Qaletaqa (31 page)

“I promise,” Uriah said. And then he was
gone.

Melody stumbled at the loss of his support
and fell to her knees. A trembling sob shook her body before her
eyes lifted to the other Claire pulling her back to her feet. I
watched myself whisper words of comfort. Slowly a smile blossomed
on Melody’s lips as her spirit began to lose shape. Her departure
was just a swift as Uriah’s. I stood staring at the empty spot,
wondering how on earth we were ever going to make it through
this.

27: Unmade

“Claire? Are you alright?”

She was sound asleep on my lap one minute,
and then she bolted up in her seat and just sat there blinking at
the windshield.

“Claire?”

Slowly she turned and looked at me. In a
split second, tears flooded her eyes and poured down her face.
Panic gripped my heart. Sleeping meant dreaming. Dreaming could
mean the future. Tears were not a good sign.

“Claire, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong? Did
you dream about something?” I asked.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Is…” My tongue stuck in my mouth. My first
thought was for Melody. Was she hurt? Was she dead? Did I take too
long? I wanted to see her so badly, but I wanted to forget her
completely, too. I knew asking about Melody before anything else
would only be hurtful to Claire, even if it was the only thing I
could really think about at the moment.

I held back my words. There was something in
Claire’s eyes. Something that terrified me. Not sadness so much as
total despair. I hated to think it, but Melody’s death would
probably not be a despairing feeling for Claire. I wondered if it
would be for me. Melody being taken out of the picture would make
everything so much easier. Everything except the gaping hole I knew
I would feel in my heart. Claire was gentle and kind and
compassionate, but still…expecting her to despair over Melody’s
death would be asking way too much. I took a deep breath and
started over.

“Claire, what did you see?”

Claire sniffed and forced herself to meet my
eyes. “I saw you and Melody.”

“Did you see something bad happening to…one
of us?” I asked.

“No,” Claire said. She shook her head as she
spoke. It was oddly slow. “I didn’t see the future.”

My breathing quickened as thoughts of the
memory Melody shared of our first kiss danced in my mind. Please
no, I begged. I would rather have Claire see anything but that.
“What did you see then?” I whispered.

“Well, I thought if I could dream about the
future…why couldn’t I dream about the past? Before we left the
spirit world,” Claire said slowly.

No, no, no, no, no. I couldn’t even ask now.
I just waited for her to reveal what she had seen.

“I saw you and Melody become Twin Souls.”

A split second of relief that the word “kiss”
was not in that sentence was followed by a crushing sweep of
confusion.

“What did you say?” I asked. Claire dropped
her eyes. “You saw when me and Melody became Twin Souls? What does
that even mean? You don’t become Twin Souls, you just are Twin
Souls. Aren’t you?”

That same slow shake of her head filled me
with dread.

“It can’t be,” I said.

“You and Melody chose to become Twin Souls.
That’s what Orenda meant when she said that Twin Souls had already
made the choice and wouldn’t get another chance to choose,” Claire
explained.

Her voice was strained and she still wasn’t
looking at me. I had been worried about a kiss. A kiss Claire could
have handled. She was strong. But this? Nothing could have been
worse.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I…I don’t know what
to say. I never would have done if I knew I would meet you. You
know that right?”

“Yes, you would have,” Claire said.

“No, Claire, you have to believe me. I love
you. Nothing that happened in the spirit world matters to me now. I
love you. I want you.” Breathing became a struggle. Tears that
hadn’t been shed since my dad died threatened to break lose. Claire
couldn’t stop believing in our love.

“Uriah, calm down,” Claire begged. “That
isn’t what I meant. I don’t doubt how much you love me, but you
would have chosen to be Melody’s Twin Soul even if you knew
everything that would happen between us because you made the choice
for another reason besides love.”

“What do you mean? Why did I choose this?” I
asked. I held little hope that there would be redemption for me in
her explanation. Claire would have woken up bouncing with
excitement if this all had a simple fix. But even still, I wanted
to know.

“You and Melody went to gods of light and
they helped you become Twin Souls,” Claire began.

Step by step Claire described everything she
saw and heard. She told me about the Twin Soul bond being linked
with a mission to destroy the Matwau, and how we had accepted the
bond knowing it would lead us toward facing the Matwau. An utter
lack of emotion gripped me as I listened to her account. I had no
reaction, no thoughts. I couldn’t process it, so I simply
listened.

As she spoke of the ceremony that actually
sealed my destiny, the music and light seemed familiar. I could
almost hear the notes. At the mention of the bond beginning to
form, I squirmed and felt like scratching my arms. I remembered
that feeling all too well after Daniel rescued Claire. What I felt
now for Melody was similar, though not as intense, but it suddenly
felt like a tightening noose instead of a link to the woman I
supposedly loved and had promised to spend eternity with.

When Claire spoke of our souls meshing
together into one, my link to Melody flared. I could almost feel
her stroking my skin. She felt so close. I lost focus on what
Claire was saying. She had to grab my hand and shake me back into
the conversation.

“The strangest part of the whole thing was
that Daniel and I were there too,” Claire said.

“You were?” Hope grew in my heart. Maybe if I
knew Claire before I could remember her as well, fight Melody’s
memories with my own.

“Yeah, we knew we would have to work together
when we got down here. I think we were even friends,” Claire
said.

The slight frown of disappointment that we
weren’t more than that ate at me. I waited for her to tell me more,
but I began to worry when her silence stretched on for longer than
I expected. Her frown molded into the look of an internal
struggle.

When I prodded her to tell me what was wrong,
she said, “Remember how Quaile said my dad poisoning me set us on
this path, that she thought we’d have more time. And you told me
Kaya said you weren’t even supposed to meet Melody for another ten
years?”

Something about her question put me on edge.
“Yeah…”

Claire bit at her lip. “Well, what if this is
all happening too soon? What if we aren’t ready to face the Matwau
yet?”

She looked to be on the verge of tears, so I
put my arm around her and held her tight. “Claire, I don’t think it
matters. Look how fast our talents have been developing. Maybe if
we’d had more time they wouldn’t have been dropped on us like they
were. But they were, so now we’re having to learn faster than we
might like. Either way, we’ll be ready. I promise.”

Claire nodded, but I didn’t think she really
believed me. I decided to change topics before she worried too much
about something we had no control over.

“What about how the bond was formed? Did you
see anything that might help us get rid of it after the Matwau is
defeated?”

I was terrified of facing Melody. I didn’t
understand why Melody and I had to become Twin Souls in order to
defeat the Matwau, but I was afraid of finding out. Claire’s
explanation had gotten vague around that point. I couldn’t blame
her, seeing a dream didn’t necessarily mean you would understand
it, but I wished these gods of light could have at least gone over
that part before rushing on to the ceremony. Maybe the
why
would help us understand how to break the bond for good. At this
point, I knew even without Claire telling me that suppressing the
bond wouldn’t be enough for Melody and me. I needed to be free of
her for good.

“I don’t know. It was so much to take in, I’m
still trying to understand what I saw.” Claire sighed. “It’s not
like there were instructions. Follow these steps to become Twin
Souls, do them in reverse to undo the bond. I barely understood
what was happening, but I’ll keep trying to figure it out, I
promise.”

“We’ll find a way,” I said. Claire stared out
the window, deep in thought.

I sat quietly next to Claire and watched the
miles tick away. Talon reported in every few minutes, giving the
locations of the creatures that were following us. As we neared
Denver, their close watch began grating on me even more. Once we
reached interstate twenty-five, there would be very few places to
split off. I needed to give Claire and Harvey the chance to hurry
on ahead of me to Taos.

Fifteen miles to Denver. I watched the sign
fly past me. They had to leave soon or my plans would become
completely useless. Having Claire and Harvey scout out any waiting
traps would certainly be useful, but that was hardly what caused my
anxiety. Harvey and Claire would no doubt be the key to keeping me
and Melody from abandoning our lives for each other. I needed both
of them safely away from the danger.

Ten miles.

Nine.

Eight.

“Uriah.” Talon exploded into my thoughts,
making me flinch in surprise. Claire sat up and glanced over at me
with a concerned frown. I shook my head and patted her leg as I
answered Talon.

“Are they gone yet?”

“As far as I can tell. A warren of rabbits
just confirmed sighting them over a mile away,” Talon said.

“Where were they heading?” I asked.

“Almost directly south. And at an extremely
fast pace. I don’t think they will be back,” Talon said. The relief
coming from him was palpable. He was exhausted.

“I’ll find a gas station or something near
the edge of town where we can meet. You can ride with Harvey and
Claire so you can get some rest,” I said. Harvey wouldn’t be real
thrilled about that, but all it would take to convince him was to
mention Melody’s name. That was all it ever took.

“Okay, let me know when you find something,”
Talon said. The fact that he didn’t even take the time to argue
about being hauled around in a car like a pet again showed how
weary he really was.

Just a little longer, my friend, I thought to
myself.

“Claire, would you call Harvey for me. The
creatures are gone.”

Blood drained from Claire’s face. She knew
this was coming, had even promised to go on ahead with Harvey, but
having to face being apart again was no easy thing. For me or her.
My stomach had soured the instant Talon gave his report. I’d been
waiting for the news, but I was scared of being left alone. Claire
still hadn’t made a move to call Harvey.

I looked at her, and said, “It’ll be okay,
Claire.”

Nodding stiffly, she grabbed her phone and
started dialing. I didn’t hear what she said to him, but the call
was over quickly.

“Claire, will you do something for me before
we split up?” I asked.

Her wary eyes looked up at me. That was a new
response for her. Usually I was the one who got concerned when
Claire asked me to do something without telling me what it was.
Claire had always been much more adventurous than I was. Now she
looked more than worried about what I was going to ask her. It
could have just been nerves over splitting up again, but I had a
feeling that wasn’t it at all.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked
slowly.

Her hesitation made me pause as well. Could I
really ask her to do this? I had no idea whether she even could. I
needed it, though, very badly, so I decided to ask regardless of
both our fears. “Will you try to see my future?”

Fear danced on her features. “Are you sure? I
may not even be able to do it. What if I don’t understand anything
I see, or I get something wrong?” she asked.

“I just want you to try. Please, Claire.” I
needed some kind of guidance. Was I right to leave Claire again?
Was Bhawana’s vision really the only way to defeat the Matwau?
There were so many questions I was being forced to answer with
nothing more than a wild guess to go off.

“Will you try?” I asked again. Sitting
quietly, Claire stared out the window. I wondered if she really
doubted whether she could do it, or was just scared of looking. I
knew I was asking a lot of her, but I had to.

“Okay,” Claire said finally. “I’ll try.”

The relief I was expecting did not come.
Instead, fear of finding the answers I needed settled over me.
Making a hard left into an empty looking gas station on the edge of
town, I cut the engine and turned to Claire.

“Are you ready?”

She nodded and I reached out my hands for
hers. I wanted to get started before I chickened out.

Harvey pulled up beside us with a sharp honk
of his car horn. He motioned that he was going into the gas station
and I urged him on. Sparing a moment to let Talon know where we
were, I turned all my focus on Claire.

“Alright,” she said hesitantly. “Um, sit
still so I can concentrate. I’m not sure how long it will take
me.”

I closed my eyes to avoid watching the
dashboard clock. Even without the changing numbers I could feel
each precious minute slipping past us. How long would Claire keep
trying? I wondered.

Claire’s fingernails suddenly dug into my
skin and a wave of blackness hit me.

28: Riddle

I felt nothing else the second I finally
touched the core of Uriah’s soul. I could have been burning alive
and wouldn’t have felt it. The tiny bit I felt of Uriah the first
time I tried to find his soul was amazing and intoxicating. This
was nothing like that. It was no small taste of his essence. I felt
as if I had been dropped head first into a vat of champagne.
Champagne that tasted, smelled, and felt, like Uriah.