Sailing Through Time - CAV LASTER (bts books to read .txt) 📗

Myriana brushed the pads of her fingertips over the pendant attached to the necklace around her neck. She shut her eyes, feeling the close connection with the man who had given it to her. She had memorized long ago every detail of the large pendant shaped like Thor’s hammer with runes inscribed on it. A small ruby had been carefully added to one corner, and one word engraved, a name. Lachlan.
She still recalled her first encounter with this unique stranger, the memory strong, as if it had only happened yesterday. The man had stolen her heart with little more than a simple glance. She swore to find him no matter how impossible the feat might be. Deep down inside she was convinced that one day their lives would once again collide. She hoped and prayed that day had finally arrived.
Myriana stood on the boat’s dock, patiently waiting for her captain to arrive. Her lips curved into a smile as she vividly relived in her mind the first day she had met Lachlan. A day she would never forget…

~ ~ ~

Seventeen-year-old Myriana stood on the deck of the thirty foot sailing vessel. Both her father and her grandfather were still sleeping. She loved the sunrise, and she woke up extra early to ensure not missing it.
As the sun’s first rays caressed the sea with its seductive touch, Myriana gasped, closing her eyes for a moment to blink the odd vision away. When that didn’t work, she rubbed her eyes, fearing what lay ahead was only her mind playing tricks on her.
A large wavy circle opened before her, the outside edges flickering like a candle in the wind. Through the center of the circle she caught a glimpse of a strange vessel, one that appeared to be from another time. There were men aboard the ship, speaking in a language unknown to her. They were also dressed differently, well armed and strong. But there was one man who made her heart beat like an out of control jet ski racing over the waves.
He was young, maybe her age, in his late teens. His hair was an amazing flame-red. There were two thin braids with gold beads falling on each side of his face. His skin was evenly tanned a deep bronze from the sun, and when his blue eyes met hers, it left her feeling breathless. He ushered the men to draw their ship closer to the vortex, but then the portal showed signs of closing, the flickering light around the edges beginning to darken.
Just before the vortex closed, she saw the young man’s desperation to reach her side. He yanked a chain off his neck and tossed it, yelling, “Ykkarr minn dróttning! Minn kona!”

Myriana caught the necklace as it passed through, just before the portal shimmered one last time and vanished. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she inspected the pendant connected to the necklace. She couldn’t believe what just happened. If not for the pendant resting in her hand she would have thought it all nothing more than a vivid hallucination.
“Myriana,” her father called, “you up there?”
“Yeah, dad,” she answered, trying with all her might to sound normal. “I’m here, just watching the sun come up.”
He walked up beside her and looked all around, but now there was only an endless ocean of water to see. Not a vessel of any kind anywhere around.
“I thought I heard voices up here. That’s strange. You sure you didn’t see anyone? Sounded like a bunch of people talking to me.”
“No, Dad. Just me . . . well, and a few seagulls buzzing around.” He’d never believe her anyway, so she kept the portal and the ship on the other side a secret.
Myriana had no choice then but to turn and walk away. She couldn’t force everyone to drop anchor while she waited, dreaming about a man she didn’t even know. But she also knew she was determined one day to come back out here. She was determined to find him.

~ ~ ~

“You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?”
The sarcastic words cut in and broke into her pleasant daydream, abrupt, like an ice-cold bucket of water being dumped on her head. She turned to find the captain glaring at her.
Myriana smirked. “It’s nice to see you too, Vittorino.” She squealed and hugged him. “Thank you for this. I’ll owe you big time now.”
Vittorino grunted, grumbling a few words in Italian. He pulled away and she walked aboard the sailing ship. He rolled his eyes when he saw her jumping up and down like a giddy school girl.
“Oh, Vitto, don’t be a party pooper. Come on, if everything works as planned, we’ll make an important discovery. One that will give you everything you ever wanted.”
Vittorino kept his gaze fixed on her, his green eyes held hope and longing, as well as despair. “I hope you’re right, Myriana. I really hope you are. I need something like this.”
Vittorino was Myriana’s best friend. They had known one another since they were young children, and he was also the only one she trusted enough to tell about Lachlan. As they headed for the ship’s rudder, she watched his broad back. Her friend. One who didn’t look at her like she was just as crazy as her mother. Her mom had been sent to an asylum when she was fifteen, and that’s why she’d never told her father or grandfather about what she had seen. She was afraid to.
Vittorino was different. He believed anything she told him. He respected her and cared for her, even more than her own family at times. He was always there when she needed him, someone to laugh with, a shoulder to cry on. Vittorino was handsome, though perhaps a bit rough around the edges. But it didn’t matter, because he had never been more to her than just a good friend. Their relationship had always been a platonic one, not friends with benefits like a lot of other people she knew. She was happy to have him in her life, for a friendship like theirs was hard to come by. Most people pretended to be your friend, but when push came to shove, and to cover their own butts, they’d turn and walk away.
Now she and Vittorino were off together on this wonderful quest, the adventure of a lifetime. One she knew they would never forget.


Three nights out on the open sea found Myriana eating a plate of fish and pasta prepared as only Vittorino could. Scrapping the last of her meal from the plate, she held the glass of Savingnon Blanc, sipping slowly while Vittirino busied himself clearing the table. When he finished the exotic meal with Lemon Bisque, she looked for more wine to fill her glass. Vittirono lifted the bottle to her glass and poured out the few drops remaining.
“You look beautiful tonight, Myriana.”
She gaped at Vittorino as though he were a total stranger. He stood, fidgeting while waiting for her response. Myriana couldn't help but bite her lower lip as she looked up at the tall, well built man beside her, his long bangs of black hair brushed against his forehead. Before she could think of a suitable reply he dropped down and caged her between the booth and himself.
“What’s wrong with you, Vitto? Are you drunk?” There was a little bit of fear mixed in with her curiosity. She placed a hand against his chest and pushed, but he wouldn’t budge.
Vittorino moved her hand over his heart, saying, “Drunk with love is more like it.”
Myriana was confused. She didn’t know what to make out of this. Vittorino had never shown her this side of him. He was her best friend, the man she could count on as her right hand. He made her laugh and she could trust him with her deepest and darkest secret. She had never thought of him as anything more than this.
“Don’t do this to me, Vittorino. You know why we made this trip. To find my Lachlan.”
Vittorino slammed his fist on the table before pulling back. “There is no Lachlan! Why can’t you accept the fact? You’re throwing you life away on a man who doesn’t exist. Myriana, you’re twenty-seven years old. It’s time to grow up!”
Myriana stood, fury coursing through her body. “What’s wrong with you? You said you believed me, Vitto. If you never believed me, why did you agree to come with me in the first place? Why are we even here?”
“Because, dammit, I love you! Because I hoped in some insane way you would forget about your stupid Lachlan, and maybe, just maybe, you’d find it in your heart to love me. I don’t care about your mother being sick. It doesn’t matter to me. Why do you think I’m thirty and still single? Even if the only way to have you leads me to playing dress-up for this Lachlan, so be it. I’ll do it. I’d do anything for you.”
Myriana's chest was heaving. Her eyes became misty as she fought to control her mixed emotions. She stepped back as Vittorino took a few steps closer. “Stay away, Vitto. I need some space. This is all too much for me right now. I don’t know what to think.”
Vittorino stepped back and nodded. “We only have two more days for your search, and then we have to go back. Good night, Myriana. Think about what I said.”
With that, he went to his cabin, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Myriana sat on the boat’s deck,