Qaletaqa Read online

  I thought my jaw might have fallen open, but since I had lost all feeling in my body I couldn’t be sure. I had to force myself to form words and speak to her. “Forgive you for what?”

  “For not being strong enough. I told you I didn’t know if I could stand up against the bond. I saw your face when I said it. I stole your hope and left you with nothing. You needed me, and I wasn’t strong enough to be there for you when you were counting on me the most,” Claire said.

  The admission was startling, but she said it with such composure that I suspected she had been preparing it for a while. She waited patiently for my reply. Slowly I took my foot off the gas and steered toward the side of the road. My hands mechanically put the truck in park before settling back in my lap. It was a few seconds before I could face Claire.

  “Claire, I can’t forgive you. My decisions are not your fault,” I said. Claire started to shake her head, but I took her face in my hands and held her still. “All you did was be honest with me, which I love about you. I can’t fault you for telling me the truth. You are strong. Look at what you’ve been through. I felt the bond. I can’t believe you overcame it as much as you did. All the time I was gone, I was terrified I would get back and you would have already forgotten me.”

  Claire tried to voice her opinion on that, but I silenced her by pressing my hands against her cheeks. “Claire, I was the one who wasn’t strong enough. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing by walking away. I thought it would make it easier for you to let me go if I wasn’t around,” I said. “When I decided to go and find the Matwau, that was my own weakness showing. It was stupid, I know that now, but I just felt so alone and helpless at the time that I didn’t have any strength left.”

  I pulled Claire close to me again, cradling her in my arms. “Even when Quaile told me there was a chance, it wasn’t until later that I finally found something that gave me back my strength.”

  “What was it?” Claire asked.

  I smiled and breathed in the scent of her hair. It smelled different than usual. It took a few moments before I recognized the scent as the shampoo I usually used. I was quick to tamp down the emotions the idea of Claire using my shower brought up, and snapped my mind back to her question. “It was you, Claire.”

  Claire looked up at me. “What do you mean?”

  “I realized that even if Quaile was lying to me in order to keep me from killing myself, I would be okay. It would be horrible to lose you, and I hope I never do, but the time we’ve had together has been wonderful, and nothing could take that away from me. You changed my life for the better, and I wanted to live up to the gift you’ve given me,” I said. I wondered if all of that had made any sense to Claire.

  Tilting her head to one side, Claire’s frown started to turn up. “I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or not,” she said. “You don’t want to disappoint me, but you found out that you could live without me after all.”

  Her smile widened, and I knew she understood what I had been trying to say. “Only if I absolutely had to,” I said.

  Claire settled back into the seat next to me. Feeling confident enough to get back on the road, I shifted into drive and rolled onto the highway again.

  “Tell me about what happened in Hano,” Claire said as she leaned her head against my shoulder.

  I spent the next several hours giving Claire almost every detail of the past four days. It was hard to explain everything I had learned about myself in Hano. They were things that had changed me. I was afraid that I would never be able to go back to the simple rancher I once was. Claire listened quietly, soaking up every detail of my story, interrupting only when she needed more explanation.

  When I mentioned the word “Qaletaqa”, she again surprised me by already knowing what I was talking about.

  “That means ‘Guardian of the People’ right?” she asked.

  “Yeah, did Quaile tell you that too?”

  “No, actually my dad did.”

  I look over at her, my expression frozen in shock. “Your dad?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, he told me that you’re the Qaletaqa and that you’re supposed to kill the Matwau. He said you have special gifts and that you’ll be able to defeat him,” Claire said.

  I was surprised her dad had so much faith in me given the fact that he had always looked at me like I was lower than the dirt under his shoe. The Matwau was the most powerful and secret creation of the dark gods. Before he met me, he was the most powerful creature on earth, able to find and destroy any human seeking their Twin Soul. Until I brought Claire’s Twin Soul, Daniel, to her in order to save her life, the Matwau had not failed to kill his target for many years.

  What really surprised me, though, was that her dad actually told her what he knew. Because of his threats and strange comments about me, I suspected he knew something, but I never would have guessed he would willingly give that information up. Certainly not to help me.

  “How did you get him to tell you?”

  “I threatened to never speak to him again, which you would think wouldn’t have worked with how awful he’s always been to me, but apparently there really was a reason behind him hating you and trying to control me,” she said, taking a slow breath. “Quaile told him who you were when you were born. He knew the stories about what you were meant to do and he tried to keep me from getting pulled into you destiny.”

  “He was protecting you.”

  Claire’s dad was an egotistical, self-centered idiot. He put family honor and money above everything else, treating those around him like pawns on his game board of self-delusional greatness. Even still, my mouth turned up in the slightest of smiles. As terrible of a father as he was, at least he was trying to do something right. He loved his daughter, and now she finally knew it.

  When I looked over at Claire, I saw a peaceful expression on her face, the first one I had ever seen her wear when she was talking about her dad. Even in the midst of everything I was facing, it made me immeasurably happy to know Claire and her dad had found some kind of balance in their relationship. But as her dad’s reason for trying to keep us apart filtered back into my mind, my smile disappeared.

  “Your dad was right, Claire. This is going to be very dangerous. You said Cole told you about the Matwau, but I don’t know if you can really understand until you’ve seen what he can do. He is powerful, very powerful. He’ll stop at nothing to kill me,” I said. Claire stiffened, expecting what I was about to say. “I know I said I’ll never leave you again, so I’m giving you the choice. I won’t tell you what to do, but you’ll be much safer if you stay behind when I face him.”

  “Uriah, you can’t protect me from everything. I will stay by your side no matter what we face,” she said.

  I sighed. I knew she would never agree to stay back, but I had to try. “Okay, we’ll do this together.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  There was a moment of silence before Claire said, “Do you know where we’re going?”

  Ever since leaving San Juan I had been blindly following the incessant pull I felt between me and my Twin Soul. I made turns in towns I had never been to before and merged onto highways and interstates I had never previously driven as if I knew the route by heart. We had left the congested traffic of Denver, Colorado about an hour earlier. I left I-25 without any good reason beyond a slight shift in the pulling sensation. The drive took us through Boulder, Colorado and toward the looming Rocky Mountains. I was beginning to wonder how far I was going to have to go for my rescue attempt.

  Nearing a town named Lyons, I felt another shift and glanced up to see a green and white traffic sign. Junction 66 to Estes Park. The arrow on the sign indicated that I should turn left, so I did. “Apparently, we’re going to Estes Park,” I said.

  As I prepared to make the turn, the gentle pull I was following blossomed into a terror-filled noose around my neck.

  4: Harvey

  Claire didn’t say a word when the old
truck suddenly lurched onto highway sixty-six and the speedometer read well over the posted speed limit. She simply took my free hand and closed her eyes. The panic lasted only three torturous minutes before simply fading away. With the lightening of the bond, my speed dropped back down. Claire finally broke her silence.

  “Uriah, what’s happening?” she asked.

  “I…I don’t know. I was about to turn and suddenly the bond changed. She was terrified again. I don’t know why, but she was really scared. I could hardly think. I just slammed down the gas and ran after her.” I stopped talking and thought about what I had just said. The feeling had been so intense. It had taken over my mind completely. I wondered again how Claire managed to survive the bond to Daniel.

  Claire squeezed my hand. “It will be okay, Uriah. We can do this together.”

  I hoped she was right. My hands were shaking. I clenched the steering wheel to try and hide it.

  “I think we’re getting close,” I said. “Estes Park is only twenty minutes away. I’m sure that’s where she was.”

  “Was?”

  “I think he’s moving her right now,” I said. “I knew he would, but Estes Park might be somewhere we can get some information, maybe figure out where he’s taking her.”

  “How did you know he would move her?” Claire asked.

  The list was long. “My dreams, Quaile’s dreams, Bhawana’s vision. They all showed me fighting the Matwau in the desert. He’s leading me somewhere. I just need to find out where that is before he gets there and sets the trap.”

  “Well, hopefully Estes Park will have some clues for us,” Claire said.

  I stared out the front window and watched the last sliver of sunlight dip behind the mountains. Slowly, stars began to dot the sky, and I found myself scanning the night in hopes that just one would fall and let me try to wish my way out of this.

  ***

  “I think this is it,” I said. The cottage in front of us was built out of plain grey rocks and mortar. The landscape around it had been left completely natural, letting the little house melt into the surrounding forest.

  “How can you tell?” Claire asked. “If she’s gone, how do you know this is where she lives?”

  “It’s like she left a trail. I can still feel where she’s at right now, but I know that this is where everything started. Did you ever feel anything like that?” I asked Claire.

  She shook her head. “All I ever felt was where Daniel was and that I should find him.”

  It hardly surprised me that my experience with the Twin Soul bond would be unique from anyone else’s. I glanced back at the cottage. There was a light on. I wondered about that. It should have been light enough to see when she was taken earlier that morning. I was positive the Matwau had been holding my Twin Soul in the house since her capture, only moving her when I had gotten close enough to find the little house.

  It was possible that the Matwau had turned the light on, not because his superior eyesight would demand it, but because he was trying to lure me into the house. What the ruse would accomplish, I wasn’t sure, but I already knew it would work. The cottage might hold clues that I could use. Bypassing the house would have me following him blindly once again. I was about to suggest to Claire that we get out and take our chances when the front door popped open.

  “Who is that?” Claire asked. There was a tremor in her voice. She was afraid that I had been wrong in assuming that the Matwau had already left.

  A dark silhouette was outlined against the light coming from the house. The figure in the doorway definitely belonged to a man, but not the Matwau. I could identify the Matwau, no matter what disguise he wore, as soon as I came in close proximity with him. This figure held absolutely nothing for me.

  “It’s okay, Claire. It’s not him. It’s not the Matwau,” I said. I took her hand as I opened the truck’s door. “Let’s go talk to him. He must know the girl.” Claire’s expression said she wasn’t sure about my decision, but she followed me anyway.

  Seeing someone emerge from the car, the figure in the doorway called out. “Hello?”

  It was a question. His voice was off. He knew something was wrong, but not wrong enough to have called the police, judging by the quiet atmosphere.

  “Hello,” I called back. I began walking toward the front door, wishing I knew the name of my Twin Soul. What was I supposed to say? I was approaching a house in the middle of the night with no reasonable explanation for why I was there.

  The man stepped forward a few steps, before changing his mind and returning to the house. I faltered. Suddenly an exterior light flipped on and the man was back out on the front stoop.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “There are a lot of roots sticking up around here.”

  “No problem,” I said. A few more steps and I was standing right in front of him. Under the porch light I could see that the man was only a few years older than myself. I offered my hand to him and he took it, looking somewhat relieved. I wondered about that.

  I still hadn’t worked out my excuse, but I decided to start simple. “Hi, my name’s Uriah Crowe. This is my fiancée, Claire Brandt.”

  Claire extended her hand politely, and the young man shook her hand as well. “My name is Harvey,” he said.

  He looked like he was about to say something else to Claire when he froze and turned back to me.

  “Did you say your name is Uriah?” he asked.

  “Yes, uh, Uriah Crowe. Does that mean something to you?”

  “Um, I’m not sure. I think it would have meant something to Melody, though,” he said. “You know Melody, right? I mean that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

  Melody. The name felt right. It fit with the face I had seen in the dreams. I looked back at Harvey. He was waiting expectantly for my answer. “I’ve never actually met Melody before, but in a way I do know her.”

  “Dreams?”

  I nodded, too surprised to say anything.

  “Maybe we should go inside,” Harvey said.

  5: Melody

  “Sorry about the mess,” Harvey said. “We just moved in.”

  I looked over at Uriah. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly when Harvey mentioned that he and Melody lived together. His hand gripped mine more tightly. This was something we had talked about on the way up, how Melody possibly being in love with someone else might affect the situation. At first I thought it would be a good thing, but the pain in Uriah’s eyes betrayed his darkest thoughts. If Uriah and Melody couldn’t hold back the bond it would only be one more person’s life they ruined. Knowing that the potion he labored to make me wasn’t an option for him any more than it had been for me had really shaken his confidence.

  But Uriah would hold strong. I knew he would.

  “Actually, Melody was supposed to be unpacking today, but it doesn’t look like she got much done,” Harvey said. “When I walked in and saw all the boxes still sitting here, I knew something was wrong. I called her mom, and her mom said she dropped Melody off early this morning before she went to work. I was about to call her friend Anna when I heard your truck pull up.”

  Harvey glanced at the front yard. He had been checking the bare window every few seconds since stepping back into the house. I knew the feeling. Even though I had known the man for only a few minutes, I felt an instant connection with him. I wanted to reach over and take his hand and tell him everything was going to be okay whether it was true or not.

  Harvey turned his gaze back to Uriah. His fingers were tapping nervously on his leg. “She’s not going to drive up, is she?”

  “No,” Uriah said. The look on his face held an even deeper sadness than Harvey’s. Uriah knew the truth. I wondered how much he would tell Harvey.

  “Where is she?” Harvey asked. The glassy sheen in his eyes pricked my heart.

  “Would you mind telling me about the dreams first? It might help when I try to explain my side of the story,” Uriah said.

  Harvey frowned, but didn’t argue. “Well
, for the past, I don’t know, I guess it’s been about a week now, Melody has been having these really bad dreams. At first she just passed it off as stress, but when the dreams came back the next night, and the next, she started to worry.”

  “What were the dreams about?” Uriah asked.

  I think we both knew what the answer would be.

  “Well, you, I guess. She said that she’d never seen the man in her dreams before, but she knew his name was Uriah, and he was in trouble. When she first told me about the dreams, I told her to forget them. It wasn’t until she gave me the details of the dreams that I started to believe there was something going on. They were so vivid. She described the man to me, and I have to admit you certainly match what she described.”

  Harvey shook his head. “No offense, but talking about some guy Melody was dreaming about every night kind of put a damper on our honeymoon.”

  My knuckles ground together under Uriah’s vice-like grip. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from yelping at the pain. The tears in my eyes matched the ones showing in Uriah’s, but I knew his pain was of a different kind. His head dropped and a hand came up to cover his face. If he failed to break the bond, he would be ruining a marriage, not just a relationship. Harvey watched Uriah, confused by his response. I decided it was time for me to take the lead.

  “When were you and Melody married?” I asked.

  “Last Tuesday.”

  “Tuesday, that’s an interesting day to get married,” I said.

  “Melody wanted a small ceremony, just our immediate family, so we got married in the middle of the day on a Tuesday. It was beautiful,” Harvey said. The smile on his face momentarily cleared away the fear.

  I wanted to get married on a Saturday so all my family would be able to attend, especially my aunt Valerie. Uriah had once suggested getting married in the middle of the week. I knew he was thinking that fewer people would be able to come. He was never very comfortable in front of a crowd, at least outside of a sports stadium. I fought to keep a pleasant smile on my face as the similarity between Uriah’s and Melody’s choices in dates was not lost on me.