Qaletaqa (10 page)

My heart rate picked up. Finally, I was
getting somewhere. “Was it easier to breathe, like you went down in
elevation?”

Melody’s eyes remained closed. Her voice was
calm and even when she spoke. “Yes, it was, but Estes is so high
you don’t have to go very far in any direction to go down in
elevation.”

“Do you have any idea about what direction he
was taking you?” I asked.

Melody shook her head and opened her eyes.
“No. I’m sorry, Uriah. I just don’t know what else to say. I should
have paid more attention. I didn’t know anything like this would
happen. I didn’t think anyone would ever find me, especially not
like this.”

I watched as her eyes turned glassy, tears
gathering but not falling. My soul yearned to calm her fears. “It’s
okay, Melody. You did fine. Thank you for telling me what you
remember. Tomorrow, I want you to pay close attention to the
details so the next time we meet you can hopefully give me some
clues about where you are. Can you do that?”

Melody nodded. “Will you please tell me
what’s going on now?”

I tried to think of more questions I could
ask her, but I knew there was little else she could tell me. I
couldn’t stall her any longer. My hesitation brought her fear
bubbling back to the surface. She bit the side of her lip to keep
it from quivering and clasped her fingers together. Every inch of
my skin was trying to jump off of my body to reach Melody and
soothe her fears. I quickly trapped my hands in my pockets, digging
them down as far as they would go. I had to force my jaw to
unclench before I was able to speak.

“I spoke with your husband earlier tonight.
He told me about your dreams,” I said.

Melody looked surprised at my revelation, but
said nothing. She waited patiently for her answers.

“The man who took you this morning, he’s the
same monster from your dreams.”

Melody started shaking her head back and
forth. “No, no, the monster from my dreams had no body, no form. It
can’t be the same thing. It was just a dream. This is just a dream,
isn’t it?”

Her eyes were begging me to agree with her,
but her trembling lips seemed to know that no such agreement would
come. I struggled to find the words that would shatter the world
she thought she knew. My silence was answer enough. Tears slid down
her cheeks, leaving dark circles on her jeans.

“I’m not sure what exactly this is,” I said,
gesturing at the darkness, “but I don’t think it’s a dream. The
dreams you’ve been having, they weren’t really dreams either.
Everything you saw really happened, or is about to happen.”

“You’re real?” Melody asked.

I nodded. Her hand came up, reaching for me,
wanting to confirm my reality. I pulled back instinctively. Melody
jerked her hand back in surprise. Hurt lined her features, but she
kept her pain to herself. I felt my own mouth turn down in a deep
frown. Her pain echoed in my heart and I had to force myself to
stay back and keep from telling her everything would be
alright.

“You’re not part of my imagination?” she
asked.

“I’m real. I live in a small town in New
Mexico called San Juan, where I raise sheep with my mother. Right
now, I am asleep in a hotel with my fiancée, Claire, in Boulder,
Colorado. When I wake up in the morning, I’ll keep searching for
you until I find you. I won’t let anything happen to you,
Melody.”

“You’re really looking for me?” Her voice
matched her quivering chin.

“I’m going to find you. I promise.”

Melody seemed to take at least a little
comfort in my words. “Why did that monster take me?”

That was the question she had no doubt been
waiting to ask. She deserved an answer. I took a risk and told her
everything. Before anything else, I explained the myth of Twin
Souls, how the true soul contains both the male and female half. At
birth the two halves are split apart, but long to be reunited.
Melody drank in the idea, nodding as the truth of it washed over
her.

Melody listened as I told her about Claire,
and how devastated we were to find out that we weren’t Twin Souls.
I told her about Claire being poisoned by her father, about the
race to bring her Twin Soul back in time to save her life. I told
her about Claire waking and not wanting her Twin Soul, and about my
trip to the Hano Shaxoa for the potion to break the bond forever,
and even how it didn’t work.

Finally, I went back to the one detail I had
left out of my story, the Matwau.

“The creature who took you is called the
Matwau. His purpose is to keep Twin Souls from uniting. Our tribe
has feared him for centuries, but alongside fear, they had hope.
There was a prophecy made that told of a warrior who would destroy
the Matwau. For centuries the Tewa shaman watched for this warrior
to arrive,” I said. I paused not really knowing how to continue.
How do you tell someone you are a hero out of an Indian legend and
that she is wrapped up in your fate just as tightly? Melody’s eyes
were eager and I couldn’t face them. Dropping my gaze to my hands,
I tried to finish my story.

“Eighteen years ago, this warrior was born,
and now he has been called to fulfill his purpose.” I was about to
continue when Melody interrupted me.

“You? You’re the warrior?”

“That’s what I’ve been told, and after
everything that’s happened, I believe it’s true,” I said.

“Then what does this have to do with me? Why
would that beast take me if he only wanted you?” Melody asked.

She had dealt with everything else with
amazing patience. I hoped she could persevere just a little longer.
“When the Matwau couldn’t defeat me, he changed tactics. There were
too many things he couldn’t control when he came after me in the
desert. Bringing me to a spot he can prepare and control is his
only hope of killing me before I can kill him.”

“But why would he take me?” Melody asked. Her
hands were gripping her knees in frustration. “I have nothing to do
with this. Why wouldn’t he take Claire instead?”

“Because Claire isn’t my Twin Soul, you
are.”

The information took a few seconds to sink
in, but when it did, Melody’s fingernails dug into her knees. Her
eyes lost focus as she stared at nothing. Slowly her head starting
shaking back and forth in denial. I said nothing. I let her work
through her emotions, knowing she would come to the truth
eventually.

“But, I love Harvey. I married Harvey. You
can’t…you can’t be my Twin Soul. This can’t be happening to me.
None of this can possibly be real. I want to go home. I just want
to go home,” she cried.

I let the words pour out of her. Soon they
became indecipherable. If it had been Claire sitting in front of
me, I would have scooped her into my lap and stoked her hair and
brushed away her tears until she was ready to take the next step. I
bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from doing the same for
Melody.

After a few minutes, Melody dried her eyes
and looked up at me. “Is Harvey with you?”

“No, he’s still at your house,” I said.

Her eyebrow rose and her lips turned down
into a devastating frown. “He didn’t want to help you find me?”

I rushed to explain. I knew letting her love
for Harvey falter would only worsen our chances of dodging our
fates. “No, no, no, Melody. Of course he wanted to come. He begged
me to let him come, but I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“It was too dangerous for him to come,” I
said. I wanted to say more, but Melody gave me no chance.

“And he just accepted that? Harvey would
never have just let you pat him on the head and tell him to stay.
He would have come after me,” Melody argued.

“Melody, this is a very delicate situation.
If too many people become involved, the rules could change. I was
afraid that if Harvey followed me, he would be killed before we
ever reached you. I couldn’t take that risk.”

Standing up abruptly, she started pacing back
and forth.

I stood up as well, trying to face her, but
she wouldn’t stop moving. Out of frustration, I reached up and
grabbed her shoulder. I was only trying to make her look at me so I
could explain. The look on her face when my fingers gripped her
shoulder scared me more than facing the Matwau ever had. Her face
went completely pale. Her eyes opened further than they should
have. Her lips separated just enough to gasp in a fearful
breath.

I knew that my expression matched hers
exactly. What had I done? My eyes burned with regret for that
simple touch. I withdrew my hand only a second later, but the
damaged had already been done. Melody stared at me, wanting an
explanation, but I refused. I shook away her stare and struggled to
find where I had left off. I needed to talk to distract us both,
but Melody was quicker.

“What was that?”

“I’m sorry, I should have been more careful,”
I said. Melody stared, waiting for a real answer. I cursed my
stupidity with resigned sigh. “It was the Twin Soul bond trying to
form. It can’t while we’re here, but our souls are reaching out to
each other.”

“We’re really Twin Souls?” Melody’s question
wasn’t actually for me. She reached up to the shoulder I had
touched. “I don’t understand how this can be,” she whispered.

“Melody, Harvey loves you very much. I could
feel that as soon as I met him. He stayed behind because I begged
him to. I lied to him to make him believe you weren’t in any real
danger,” I said. Melody turned to regard me carefully.

“You lied to Harvey? Why?” she asked.

“I didn’t tell him you were my Twin Soul. I
lied and told him you were simply part of the prophecy, and that
the Matwau couldn’t harm you because of the laws he has to obey. I
told him you were meant to be my spiritual strength when I fought
the Matwau, nothing more,” I said.

“He had a right to know the truth,” Melody
said.

The tightness in her features and set of her
jaw made me shrink back. Hadn’t I said the same thing to Quaile? My
shoulders fell. Should I have trusted him as I had Claire? I shook
away the thought. It was too late to turn back.

“It may not have been right to lie to him,
Melody, but I couldn’t stand to put another person in danger,” I
said. I looked up at her, my eyes stinging with unshed tears.
“Claire was poisoned because of me, then almost died, then had to
suffer the pain of resisting the bond. All because of me. Daniel
was nearly killed by the Matwau because of me. You were kidnapped
because of me. I just couldn’t handle the thought of putting Harvey
in danger, too.”

Melody’s frown began to ease up.

“And he would have been in danger, Melody.
The Matwau has creatures helping him. There are no limits on who or
what they can kill. They would have seen Harvey as a threat and
tried to kill him,” I said. “I couldn’t let that happen. You need
him and so do I.”

Melody’s frown had turned into the hint of a
grateful smile, but a question shone in her eyes. “Why do you need
Harvey?”

“When I find you, it’s almost certain that
the bond will form. When it does, you’ll need your love for Harvey
to keep you from giving in to the bond. I need him for the same
reason. The bond is strong. If you were willing to follow me, it
will be so much harder for me to walk away,” I said. “I don’t want
the bond any more than you do. I love Claire and I want to spend
the rest of my life with her.”

Melody nodded stiffly. “I won’t give in,
Uriah. I will do whatever it takes to make it back to Harvey.”

I knew her love for Harvey was just as strong
as my love for Claire. What I didn’t know was if it would be strong
enough to withstand everything we were about to put it through.

10: Three

The warmth of Claire’s body next to mine was
more pleasant than anything I had ever experienced. Even in the
bland darkness of predawn, the curves of her face were a welcome
sight after a strange night. It was a relief to open my eyes and be
free of the darkness where I met Melody. I groaned at the
memory.

I couldn’t keep it from Claire. I wanted to.
The idea of me spending my nights having conversations with the
woman meant to steal my heart would only terrify her. It terrified
me. It scared me even more that I was hoping the next night would
bring me to her once again. I needed whatever information she could
give me, but a section of my heart that I was desperately trying to
ignore longed for the reunion on a totally different level, even
stronger than before.

Pushing thoughts of Melody away, I buried my
face in Claire’s locks. I knew I should wake her so we could
continue our journey, but I couldn’t bring myself to disturb her
when she looked so peaceful. I wondered how she could even manage
to sleep with some much going on. The day I could lay down to sleep
with no cares other than what chores I would have to do when I woke
up would be a wondrous day. I wasn’t certain I would ever actually
reach that day.

The quiet morning lasted only a few more
minutes before Claire yawned and opened her brilliant eyes. Her
sweet smile washed over me when she turned, but it didn’t last. It
was a slow change. Her lips began to turn down. Her eyes narrowed.
Her chest stopped its rise and fall as she held her breath.
Finally, she spoke.

“What happened?”

The change, and seemingly random question,
caught me off guard. “What do you mean, what happened?”

“Something’s changed with you,” she said.
Claire rolled onto her side so she could face me better. Eyeing me
intently, she brought one hand up to my face and held it there.
“Something about the bond has changed. I can feel it.”

Talon’s words the previous night came back to
me suddenly. He had heard Claire’s thoughts, but she couldn’t hear
his, just as it had been with Quaile and Kaya. Now Claire was
sensing the subtle changes in the bond just as other shaman were
able to do. Ideas of Claire’s future whirled in my mind. “Claire,
have you ever considered becoming a shaman? I think you’d be really
good at it,” I said.