before.”
“Nay, you did some appalling things.”
“Like what, besides the curse?” She realized in that moment that without the benefit of memory, there were no regrets. There was nothing to feel guilty about. It was like living in a constant state of innocence and purity.
And it was so very empty.
“Tell me the worst thing I’ve done,” she said, for she wanted to know the truth, no matter how unpleasant it might be. She wanted a real life. “Perhaps it will trigger a memory.”
Though nothing her grandmother told her had ever triggered anything. Not even the return to her childhood home had brought back her past.
But maybe that was because Lachlan was right: she was not Catherine and never had been.
God, help me. She was so confused and desperate to learn the truth. Desperate enough to go off into the night with a dangerous, unpredictable Highlander who despised her …
“Can you not answer the question?” she asked, growing almost frantic. “Or have you lost your memories, too?”
“I apologize, lass, but I don’t know where to begin. The choices are endless.”
She shook her head with derision. “You are a cad.”
“All right, all right,” he said at last. “I’ll start with how you followed Angus back to Kinloch after he said good-bye to you in the Hebrides. But you better brace yourself for the whole story, because you were a villain like none I’ve ever known. You won’t like how the tale ends.”
“Enough with the suspense,” she said, her heart pounding. “Please tell me what I did. I must know.”
He inhaled deeply, and she found herself leaning into the warmth of his broad chest.
“You followed him to Kinloch to tell him that he had less than a month to live, and that he’d die by the noose.”
She frowned. “Was it true?”
“Nay, he still lives. But you also told him that his wife—who you called a manipulative slut—would betray him, and it would be her fault that he would end up in the noose in the first place.”
“Good Lord! Was that a lie as well?”
He hesitated. “It was partly true, but it’s a long story. All you need to know is that you tried to lure him back to your bed when he was happily married and expecting a child, and you were the one who told his enemies that they should hang him. You were responsible for the near fall of Kinloch Castle, and another Scottish rebellion—when all Angus ever wanted was peace.”
God in heaven … She swallowed hard, trying to manage her composure. It was a lot to take in, and if she truly was Raonaid, the oracle, she would not be proud of these things when she recovered her memories. How would she ever live with herself?
“Did I do these dreadful things because Angus jilted me?” she asked. “It sounds like I was very jealous of his wife.”
“Aye, you were, and you were bitter toward me for the loss of him. That’s why you cursed me.”
She turned in the saddle. “What part did you play in it?”
“First, I was the one who found him with you in the Hebrides, and encouraged him to return home and reclaim his castle. That’s when he left you. And when you followed, I helped convince him that you would wreak havoc on his marriage if he let you stay, and that he should banish you from the castle for good.”
Evidently, she had been jealous and spiteful on more than one occasion, if she had further retaliated by placing a murderous curse on Lachlan.
“You don’t suppose I have purged all my memories because of an overwhelming sense of guilt? Perhaps I could not bear what I had done, and therefore tried to erase it, or block it all out.”
“That would make sense, I suppose, if you felt the least bit guilty, but I’m not sure you are capable of that.” The deep scorn in his voice left her shaken. “I never met anyone more vengeful than you.”
She could not accept this. She simply could not.
“And yet, your powerful clan chief lived with me for more than a year,” she argued, “and we were
“Nay, you did some appalling things.”
“Like what, besides the curse?” She realized in that moment that without the benefit of memory, there were no regrets. There was nothing to feel guilty about. It was like living in a constant state of innocence and purity.
And it was so very empty.
“Tell me the worst thing I’ve done,” she said, for she wanted to know the truth, no matter how unpleasant it might be. She wanted a real life. “Perhaps it will trigger a memory.”
Though nothing her grandmother told her had ever triggered anything. Not even the return to her childhood home had brought back her past.
But maybe that was because Lachlan was right: she was not Catherine and never had been.
God, help me. She was so confused and desperate to learn the truth. Desperate enough to go off into the night with a dangerous, unpredictable Highlander who despised her …
“Can you not answer the question?” she asked, growing almost frantic. “Or have you lost your memories, too?”
“I apologize, lass, but I don’t know where to begin. The choices are endless.”
She shook her head with derision. “You are a cad.”
“All right, all right,” he said at last. “I’ll start with how you followed Angus back to Kinloch after he said good-bye to you in the Hebrides. But you better brace yourself for the whole story, because you were a villain like none I’ve ever known. You won’t like how the tale ends.”
“Enough with the suspense,” she said, her heart pounding. “Please tell me what I did. I must know.”
He inhaled deeply, and she found herself leaning into the warmth of his broad chest.
“You followed him to Kinloch to tell him that he had less than a month to live, and that he’d die by the noose.”
She frowned. “Was it true?”
“Nay, he still lives. But you also told him that his wife—who you called a manipulative slut—would betray him, and it would be her fault that he would end up in the noose in the first place.”
“Good Lord! Was that a lie as well?”
He hesitated. “It was partly true, but it’s a long story. All you need to know is that you tried to lure him back to your bed when he was happily married and expecting a child, and you were the one who told his enemies that they should hang him. You were responsible for the near fall of Kinloch Castle, and another Scottish rebellion—when all Angus ever wanted was peace.”
God in heaven … She swallowed hard, trying to manage her composure. It was a lot to take in, and if she truly was Raonaid, the oracle, she would not be proud of these things when she recovered her memories. How would she ever live with herself?
“Did I do these dreadful things because Angus jilted me?” she asked. “It sounds like I was very jealous of his wife.”
“Aye, you were, and you were bitter toward me for the loss of him. That’s why you cursed me.”
She turned in the saddle. “What part did you play in it?”
“First, I was the one who found him with you in the Hebrides, and encouraged him to return home and reclaim his castle. That’s when he left you. And when you followed, I helped convince him that you would wreak havoc on his marriage if he let you stay, and that he should banish you from the castle for good.”
Evidently, she had been jealous and spiteful on more than one occasion, if she had further retaliated by placing a murderous curse on Lachlan.
“You don’t suppose I have purged all my memories because of an overwhelming sense of guilt? Perhaps I could not bear what I had done, and therefore tried to erase it, or block it all out.”
“That would make sense, I suppose, if you felt the least bit guilty, but I’m not sure you are capable of that.” The deep scorn in his voice left her shaken. “I never met anyone more vengeful than you.”
She could not accept this. She simply could not.
“And yet, your powerful clan chief lived with me for more than a year,” she argued, “and we were
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