Shaxoa's Gift (29 page)

I didn’t wait for him to agree or disagree. I
hung up the phone and dropped it to the table, my hand shaking so
badly I couldn’t hold it any longer. My legs couldn’t hold me
anymore either. I sank to my knees, the bond crushing me to the
floor. My mind screamed in rage. Fires of anger and despair swept
into my mind, consuming every other thought and feeling. Blackness
was all that remained as I slumped to the floor.

24
: Patience

“Master, we have finished searching. The girl
was not found,” One said.

Not found? How could she not be found?
the Matwau wondered. He had been so sure that the girl would be in
one of the desert states near Uriah. She had to be in the desert,
but even he had to admit that his allies would not have missed her
if she had been where he had predicted. She had to be somewhere
close. Uriah was too strong for the girl to have been born any
further away from him.

“Master,” One said hesitantly, “if I could
make a suggestion. There is one more state in the nearby area that
we have not searched. What about Colorado?”

Colorado was not a desert state. He had
excluded the state from the initial search for only that reason.
What if he was mistaken? He had thought the desert was the key.
When he glimpsed the moment Uriah would meet his Twin Soul, it had
been in the desert. The girl had been stopped on the side of the
road with a flat tire. The bleached sand had stretched out on every
side with heat waves rolling off the black pavement.

Uriah’s old pickup truck had pulled up behind
the girl. He stepped out of the vehicle, ready to offer his help.
She was quick to accept his offer. A curious expression lit their
features as they extended their hands toward one another. They
touched and the glimpse dissipated. He had been sure that the
desert was the key, but he had obviously been wrong. Fury at
another misstep shook his body.

“I will lead the search. Gather
everyone.”

One raced away, calling to the others. Within
seconds, the twelve surrounded the Matwau. He did not bother to
explain their course. One would see to that. The Matwau’s mind was
focused on only one thing. He held the girl’s face in the front of
his mind as he raced toward the Colorado border. The twelve spread
out behind him, each one searching a large enough space that they
would cover the entire state.

As they took up their positions, the Matwau
was left alone. One by one he took hold of his extraordinary
senses. He knew her face. His probing eyes searched the land for
her visage. He knew her voice. His trained ears picked up the
subtle sounds of the surrounding miles. He knew her scent. His
sensitive nostrils sampled every minute aroma. The line would
report to One if they found anything, but the Matwau became
incensed at the idea of one of them finding the girl first.

Slowly he pressed ahead, moving away from the
twelve. He pushed his senses to their limits. Arid plains changed
to green valleys and towering peaks. The sand and dust thankfully
disappeared as the plush vegetation of the forest floor grew
thicker. The clustered trees weakened his hearing and ability to
see by a small degree, but his sense of smell was as strong as
ever.

The scent he was searching for came suddenly,
faint and weak, and it stopped him mid-stride. It was clean, and
smelled of honeysuckle and green tea. He could also pick up faint
signs of excitement in the scent. The Matwau savored the aroma,
letting it seep into every cell of his dark body. The twelve allies
slipped out of his mind completely. He would not share the moment
with them. The girl was the most integral part of his plan, and he
would trust her capture to none but himself.

Carefully, he crept forward, each step
drawing him closer to the girl. Every mile strengthened the scent,
urging him to move faster. As the Matwau moved toward his target,
the scent revealed even more. Along with the excitement, there was
fear and uneasiness. Something was troubling her. The Matwau
slowed, wondering if the girl could sense his approach. With
everything else he had encountered since meeting Uriah, he would
take nothing for granted.

His bone contorting display was silent. His
human form shriveled in on itself, crumbling into the tiny body of
a sparrow. He was close. The girl’s scent was overpowering. Lifting
into the air, he soared through the trees. One, two, three seconds
passed before he heard her voice. Soft and radiant, her words cut
through the forest. His speed increased beyond what any normal
sparrow could muster. The Matwau swiftly darted into a clearing,
just as the girl unlocked the front door of her rough stone-built
cabin.

Landing without disturbing a single blade of
grass, his body reacted, choosing a more capable form.

“Could you help me with this?”

The Matwau froze at the sound of a second
voice. He had been so focused on the girl he had blocked out
everything else. A middle aged woman stood near the trunk of a
magenta four door sedan. She was trying to unload the trunk’s
contents, but needed the young woman’s help to finish her task.

“Sure, Mom,” the girl said as she bounded
down the cracked concrete steps.

Calmly, the little sparrow hopped across the
natural growth in front of the house, right up to the blooming
columbine flowers next to the front steps. Patience, he told
himself in an effort to calm the seething anger that had erupted
inside of him. He had almost approached the girl with another human
present. Mistakes. He could not afford even the smallest of them if
his plan was to reach its end. Patience. He would have his chance
all too soon. Patience, he thought as the pair carried their items
into the house.

25
: First Choice

The night lasted longer than it should have.
I couldn’t stop dreaming about the little girl. All night I watched
her run across the old wood floors laughing and playing. Which
choice would bring her into my life? Which choice would leave me
praying for death? Which choice would leave Talon broken and soaked
in his own blood? Every dream replayed the scenes from Kaya’s
vision. Every choice led to the worst outcome. Over and over
again.

Remembering that Claire was in my bed, I woke
up reaching for her, and cursed everything I could think of when I
realized that I wasn’t there with her. Talon was lying next to my
bed watching me closely. He kept his thoughts to himself, though,
no doubt trying to shut out mine. No one would want to see what was
inside my head.

The only relief was that I would be going
home that day. Bittersweet with the knowledge that it would not
last, I still felt relieved. I wouldn’t give up even a second with
Claire. I would need every precious memory, every touch, every kiss
to get me through the battle ahead. The battles. Not one, maybe not
even two. The nightmares had clouded my sense of what might happen.
I longed for the quiet, work-filled days of the ranch.

The sky was still dark as I threw off my
blankets. The potion for Claire was waiting to be finished.
Grabbing my clothes off the floor, I peeked into the hallway before
dashing across and into the bathroom. Hot steam filled the small
room as I reached for my toothbrush. Closing my hand around it woke
my aching fingers. Stained, scratched, and stiff, I forced them to
function properly.

Tossing my toothbrush into my backpack when I
finished, I hurried through my shower. The water was hot enough to
turn my skin a splotchy red, but it cleared my mind of the horrible
images. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Talon was waiting for
me. “Is Kaya awake yet?” I asked him.

“No, she is still asleep,” he replied. He
seemed to have something else on his mind. “You’re worried about
me.”

I should have been used to him knowing my
thoughts, but it still startled me when he picked thoughts from my
mind and threw them back at me. I was concerned about seeing the
harm done to Talon in Kaya’s vision. One choice would bring it on
him, one would not. But would I know which one?

“Yes, I’m worried,” I said. “I don’t want to
see you hurt, but I don’t know how to stop it from happening
either. I don’t know which choice is the right one.”

“There is no choice for you to make,” Talon
said. “It is my choice whether I follow you or not, not yours. I
will follow you to the end, whatever that may bring.”

“Talon, I won’t get you killed, not if I can
help it. I’m happy to have you with me now, but when the Matwau
makes his move, I think you should stay behind.”

Talon bared his teeth, in what might have
been a vicious smile. His thoughts were tinged with violent anger.
“I will not back down from that creature. Even if it causes my
death, I will see the Matwau defeated,” Talon snarled. As if his
outburst had startled him, Talon shook off the intense feelings.
“Besides, you do not know that leaving me behind will protect me.
Leaving me behind may be the reason I am injured.”

“How would refusing to let you fight the
Matwau with me get you killed?” I asked.

“You would ask me to stay behind and protect
Claire, right?”

“Yes. I don’t want to leave her unprotected,”
I said.

“The Matwau cannot harm her. She is not your
Twin Soul, Uriah,” Talon said.

“If he can break one rule, he can break
another. I want you to stay with her.”

“Suppose he expects that and sends some of
his creatures to San Juan. There is most likely no law against them
killing random desert animals. I could be killed there just as
easily,” Talon said. “I think that situation is unlikely, however.
When it comes to you, Qaletaqa, he is allowed to hunt your Twin
Soul only. Claire will be fine. The Matwau has no more interest in
her.”

I knew Talon was right. I didn’t believe that
the Matwau would attack Claire, but I had to protect Talon. Despite
what Kaya and Samantha had said about how the end of Bhawana’s
vision could have been her interpretation, not fact, I wasn’t sure
the same could be said for how she saw me facing the Matwau alone.
I wanted Talon to stay as far away from him as possible, but I
would have to come up with a better reason.

“You assert your free will by going against
the Twin Soul bond,” Talon said, “do not try to deny me the same
right.”

I had no argument for that.

Deciding to drop the subject for the time
being, I started toward the kitchen. Talon followed me, but
remained quiet. Most likely, he already had more reasons to come
with me than to listen to reason and stay away. I wished I could
think of something he would listen to. Thoughts of breakfast
slipped into my mind as I stood staring at the empty kitchen. I
searched the cupboards and found several boxes of cereal. I had the
feeling Kaya would want to make me breakfast when she woke up. I
didn’t want to waste any time this morning.

Pouring some milk into my bowl, I gulped down
the cereal, finishing just as Kaya wandered into the living room
toweling her wet hair. “Oh, you’re already up. I was just about to
make some breakfast,” she said as she set the towel aside and
twisted her hair into a bun.

“Just finished some cereal,” I said. I smiled
in a false apology.

“Okay, well I guess we can head back to
Samantha’s then. Let me get the keys.” Kaya rummaged through the
stack of books and paper she had dropped on the counter the night
before. “Found them,” she said, “let’s go.”

I held up my own keys. “I’ll take my
motorcycle. I want to be on my way home as soon as the potion is
finished.”

“Oh, of course. Just follow me then,” Kaya
said.

The drive over to Samantha’s house was quiet
and slow, slower than I would have liked, at least. I stared at the
horizon, watching the sun climb its way up to the bluffs. The top
edge of the brilliant circle became visible as we pulled up to
Samantha’s house. My motorcycle rolled up next to Kaya’s sedan and
I cut the engine. The thin line of sunlight doused the front of the
house in shadow.

“Are you ready?” Kaya asked.

“Yeah,” I said. It was the only thing I
actually
was
ready for.

Kaya opened the door without knocking, and we
stepped in. The living room was still dark. The curtains had not
been pulled back yet. Quiet noises filtered in from the kitchen.
Kaya was already disappearing around the corner. A few quick steps
took me across the room and into the scent filled kitchen. I
breathed in the smells, remembering each one, ready to add the
last.

“Uriah, are you ready?” Samantha asked when
she saw me.

“Yes. What do I need to do?” I asked.

Samantha lifted a paring knife from the
counter. The blade was at least five inches long. My throat seized.
Sophia had pricked Daniel’s finger with a needle. I was suddenly
trying very hard to remember whether or not Samantha had said I
would survive this. She must have, or why else would they have
worked so hard to find out about Bhawana’s vision, right?

“Uriah,” Kaya asked, “are you okay?”

I swallowed and straightened my expression.
“How much blood do we need?”

Samantha looked at the knife in her hand and
blinked. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to look so threatening,” she
said. She lowered the knife. “You told me about the potion used to
revive Claire, and this will be similar. We’ll need a little more
blood than was required of Daniel, though.”

“How much more?” I asked. Samantha held up a
small measuring cup. It may have been a small cup, but it would
take a lot more than a few drops to fill it. “Why?”

“Why so much?” Samantha asked. “With Daniel
all he needed to do was break through to Claire and form the bond.
A touch could do that normally. For Claire, all that was needed was
a few drops. This is different. It’s much harder to break the bond
than form it. It requires more, a larger sacrifice.”