory, thankfully, didn’t seem to havechanged at all, restoring Mikah to her previous calm … or theclosest she had been to it since her five drinks on the plane. Theywalked through the library while Kris oohed and aahed over theroom.

It had been stripped of most of itsfurnishings, though, leaving Mikah again hovering between thefamiliar and the alien. Once they were in the Great Hall, though,Mikah sucked in her breath at the sight of the familiar ovalstaircase. Slowly Mikah climbed, running her hand over the rail asshe went. She remembered dashing down those stairs with Ian andcould almost hear the sound of an orchestrion playing. She couldhear his laughter echoing through the hall, see his ghostly formdisappearing around the columns.

“You all right?” Kris whispered, taking herhand.

“Yes, but I’m so glad you’re here.”

He squeezed her hand as they reached the top,and Mikah automatically turned right toward the marchioness’schamber, the one they now called the Lady’s Chamber, but her feetslowed and Mikah instead walked into the Long Drawing Room, withthe Picture Room straight ahead. The walls were bare, stripped ofthe dozens of paintings she remembered. Saddened, she turned to theleft and went through the connecting door to the Blue Drawing Room.There was but a quarter of the furniture there that Mikahremembered, but looking up she found the rondels as she rememberedthem, with the muses and their seductive smiles.

Feeling a bit better, Mikah told Kris aboutlying on their backs to see them and pointed out the erotic natureof the paintings. Laughing, they returned to the hall to go totheir room, but on the other end of the landing Mikah could see thedoors to the Round Drawing Room standing open as if they werecalling to her.

Was it all just a coincidence? Or was itreally a memory? She couldn’t decide if she wanted to believe inthis whole past life bullshit or not. Then Mikah suddenly realizedthat there was one way to be certain. One thing in this castle thatwould tell her whether she was truly the reincarnation of HeroConagham or just a woman flirting with the edge of madness.

Purposefully, she led Kris to her chamberdoor and inserted the key.