Qaletaqa (36 page)

Why the clothing was lying there was the real
question. Uriah needed no guide to find Melody. The rancid smell of
the creatures still permeated the area. Staying well away from the
trap, I scanned either side of the trail. On the east side,
opposite the bloody shirt, were two large boulders laying
haphazardly against each other. The awkward angle created a small
cave between them. Taking in the scents more carefully gave me
confidence that one or several of the creatures were waiting in
that fissure.

No doubt the creatures expected Uriah to stop
and examine the discarded shirt, giving them the opportunity to
attack him while he was distracted. My claws dug into the ground
and tore at the dry pine needles littering the forest floor. They
would not kill Uriah, not here. Their goal was likely only to
injure him and drag him back to their master.

Disgust wrinkled my face. The Matwau held
power very near the gods’ own power and still he looked to make
this fight as unfair as possible. If Uriah was brought before him
injured he would have no hope of surviving. Retracting my claws, I
quietly stalked back the way I had come. I knew the nature of the
traps now. I had wondered what to expect since the creatures were
still only animals. They had no hands to dig pits or sharpen sticks
to deadly points, some of the ideas my humans friends had
considered. Plus, I knew the traps would only be aimed at maiming
Uriah rather than killing him. Anybody who hoped to accompany Uriah
would not be so lucky.

Just in case the first trap did not work as
the Matwau hoped, there would most likely be a few more bits of
bloody clothing that would lead Uriah on, fueling his desperation
and trying to force him into making a mistake. With my warning, I
felt sure Uriah would be able to avoid such a disaster. Distancing
myself from the scent of the creatures, I sprinted back toward
Claire and Harvey.

32: Risks

“Did you find anything?” Claire asked as soon
as I emerged from the trees.

Thoughts began forming in my mind to explain
what I had seen before I remembered neither of these humans could
hear me. Pushing away my irritation, I nodded that I had indeed
found something and tried to think of a way to explain. Claire and
Harvey exchanged hopeful glances and then simply waited
expectantly.

I looked at Claire and noticed her clothing.
Her shirt was not like the one I had found on the trail, but I
supposed she would understand either way. Reaching up, I grabbed
the end of her shirt carefully with my front teeth and tugged on
it. Claire’s face scrunched up in confusion. I tugged a little
harder, then patted the ground with my paws.

“You found a shirt? On the ground? Was it
Melody’s?” she asked. Harvey’s eye flew wide.

Letting go of her shirt, I nodded. I really
had no way of knowing for sure that the shirt was Melody’s, but I
could not imagine whose else’s it would be. If it had belonged to
someone else, I did not want to think about that at the moment.

“But, why would the Matwau need to lure Uriah
with Melody’s shirt, he’s already following the bond,” Claire asked
again.

I had really been hoping that she would
figure that part on her own, sparing me from having to act it out.
Feeling very foolish, I snatched Harvey’s cap off a rock where he
had left it and dropped it on the ground. Harvey almost objected
before he thought better of it and took a step back instead. I
dropped the hat on the ground and pushed Claire over to it. Melting
back into the trees, I left Claire staring at the hat. She still
looked unsure of what I was trying to get her to do. I pawed at the
ground, trying to indicate the hat.

Bending over, Claire finally moved to
retrieve the hat. At that moment I leapt out of the trees at her. I
must have been a little too convincing. Claire jumped back and
Harvey scrambled behind the rock he had left his hat on. Confident
that I had demonstrated the trap well enough, I sat down. Harvey
cleared his throat as he tried to recover from the startle, and
Claire laughed.

“They’re waiting by the shirt to attack him?”
she asked.

I nodded again. She asked nothing else. She
understood as well as I did that the creatures would only drag
Uriah before the Matwau after that. Instead, her face grew even
more serious. The traps were disturbing, certainly, especially
knowing how difficult seeing the blood would be for Uriah even when
he knew to expect it, but something more was bothering her. I could
do nothing but wait for her to explain.

She spoke out loud as well as through her
thoughts to me.

“Before I left Uriah he asked me to do
something for him.” She paused, glancing over at Harvey. “He asked
me to look into his future.”

Harvey just shook his head. I didn’t think
anyone had bothered to explain to him about Claire’s newfound
abilities, but he let the announcement sink in with relatively calm
acceptance. I supposed there was little at this point that could
surprise any of us. Taking obvious note that Harvey was not going
to try and discredit her claim, Claire continued.

“I’m not really used to doing that kind of
stuff, yet, so it didn’t go as well as it could have. Actually, I
made Uriah blackout, but regardless of that I did see
something.”

It could not have been good the way she was
so reluctant to tell us about it. I wanted to shake her, get her to
hurry up and tell us what she saw before Uriah caught up to us, but
I was forced to wait. Eventually she explained.

“Basically, what I saw was that if Uriah
faces the Matwau alone Melody will die,” she said.

Now Harvey reacted. I didn’t understand what
he said after he jumped up from the rock and started waving his
hands around. I could hear the level of his speech even without
understanding the words. By the way he was yelling he was obviously
very angry, or very scared. More likely than not it was both.
Claire went to his side and tried to calm him down. It was not
until she captured both his hands in hers and forced him to look at
her that he began to stop shaking.

“I saw something else, too,” Claire said,
speaking to me now as well. “I promised Uriah that I would stay
back and let him fight, but I can’t keep that promise. In my vision
of Uriah’s future I saw another possibility. If we help Uriah,
Melody will live, but one or all of us will not.”

The hope that had sprung up on Harvey’s face
at the mention of Melody surviving the fight faded away quickly
with the rest of Claire’s words. He asked a question I did not
understand, but Claire gave her answer to both of us.

“I don’t know who might die,” she said. “I
saw it play out hundreds of time. Sometimes Talon died. Sometimes
it was Harvey. And other times it was me. I’m sure you both want to
help Uriah and Melody, but I don’t want you going after him without
knowing what you’re risking. I’m not asking either of you to come
with me when I join Uriah. The choice is yours, and I won’t judge
whatever you choose. I just want you to know that I will go after
Uriah. I won’t let him face this alone.”

It should have been already understood that I
had never planned on letting Uriah go against the Matwau on his
own, either, but I dipped my head and rubbed it against Claire’s
leg to show that I would accompany her. It took Harvey a few
seconds to digest what Claire had said, but as soon as he did he
was quick to nod that he would follow as well.

“We can’t tell Uriah,” Claire sad. “He’ll
make us promise again that we’ll stay behind, most likely, and I
want each of you to make the promise. Fight him a little so he’ll
believe you, but we have to make him believe we’ll stay behind or
he’ll find a way to make sure we stay out of the fight.”

Thoughts of Claire seeing herself tied to a
tree floated across to me. I chuckled at the thought, especially
since I doubted Claire meant for those thoughts to reach me. Uriah
would most definitely tie her to a tree if he really thought it
would protect her. I grunted as I realized he would do the same to
me. If he actually could, I thought smugly. Remembering the
strength he had gained in preparation for this fight, my pride
slipped away as I imagined myself bound with cords and left behind
for my own protection. Yes, I thought, we would have to deceive
Uriah. For his own protection.

I thought of the traps again. They were also
aimed at destroying any humans or animals who might try to follow
after Uriah. The Matwau would not allow his opponent any kind of
aid if he could help it. If we followed, and the Matwau’s creatures
found us, we would never even make it to the desert. Thanks to
Claire, though, we already knew where this trap ridden trail would
end.

Uriah would be forced to follow pull of the
bond to avoid letting the Matwau know he knew his plan, but we were
held by nothing. There was no reason for us to go traipsing through
the forest, wary of what might attack us. Why follow the trail when
you knew where it led? Especially when you knew a much faster
route. It meant having to drive with Harvey again, but the
advantage gained would be worth the risk.

“We should get going if we want to check the
desert, too. You were gone almost two hours, and we may not have
much time left,” Claire said.

I loped toward Harvey’s death trap of a car
as Claire began talking very quickly to Harvey. Eager to get down
to the pueblo and find the final meeting spot, I pawed at the
closed passenger’s door. Claire caught up to me and yanked open the
door just as the rumbling sound of a vehicle filled the valley.

33: Made

Claire and Harvey stood frozen as Talon
darted away from the car. I knew how they felt. I had been hoping
for a longer route to Taos than I had been forced to make.
Apparently the Matwau had grown as tired of the winding route as I
had. After leaving Denver I had been pulled almost directly south.
I stuck to the exact speed limit the whole way, and even with
losing more than half an hour when I stopped to sleep and speak
with Melody, I knew by the looks on their faces that I had not
bought them enough time.

I just hoped they had been able to find
something I could use. My original goal in having them go before me
was to keep them at a safer distance and give them a mission of
their own. I wanted Claire and Harvey both to feel like they were
helping me without them actually helping me how they wanted to the
most.

That was before, though. Before I knew about
the reason for the Matwau choosing Taos and the special power it
would grant him, before Claire told about what she had seen in her
vision of my future. And most especially, before I found out about
what Claire had hidden from me. Now I needed every hint and small
advantage I could find, and a foolproof plan to keep everyone else
out of the fight. Information I was still short on, but a plan had
been brewing in my mind as I drove.

“Uriah,” Talon said, invading my thoughts
before I even made it out of my truck, “I have news for you.”

Claire grabbed me and pulled me into a hug
before I could answer. My arms wrapped around her fiercely. My
stranglehold masked my frustration at her, and came off as mere
pleasure to be with her again. I was still angry and hurt at her
lies, but I indulged in the hug, too frightened that it might be
the last one to make myself hold back. All too quick, Claire pulled
back and looked at me. Pleasure and frustration played on her
face.

“I can’t believe you’re already here,” she
said. “I was hoping we’d have more time. We didn’t even get the
chance to go down to the desert.”

“The desert? Why would you go down there?
You’d be right in the Matwau’s territory then,” I said.

What were they thinking? Did Claire have some
kind of plan of her own? I knew she had no intention of staying out
of the fight, but she couldn’t possibly mean to drop right into the
center of battle. Thank goodness I made it here before they acted
on such a disastrous idea.

“We would not have been seen, Uriah,” Talon
growled. “You know I am a better hunter than that. I scouted the
mountainside to uncover the traps without being seen once.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t have been seen, but
Harvey and Claire would have been in danger. Neither one could have
gotten anywhere without being seen and you know it,” I snapped.
Talon had promised me that he would protect Claire. Even if he had
to sit on Claire to do that, I fully expected him to follow
through.

“Claire and Harvey would have stayed behind,
just like they did when I went into the forest.” Talon’s haughty
tone called me an idiot even if his words did not. His opinion of
me aside, I knew Claire better than he did.

“Claire and Harvey may have stayed behind
this time, but when it comes to the battle do you honestly expect
them to do the same?” I asked. Maybe there was hope in Claire
keeping her promise to me after all, but I doubted it.

“Yes,” Talon said. The way he said it felt
the lie I knew it to be. My face twisted into a scowl. I let my
displeasure slap into him hard. A slight flinch interrupted his
firm stance before it hardened back up.

My glare only intensified. “You know she
won’t stay behind, and neither will you.”

“You told me to protect her. I will.”

“You know that’s not what I meant when I
asked you to watch over her.”

Talon shrugged, a decidedly non-feline
movement, but an expressive one. “I am helping you because I want
to. How I help you is open to my interpretation.”

“You’re helping me because you were compelled
to,” I grumbled.

“If that is truly what you believe…” He
turned as if to leave.

Rolling my eyes, I called him back. He had
definitely been spending too much time with humans. Somehow I
doubted reverse psychology was a common cougar tactic. “Shut up,
you overgrown housecat. You just better listen to the conversation
I’m about to have. When it’s over, we’ll see if you feel the
same.”