“Catriona?”
My own heart stutters. It’s the same voice; but it is not the same person.
“Colin,” I say.
“You—you have killed me?” he says.
I lean over him. “You tried to do the same to me.”
“I-I—” His face spasms in pain, and he shudders. “It was Archie’s idea.All Archie’s. He said we had to scare you. Knock you out. Bring you to a basement near my rooms. Frighten you. Punish you.”
“You are an officer of the law,” I say. “You bring criminals to justice. You don’t deliver it yourself.”
“Archie hit you, and you did not pass out. You attacked me. I had to defend myself.”
“By strangling me?” I swallow my rage and force myself to say, “I am sorry for what I did to you, Colin, but it did not deserve that.”
“Do you forgive me?” he says, his voice an almost inaudible rasp. “You must forgive me.”
I don’t want to. But the terror in his eyes makes me grind out the words. “I understand that you did what you thought you needed to.”
His mouth opens, and I don’t hear what he says, as I suddenly realize there’s an answer here. An answer I desperately need.
“Colin?” I say. “Where were you?”
“Gone,” he whispers. “I was gone.”
“Gone to another time? Another world? Were you another person? Where did you—?”
Before I can finish, he exhales, and then he is truly gone, taking my answer with him.