CHAPTER 15

Ellie sat straight up, her heart pounding against her ribs in her chest. She could hear the rushing sounds of her own pulse roaring in her ears. Feel the crash of the waves against her bare skin; the water was icy cold. And the pain. Oh, the pain. Her body breaking as it hit the rocks below. But that pain was nothing compared to the heartbreak she had felt watching Matthew perish at her husband’s hand.

Elizabeth’s husband, she reminded herself. That wasn’t her. She didn’t just commit suicide. She was safe in bed, with Matt sleeping soundly beside her. Thank goodness, he was such a heavy sleeper, she thought. Otherwise, he would be having just as much as trouble believing all of this as she was.

Logically, Ellie knew it was just a dream, even if her dreams felt more like memories than visions. It hadn’t actually happened. She knew that. But oh, it felt as if she had died. Past life or not, she never wanted to experience anything like that, ever again.

Slipping from the bed, she crossed her arms over her bare chest against the cold, and fumbled through the dark for her bathrobe. Easing it on, she padded over to the bathroom and winced at the brightness of the light before gazing at herself in the mirror.

She looked horrible. Deep, dark circles sagged beneath her eyes in the soft lighting. Tentatively, she touched a finger to her skin. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in days. And, truth be told, it felt like she hadn’t. Every night, she was reliving somebody else’s life. A life, mind you, that had happened two hundred years ago.

Her Grandmother Victoria had really done a number on her life, leaving her this mess, she thought, surprised at her own bitterness. Stunned, she glanced at herself again. What was that? Yes, this whole thing with James was awful, and she hoped they found a way to stop it. She most certainly didn’t want to die. But it hadn’t been all bad. For the first time in her entire life, Ellie Fitzgerald had gone outside of the United States. That had to count for something. And, not only that, but she had gone to England of all places. The one country on Earth she had always wanted to go. She was now a homeowner of a gorgeous mansion, the same mansion that had been in her family for generations, in the beautiful town of Dover. It was where her mother had grown up, and had always been at the top of her list for English places to visit. What better way to finish her dissertation than to experience that world first hand?

And then there was Matt. If she had never come here, she never would have met him. She never would have fallen in love with the man she was nearly certain was her soul mate. Until him, she wasn’t even sure she believed in soul mates. One look at Matt McKinnon had changed all of that.

“Hey,” Matt said, leaning against the door frame of the bathroom. “Is everything all right?”

Ellie’s lips turned up in a warm smile, and she leaned over to give him a kiss. “Yes, everything’s fine.”

His eyes searched hers, a frown marring his handsome face. “No, it’s not. Come here.” Taking her hand, he led her to the bed, not letting go until she took a seat next to him. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

How was it that after only a handful of days, he knew her so well?

Grateful for the interest, and happy not to be suffering along, she relayed her dream to him. She stumbled at bit when she reached Matthew’s death, though her voice hardened when she informed him it was Lord Dabney that did it.

Matt listened with an increasing sense of seriousness. To his credit, he didn’t do much more than wrinkle his nose when she told him of how his own past life perished. Instead, he just sat there watching her speak, the wheels constantly turning in his mind.

“So, was that it?” he asked her, tapping a finger to his brow. “Dabney killed Matthew and you woke up?”

“Well, no,” she admitted, though she was rather reluctant to speak of her own death. He must have sensed it, because Matt gestured for her to continue. “After…after Matthew died, Elizabeth couldn’t stand the thought of being with Lord Dabney again, so…” Ellie swallowed hard. She could do this. “So, she threw herself off the cliffs.”

“Then the stories were true, how tragic.”

“I know. It’s awful. But she figured that since she was the object of his desire that if she died, he would somehow be lost too. I must say, it seemed to make much more sense in her head than it does mine. I have no idea how curses work, but it just seems to have been passed along to each generation. From what I can tell, when the next Hargrove woman comes of age, James shows up to see if she is his long, lost love; that is to say, me. If she’s not, all evidence indicates that he leaves her alone. If she is, well, she doesn’t live much longer than their meeting. Every time Elizabeth and Matthew are reincarnated they die. What?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Matt simply continued to grin. “I just love it when you get all scholarly like that on me.” Moving in, he laid a kiss on her lips, then slumped back against the pillows once more. “It’s just so damn sexy.”

Though she smiled at his charm, Ellie couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. “Your sister said there wasn’t much time. What do you think she meant?”

Matt scoffed. “She was probably just trying to add some dramatic effect. You don’t know Phoebe like I do. She loves to do that stuff to the tourists. Says they just eat it up. Makes her a right foul git sometimes, if you ask me, but she has quite a few repeat customers, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Worry furrowed Ellie’s brow. “But what about the cards? She couldn’t have stacked the deck like that, could she?”

“Of course, she could. She’s a professional.”

“But would she?”

Matt thought a moment, before pursing his lips. “Well, no, probably not, especially after seeing how serious you were about the whole thing. But hey, don’t worry. We’re going to figure this out. I promise.”

“Yeah. I suppose.” Getting up, Ellie began searching for her clothes.

“What are you doing?” he asked, sitting up again.

Ellie tugged on her jeans and threw a sweater over her head, before reaching for her boots. “I just a need a little air. I’m okay,” she assured him, and he sat back once more. “I just need to get away from this room and all things Elizabeth for a few minutes.” With one last, quick kiss, she headed for the door. “If I’m not back in half an hour, come find me.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Chuckling, Matt snuggled down into the covers and Ellie left the room, shutting the door behind her.