Twin Souls Read online

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   At fourteen years old, the rifle felt heavy in my hands. My dad was only a few feet away, squatting by the tree next to me. Neither of us spoke. We just waited. My breath moving in and out of my body was the only indicator of time I had. The minutes of my first hunting trip passed slowly. Silently I wished for a deer to wander into the valley.

  The rustle of something moving through the dry leaves covering the ground caught my ear. I motioned to my dad that I had heard something. He looked at me questioningly. He must not have heard it. Insisting that I had heard a noise, I pointed at where it had come from. We both looked over at the spot to see the soft brown nose of a buck pushing through the brush. My dad blinked in surprise.

  Emerging into the sunlight, the buck lowered its head and began chewing on the tough grass at its feet. A subtle motion from my dad caught my attention. When I glanced over at him he motioned for me to get my gun ready and take the shot. My gun came up as I refocused on the deer. With the crosshairs directly over the kill spot, I stared at the creature. It was beautiful. I wondered what it would feel like to run my hands over its silky coat.

  No longer interested in its meal, the buck lifted its head and looked straight at me. My dad whispered for me to take the shot quickly, but I couldn’t, not while it was staring at me. The fear the buck should have had for me seemed to have disappeared as it started walking toward me.

  My rifle was still aiming right at it. All I had to do was pull the trigger. Walking across the field, the buck came within twenty feet of the tree I was next to and stood watching me. I felt like it was waiting, but I didn’t know what it was waiting for.

  The buck walked a little closer. Its bright round eyes regarded me without fear. My finger was tight against the trigger, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull it back completely. I wanted to. I wanted to show my dad that I was old enough to be here with him. I had been so excited to come. The buck should have already run away. I knew it saw me. Why was it staring at me like that?

  “I can’t do it, Dad.”

  I couldn’t stand it looking at me anymore. Dipping its head slightly, the buck turned away and started walking back into the trees. My shoulders slumped and the gun rested on my knee without ever taking a shot. Feeling my dad’s hand on my shoulder, I dropped my head. I had wanted to impress him so badly. When I finally looked up, I expected to see disappointment in his eyes. Instead, I saw understanding and pride. I didn’t really understand what he had to be proud about, I couldn’t take the shot, but I knew that look so well I was sure of what I saw.

  “I’m sorry, Dad. I just couldn’t shoot it while it was looking at me like that,” I said.

  “It’s all right, Uriah. Your mom will probably have dinner ready soon, anyway. We should head back,” Dad said.

  Mom wasn’t expecting us back for a few more hours. The hunting trip was over, though. Spending the day with my dad had been great, but I had mixed feelings about what had just happened. “Would you have shot it?” I asked my dad.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, son.”

  “Should I have shot it?”

  “No. I don’t think you should have.” He said it with such certainty, as if he thought there was a reason behind what had just happened. I was just relieved he thought I had made the right decision.

   

   

   

  23: Without Warning

   

   

  I remembered the tea. The sweet aroma wasn’t my mom’s usual flavor, but I was so excited about Uriah getting my dad to let us get married that I hadn’t thought about the change before touching the china cup to my lips. The warm fluid filled my mouth and the strange sensation raced through me before I could react.

  I couldn’t understand what was happening at first. I saw my hand drop the cup, but I didn’t remember letting go. I tried to pick it back up, knowing my mom would be upset if I broke her heirloom china, but my body wouldn’t respond. Uriah’s face crowded close to mine. I tried to speak to him. He looked so worried. When my eyes began to close, panic set in. Uriah’s face faded and I screamed, but no one could hear me.

  I felt my body being lifted from the couch, but my other senses had been dulled too much to understand what was happening. Muffled voices swam in my ears and I strained to make out the meaning in them. The vibration of a car motor startled me. Where was I being taken? Thoughts of Romeo and Juliet flooded into my mind. Panicking, I wondered if people could still be mistaken for dead. Surely not, I told myself. There was too much technology available for that to happen. San Juan Pueblo was hardly a technology savvy town, though.

  Uriah’s hands on my skin calmed me immediately. I had felt Uriah’s soft touch so many times, I knew it right away. If I was in Uriah’s care, I knew I would be safe. There was no one in this world I trusted more than him.

  The car rolled to a stop, banishing the gentle vibration. Uriah released my hand, bringing the panic back. It lasted only a few seconds before he gathered my limp body in his arms once more. Holding me close to his chest, I felt his heartbeat. Quick, but steady. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he ran. The soothing calm I usually felt when I was in his arms had disappeared. He was scared. Normally so calm and levelheaded, I was shocked to realize Uriah was frightened for me. Realizing he was afraid as well made it even more difficult for me to stay calm.

  Abruptly, the atmosphere changed. Warm air wrapped around me. I recognized the same feeling from earlier that day. Remembering Uriah’s mother sitting close to the fire on the couch, I knew where I was. It felt good to be in Uriah’s home. I often felt more at home with his family than I did with mine. I could feel the commotion that erupted at our presence. I was moved several times and I felt Uriah leave me more than once, but he always returned. He would always come back for me.

  The minutes passed slowly. My frustration mounted as I tried to listen to the voices, desperate to know what was happening to me. Muffled sound was the only thing I could hear. I begged my eyes to open, my fingers to move, but nothing. I was trapped in my body while the people who loved me planned my rescue. I was praying fervently that there would be a rescue.

  Uriah’s gentle hands caressed my face. His fingers stroked my jawline, from my ear down to my chin, just as they had done so many times before. The way his fingers trembled as he touched my skin tore at me. I didn’t want him to let go. Every time I felt him leave, my composure slipped a little more. Uriah’s hand hesitated, my heart raced. I begged him silently not to leave me. I felt his lips touch mine and my own mouth strained to react, to move with his, but I couldn’t.

  Uriah pulled away quickly. Moaning in agony, I tried to reach for him. I strained against my strange prison uselessly. His presence left me and I cried, though no tears actually fell down my cheeks. I didn’t understand why he was leaving me. Sophia should have already been at his house. Where else would he be going? I tried to picture his face, to stave off the heartache I always felt when we were apart, but another face came without warning.

  The light blue eyes were nothing like Uriah’s. Uriah’s eyes were a deep rich brown, so expressive that I always knew exactly what he was feeling. The stylishly cut, dirty blonde hair of the intruding face was such a stark contrast to Uriah’s black locks. Uriah had desperately needed a haircut for several months, but with the extra load of working his family’s ranch by himself, I didn’t press the issue. The look was even starting to grow on me. I wanted so badly to run my hands through his hair, right now.

  I wanted to see Uriah’s face again, not this other, so achingly familiar face. Uriah’s face was serious, but kind. Always concerned for those around him, I constantly had to remind Uriah to take a few minutes to relax and worry about what he needed, like sleep and rest. That had been even truer ever since his father died. I wasn’t even sure how he kept going with everything he had on his plate.

  The familiar face that filled my mind was young, filled with laughter a
nd jokes. I used to love seeing his carefree smile, but now it only threatened to break me. It didn’t belong in my mind. There was only one face I wanted to see. Banishing the image of this boy, my thoughts turned back to Uriah. Thinking of my love for him was the only thing keeping me from full-fledged panic.

  Desperate to keep my thoughts centered on Uriah, I thought of all the wonderful afternoons we had spent together. Thinking of us watching movies together or riding through the desert weren’t enough to keep the strangers face from slipping back into my mind. The smiling blue eyes were so insistent, they were starting to scare me. I needed something deeper. I needed the feel of Uriah’s lips against mine. His touch was the only thing that could keep me safe.

   

   

   

  24: Shifting Darkness

   

   

  Rolling onto my back, I winced as a sharp pain ran down my spine. I had dreamed of my dad, again. Dreaming of him always left me wishing I hadn’t woken up so quickly. Even after strange ones like that. Shoving my face into my pillow to clear my head, I couldn’t figure out why my bed smelled like dirt and hickory. The hot sun on my body brought it all back in an instant. Claire. I bolted upright, greeted by a few more cracks and aches. The sound of cars travelling down the highway reached my ears while Cole snored lazily a few feet away. We needed to leave. We couldn’t be wasting time while Claire was dying.

  Jumping to my feet, I stopped when the mountain lion walked back into our camp. I stood petrified, but just as quickly as the terror struck, it faded. The great cat loped over to me, nuzzling my hand, and licking my fingertips. The calmness that invaded my senses was a mystery to me, but I couldn’t deny the kinship I felt with the animal. Almost like what I had felt toward the deer on my first hunt. Maybe this thing with the mountain lion wasn’t as unfamiliar as I thought it was.

  I had always been able to calm any animal, but I just thought it was my soft touch and calm voice that made them so easy to work with. In the field with my dad, I thought about touching the deer and it walked over to me. When I thought about not wanting it to stare at me anymore, it left. When I was with my sheep and horses, I thought about them behaving.

  My dad had accepted the incident with the deer as if nothing strange had happened. Why would he be comfortable thinking that an animal I was hunting would have no fear of me? He had also spent years watching unruly animals no one else could handle turn tame around me as well. I didn’t understand how he was able to handle it so casually. Did this have something to do with what he had been trying to tell me in his letter? Had I always been communicating with these animals, and the mountain lion was just the first one to ever talk back?

  As if to prove me right, another vivid picture began forming in my mind.

  The road stretched before Cole and me as we continued our journey. Sharp eyes watched us from the desert, wolves, coyotes, and other native animals. The line continued unbroken as we rode toward Tucson. A strange gratitude filled me. I didn’t understand the desire these creatures had to watch over me, but I definitely appreciated it. Without warning, the picture widened, going deeper into the desert hills.

  Stalking us was another figure. Somehow, it kept pace with us as we travelled, its form shifting continuously as it ran. The mountain lion had hinted at some danger the night before, but I’d gotten the sense that even he didn’t know what it was. The warning seemed more definite than before. Answering my thoughts, the little alcove where we sat came back into my view with the shifting darkness hovering in the distance, watching as I slept. A shiver ran through me at the thought of something that felt so evil watching me all night. What did it want?

  Another question formed in my mind as I wondered exactly what kind of creature it was. The mountain lion was able to hear my thoughts again, and suddenly the picture closed in on the blurred figure. Still my question lingered. The creature swirled, human in some ways, but animal in many others. It looked as if the creature itself couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.

  The mountain lion’s invading thoughts gave me the impression that he didn’t understand the nature of the stalking creature yet, but an overwhelming sense of fear seeped into me. The creature would not be a friend as the mountain lion was. I nodded with understanding, though the great cat had already sensed my comprehension and withdrawn the vision. The mountain lion licked my fingers and rubbed his tawny head against my legs before loping away.

  I glanced behind me, and was relieved to find Cole still wrapped in his dreams. He would feel better if the cat wasn’t around when he woke. Another warning in hand, I kicked Cole gently. We needed to get back on the road. There was no time to sleep in. Cole snapped up instantly, scanning the ground around him.

  “The mountain lion’s gone,” I said.

  Cole’s slender shoulders relaxed. “Thank goodness. That thing freaked me out. I still can’t believe it didn’t eat us.”

  I didn’t feel the need to mention the fact that other desert animals would be keeping tabs on us during our journey. “Just hurry up and get ready to go.”

  “I’m starving,” Cole mumbled. “Do you have anything to eat?”

  “You brought a gun, no two guns, but you didn’t think to bring any food?” Why had I thought Cole would be better prepared than I was? Cole had never wanted for anything. Why would he expect it to be any different now? Reaching into my pack I pulled out a couple of granola bars and tossed them to him. I took out several more for myself.

  “My dad mentioned the guns, not food. I had no idea what was going on at the time.”

  “Your dad told you to bring the guns?” I asked. Why on earth would he suggest that?

  Cole shrugged. “That’s what he said. Besides, it’s not like we’re riding through the Sahara, Uriah. There are these things called convenience stores. And with this,” he said holding his wallet out, “why would I need to bring food with me? It’s only another four hours to Tucson.”

  I eyed Cole’s wallet. My own sat comfortably in my back pocket, but while I imagined Cole’s held plenty of cash and most likely a credit card or two, mine held a grand total of forty-seven dollars. He was better prepared for this than I was. I didn’t exactly get paid for working on my own ranch. Even when the sheep were sheared and the alfalfa harvested, most of the money went back to my mom to keep things running smoothly, which was a task in itself.

  Worries about how I would support Claire tried to force their way into my mind. It was nothing new, unfortunately. Growing up with her father bringing home motorcycles on a whim and never having to go without, she used to spend more on clothes in one weekend than I did in a whole year. Her spending habits had changed drastically since we started dating. She’d replaced designer outfits with regular blue jeans and t-shirts because they made more sense for working on a ranch. Still, I knew my world was going to be a shock to her. None of that was important right now. I had to save Claire’s life first. Gathering my small collection of belongings, I stuffed them back into my pack.

  “Well, let’s hit the road, I guess,” Cole said, his comic swagger carrying him to the waiting motorcycles. He paused next to my bike and smirked. “You might want to get that fixed before my dad sees it.” Cole pointed to a thick band of scratches across the side of the bike. It must have happened the night before when the bike fell on top of me.

  “That was your fault,” I reminded him. The vengeful urge I had felt earlier toward Thomas’s truck returned. It wouldn’t be hard for something unfortunate to happen to the motorcycle. I wouldn’t deny that he deserved it, and much worse, but it would be a shame to see such a sweet machine destroyed. He did deserve it, though.

  Smirking to myself, I doubted I would be able to carry through with the idea anyway, but I would certainly enjoy the thought for a while. Visions of the bike flying off the bluffs and exploding into a ball of fire, with Thomas wailing at the loss, brought a smile to my face. “Besides,” I said causally to Cole, “who says he’ll b
e getting it back at all.”

  Already on his bike, Cole watched me curiously. Disbelief marked his face, but the hint of a smile was there as well. Pissing Thomas off was something he and Claire had both spent a lot of time doing. Turning away from him, I settled into the thick seat and let the engine roar loudly. Cole tapped the side of his helmet, reminding me to turn on the headset. I really didn’t want to listen to his chatter for the next four hours, but it was a necessary annoyance. Flipping on the microphone, I kicked the stand out and peeled away. The rutted dirt road led straight back to the highway. The smoothness of the blacktop was a relief to my sore body.  I had only driven a few feet on the asphalt before Cole’s voice crackled over the speaker.

  “Uriah,” he said, “so, what exactly happened last night?”

  Anger streaked through my veins. “I already told you what happened,” I said. My jaw settled into a tight scowl. I had been extremely grateful for Cole’s silence the night before, but I knew there was a limit to his patience. Discussing what had happened was still hard to take, but I had the feeling Cole wouldn’t be put off much longer.

  “No, I mean, why did he do it? Why would my dad hurt Claire?” His voice was soft. Sometimes I forgot Cole was actually related to Claire. He was worried about her too.

  “Claire and I went to the Elders yesterday, for permission to get married next summer.”

  “Yeah, I knew you guys were supposed to go. With your mom getting attacked, I didn’t think you guys actually went, though,” Cole said.

  “We did go. They told us no.”

  “What?”

  “Quaile said we weren’t Twin Souls. She said that one day we would meet our true Twin Souls and abandon each other.” I still couldn’t believe her words, but it was mainly my anger keeping the truth at bay. I knew that eventually my rage would begin to fade and I would have no choice but to face a reality I once thought to be fairytale.

  “Yeah right,” Cole scoffed. “You two are disgusting. I doubt that anything could break up your love fest.”

  A crooked smile sprang to my lips. I couldn’t agree with the disgusting part, but everything else was absolutely true. It had to be. “Well, anyway, your dad threatened to call the police if Claire and I tried to run off to get married in Santa Fe. Like that was really a possibility anyway. Claire’s still only seventeen.”

  “I can imagine Claire had a few words for Dad after a threat like that,” Cole said, knowing his sister all too well. He had been on the receiving end of her intensity more times than either of us could remember.

  “She was ready to tear him apart,” I said. “As soon as we got back to your house, it got pretty heated.”

  “I bet,” was Cole’s only response. “But what happened? With everything else you’ve been able to talk my dad into, I really would have thought you’d be able to win him over again.”

  “I did,” I said, “but your dad was prepared. Maybe after we left the Elders he knew he would give in eventually. When we went to talk to my mom after seeing the Elders, apparently your dad had an appointment of his own.” The witch’s name brought bile to my throat. I couldn’t even bring myself to say it. I still couldn’t believe Thomas had stooped so low.

  “Where did he go?” Cole’s rough voice made it clear that he had a pretty good idea about what the answer would be.

  “Shaxoa Zarafen.”

  Cole’s breath hissed through his teeth. His hands tightened on the handle bars of his bike. Cole was one of the few people in the pueblo who could stand being around Thomas for more than a few minutes, and that was probably only because he knew he was expected to take over his father’s businesses one day.

  “What did it do?” Cole asked, finally able to speak again.

  “The witch told your dad that the tea would make Claire forget about me and make her only want her Twin Soul, which it did, in a way. What she didn’t tell him it would do was put Claire in some kind of coma that only her Twin Soul can wake her from by giving her the antidote,” I explained. It felt way too real saying the words out loud.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Cole said.

  He was such an idiot. I took a deep breath as I clenched my fists around the bike handles, trying to keep myself from reaching out and strangling him. “Cole, if her Twin Soul doesn’t give her the antidote in time, she’ll die,” I said, wanting to punch his pretty face.

  “What?” His head swung toward me, the quick motion tilting his bike to the side for a split second. Cole snapped his attention back to the road, but his mind was not on the asphalt. “That’s who were looking for, isn’t it?”

  Finally, he’s starting to catch on. “Yeah.”

  I couldn’t believe this was who I had ended up with. The mountain lion was a more welcome companion than Cole. I was even debating trading him for the shifting shadow. Maybe I could just give him to the shadow thing and get rid of both of them. I wasn’t usually so sadistic, but it seemed to be the only way to keep even darker thoughts at bay right now.

  “Do you think it’s really like the stories?” Cole asked. “Do you think she’ll actually fall in love with him as soon as she sees him?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m trying not to think about, Cole.” Yesterday, I would have told anyone what a load of bull Twin Souls, potions, and myths were. Now, I was beginning to wonder how many of the other stories were true as well. Thinking of all the questions I had that couldn’t be answered by the stories, I wondered how much of the truth was hidden completely. The shadowy creature following us didn’t belong to any story I had ever heard.

  “We’ve grown up hearing the stories, Uriah, both of us. I know some of them by heart, but I never actually believed any of them,” Cole said. He was quiet for a few seconds before continuing his thought. “I’ve never heard a story about Twin Souls where they didn’t end up falling in love and basically living happily ever after.”

  “Yeah, but lots of stories people tell to kids get happy endings regardless of what really happened,” I argued. “Hercules wasn’t really the perfect hero from the movie. He was driven mad and killed all his kids at one point before he straightened himself out. Do you remember the movie The Little Mermaid?”

  “You actually watched that?” Cole asked. “Are you a five year old girl?”

  “Oh, shut up. That movie came out before I was even born and I watched it with my cousin Rachel,” I said, “but that’s not the point. At the end of the movie, the mermaid gets away from that octopus lady and marries the prince. In the original story she has to kill the prince to stay human, but she can’t, so she goes back to the sea and dies.”

  “So what does that have to do with anything?” Cole asked. “Either way, it’s just a fairytale. Neither version is real.”

  “I know they’re just fairy tales, but that’s what I thought about Twin Souls before yesterday. I’m just saying that maybe all the stories of Twin Souls aren’t really true to what actually happened. Maybe they didn’t all end with them falling in love. Maybe there’s still a chance that Claire won’t fall in love with her Twin Soul,” I said.

  “I don’t know, Uriah. You might be right, but you might not,” Cole said. “You may want to think about that.”

  “I don’t want to think about it, Cole.” I couldn’t think about it. If I thought about actually losing Claire, I might not think about anything else. Facing the possibility that I could lose Claire forever froze me.

  “I know you don’t,” Cole said. After that he was quiet. Most likely he still had more questions, I certainly did, but what I had already told him would take some time to comprehend. I was glad for the break in the conversation. I pushed all my thoughts away and looked out at the desert.

  The four lane highway wound through sand, the scenery changing little except for the piñon and juniper trees that slowly gave way to the solitary saguaro cactus. I watched the sandy wilderness for signs of the animals my mountain lion friend had promised would be watching ov
er us. The landscape was so flat and open, spying a few animals should have been easy. I only caught brief glimpses of movement, though. Once I thought I saw a large, dark shape out of the corner of my eye, racing from cactus to cactus. When I shifted, hoping for a better look, it was gone.

  A tingling sense of being watched persisted even after I gave up trying to see the culprit. A few small birds and skittish rabbits were the only signs of life I saw after that.  The four hours drug on slowly, and mostly in silence. Cole knew what his father was like, but like me, he must have been shocked at what his father had done to his own child. I left him to his thoughts, grateful for the chance to think in peace.

    As the rolling Santa Catalina Mountains began to rise in the distance, sweat that had nothing to do with the heat broke out all over my body. Tucson. This was where my Claire would have been stolen away from me one day. Now I came to this place willingly, seeking the man that would destroy my future. For the millionth time, I wondered whether I could really go through with this. Every time I faltered, remembering Claire’s body collapsing onto the couch renewed my determination. Any amount of pain would be worth saving her life.

   

   

   

  25: A Place to Start

   

   

  The low profile of the Tucson skyline grew quickly. The traffic picked up considerably as we neared the city. Moving up beside Cole, I watched the other drivers anxiously. The swerving and honking was a new experience for me, one I did not particularly enjoy. Cars of every make and model swarmed around me, some passing within a few feet of my bike. My hands gripped the handle bars more tightly with each passing vehicle. For all Cole’s supposed knowledge of the world outside San Juan Pueblo, his face was tight and his knuckles were pale.

  I spotted a tall sign belonging to a Conoco gas station, and said, “Let’s get off the road.” Squeezing between two sedans, we barely made it into the turning lane before it ended. The large metal awning provided a welcome break from the sun’s searing rays. Cole rolled up to a gas pump and swung stiffly off the bike. Sidling up next to him, I took my helmet off and waited for him to finish.

  “So, what’s the plan exactly, Uriah?” Cole asked.

  I had been dreading that question. So far the only plan I had come up with involved using the strand of hair Quaile had given me, and that was one thing I never wanted to touch again. But even with that plan, I still had to find Claire’s Twin Soul first, and I had no idea how to do that yet.

  “Uriah? Are we going to wander around aimlessly, asking guys if they’re Claire’s Twin Soul, or what? Somehow I don’t think that will work out very well,” Cole said. Ripping the pump handle out of his gas tank, Cole shoved it at me with an irritated grimace. I tried to remind myself that he was scared for his sister just like I was.

  “All Quaile could tell me was that the guy’s name is Daniel, and at some point in her life Claire would meet him here in Tucson,” I said. His expression changed from irritation to confusion.

  “Daniel what?” he asked. I said nothing. “You mean you don’t even know his last name? How exactly are we supposed to find one guy named Daniel in a city this size? We don’t even know if he’s in Tucson right now.”

  “I know, Cole. Okay? I know it’s not much to go on, but we have to find him, somehow.” Silently, I cursed Quaile. She was the one who put this chain of events in motion, her and her visions. Now when I needed her most, the information dried up except for a few random details. The cougar had been more helpful.

  “Well they’ve got to be close to the same age, right? Maybe we can start there. There should be records we can look at, birth records and stuff like that,” Cole said to himself. He began pacing next to his bike.

  “Wait, why do they have to be the same age?” I asked. Cole stared at me, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

  “They’re supposed to be Twin Souls, right?” Cole said. I nodded. “Well, then, they would have been born within a few days of each other.”

  “How do you know that?” He spoke as if this was common knowledge, but if it was, why would anyone have thought Claire and I could have been Twin Souls. I was eight months older than her.

  “I get bored at my dad’s store a lot. He’s got a case full of really old books about the pueblo, and Tewa mythology. Sometimes I read them,” he said shuffling one foot back and forth.

  Finally, at least one thing seemed to be going in my favor. Fate had never been given a place in my thoughts before, but I could definitely believe it was no coincidence Cole ended up tagging along with me. “Well, what else did you read about Twin Souls?”

  Happy to know something I didn’t, Cole tried to keep the stupid grin off his face as he continued, sounding like he was reciting an old book report. “A soul is made up of two parts, the male half and the female half. In the spirit world the two halves reside together, completing each other, but human bodies can’t contain the true soul. Before birth, the two halves of the soul separate so they can gain a body. It doesn’t matter which half of the soul leaves first, the other can’t stand to stay behind for very long. Their human forms are born very close together, sometimes within minutes of each other.

  “Twin Souls long for their other half, but very few find each other again. Twin Souls only need to come within a few feet of each other to recognize their missing half. Once the connection is made, it’s impossible to break it,” Cole said. Watching my reaction to his last statement carefully, he continued. “We may save her, but she’ll never love you again, Uriah.”

  “I know that’s a possibility,” I said, “but I’m not giving up hope, yet.”

  “You may have to give her up. Can you do that?”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to save Claire’s life, regardless of what might happen afterward,” I said. The look on Cole’s face was grateful, as if he had been wondering whether I would abandon his sister just to avoid giving her to another man. I would have hoped he held a higher opinion of me than that. Although, I had to admit that I’d had the same thoughts about myself several times.

  I believed Quaile and Cole, but I had no intention of letting the connection form. I still had no idea about how to accomplish this, but I was determined to find a way. “What were you saying about records before?”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, we should be able to go to the city or state offices and look up the birth records for the hospitals around here. If we can find a guy named Daniel who was born close to when Claire was, it will give us a good place to start at least,” Cole said.

  “If he’s only seventeen and he was born here, there’s a good chance he might still live here,” I said hopefully.

  “I hope so, Uriah, but I doubt Tucson is much like San Juan. People live in San Juan their whole lives. Before the casino, it was a big deal to have a new family move in. Tucson has hundreds of thousands of families that probably move in and out all the time,” Cole said. “He may not have even been born here. Maybe he was just here on vacation when they met.”

  I frowned at Cole’s pessimism. “We both know it’s a long shot, but right now it’s all we have. If we can’t find anything in the birth records, we’ll just have to come up with another idea. We’ll deal with that when the time comes, okay? Just focus on the birth records for now.”

  Cole nodded in agreement.

  I noticed that the gas had stopped pumping a while ago and handed the pump handle back to Cole. I hadn’t realized that he had already paid for the fuel until he tore the receipt from beneath the pump monitor. “Uh, thanks,” I said gesturing at the pump.

  “No problem,” Cole said with a smirk. “My dad pays the bill on this card. It’s the least he can do. And I mean the least.”

  I couldn’t disagree with that. “So where do we find these records?”

  “I don’t know. There’s a phone book over there. It should list the government offices.” Cole rolled his bike toward the convenience store. Following quickly, I felt t
he faint stirrings of hope in my heart.

  Cole picked up the worn and graffiti-covered phone book, flipping through it until he found the blue pages of the government listings. Scanning the pages, he read the office names aloud. Neither of us was sure which office would be in charge of birth certificates, but we ruled out all the city offices and moved onto the county. The list was considerably longer but most of the offices were still in Tucson.

  “Vital Records Office,” Cole said hopefully.

  Vital records. Vital signs. It sounded better than anything else we had seen. “Where is it?” I asked.

  “3950 S. Country Club Road Ste. 100,” Cole said, “here in Tucson.”

  “Do you have any idea where Country Club road is,” I asked. Cole shook head. This was his first trip to Tucson as well.

  “I’ll go ask the cashier,” he said. “You should call home. You’ll have to use the pay phone, though. I, uh, accidently ran over my cell phone last week and I haven’t gotten my new one yet. If my mom asks about me, do me a favor and tell her you begged me to come with you.”

  “Yeah right,” I said with a smirk. I was not about to lie to Sarah. Cole would have to take care of his own messes. Digging some change out of my jeans pocket, I deposited them in the machine. The call was answered on the first ring.

  “Uriah?” my mother asked hopefully.

  “Yeah, Mom, it’s me. How’s Claire?”

  “The same,” she replied. “She hasn’t moved or woken up. Sophia says she’s all right for now, but the longer she has to wait, the more intense the Shaxoa’s potion will become. She’ll start fading more quickly as time goes by.”

  Fading more quickly? Was she fading now? I wanted every detail, but I feared I already knew the answer. Knowing there was no time to waste was hard enough to accept. Hearing the exact details of what the potion was doing to her would only make me want to be by her side even more.

  “Sophia and Quaile are doing everything they can think of for her,” my mom said. Her voice was tired and emotional. She wanted nothing more than to make sure I was happy. I knew she was terrified that I would lose Claire and most likely myself in the process. I was determined that wouldn’t happen.

  “We’re in Tucson now, me and Cole,” I said. “We’re heading to the Vital Records office to see if we can find out if he was born here, and where he lives now.” We both knew who he was, so there was no reason for me to speak the name.

  “Good luck, Uriah. I’m sure you’ll find something there and be home soon,” she said. Her voice echoed my own mixed emotions. The pity was almost unbearable. How much more could she handle. The death of my father almost broke her. The mountain lion attack, and now Claire, was just more than one person should be asked to bear. In all reality, I had handled every tragedy with much less dignity than my mom. I knew that while my mom would weather whatever trials she faced, I was starting to lose my grip. Without Claire, I might not be able to hold on.

  “How are you doing, Mom?” I asked. Everything with Claire had nearly pushed my concern for her out of my mind.

  “Oh, I’m fine. Don’t you worry about me. Sophia is taking good care of me. You just focus on getting back here as quick as you can.” The sniff that followed her fierce words let slip how much she was hurting.

  “I will. I’ll call you when we learn something new,” I said. She whispered a quick “I love you” before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. I stood for several seconds with the dead phone to my ear. If I moved, my emotions would break loose, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to get them under control again. Slowly, I hung the phone back on the receiver. Focusing on the task ahead, I grasped for control. By the time Cole emerged from the store I was back to my precarious balance.

   

   

   

  26: Compulsion

   

   

  “Can I help you?” Her sarcastic southern drawl was the perfect complement to her unenthusiastic expression. She couldn’t even be bothered to look me in the eye. Her gaze wandered from her fingernails to the small television mounted in the corner of the room. Cole rolled his eyes.

  “Yes, thank you,” I said politely.

  Her gaze leveled in my direction. She must have mistaken my tone for mockery, and scowled her disapproval. She was hardly qualified to be the manners police.

  “Yeah, so what do you want?” she asked.

  “I need to find a birth certificate for someone. Do you know how I can get that information?”

  The girl’s scowl deepened briefly before mellowing out into semi-polite expression. Her manicured nails flicked a sheet of bright yellow paper off the top of a stack and set it on the counter. “Fill this out, and I’ll need to see two forms of I.D. proving that you’re related to the person you’re requesting the birth certificate for, as well as ten dollars. It will take about a month, or more,” she said, “before the request is processed. Then we’ll mail it to your address.”

  The rambling set of instructions had tumbled out so quickly that I was still stuck on the I.D.’s she had mentioned. “Wait, we have to prove we’re related to the person? Why?”

  The receptionist’s look took on a haughty overtone. “The state of Arizona respects the privacy of its citizens. We are a closed records state,” she said.

  “There’s no way we can just look through the records?” Cole asked. “Don’t you guys have everything backed up on a computer somewhere? It would probably take a couple seconds to find what we need.”

  “Yeah, that’s funny kid,” the girl said a little more seriously than before. “I’d get fired for even letting you near the records room. And I really need this job. I can’t help you.”

  As if to emphasize her point, she shrugged an apology and spun her chair away from us. Cole looked at me and motioned to the girl, his eyes indicating I should do something. That he automatically assumed I had been able to convince his dad to let Claire and I get married gave a good idea of what he wanted me to do. I pulled Cole away from the counter before what he was suggesting had a chance to slip out.

  “No way,” I whispered. Letting go of his arm, I continued down the hallway. Cole stood for a moment, wanting to turn back, but not quite brash enough to actually do it. His harried footsteps followed me.

  “Why can’t you just convince her to let us see the records?” he asked.

  I knew I could, and I wanted to. I couldn’t bring myself to walk back over there. “Because she’ll get fired. I don’t want to do that to her unless I absolutely have to. We’ll have to try to find a different way first.”

  “What if we can’t get in? How else are we supposed to find out who this Daniel guy is?” Cole said. Despair was thick in his voice. “I mean, the hospitals would keep records of all the births, but we’d have to search each one individually. That will take weeks, if they’d even let us look through their records. Those are probably protected too.”

  I realized he was merely talking to himself, working through ideas. We didn’t have the time to search all of Tucson’s hospitals, and Cole was probably right about those records being protected as well. “We’re running out of time,” I said. “Claire won’t live long enough for us to search through that many records.”

  The plain brown sign with white lettering stuck out from the drab, grey wall just a few doors down. Birth Certificates. I wondered how many people worked in the building. The hallway was lined with cramped little offices, the doors shut tightly. The door under the sign was the only one standing ajar. For all the talk of privacy I would have expected the door to be locked. Cole was staring at the door as well. His eyes flitted up and down the hall.

  “Do you suppose anyone is in there?” Cole asked.

  “I don’t know, maybe.” The hallway was empty, but all it would take was one person wandering by to catch us. I was well aware that if we were caught, the police would be called immediately. I couldn’t afford to be arrested right now. My stomach suddenly gro
wled, giving me an idea. “It’s almost lunch time,” I said, “and I doubt anyone here will be working through lunch.”

  Cole scoffed. “Certainly not Miss High and Mighty at the front desk.”

  “I bet no one will notice us hanging around, and once things quiet down for lunch, we can sneak in. Hopefully the records are organized by date. We should be able to get in and out before anyone notices.”

  Cole nodded eagerly.

  “There’s no need to go breaking the law, boys,” a soothing voice whispered behind us.

  Cole gasped, turning to face the voice with wide eyes and a question on his face.

  A strange compulsion to trust the voice flooded my senses. The feeling felt vaguely familiar. It almost felt like the sensations from the mountain lion, but vastly different as well. The mountain lion had been sharing information, while this felt very one sided. Despite the enticing quality of his voice, I knew immediately that this man was not a friend. Wary of his intentions, I turned to face him.

  “Excuse me?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

  “Sorry,” the man said, his angelic appearance drawing me to him. “I couldn’t help but overhear you.”

  I was sure there had been no one near us a few seconds earlier. I couldn’t help but glance around. The man mimicked my movement. “I don’t think anyone else heard.”

  “What do you want?” I asked. I glanced at Cole, hoping he was ready to run if the need arose. I was startled to see such an adoring expression plastered across his face. He couldn’t take his eyes off the stranger. Cole looked ready and willing to fulfill any request the man might make. My searing glare went completely unnoticed.

  “I want to help you,” the man said. Cole nodded appreciatively. I had to restrain myself from knocking some sense into him.

  “My name is Darren Johnson,” the man continued. He extended his hand in friendship, or at least he meant it to be in friendship. I could feel the threat underlying his smile. I stared at his hand. His nails were perfectly manicured, his skin flawless. Cole jumped to shake his hand vigorously while I folded my arms across my chest.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I know how this office works. I work here,” he said with a laugh. “It takes forever to get even the simplest thing done, and it sounds like you two don’t have forever.”

  “My sister’s in trouble,” Cole blurted out. “We need to find the guy that can help her.”

  Now I did punch him, but only in the arm. “Shut it, Cole.”

  I stalked closer to Darren Johnson. There was something wrong with this man. He was too perfect. Every hair on his head lay in perfect order. Not a single freckle, mole, or wrinkle graced his skin. Even the simple work attire he wore seemed way too good for this office. “Why would you want to help us?”

  “I can assure you, I won’t tell anyone,” he promised. “I heard you say that the young lady didn’t have very much time.”

  Cole nodded, obviously pleased with the man’s offer. I shoved my idiot companion behind me and stood blocking his view of the stranger. I wondered how he could not feel the evil pulse emanating from Darren Johnson, who no more worked for the office of Vital Records than I did. Still, I thought, if he could get us the information we needed, it might be worth whatever trouble he was brewing for us.

  “No, we don’t have much time,” I said simply. I would offer no more than that, and if Cole opened his mouth again I would gag him with my fist. “We just need to find a birth certificate for someone, so we can figure out where to find him.”

  Darren Johnson put his hand on my shoulder casually. His touch burned my skin. Shocked, I pulled away. A streak of irritation flashed across Darren Johnson’s face at my reaction to him. Just as quickly, the pleasant smile returned as if nothing unusual had happened. His pull felt similar, but different from the mountain lion’s, just as the burning touch I felt with him felt similar to touching Claire, but also very different as well. When I touched Claire, it almost felt like she was borrowing a part of me, but I knew I would always get it back. Touching this man felt destructive, like wildfire searing every sprig of green from the land. If he held on too long I feared I would smolder into ash and leave Claire to die alone.

  “Just follow me,” the man said. His voice seemed a little tighter than it had before, but I couldn’t tell if that was just my perception or not. Cole, of course, was still staring at the man like a lovesick puppy. He wouldn’t have noticed if I had suddenly burst into flames and ran screaming through the halls. Panic rose in my throat. What was this man doing to Cole? I had no idea whether I could do anything to help him, either.

  Darren Johnson put his arm around Cole’s shoulder. The touch seemed to thrill Cole. I didn’t understand why he was having such a different effect on Cole than he was on me. I wished I had the mountain lion by my side again. The mountain lion. He had tried to warn me, showing me the confusing shadow tailing us to Tucson. If this was the same being, we were in serious trouble.

  I suddenly realized Cole and Darren Johnson had already started toward the records room. A few quick steps brought me to Cole’s side. A lanky woman with wavy red hair sauntered down the hall, her steaming lunch, hot from the microwave, balanced in her hands. She waved at her coworker with the same adoring smile Cole still wore.

  “Good morning, Darren,” she breathed.

  “Good morning,” he said with a dignified nod. The woman sighed and continued on her way. Stunned by the exchange, I stared at the man out of the corner of my eye. There was no way he was actually an employee of Pima County. The redhead had greeted him as if she had known and loved him all her life.

  “In we go,” Darren Johnson said as if we were casually walking into a café for lunch. His smile sent tiny pinpricks along my arms. He pushed the plain brown door open just far enough for us to slip through.

  I was surprised to see the bland, beige room was empty. The stiff commercial carpet ran the length of the room as well as about six inches up the wall. There were plain gray file cabinets galore that looked original to the building, but not a single person. No wonder it took a month to get a birth certificate. Nobody even worked in this room. Cole was ready to jump out of his skin with excitement. I stared at the cabinets, wondering if I was walking into a trap.

  “So,” Darren Johnson said, “where would you like to start? The records are organized by year. I assume you have a specific name in mind as well.”

  Cole opened his mouth, eager to offer the last bits of information he held. Pushing him away, I spoke up quickly. “We’d rather keep that information to ourselves, if you don’t mind.”

  Darren Johnson’s mouth pulled into a thin line, briefly. “Of course, deniability and all that. I’ll just keep an eye on the door, then.”

  “Thanks,” I said. My eyes did not leave him until he was firmly planted next to the door, his back to the files. “Start over there, Cole,” I ordered.

  Cole suddenly seemed very confused. Glancing at our sentry, Cole grabbed my arm. “Who is that guy?”

  My jaw unhinged. “What do you mean? You've been fawning over him since he walked up to us.”

  An incredulous looked settled on Cole’s face. “Fawning? What are you talking about?”

  I pulled Cole close to me, my voice lowering to a whisper. “You don’t remember him walking up to us, saying that he wanted to help us?” Cole shook his head. I clenched my jaw to suppress my frustration. “Just stay away from him. And don’t let him touch you.”

  Cole opened his mouth with a million questions I had no answers for. Shaking my head, I nodded toward the strange man and held a finger to my lips. Grinding his teeth, Cole nodded and headed off in the direction I had pointed a few seconds earlier.

  Darren had been right about the files being organized by year. I paid Cole as much attention as I could spare, hoping Darren Johnson hadn’t noticed his charm had worn off his new buddy. If he was paying attention to Cole, maybe he wouldn’t notice what I was doing. Se
arching the cabinet’s labels, I quickly found the right year. That year alone was repeated over three large filing cabinets. I groaned inwardly and tugged open the first squeaking drawer.

  I found several Daniels, but none with the right birth date. I pulled open a second drawer. Realizing the files only covered the month of February, I closed the drawer and skimmed through the records until October births started to appear two cabinets over. Claire’s birthday was October eighteenth. If Cole was right, there should be a Daniel born within days of the eighteenth.

  The quiet squeal of the door pulled my eyes away from the files. I watched Darren Johnson. His eyes had wandered to Cole, pulling him away from the door a little. At least I knew now that Cole was only affected by the man’s charm if he was close to him. That was the main reason I had sent Cole to the other side of the room. He had already given away too much information to the stranger. Cole would know nothing of what I found until we were well away from Darren Johnson. If we could get away.

  Diving back into the files, I searched for Daniel. I was beginning to worry that he wouldn’t be in the records. It was possible he had simply been visiting Tucson on vacation when Quaile saw him meeting Claire, just as Cole had said. I had no idea how to find him if searching the records didn’t work. If Quaile had only been able to give me a last name, my search would have been much easier. With a last name I probably could have simply found him by Googling his name on the internet. Pushing away thoughts of what I didn’t have, I focused on the files.

  Alonzo Sandoval, born October eighteenth. Conrad White, born October eighteenth. Daniel Harding, born October eighteenth, two forty-five a.m., at St. Joseph’s Hospital to Henry and Adelaide Harding.

   

   

   

  27: Enemy

   

   

  The original form stating their request for a copy of Daniel’s birth certificate was included in the file. Relief flooded through me. My lips split into an idiotic smile before I remembered I was most definitely being watched. Smoothing my expression, I read the details of the file.

  The address listed on the form was 2745 Meredith Blvd. I knew where he lived, now. Or at least I knew where they lived almost eighteen years ago. I suspected the address was probably no longer valid, but it was still more than I’d had before. Finally, I thought, we’re getting closer. I quickly committed the address to memory, not wanting to risk writing it down where someone else could find it. If they had moved, perhaps Cole could apply his honed social networking skills and find out where this Daniel kid was now.

  Conscious of Darren Johnson’s presence, I left the file alone, pushing the other files closer to it and pretending to continue my search for another few minutes. Feigning frustration, I pushed the drawer closed and moved on to the next row of cabinets. Darren Johnson was now looking over Cole’s shoulder. The dreamy look had returned to Cole’s face. Who was this guy?

  Shoving another drawer closed, I listened carefully. Cole still had information I didn’t want the stranger to have. He seemed to have too much power over people to be anything entirely human. I couldn’t tell for sure if he was the shadowy figure from the mountain lion’s vision, but I knew he was definitely connected in some way to the misshapen creature. He had shown up because of what was happening to Claire. I was sure of that.

  Silently pulling another drawer open, I contemplated what it would take to get away from the man. Cole would not want to leave, but if I could drag him far enough away from the fake Darren Johnson, he would run for his life. The problem would be getting him away from Darren. The man wasn’t going to simply walk away from us without getting the information he wanted. And I was sure he very much wanted to know what I had found.

  Somehow I knew his strength was not equal to his physical appearance, but much greater. We wouldn’t be able to overpower him. I could barely stand his touch earlier. Cole certainly hadn’t felt the searing heat as I did, but if Cole was close enough to hit Darren he would most likely not be able to bring himself to harm the man.

  We needed to get outside of the building. If escape became a struggle, I didn’t want the police getting involved. No doubt they would believe anything Darren told them. Although I didn’t understand why I was immune to Darren’s charm, I was pretty sure any other human would react as Cole and the lady in the hall had. The mountain lion’s vision crept back into my mind. The animals knew what this man was. They feared him, but they would fight against him. Getting them here was the problem.

  The memory of my first hunting trip with my dad gave me a hint, and a plan began to form in my mind. Getting outside was imperative. Evening my expression, I closed the filing cabinet drawer and walked over to Cole and his shadow. “I thought you were watching the door,” I said to Darren Johnson.

  Darren turned his smile on me with no effect. “I have very good hearing,” he explained. “Everyone is busy enjoying their lunches, right now. Did you find what you were looking for, Uriah?”

  Great. He knew my name. I knew Cole couldn’t help himself from telling the man anything he wanted to know, but I was still going to let him have it if we were able to get away. Panic gripped my heart as an image of Claire lying on my mother’s floor, unmoving, flickered in my mind. No, not if, when. Calming myself as best I could, I answered Darren’s question honestly. “Yes, I did.”

  Cole’s face glowed with excitement. “You found him? Where is he, Uriah?”

  I glanced around the room, then down the hallway. I knew no one was around, but the searching wasn’t for me. Cole followed my gaze eagerly, as did Darren Johnson, although his search was less enthusiastic than Cole’s had been. He knew we were alone.

  “I don’t want to talk about it here,” I said. Motioning to the door, I pulled it open quickly. “Let’s get outside before someone catches us.” Darren raised a finger, wanting to comment, but I slipped through the door before he could form the words. Cole hurried after me.

  Seemingly unconcerned with his actions, Darren calmly walked into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him. His glare was tight and focused, focused on me. I’d guessed that he wouldn’t want to leave the room before gaining his prize, but since I remained unaffected by his magnetism, he was forced to follow me. I kept Cole close to me as we walked through the deserted lobby. Relieved that the dutiful receptionist was on her lunch break as well, I picked up speed and headed straight for the exit.

  Without really knowing what I was doing, I formed a plea in my mind. Showing the same image of the rapidly changing shadow the mountain lion had presented, I sent out thoughts of danger and pleaded for help. I hoped something would hear me and come like the deer had. I had no idea whether there were even any animals in a city this big, but thin straws were all I had to grasp at in that moment. Almost running, I steered Cole toward the motorcycles. We were more than halfway there when Darren Johnson’s patience ran out.

  Somehow he appeared in front of me, his hand on my chest. The burning sensation ripped through my clothes, threatening to consume me. I called Claire to my mind right away, how excited she had been to speak with the elders, the night I asked her to marry me, our first kiss. Her heart and soul gave me the edge of strength I needed to withstand the attack and push his arm away.

  “I think it’s about time you let me in on your little secret, Uriah,” Darren said with a sickly sweet smile. I squeezed Cole’s arm painfully. He kept quiet. “I helped you, Uriah. I think you owe me an explanation.”

  “I owe you nothing,” I said. My free hand slapped his hand away before he could touch me again. The skin to skin contact intensified the searing heat. I stumbled. Claire’s pleading eyes swept through my mind, begging me to fight back. I straightened, pulling Cole behind me.

  “What did you find? Where is Daniel?” he demanded.

  Cole whimpered behind me. I realized I had twisted his arm painfully when I heard Daniel’s name mentioned. Telling myself it wasn’t Cole’s fault, I forced my arm to
relax its grip. The pain and fear were slowly overriding Cole’s fascination with Darren.

  “Yes,” Darren hissed, “I know all about Daniel…and Claire.”

  I steeled myself, holding my love for Claire as my only lifeline. I could not fail her.

  “Poor Claire,” he crooned. “Wasting away, waiting for you to save her.”

  Darren circled around me toward Cole. I didn’t need to pull Cole away this time. The strange man was definitely losing his hold.

  “You won’t be able to save her, Uriah. I won’t let you.”

  “You have no power over me,” I said. Turning slightly, I started backing toward the motorcycles. Darren followed. I pleaded again with whatever might hear my thoughts.

  “I have never met a man I could not command before. I’m greatly disappointed to have met you so soon, but I am pleased to know that my touch causes you so much discomfort,” Darren said, leaping toward me. His hands grabbed me more quickly than I could have imagined and pressed against my head and neck, holding me in agony.

  Claire. Her graceful steps approached me, a brilliant smile on her lips. “Claire,” I whispered. The pain of his touch had me on my knees. I was aware of Cole pummeling him uselessly, but it meant nothing. It was agony just to catch each gasping breath of air.

  A deep snarling echoed in my head. My mind was too strangled to figure out where it was coming from. A sudden blow knocked me from my feet. I rolled over, aware enough to remember that one second’s hesitation could cost me my life, mine and Claire’s.

  Lifting my head, I realized Darren lay sprawled on the asphalt a few feet away from me. I searched for Cole, wondering how he had managed such a fierce blow. My eyes flew wide. Cole huddled against a red car staring at the gray wolf next to him. The wolf flashed his teeth at me, a flood of images following quickly. He showed me that more wolves were on their way. The images showed them attacking Darren, or whoever he was. The last image showed Cole and me speeding away on our motorcycles.

  Shaking my head, I attempted to send my thoughts back to the wolf, telling him that I could stay and help. A sudden image of Claire, lying on a bed, her face pale and sallow, rocked me. How could he know about Claire? Was the wolf truly able to read my thoughts without my knowledge? There was no time to ask. The images replayed in my mind, the wolf begging us to leave. Vengeance would have to wait. Claire was too important. Nodding, I stood, motioning for Cole to follow me.

  A furious growl erupted from the wolf’s muzzle. It launched itself in my direction, past me and toward Darren. I lunged to the side, falling against a parked car. Darren Johnson was on his feet again, his face twisted in fury. His body shimmered and heaved.

  I scrambled back, reaching for Cole. One terrible convulsion ran through the man’s body before it collapsed in on itself. I gasped, only to watch the mass rearrange itself in a terrible display. A wolf, twice the size of the gray, grew out of the raw material. Its fangs dripped with hunger.

  The image of Cole and I riding away slapped back into my mind. I was more than willing to take the suggestion by now. Cole sprang to his feet beside me. “Run,” I said hoarsely. Our feet pounded against the pavement as more snarling voices joined the fray behind us.

  Images flashed through my mind, pushing us to leave, assuring me they would hold off the beast. Unfortunately, the images only showed him wounded, not dead. I wondered if anything could actually destroy such a demon. The motorcycles roared to life. The screech of the wheels was nothing compared to the battle we were leaving behind. Anger pulled at me as one of the voices faded from my mind.

  “What just happened back there, Uriah? That guy, he just…what was he?” Cole’s shaky voice asked.

  “I don’t know. Let’s just get as far from here away as we can,” I said. Explanations would have to wait, though there was precious little I would actually be able to explain as it was.

  “Well, where are we going? Can you tell me that at least,” Cole asked, his raw voice crackling through the headset. The irritation and fear in his voice was understandable.

  “Daniel’s file said they lived on Meredith Blvd. Do you know where that is?”

  Cole shook his head.

  “Just head back to the interstate for now. I don’t want to hang around here,” I said. Cole echoed my sentiment and sped up. The images began to fade as we drove. I paid close attention to the factor of distance. We were just over five miles away before the images started to recede. I logged that away in my memory, knowing I would probably have to call for help again.

   

   

   

  28: Confession

   

   

  My hands were still shaking when we pulled into a gas station, miles from where we had left the wolves. Cole was nearly doubled over in misery by the time we stopped. “Uriah, I’m so sorry. Even after you warned me to stay away from that guy, I still told him everything he wanted to know. I couldn’t help myself,” he said gripping my arm.

  My earlier anger at him had washed away in the face of the creature’s attack. I was surprised he even remembered talking to Darren the second time. His power must wane the longer he was around a person. “It’s okay,” I said trying to comfort him. “I know you wouldn’t have said anything if you could have stopped yourself.”

  “What did that guy do to me? And what the hell happened back there, Uriah?” Cole asked, his shame finally overrun by the absolute insanity of what we had just witnessed.

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “That Darren guy did not work at the Vital Records office. He wasn’t even human. And don’t feel too bad about talking to him. He seemed to have the same effect on other people as well.”

  “Not on you apparently,” Cole said miserably. 

  “Yeah,” I said, “he was surprised by that too. It certainly wasn’t anything I did. This woman walked by him in the hallway and said hi to him. You should have seen the look on her face. She would have done anything he asked her to do. It was really creepy. The weirdest thing was that she addressed him by his name, Darren, like she actually knew him, but there’s no way she actually knew who he was, right?”

  “I’m with you, that guy was not human,” Cole said, “but if the woman knew him, what does that mean?”

  She had recognized the man as Darren, but unless Pima County had some very questionable hiring practices, that was not the real Darren Johnson. Considering how the creature could manage to pass himself off as an actual employee, and remembering what had happened after leaving the office, there were very few explanations. I had a sinking feeling I had just figured out what it meant.

  “I think somebody named Darren Johnson does work at the Vital Records office, but that thing we met was not him. I think he just looked like Darren Johnson.”

  “You mean that thing changed himself into that guy?” Cole asked.

  “I think so.”

  “That’s sick, really sick. What do you think happened to the real Darren Johnson? Do you think that thing killed him?” Cole asked.

  Along with zombie movies, Cole loved sci-fi thriller movies, especially ones like Body Snatchers. I had to admit I was wondering the same thing. “I don’t know. I hope not,” I said. “There’s nothing we can do about it if he did, though.” 

  “That thing changed himself into that giant wolf like it was nothing. The regular wolves didn’t even seem to think it was strange,” Cole babbled. The memory of the wolves sent a shudder through him. He was undoubtedly wondering how he had survived being in their presence. “Where did those other wolves come from anyway?”

  I looked away from Cole’s wondering eyes. I had not wanted to mention the cougar’s visions before, but only because I didn’t want to frighten him. Now, it didn’t feel right not telling him. Surely the man who was not Darren Johnson had already figured out that the wolves were my doing. Cole had already told him everything else, apparently.

  “Uriah?”

  “I called them
,” I said.

  Cole’s face scrunched up and shook slowly.

  “Last night when that mountain lion walked into our camp, it was able to talk to me.”

  Cole stepped back.

  “Well, not really talk, like we do,” I said quickly. “He put pictures in my mind. First he just showed me a picture of us sleeping while he stood watch. Then this morning, before you woke up, he showed me more pictures. Animals like the mountain lion and the wolves were keeping watch over us while we drove to Tucson.”

  Cole looked around worriedly. “Are they here now?”

  “I don’t know, maybe.” I waited for Cole to face me again. “He also showed me this strange creature that had been tracking us. I think it’s been following us since we left San Juan. I think that might be who we just met.”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Cole said, running his fingers through his short black hair. “First Quaile turns you and Claire away because she claims she’s had a vision, then my dad poisons his own daughter, sending us off after some mystery guy, you’re talking to animals, and now some crazy, morphing psycho creature is after us.” Cole sighed, banging his fist on the seat of his bike. “When did we stop living in the real world, Uriah?”

  I shrugged, shoving my hands into my pockets. I had been asking myself the same question since visiting Quaile. “I’ve been wracking my memory for what this thing could be. I’ve heard stories of the Trickster, Coyote, or Iktome, but I can’t think of a single legend that would explain what we just saw.”

  “I doubt that was the Trickster,” Cole said. His hand came up to his forehead. He shook his head back and forth. “I can’t believe I’m talking about this like it’s real.” Taking a deep, steadying breath, Cole seemed unable to continue.

  “Why not the Trickster?” I asked.

  “The Trickster mainly caused problems or scandals, humiliated people, or disrupted a tribe. Coyote is actually just the Trickster under a different name. Iktome was a lying, greedy thief who was usually trying to seduce women,” Cole said. “Coyote and Iktome were usually trying to trick each other in the stories I’ve heard or read. Neither one ever hunted down humans to kill them. At least not that I’m aware of.”

  “That’s what I thought. I always kind of liked the stories of Coyote and Iktome, but now I wish I’d never heard any of them,” I said wearily. “I think that thing has been following us because of what’s happened to Claire. It must be trying to stop us from finding Daniel, but I have no idea why. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard about Twin Souls, but never even once have I heard anyone mention some shape shifting demon trying to kill or capture Twin Souls before they meet. Have you? Maybe in one of the books you’ve read at the store?”

  Cole shook his head. “No, never. I have no idea what that thing was.”

  Claire and I should have been planning our wedding, not her on the brink of death and me searching for some kid in Arizona, fighting inhuman monsters along the way. I closed my eyes, breathing in her memory. Her face and eyes were the only things that had kept me from dissolving under the creature’s fire. I couldn’t lose her. I refused to give her up.

   “When that thing grabbed your head, I thought we were done for,” Cole said. “What was he doing to you?”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t even know. He couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t following him around like a love-sick puppy like everyone else. His mind games didn’t work on me, but every time he touched me it felt like fire burning my skin,” I said. “I almost blacked out from the pain, but there isn’t a mark on me.” Cole searched my face, either for scars he had missed earlier, or a hint that I was going crazy.

  “Do you think he’s coming back?” Cole shuffled his foot, kicking the bike’s tire.

  “Yeah, he’ll be back,” I said. Cole’s head snapped up, searching the area. I reached up and gripped his shoulders. When he calmed down, I continued. “I think the wolves bought us some time, though. The things they showed me seemed to say that they would be able to hurt him pretty bad, but not kill it. I don’t know if anything can kill it.”

  “Well let’s not sit around waiting for him, then. I’ll go ask the clerk where Meredith Blvd. is,” Cole said. Sprinting to the convenience store, Cole glanced around himself warily. I had an urge to do the same thing. Despite what I’d told Cole, I had no idea how long it would be before the creature was back on our trail.

  Testing my new ability, I created a picture of the creature in my mind, wounded and hiding. Sending the image out as a question, I waited for any response. Several images from restless birds crowded into my mind, all laced with terror. The answering pictures made it clear that none of the animals knew where the creature was. I got the distinct impression that they hoped they would never find out, either.

  I tried to form another question in my mind, but the birds had already retreated, afraid to speak any more of the strange beast. Cole pushed the convenience store’s door open with a wary sweep of the parking lot. Hurrying back to his bike, he climbed on in a rush. “We’re headed the right way,” he said. “It’s just off Ina Road. The exit is about five miles from here.”

  Happy to drive further north, I mounted my bike and started the engine. Cole led the way, but I stayed close behind. I was starting to get used to driving in the busy city traffic. We merged onto the interstate with ease and continued our trek north.

  My headset remained quiet as we drove. I knew Cole was burning with questions, but I think he realized I didn’t understand what was happening any more than he did. Despite his more annoying qualities, Cole was smart. It was probably in both of our best interests to let him puzzle out the answers for himself. He was bound to do better than I was.

  Claire wouldn’t have appreciated that sentiment, always telling me to stop selling myself short, but aside from my brief search to figure out why I couldn’t touch Claire, I had avoided most Tewa mythology other than the stories my mom had told me before bedtime as a child. I really was at a loss this time.

  The heroic stories always rang just a little too deeply with me, which was why I shied away from them. I saw myself in many of those past warriors, and I wanted nothing to do with the lives they led. Holding the fate of an entire tribe on my shoulders wasn’t something I sought after. Shearing sheep, plating alfalfa, spending my life with Claire, those were the things I wanted most. Maybe part of me recognized the subtle signs that there was something unique about me, and that was what made me keep my distance from my heritage.

  Besides my lacking knowledge, thoughts of Claire kept me from considering anything too deeply. My chest tightened every time I thought of her lying helpless and alone. The scene in her parent’s house played over and over in my mind. I had seen the look on Thomas’s face when Sarah asked for the tea. I hated myself for not reacting in time. I knew how much he despised the idea of his daughter marrying me. When Claire needed me to protect her most, I failed. Would she even want me back? I had to believe she would forgive me. Although, her forgiveness might mean nothing if I couldn’t find a way to keep the bond from forming.

   

   

   

  29: Relief

   

   

  The fast pace of the city traffic brought us to our destination faster than I expected. The single story ranch house waited placidly for our arrival. The red terra cotta roof tiles seemed to ripple in the heat. Pale pink stucco wrapped the house, broken only by the faux antique, wood-framed windows and doors. The spiked fronds of yucca plants guarded the low windows just as much as the wrought iron bars secured to the window frames.

  Parked a few houses away, we watched the home. Friday afternoon should have been a busy time, but in this neighborhood the day wound by quietly. “We need to find out if they still live there,” I said.

  I think we were both prepared for the let down and inevitable dead end as we watched the house, but we still climbed off the bikes and walked casually toward our target.
I glanced up and down the street before stopping next to the mailbox belonging to the pink stucco house. Cole took up a position that attempted to block the view of my hand reaching into the mailbox.

  Slipping the letters out, I quickly scanned the names. Junk mailers addressed to “current resident”. A random flyer not addressed to anyone. A credit card bill for Henry Harding. A magazine addressed to Adelaide Harding. Scanning the rest of the letters to be sure they were all the same, I tossed the mail back into the box and stepped a few feet away. Cole stepped in beside me.

  “Dead end?” he asked. His shoulders slumped in anticipation of my response.

  “They still live here.” The unbelief in my voice matched the expression on Cole’s face.

  “You’re sure?”

  I couldn’t begrudge him the question. I wanted to go back and check the mail again myself. “That was their mail, Henry and Adelaide Harding.”

  We both sighed as the news really hit us. The relief was almost as draining as the disappointment would have been. I was ready for the disappointment. Still, I wasn’t sure what to do next. Was Daniel home? Were his parents home? There was only one way to find out. Walking up to the front door, I rang the doorbell.

  Cole and I waited for several minutes before pushing the bell again. Still no one answered. “I guess they’re out.”

  “We’ll just have to wait, then,” Cole said, turning to walk back to the bikes.

  When would Daniel get home? It was Friday. What if they had gone out of town for the weekend or over to a friend’s house to spend the night? A sudden thought floored me. “He’s only seventeen.”

  “Yeah, and…” Cole prompted.

  “How are we going to convince him to come with us?” I asked. “His parents will never agree to let their son go on an out of state road trip with two complete strangers.”

  “I bet you can change their mind, if you have to,” Cole said.

  Thinking of my recent almost, and flat out failures in that area, I wasn’t so sure anymore. “It may not be that easy, Cole. I think Claire’s wrong about what I can do. You didn’t listen to me when I told you to go home.”

  “Well, yeah, but this is about saving Claire’s life. I had to go,” Cole said. “I wasn’t going to let you stop me.”

  “Exactly. Your dad almost held out about not letting Claire marry me. I don’t think I can change anyone’s mind if their decision is strong enough.”

  Cole frowned. “But my dad’s decisions are always pretty strong. He was dead set against Claire even dating you. Most of his reasons for the stuff he does are totally bogus, but you’ve gotten him to agree to plenty of things.”

  There was more to it, then. Something in what Cole had just said made me think. “Then, maybe it has more to do with the reason behind it. You love Claire and wanted to come because you’re really worried about her,” I said. “Most of the stuff your dad does is just because he’s being a selfish jerk. Maybe that’s why I can change his mind so easy. Either way, I’m sure Daniel's parents love him and won’t let him go. I don’t think I’ll be able to change their minds.”

  Thinking it over, Cole’s confidence in me seemed to fade. I had told him straight out twice to go home and he had stood his ground. I didn’t know how he could argue with me too much. He knew I was right. Daniel’s parents would never let him come with us.

  My teeth ground together as I raised my head to stare at the sky. I should have known my luck was just not that good. Standing around waiting for Daniel to show up would mean nothing if we couldn’t get him back to San Juan with us. Plus, we had no way of knowing how much damage the wolves had done to the creature, or how long it would take him to heal and continue his chase. There was no time for all of this.

  “Well, if he won’t come willingly, what choice do we have?” Cole said reluctantly, bringing me back to the conversation.

  Let Claire die, or commit our third felony for the day. Stealing private information. Violating someone’s mailbox. Kidnapping. The first two might be overlooked, but the third one would definitely involve the police. I would do it, if it was my only choice. Cole nodded to himself. I was willing to bet he was having the exact same conversation with himself, and had come to the same conclusion.

  I slipped my hands into my pockets and felt the strand of hair Quaile had given me. Kidnapping wasn’t my last resort. The hair would certainly make Daniel come with us, with no questions or hesitation, but I couldn’t bring myself to use it. Hope was the only thing I had left. If I knew for certain that Claire would never look at me with her milk chocolate eyes and feel the love I felt for her, I didn’t know how I would find the strength to follow through with my task.

  My last link to her, I would not use the strand of Claire’s hair. I promised myself that fervently, but a tiny corner of my mind knew I could never let Claire die. If there was no other way, I would use it.

  “We’re going to attract attention sitting here all afternoon,” Cole said.

  I glanced around, searching for somewhere out of the way where we could hide. Further down the street a small park waited for children who didn’t seem to live in the neighborhood anymore. Considering our age, we would have been more noticeable there than waiting on the motorcycles. Most likely someone would call the police, thinking the worst of our presence.

  I scanned the buildings, spotting several possibilities. “That house down the street, the two story one, has a for sale sign out. Do you think it’s vacant?” I asked.

  “If it is, the neighbors will notice two guys poking around,” Cole said thoughtfully.

  “What about the house with the newspapers in the driveway. They must be on vacation.” Cole looked toward the vacationer’s house. Four rolled up newspapers were scattered in the driveway. The outdoor light had been left on. A small diamond shaped sign advertised that the house was protected by a security system. That ruled out breaking in, I thought happily. I was hoping to keep our criminal activity to a minimum.

  “If we pick up the newspapers and pull the bikes around the back, we’ll probably be fine,” Cole said. “If anyone sees us, maybe they’ll just think that the owners are back.”

  Climbing back onto the motorcycle, Cole scanned the street again. A late model BMW cruised our way. I knelt beside the bike, pretending to check the tires. The car continued through the neighborhood without stopping.

  “Let’s go,” Cole said.

  Within seconds we were dragging the motorcycles behind the home’s wooden fence. Leaving the gate open just far enough to see the Harding’s house, Cole and I settled against the wood planks. It was a little after one o’clock. If it had been during the school year, Daniel would have been at school. Summer break was winding down, but not over yet, so we had no way of knowing where he might be.

  Being seventeen, Daniel was old enough to drive. He could be anywhere in the city. With only one car between me and my mom, I spent a lot of time walking. The fact that Daniel probably had a car would most likely take him directly into the garage. If that was the case, we would be left knocking on his door again.

  I was unsure whether that would be the best or worst approach. Over six feet tall with a full build, I was not the most approachable guy in the world. Claire loved my height and strength. She always told me that when I put my arms around her, she felt safe from the world. Somehow I didn’t think Daniel Harding would feel quite the same. Cole was more average in his height and build. Perhaps he should be the one to approach Daniel.

  “How do you want to handle this?” Cole asked. I wondered if Cole was usually so sensitive to others’ thoughts, or if we were just very likeminded. He seemed to have a knack for answering questions I hadn’t actually spoken. Or maybe Claire was right and I showed what I was thinking in every expression.

  “I think you should approach him,” I said.

  “Why me?” Cole asked. “You’re not even sure yet that you won’t be able to just tell him to come with us.” 


  If I couldn’t convince him right away, I would probably just intimidate him. Plus, the idea of actually meeting this guy made me want to vomit. “Still,” I said, “I think he’ll respond better to you.”

  “What, then you’ll pop out of the bushes and introduce yourself? Yeah, that’s a much better idea, Uriah.” Cole glanced up and down the road again. “We should approach him together, but that’s not really what I meant anyway. What are you planning to tell him?”

  That was the real question. I had been hoping Cole’s unusual silence had meant he had a plan, other than kidnapping, that was. “I don’t suppose the truth is going to work very well.”

  “Probably not. I don’t even believe it. Well, I do, but you know what I mean,” Cole said.

  Of course I knew what he meant. Souls split before birth, shadow men, and talking to animals. Everyone believed in those kinds of things, right? It was my own tribe’s heritage, but very few of us actually thought it was more than fairytale.

   “Can you think of any medical reason his parents would let him come with us?” I asked. I had already considered telling his parents that he was matched to Claire for his blood or bone marrow type, but the chance that Daniel, a minor, had actually been typed for either of those things were slim.  Cole shook his head. Kidnapping was looking like the best solution. I asked, “Any other ideas?”

  “Hmmm,” Cole said cocking one eyebrow. “What can we say to a hormonal seventeen year old boy to make him want to travel across the state with us, most likely against his parents’ wishes? Maybe that there’s a beautiful girl waiting for him?”

  My eyes narrowed. “That’s the best you can come up with, Cole. Really?” He threw his hands up in defense.

  “All I’m saying is that it will probably work better than trying to convince his parents he became a bone marrow donor without telling them. I’m sure you have a picture of Claire in your wallet. If you don’t, I do,” Cole said.

  It seemed a little weird to me that he carried around a picture of his sister in his wallet, but I kept my mouth shut.

  Again, Cole seemed to read my expression. “It’s a family picture from last year,” he said. “I don’t have to tell you that Claire’s beautiful. Look what you’re willing to do to save her. I can imagine that he’d be more than willing to come with us, even if just for the chance to meet her in person.”

  My hands moved toward Cole, balled in tight fists. Cole might be fine dressing his sister up and trotting her around like a prized horse, but I would never do that to her. I didn’t want this Daniel kid looking at a picture of Claire and wondering what it would be like to kiss her, either. My stomach soured even thinking about it. Kidnapping was definitely looking like the best option.

   Despite Cole’s cavalier words, there was desperation in his eyes. Looking down at my hands, I forced them to relax. Claire was Cole’s sister. It was hard to remember I wasn’t the only one terrified of losing her. Cole and I may love Claire in very different ways, but I had no right to say that mine was better or deeper than his. I still wanted to smack him, though.

  “Uriah, I’m not trying to be a ghoul or disrespect Claire. I’m only trying to save her, and I think playing on this kid’s hormones is our best bet.” Cole leaned forward. I thought he was going to say something, but his gaze slid past me to the street. A silver sedan pulled up to the Harding home, swinging into the driveway with ease. A tall blonde woman dressed in a dark blue pant suit and black high heels was heading straight for the front door. Her heels clicked along the pavement as she dug through her purse for the house keys.

  “Time’s up,” Cole said.

   

   

   

  30: Breaking In

   

   

  I glanced at the woman carefully. Everything about her was sleek and professional. I couldn’t see her face very well to guess her age, but her clothing had me assuming that she wasn’t Daniel’s sister. “You think that’s his mom?” I asked Cole.

  “Probably,” he said. “She didn’t park in the garage, though.”

  “Lots of people don’t use their garages,” I said, glancing up and down the street. Actually, there wasn’t a parked car in sight. Either everyone in the neighborhood was at work, or people in this neighborhood really didn’t leave their cars parked in the driveway or on the street. It was too nice of a neighborhood for that, I supposed. “Maybe you’re right about the garage,” I said. “She must be planning to leave again. We should go talk to her.”

  “Are you serious?” Cole asked.

  “What if Daniel doesn’t come home tonight? What if he’s out of town? I don’t want to waste time sitting here waiting for him to show up if he’s not even coming back,” I said. “We’ll just ring the doorbell and ask if Daniel is home.”

  “But we know he isn’t.”

  “Yeah, but she’ll probably tell us when he’ll be home so we can come back later,” I said. Cole still looked doubtful. “We don’t have time to debate it, Cole. Let’s go.” I slipped through the open gate and started across the street.

  My mind was working furiously as I walked. Glancing back to make sure Cole was actually following me, I worked out what I would say to Daniel’s mother. Cole hurried up to my side muttering about going along with another stupid idea. I ignored him and stepped up to the Harding’s front door. I never asked him to come with me. My finger hit the doorbell and I stood listening to the melodic chime.

  The artificially weathered door cracked open and the blonde haired woman peeked out through the small opening. “Can I help you?” she asked.

  Relaxing my stance to one I had seen Cole use many times, I said, “Are you Daniel’s mom?”

  The woman smiled warmly, but didn’t open the door any further. “Yes, I’m Mrs. Harding. Are you friends of Daniel’s?”

  “Yeah, we met him a few weeks ago,” I lied. “We were over at a friend’s house down the street and just thought we’d stop by and say hey.”

  Daniel’s mother opened the door a little further. “I’m sorry, boys,” she said, “but Daniel isn’t here right now. He’s been out of town for a few weeks and won’t be back until next weekend. If you give me your names I’ll be happy to let him know you stopped by.”

  “That would be great, Mrs. Harding,” I said quickly, not wanting to give away my lie by refusing her offer. “Just tell him Uriah and Cole came by to see him.”

  “Uriah and Cole,” she repeated, “I’ll tell him. You boys have a good afternoon.”

  “Thank you,” I said. She closed the door with a smile, and Cole and I walked back down the driveway. I nudged Cole in the vague direction I had indicated. We were only half way down the block when I heard the soft purr of Mrs. Harding’s silver sedan filtering through the quiet afternoon.

  Glancing back, I saw her reverse into the street and drive back the way she had come. “She’s gone.” Cole stopped midstride and turned to look at the receding sedan. “I think we should go back,” I said. “We need to find out where Daniel is.”

  “You want to break into their house?”

  “I don’t think we have any other choice.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask her where he was? She might have at least told you that,” Cole said.

  “His mom was nice enough, but if I had tried pressuring her into telling us where Daniel was she would have gotten suspicious and might have called the police. Breaking in is the only option right now. I didn’t see a security system sign anywhere in their yard, so we might be able to find a way in without getting caught,” I said.

  “Do you even know how to break into a house?” Cole asked. “And I don’t mean throwing a rock through a window. I have the feeling this is the type of neighborhood where people will notice that kind of thing and call the cops.”

  “No, Cole, I don’t know how to break into a house. It’s not something I usually do in my spare time, but I’m sure we can find a way to get in if we try hard enough.
Now are you going to stand here arguing with me all afternoon or are you going to help me figure out where Daniel is?” My patience with Cole was edging toward its snapping point again. This was why I never hung out with him much back home. One minute we got along fine, and the next I wanted to sock him in the face.

  Cole shrugged his shoulders as if I was the one being unreasonable. “Let’s go, then,” he said. He stalked ahead of me. I resisted the urge to smack the back of his head and caught up to him.

  I glanced up and down the street again, checking for any nosy neighbors, before cutting across the hearty desert lawn. Launching myself over the low plaster and brick wall, I landed in a bed of gravel. Cole grunted as he struggled to get over the same wall. Landing with a heavy thud, Cole straightened himself, trying to pretend he had made it over as easily as I had. I rolled my eyes and walked around the corner of the house.

  The Harding’s backyard was as immaculate as the front yard had been. Light brown pebbles edged the entire area. Half the yard sported the same rough grass from the front yard, and the other half was paved with natural flagstone. The flagstone patio held a variety of potted plants, as well as an above ground fire pit and built in barbeque grill. The patio furniture looked brand new, perfectly arranged for the parties I had no doubt the Harding’s hosted regularly.

  Unlike the windows in the front of the house, the windows in the back didn’t have the wrought iron bars secured to the casings. That was a good sign. I knew it was too much to hope for, but I went to the sliding glass door and tugged on the handle. It didn’t budge. “Locked,” I said.

  “So’s the window,” Cole said, leaning against the glass. “Try the other one.”

  Only a few feet away, the high rectangular window was most likely sitting over a kitchen sink. It was one window my mom often forgot to lock. I hoped Mrs. Harding had the same problem. Pressing my hands against the glass I tried to use the pressure to slide the window open, but it refused to move as well. Applying the same technique, I tried the rest of the windows with the same results. “They’re all locked,” I said. “Any ideas?”

  Cole stepped out of the pebbles he had been standing in and approached the sliding glass door. “I don’t know if I can do this, but we don’t have a lot of other options. The door looks old enough that it should work,” Cole said to himself. He grabbed the edge of the outer panel with one hand and pressed the other hand against the glass. I watched as he shoved the door into the upper track and tried to lift it away from the bottom track. It slipped and pinched Cole’s finger.

  “Damn it,” Cole said as he snatched his finger away from the door and stuck it in his mouth. I took a step toward the door, ready to try his technique, but Cole waved me away. “Let me try again. I think I almost got it.” Taking the same position, Cole tried to yank the door out of its tracks. The corner of the lower edge almost made it free before Cole’s grip slipped.

  “You want me to try?” I asked. Cole nodded stiffly, his hands folding over his chest with a grunt. It took several tries before I finally caught the outer edge of the door on the top of the track. Cole breathed a sigh of relief at the grating of metal on metal. Looking around the patio, he pulled a decorative lawn ornament with a long metal spike out of the ground.

  “Try pulling it as far away from the glass as you can,” he instructed. Pulling gently, I tried not to break the door. Cole slipped the thin piece of metal through the small space, reaching for the latch. The spike slipped off the curved lock twice before Cole was able to gain the right leverage and flip the switch up, unlocking the door.

  Lowering the door back into the tracks, I pulled the door open easily. “How did you learn to do that?” I asked, turning back to Cole.

  “Like I said, I get bored at the store,” Cole replied. I wondered what else he had learned sitting around his dad’s store. Whatever it was, I hoped it would come in handy as well.

   

   

   

  31: The Next Step

   

   

  Staring into the house, Cole said, “I didn’t really think that would work. It probably wouldn’t have if this door had been replaced in the last decade.”

  “Feel free to leave them a note about having a new door installed,” I said. “I’m sure they’d love to get some security suggestions from the kids who broke into their house.”

   Cole ignored my mocking and kept staring at the glass door. It was a little disturbing how easy it was to get it open. I was suddenly glad my old house was built before sliding glass doors became commonplace.

  “If we ever find Daniel, you can make the suggestion yourself,” Cole said sarcastically. “Can we go inside now? I’d rather not stand out here where some busybody might see us.”

  Stepping into the empty house, I was impressed enough to forget that I should have been nervous for a moment. The house was probably around twenty years old, but it could have passed for newly built. The kitchen sported professional appliances and dark granite countertops that matched perfectly with the cabinetry. The living room looked as if it hadn’t seen a guest in years. I was amazed by how clean and crisp everything was. It looked like a home in a magazine rather than one people actually lived in.

  Cole wandered through the house, indifferent to the finery. He was more used to this type of living than I was. A sudden clicking noise from the refrigerator’s cooling system made him jump. He ran a hand through his hair trying to cover it up. I let him. I was really just glad that he didn’t notice me jump as well. For a moment, I had thought there was somebody else in the house. I hadn’t even considered that there might be. The fact that we were snooping through a stranger’s house finally hit me. My hands were twitching anxiously as I tried to decide what to do next.

  “The bedrooms are probably down the hall,” Cole said pointing away from the kitchen. I followed him back. Both of us peeked nervously in doors as we went deeper into the house, hoping we weren’t about to surprise someone. Luckily, they were all empty. After passing what looked like a study, then a guest bedroom, we found Daniel’s room. Feeling slightly more relaxed now that we knew house was empty for sure, we stepped in.

  Whoever kept the rest of the house in such tight order was obviously not allowed in Daniel’s room. Clothes were piled in the bottom of the closet and various other places around the room. The smell said they were not clean. CDs and DVDs were scattered over a desk meant for, but not likely used for, doing homework. The blankets from his bed were pulled halfway off, lying twisted at the end of the bed.

  “How are we supposed to find anything in here?” Cole complained.

  “Do you see a computer anywhere?” I asked. I wasn’t that interested in social networking or any of that, but I thought it was safe to assume Daniel was. Shoving a pile of clothing off a corner of the desk, I saw the angular, sliver lines of a laptop. Opening the lid gently, I pressed the power button and waited for it to boot up. Cole moved behind me to watch the screen as well. His position let him keep an eye out the window too.

  The chime of the operating system blared through the speakers. Pressing the volume button, I turned the speakers down almost completely before opening a web browser. “Click that icon,” Cole said.

  I clicked on the button and Daniel’s Facebook page filled the screen. His grinning photo filled my vision. I stared at his insipid smile as my stomach roiled with distaste. I finally knew what he looked like. It was a bittersweet victory. Peeling my eyes away from him, I scanned the rest of the page. Pictures of his friends and their exploits dotted the rest of the page. Every photo of Daniel had a different girl on his arm. I shook my head. This was supposed to be Claire’s Twin Soul?

  He was nothing like her. He looked like one of those TV show playboys who never grew up and ended up bouncing around rehab centers as an adult. Okay, maybe that was a little harsh, but just looking at the pictures made me mad enough to want to chuck the computer across the room. There was no way this was the guy who was g
oing to swoop in and steal Claire away from me. Absolutely no way. I stared at the pictures of Daniel and couldn’t help picturing him with Claire. It just seemed so wrong.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “There’s no way Claire would fall for that guy. Look at him. He’s a total ingrate.”

  He seemed so average, too. His blond hair and blue eyes, his build, his height, his trendy appearance, they were all completely unremarkable to me. Although Claire might disagree, I certainly didn’t think of myself as outstanding, in looks or otherwise, but I was what she wanted, not this boy. His arms couldn’t wrap around her and protect her like mine could. His kiss wouldn’t draw the contented sigh from her that mine did. Claire and I had shared too much for this kid to steal it all away.

  “Yeah, he really doesn’t seem like someone she’d go for,” Cole said. It was what I wanted to hear, but something about the way he said it pricked my ear. It seemed half-hearted, like he was only saying it make me feel better.

  “What?” I asked. “You think I’m wrong?”

  Cole shrugged and tried to pass off my question, but I waited. “It’s not that I think you’re wrong, exactly, but you’ve really only known Claire since you two have been dating. She’s changed a lot since you two hooked up.”

  “Not that much,” I said quietly. Sure, Claire cared less about her popularity than she once did, but I knew she was always more than people thought she was. With me she felt comfortable showing her true self. That was what I had always believed. She didn’t change for me, or because of me. At least, I didn’t think she had.

  Shaking away Cole’s words, I told myself that regardless of whether I was right or he was, Claire was nothing like Daniel, now. She would see through his charm and swagger. She had to. “She’s nothing like him,” I said. Cole didn’t respond.

  I had to focus and get out of the Harding’s house. Ignoring the multitude of obnoxious pictures, I forced myself to turn to his rambling postings. The last status update read, “I’m outta here. See you guys in three weeks!” I scanned through the previous posts, looking for a clue as to where he had gone. After a few pointless comments on what some of his friends were doing, and what girl he was chasing that week, he made an offhanded comment about a summer camp he was going to.

  “Summer camp?” I scoffed. “I didn’t realize seventeen year olds still went to summer camp. I thought most kids outgrew that by ten.”

  “You couldn’t pay me to go to summer camp,” Cole said, “even if I were a ten year old girl. Macramé and campfire songs aren’t really my thing.”

  I scrolled down the page looking for a name of the little kid summer camp Daniel was attending. My irritation and anger kept building the longer I sat there reading his babble. I knew I was probably being too tough on this complete stranger, but I didn’t really care. It was possible that he was going as a counselor, not a camper, but by the superficial attitude his status updates had shown, I doubted he would be interested in mentoring young children.

  “Wait, there it is,” Cole said, knocking my hand away from the mouse and scrolling back up the page. “Southwest Youth Expeditions.”

  Typing the name into a search engine, the company’s homepage loaded immediately. Pictures of teens rock climbing, white water rafting, hiking, and camping dotted the website. I read through the descriptions of what the camp had to offer. Some of my mocking and irritation faded, but only a small part of it. I had to admit it was impressive. There wasn’t a single mention of singing, or arts and crafts. “Well, I guess it doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would,” I said.

  “I would definitely go to that camp,” Cole agreed. “Does it say where it is?”

  I took the webpage all the way down to the bottom. Centered under the last paragraph was the camp’s location. “Roosevelt, Arizona,” I read. “At least he’s still in Arizona. I was afraid he’d be roasting marshmallows in Colorado or Montana. Do you have any idea where Roosevelt is?”

  Cole shook his head.

  Going to the maps section of the search page, I quickly typed in the address of the camp in Tucson as our starting point. After a quick second, the map was displayed with driving directions. “Three and a half hours away. North,” I groaned. Cole winced. I had been hoping for something that would be on our way back to San Juan, not further away. Shifting a few more piles of clothes, I looked for a printer, but couldn’t find one.

  Tugging a scrap of paper out from under a stack of DVDs, I found a pen in the top drawer of the desk and hastily scribbled down the directions. I folded the paper and stuffed it into my back pocket. I stood up and saw Cole replacing a push pen on the corkboard mounted above the desk. The board was plastered with snapshots and notes that had to have been from girls, judging by the heart shaped dots over the “I’s”.

  “What are you doing?” I asked Cole.

  Flipping a small photo toward me, Cole said, “It’s a picture of Daniel. I thought we might need a reminder of what he looks like if we’re going to have to track him down.”

  I nodded, glad that Cole had thought of it and even more glad to see it go into his pocket where I wouldn’t have to look at it. Getting to know Daniel by going through his things and looking at his webpage added a little more to my hope that Claire would not fall madly in love with him as soon as he woke her, despite what Cole had said. There was nothing about him Claire would find in the least bit appealing.

  Closing the laptop lid when the screen finally went blank, I stood up from the desk and said, “Let’s get out of here before someone comes back.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Cole agreed, already on his way out of the room. I was right behind him. We had been here too long already.

   

   

   

  32: Fading

   

   

  The drive north was rather uneventful until we reached Phoenix. The metropolis was astounding. Cole had been to Phoenix before, but I had never been anywhere bigger than Albuquerque. Despite Cole’s limited experience with driving in big cities, he was still just as nervous as I was to drive through the winding freeway system that ran through Phoenix. The traffic flow bounced between barely moving, and flying past exits, with no apparent reason for the inconsistency.

  I was relieved when we finally saw our exit and started heading away from the clamoring city. As we reached the outskirts of the Phoenix metropolis Cole’s voice broke the tension filled silence over the headsets. “We should stop and get something to eat. Who knows what we’ll find after we leave the city.”

  Thinking of food woke up my stomach and sent it growling. I wanted to keep driving and get to Daniel as fast as possible, but I was starving. Passing out from low blood sugar while driving a motorcycle wouldn’t lead to anything good. “Yeah, okay,” I said grudgingly. I started searching the roadside for somewhere we could stop. The big yellow star of a Carl’s Jr. Restaurant drew me in. I loved their ridiculously huge and messy burgers. San Juan didn’t have a Carl’s Jr. “Let’s stop in there,” I said pointing to the sign. Cole nodded eagerly.

  We pulled up to the restaurant, the heat rippling above the black asphalt. It frustrated me that we needed to stop when Claire was waiting for us, but I wasn’t used to the intensity of the Arizona heat. Two hours of riding unprotected under the glaring sun had sapped my strength. As Cole climbed off his bike, beads of sweat rolled out from under his helmet.

  “I really hope they have air conditioning,” Cole said. I had to agree with him. Tucking my helmet under my arm, I pulled the restaurant door open. My shoulders slumped in relief as a blast of cold air hit me. Cole was right behind me.

  “Thank goodness,” he said.

  We ordered our meals and sat waiting with the plastic triangle indicating our order number sitting on the end of the table. “How much longer?” Cole asked.

  After taking a long drink from my soda, I said, “About another hour and a half.”

  “I wish the sun would
go down,” Cole complained. “I can’t stand this heat. It’s so much worse than San Juan. We road by one of those signs that tell you the temperature a while ago. One hundred and two. I hope Roosevelt’s cooler.”

  “So do I.”

  A teenage girl approached our table carrying our order. She set the tray down with a smile and said, “Enjoy your meal, guys. Just let me know if you need anything else.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled before grabbing my burger and unwrapping it. The hot sandwich smelled delicious, but reminded me of the heat waiting for us outside. My growling stomach outweighed every other thought, though. I took a bite, looking up when I heard Cole laugh. “What’s so funny?”

  “That girl couldn’t stop staring at you,” he said.

  “What girl?” I asked.

  “The one who brought the food, you idiot. She keeps looking over here,” Cole said. I glanced behind me to the ordering counter. The girl caught my gaze and grinned. Cole, always friendly to a pretty girl, lifted his hand and waved in her direction. The cashier standing next to the girl elbowed her and they both erupted into giggles.

  “I think she was looking at you, man,” I said. I was not in the mood. Cole could waste time getting girls’ numbers some other time.

  “She wasn’t looking at me when she stood at the table drooling over you a few seconds ago. You didn’t even notice she was still standing there when you started eating your burger,” Cole said.

  “Cole, would you just eat your food? I want to get out of here sometime today. We’re not in Phoenix for the fun of it, remember?” I said, trying to guilt him into focusing.

  Cole took the wrapper off his sandwich and started eating, but the smile remained. “You really didn’t notice her?” he asked between bites.

  “Why would I?” I asked, stuffing a few French fries into my mouth.

  “Why? Because she was obviously really interested in you, and she’s pretty hot. She looked like she was trying really hard to think of a good reason to ask you for your number,” he said.

  I shrugged.

  “You really don’t care?”

  “Cole, I’m with Claire. I don’t care what anyone else thinks about me,” I said. I was almost finished with my meal, while Cole had barely taken three bites. I swore to myself that I would leave him behind if he didn’t pick up the pace.

  Cole just shook his head at me and dug into his burger.

  “Did you mean what you said back at Daniel’s house?” I asked. “About Claire being different than she used to be?”

  Setting his burger down, Cole looked over at me. “Look, Uriah, I didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t worry. We both know Claire loves you more than anything. She’s never been as happy as she’s been since you two started dating.”

  “But what did you mean? Can you honestly picture Claire with someone like Daniel?”

  His fingers tapped up and down on the table as he considered his answer. My teeth ground together as I waited. I needed to know. “If Claire had never starting dating you,” Cole started, “then, yes, Daniel would be exactly who I’d picture her ending up with.”

  “You can’t really…”

  Cole didn’t let me finish. “Uriah, I know you like to think that you knew Claire so well before you two got together, but you really didn’t. You watched her from a distance. You didn’t really know her. Sure, you knew that she was pretty, outgoing, and a nice person, but you didn’t really know what she was like.

  “Claire complained about the way the other kids used her friendship to get stuff, but she was fine with it because she enjoyed being the most popular girl in school. She lives in jeans and t-shirts now, because she likes hanging out on the ranch with you, but she and my mom used to go shopping every weekend for new clothes. She never wore the same thing twice. Claire spent more time trying on clothes every morning than I do in a month. And you have no idea how much time she spent on her hair and makeup.

  “And when it came to boys, Claire had a string of eager guys she led around by her pinky. Sure, she was only sixteen when you two started hanging out, but she could manipulate guys like a pro by the time she was ten. Guys would do whatever she wanted. She knew she was pretty and she took full advantage of that.”

  I huffed at Cole’s spiel. He had to be being overdramatic. I would have noticed Claire acting like that.

  Seeing that I didn’t believe him, Cole said, “Claire went an entire semester in sixth grade without doing her own homework once. She would smile and ask a guy to come over after school and help her with her homework, and they would do it for her. She only stopped because I told on her.”

  “Cole, there’s no way Claire was like that. She’s one of the most honest people I know. She’s the first to help when anyone needs it. I’ve never seen her manipulate someone like that,” I argued.

  “She doesn’t act like that anymore because of you, Uriah. My dad teased and manipulated Claire from the time she was a baby. I think she just thought that if my dad could do it to her, she could do it to other people too,” Cole said. “Hanging out with you changed her. She told me once that she felt different around you. You made her feel like she was special for who she really was, not for what she looked like or what she had. You made her see herself for the first time, and I guess she didn’t really like what she saw and decided to change.”

  The other girls at school, I never really paid that much attention to them through grade school, because I was always too focused on Claire, but as we got older I saw the way some of them used each other and did whatever they thought would benefit them the most. Thinking of Claire as one of them was too bizarre to comprehend. I had never seen that side of her. How could there be this whole other part of her I had no idea even existed? I really didn’t think I could have been that blind before.

  “Look,” Cole said, “I’m not saying that Claire was this horrible person before she met you, because she wasn’t. She’s always been a sweet girl, but she was definitely a lot more self-absorbed back then. If she had never gotten to know you, she would probably still be obsessed with clothes and hair and dating just like Daniel seems to be. But she did meet you. Whatever Claire used to be like, she isn’t that same person anymore. That’s what’s really important. Claire loves you, Uriah. Just focus on that right now. It’s all you can really do.”

  Claire did love me. I knew that. The rest of my life had been flipped on its head, but I at least still knew that for sure. She loved me, and I loved her. Nothing else mattered right now. I couldn’t let it matter. I had to stay focused. There were too many other things to worry about than whether or not Claire used to be as superficial as Daniel was.

  “You know, when I called my mom, she said Claire was all right, but…then she said something about how Claire will start fading even faster the longer she had to wait.” Those words had been bothering me all day. With everything else, they got pushed to the back of my mind, but having a quiet moment to think sent them right back to the front. “What do you think she meant by that?”

  Cole shrugged, but it wasn't with his usual careless attitude. It was slow and thoughtful. “I don’t know,” he said.

  “It sounds like she’s fading already, doesn’t it? I mean, she can’t start fading faster if she isn’t already showing signs of…something.” Cole’s chewing slowed as he thought. “She’s already dying, isn’t she?” I said.

  “No, man, I’m sure she’s fine,” Cole said. He was less than convincing. “Sophia’s there. She’ll take care of her.”

  “I don’t know, Cole. The way my mom said it, it didn’t sound good.” It sounded like she was hiding something from me.

  “Uriah,” Cole said, waiting for me to look at him before continuing, “whether something is already happening to Claire or not, you have to stay focused. The only thing we can do for Claire is what we’re already doing. We’re going to find Daniel. We’re going to save Claire. Just stay focused, okay?”

  I nodded and looked away. I
knew we were doing everything we could, but it still felt like it wasn’t enough. I finished off the last of my fries and waited for Cole to do the same. A few foot tapping minutes later, Cole finally crumpled his wrappers and tossed them back on the tray. “It’s about time,” I grumbled.

  Cole snorted and grabbed his helmet off the bench. We left the restaurant, but not before Cole felt the need to smile and wave at the two giggling girls one more time. I stalked back to my bike, trying not to let my frustration get the better of me. Cole was a good friend, and had already proven extremely helpful.  

  “So, you know where we’re going?” Cole asked.

  I took the poorly drawn map and driving directions out of my back pocket. The lack of details made it pretty easily to follow, and most likely completely useless, but the driving directions I had copied verbatim. “We’re already on highway eighty-seven, so we’ll just follow this until we reach FR twenty-six, which will take us to highway one eighty-eight. One eighty-eight goes right into Roosevelt.”

  Cole nodded and settled himself back on his motorcycle. I stared at the diractions in my hands. It all seemed so simple on paper. Drive to Roosevelt, get Daniel, take him back to Claire. Getting Daniel, I still had no idea about how to accomplish that, but not even the driving part was easy. I was waiting and watching for the creature to reappear. I had no illusions that we were rid of him.

  The help the mountain lion had promised was definitely there, keeping an eye out for me and reporting in every few miles. So far none of them had seen any sign of the beast. All I could do was hope our luck would hold out a little longer. I, at least, wanted to reach Daniel before facing the creature again. If I died trying to fight that thing, which seemed likely, I wanted to have found Daniel and sent him on his way to Claire. I had already failed Claire once by not stopping her father. I couldn’t fail her again.

  “Uriah,” Cole said, snapping me out of my dark thoughts, “were almost there. Just another couple hours and we’ll find Daniel. It’s going to be okay.”

  I appreciated his serious tone. No matter how laid back Cole was, I knew he wouldn’t let Claire down either. “Let’s get going,” I said.

  Driving out of the city felt good. As the houses disappeared, the animals multiplied. Their reports reassured me. We drove in silence for the first few minutes, my thoughts focused on the search for Daniel. We were only going to a summer camp, but that didn’t mean getting Daniel out was going to be easy. A compound full of thrill seekers could present a challenge. Cole’s bike pulled up alongside mine, drawing my attention.

  Our conversation back in the restaurant both bothered me and reassured me. Just talking to him and getting some of what I was thinking off my chest felt good. I was sure my head would have exploded a while ago without someone to talk to. Having him along was actually a huge relief. I was surprised by how helpful he had turned out to be, too. What we were heading into would test us both, though. I would face whatever I had to in order to help Claire. Was Cole ready for what we might face next?

   

   

   

  33: Daniel

   

   

  The sprawling campus of Southwest Youth Expeditions stretched out before us an hour and a half later. Located north of Roosevelt, near the Salt River, the summer camp took up several acres. Excited looking teens milled around the grounds, some hauling rafts, some ready to go swimming, others carrying hiking packs. Cole and I watched the dozens of campers, wondering how we were going to find Daniel.

  “Any thoughts on how to get this kid away from camp?” Cole asked. I still didn’t have an answer for him. “’Cause I’m sticking with my earlier plan if you don’t come up with something better,” Cole said.

  I waited a few seconds until my irritation leveled off. “I think it’s a little more complicated, now, don’t you? It’s not just a matter of getting him away from his parents for a few days, anymore. He’s going to have camp counselors looking after him and doing bed checks at night. We’ve got to come up with a believable excuse to get him away from here.”

  “The only way they’d let him go would be for some kind of family emergency,” Cole said.

  “But they’d probably call his parents to make sure we weren’t lying,” I reminded him. “We need something that won’t involve his parents. Maybe he can fake sick.”

  “For the whole weekend?”

  “Maybe. Do you have a better idea?” I asked.

  “I guess not, but we still have to convince him to come with us. I think playing to his hormones is the best plan. I know you don’t like it, Uriah, but aside from outright kidnapping him, I don’t see any other likely options,” Cole said.

  There was one other option.

  I remained quiet. In the hours we had spent driving I hadn’t been able to come up with anything better. There was just no good way to try and convince Daniel to run off with two total strangers. I hated to admit it, but Cole was right. I knew he was right the first time he mentioned it. Claire would hate the idea of us using her looks, but it had to be done. Even she couldn’t be too upset under the circumstances.

  “For it to work, you can’t tell him Claire’s your fiancée. You’re just a concerned friend,” Cole said.

  I closed my eyes for a second. Most of the guys around San Juan were pretty carful about how they talked about Claire, at least around me, but I had still heard some of the things they said about her, about her looks and body. Even remembering some of their comments made my anger spike. I was supposed to sit back and pretend I didn’t care when Daniel talked about my fiancée? I knew he would. Judging from all the girls featured on his wall, Daniel’s respect for women was lacking.

  “Can you handle that, Uriah?” Cole asked. Cole had seen me react to crude comments about Claire a few times. He thought it was funny at the time when I slammed a guy against the wall in the locker room for saying exactly what he wanted to do to Claire that weekend, but I doubted he would even crack a smile if I hit Daniel for the same thing.

  “I can handle it if I have to,” I said tightly.

  “Good,” Cole said. I doubted he believed me. I didn’t really believe myself. I would try, but there was no guarantee I wouldn’t deck Daniel if he got out of hand.

  “Well, we can’t just sit here. I guess we can try to blend in and look for him,” I said.

  “It’s better than sitting here staring at everyone,” Cole agreed.

  Watching as a camp bus pulled up to the entrance, I nudged Cole and pointed at the bus. Campers started piling off the bus laden with camping gear. Shouldering our backpacks to look like we had just returned from a long hike as well, Cole and I walked through the low brush and joined the groups of returning campers. Cole took the picture of Daniel out of his pocket, but I didn’t need to see it. Daniel’s face was etched in my memory. I searched very face we passed for his obnoxious smile.

  We stalked the grounds with no luck, avoiding anyone who looked like a counselor. “He must be out climbing or something still,” I said. A shrill ringing sounded over the area. “What was that?”

  We watched as the campers abandoned whatever they were doing and started heading for a large rectangular building. Shrugging, Cole started to follow the throng. I was only a step behind him. The empty courtyard in front of the building began to fill quickly. The pushing to get inside intensified as more and more teens arrived. The double doors of the building sprung open, sending rolling waves of delicious aromas out over the waiting crowd.

  “It must be dinner time,” Cole observed.

  I searched the faces more carefully. Daniel should show up here. After a day filled with white water rafting, or kayaking, or whatever they had been doing, no teenage boy was likely to miss out on a good meal. I moved away from the doors to get a better view of the crowd. Boys jostled each other while girls huddled in tight circles, giggling and pointing. I walked along the line taking in their faces.

  The line moved forward sl
owly. I was nearing the end of the line when a group of boys came crashing around the corner. Bumping into the last few people in line, they doled out laughing apologies. The girls they ran into only giggled in return. The leader of the group of guys didn’t turn away from the girls. The young woman closest to him smiled shyly. He stepped around his friends so he could stand next to her. His face turned in my direction as he moved.

  His smile was cool and relaxed, and a perfect match for the one I had seen on Daniel’s picture. “Cole,” I hissed. “Cole, I found him.”

  Cutting off his own search, Cole walked over to me casually. He glanced toward where I was staring, then down at the photo in his hand, and nodded.

  “That’s him.” Daniel was getting closer to the building. “Should we go now?” Cole asked.

  Approaching him in front of his friends didn’t seem like the best idea, but letting him disappear into the building and hoping to find him again later seemed even worse. I didn’t want to go into the dining hall and risk running into a camp counselor. These kids had already been here for two weeks. The counselors would probably realize we didn’t belong, and make sure we left without bothering anyone. Taking a deep breath, I said, “Let’s go.”

  Walking slowly so we didn’t draw any unwanted attention, Cole and I crossed the stretch of gravel between us and Daniel. Daniel moved forward, only a few feet from the double doors. Cole glanced at me and quickened his pace. I matched his step. Stepping up to the doors, Daniel glanced behind himself, looking for his friends and seeing us instead. His face lost its casualness.

  I pictured what we must have looked like, half running toward him, most likely panicked looks on our faces. I consciously made an effort to slow down and attempted to smile. Cole must have had the same notion. Still, Daniel looked at the doors to the dining hall. He looked as though he was trying to decide whether or not we were dangerous.

  “Excuse me, Daniel?” Cole’s voice was calm and even. I quickly decided to let Cole do the talking.

  “Yeah, who are you?” he asked, his body still perched halfway through the doorway. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

  Bringing himself up short of Daniel by several feet, Cole offered his hand and said, “Hi, Daniel, my name is Cole Brant and this is my friend, Uriah Crowe.”

  Daniel squinted, searching his mind. He seemed to wonder whether the information should mean something to him. His friends walked around him and through the doors, saying they would save him a spot. “What do you want?” Daniel asked.

  “We were just wondering if we could speak to you about a mutual friend for a minute,” Cole said. Amazed at how cool he was staying, I was about to stuff my sweating palms into my jeans pockets when I remembered the strand of hair. I quickly lowered my hands, not wanting to touch the strand in Daniel’s presence.

  “What’s this friend’s name?”

  “Her name’s Claire Brant,” Cole said.

  “She your sister or something?” he asked Cole. Cole nodded calmly. “Well, I’ve never heard of her. You must have me confused with someone else.” Daniel moved closer to the door, one foot crossing the threshold. I quickly pulled my wallet from my back pocket and snatched Claire’s picture out of its usual place.

  “Maybe if you saw a picture of her,” I suggested, holding the photo up for him to see. Controlling the impulse to shred the picture before Daniel had a chance to look at it, I thought of Claire collapsing again. I would do whatever it took to bring this boy to her. Daniel shrugged and turned away from the door. He took the picture from my fingers. Every inch of my body was poised, ready to identify even the slightest hint of the Twin Soul bond forming.

  “She’s pretty,” Daniel said. It was a casual comment, but the way his grip tightened on the picture was a clear sign there was something more hiding behind his feigned indifference. His next words were an obvious lie. “I don’t think I know her.”

  The idea that he somehow recognized Claire was agonizing, but I knew I had to test just how far the recognition went. I snatched the picture out of his hand, watching his reaction closely. “If you don’t recognize her…”

  A strange expression came over Daniel’s face. Fear, maybe, or desperation. He reached for the picture, but I held it tight. His desperation increased.

  “Uriah,” Cole warned under his breath, misinterpreting my intention.

  Daniel tugged on the picture. “Wait, let me see it again.”

   I released the photo slowly. This time Daniel took his time, his eyes drinking in every detail of my beautiful Claire’s face. Bile rose in my stomach. I had to turn away and take a deep breath.

  “I’m sure I’ve never met her before,” Daniel said. His voice had a sad, wistful quality to it. He had never met her, but there was clearly a connection. “There’s something…”

  “Are you sure you don’t know her?” Cole prompted. “She sent us to find you specifically. You are Daniel Harding, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, but,” Daniel started, “how would she even know my name?” His eyes were still glued to the picture. The restraint it took not to rip it out of his hands again was tremendous. Knowing I would be putting Claire in danger if I was selfish held me back. Cole stepped forward just enough to bring himself between Daniel and me, obviously sensing my struggle.

  “Why would she send you to find me? My number’s in the phone book. She could have just called my parents and told them what she needed,” Daniel said. The look on his face said he was once again considering jumping through the door and finding a counselor.

  “Claire’s in trouble,” Cole explained. “She’s been hurt very badly. She may not live.” The concern on Daniel’s face was alarmingly intense. His hand gripped the door frame more tightly than before. The movement set me on edge.

  “She asked us to find you and bring you back to her because she believes you can help her,” Cole said.

  Cole’s words were dangerously close to the truth. If Daniel’s curiosity provoked questions, it would be very hard to answer them without words like potions, visions, and Twin Souls slipping out.

  “How could I help her? What happened?”

  “I’m not exactly sure how Claire thinks you might be able to help her,” Cole lied, dodging Daniel’s second question entirely. “We had to leave quickly to find you. There wasn’t enough time for questions. All we know is that we were sent to find you. We had to move fast, Daniel. Claire doesn’t have much time left.”

  Daniel’s body looked ready to explode with tension, but he wasn’t giving in quite yet. “So you just expect me to come with you, just because Claire told you I could help her? There’s no way the camp counselors will let me take off with two strangers without permission from my parents, and I have a feeling that’s not going to happen, either,” Daniel said, although his voice was thick with concern for Claire.

  The objection that the counselors or his parents wouldn’t let him leave with us caught my ear. He wasn’t saying that he didn’t want to go, just that he didn’t want the trouble he would get into if he left with us. I felt nothing like the spectacular connection my mother had spoken of, but his reactions to Claire’s picture and injury were clear signs that he felt compelled to find Claire. Guilt and need struggled for dominance of my emotions.

  I might be able to shorten this discussion up if I could just tell him to come with me. Cole nodded for me to try. I seemed to be losing my touch lately, but I tried any way. “Daniel, you have to come with us to save Claire.”

  He balked. “I don’t have to go anywhere with you. For all I know, you’re lying through your teeth so you can murder me for sport. I’ll go if want to.”

  So much for that. Cole shrugged. I tried, at least. When I needed this freakish ability most lately, I couldn’t make it work. It wasn’t love this time. It better not be love yet. Something kept Daniel from hopping on the back of our bikes. Maybe it had something to do with him already being in the hold of the Twin Soul bond, even as tenuous a
s it still was. That would certainly figure.

  “Where is she?” Daniel asked suddenly. Cole faltered for a split second. This might be what brought us back to the question of kidnapping.

  “New Mexico. We’re from small a town north of Santa Fe,” Cole replied. I braced myself for his reaction.

  “You guys drove all the way here from New Mexico? Just to find me? You must really be serious about this, or completely nuts.” His voice was still a little incredulous, but Cole and I sighed in relief. The problem with kidnapping was that we were riding motorcycles. It would be nearly impossible to control a captive while trying to keep the bike upright and moving. Plus, I was still hoping to avoid involving the police. We had been lucky so far with that, and I didn’t want to tempt fate any more than absolutely necessary.

  “Yes, we did drive all the way here from New Mexico,” Cole said. “Will you come with us?”

  Daniel rubbed his forehead and stared at the noisy dining hall. “Maybe you guys should come in for a minute,” he said.

  I spoke up quickly. “We’d rather not attract your counselor’s attention since we’re not really supposed to be here.”

  “I doubt they’d notice,” Cole said, “but I am hungry. Wait here so I can grab some food and then we can go back to my cabin.”

  “Just hurry,” I said. “Claire doesn’t have much time.”

  Daniel’s face paled visibly as he nodded and ducked into the dining hall.

   

   

   

  34: More Alone

                                                                                                                 

   

  Cole paced next to the dining hall door while I wondered how long it was going to take before we were back on the road. Daniel walked into the chaotic room and made a beeline to the serving counter. I was glad to see that he didn’t stop to talk with any more girls. Daniel gathered his food quickly and was coming back out of the hall within a few minutes.

  “Just follow me,” he said. The march across the campus was quiet.

  Leading us into his rustic looking, but well-built cabin, Daniel pulled a soda from a miniature fridge and held it up, a silent question to us. Cole and I both shook our heads. Daniel popped the can open and set it on the night stand next to his bed. He sat on the narrow wooden bed while Cole and I remained standing. His tray of food on his lap, Daniel took a bite, speaking in between each mouthful.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to help you guys, it’s just that my parents will freak out if I suddenly disappear from camp and they have the counselors calling them in a panic.” His expression made it clear that he really did want to help us, very much.

  “Do you think it would help if we talked to them and explained the situation?” Cole asked. Daniel and I both stared at him sharply.

  “I seriously doubt it,” Daniel said. Cole merely shrugged.

  “Don’t you have any friends here?” I asked. Daniel started at the sound of my voice. It was the first time since he emerged from the dining hall that I had spoken to him, and the urgency in my voice made it hard and too loud.

  “Of course I have friends here,” Daniel said, obviously offended by my words. “What does that matter?”

  Surely he wasn’t that naïve. I was pretty far from being called a troublemaker or bad influence, but even I knew most teens often used their friends to cover for them when they needed to get away from their parents for a while. Realization suddenly dawned on Daniel’s face.

  “Oh,” he said. “I could probably talk Clay into covering for me. How long will we be gone?”

  I had also gotten directions from Roosevelt back to San Juan off the internet before leaving Daniel’s house. If we could leave in the next few minutes we would get back to San Juan late, but the eight and a half hour drive was doable. I wasn’t sure how long it would take for Daniel to administer the antidote, but I intended to have him out the door immediately afterward. “We can have you back tomorrow night.”

  “Or the day after,” Cole amended.

  “So, before Monday morning for sure, right?”

  “Yes,” I said. Cole agreed tentatively.

  Daniel nodded his head slowly, a slight smile playing on his lips. “Maybe I can go with you guys. This is the last weekend of camp. We have the weekend free to do whatever we want, so missing activities won’t be a problem. I’ll just need someone to make excuses for me if anyone asks.”

  The picture of Claire was still in his hand. He held it up again. A pained look flashed across his features and I knew he was thinking of the beautiful girl in pain and dying. “Okay. This might work. Let me call my friend real quick. Only the counselors are supposed to have cell phones but Clay snuck his in to call his girlfriend every night.” Setting his empty tray aside, Daniel grabbed a cordless phone off the nightstand. He punched in the number quickly and waited impatiently. Almost a full minute passed before he hung up in frustration and tried the number again. This time someone answered.

  “Hey, are you not taking my calls anymore?” Daniel asked. His voice was completely casual again.

  I could hear the low mumble of his friend’s response, but couldn’t make out the words.

  “Yeah, yeah, save your excuses. Hey, I have a favor to ask.”

  More mumbling.

  “I need you to cover for me this weekend.” Daniel paused, looking at Claire’s picture again. “I need to take off for a few days. I have something to take care of. Okay?”

  There was silence on the other end before the indecipherable speaking began again.

  “Well, there’s this girl, and…”

  The laughter was easy to hear. Daniel’s face broke into a rueful smile. No doubt his friend had something much different in mind than what was really happening.

  “Thanks, Clay. I owe you big time for this. Later.”

  Even cool and confident Cole looked relieved. I was itching to get out of this kid’s cabin and on my way back home to Claire.

  “Now all I have to do is check in with my parents before they call looking for me,” Daniel said. Dialing again he waited for his mother to answer.

  “Hey, Mom. I just wanted to call and check in with you, let you know I’m doing okay.” His mother’s voice was a pleasant hum compared to Clay’s braying laughter.

  “Yeah, it’s been great so far. I went kayaking today with Clay and Donny. It’s our free weekend this weekend, so Clay and I are going to be out for the next couple days. He wants to hang out and blow off some steam, maybe take some four wheelers out into the hills or go water skiing over at Roosevelt Lake,” Daniel said. “I just wanted to let you know what we’d be doing just in case I don’t get the chance to call you again before Monday.”

  I could hardly tell he was lying, but I hoped his mother wasn’t paying very close attention. Mothers could usually tell when their kids were being dishonest.

  Daniel listened to his mother for a few more seconds before a questioning look formed on his face. “They stopped by the house?” he asked. His mom said something else then he spoke again. “No, I know Cole and Uriah, Mom. Yeah, I met them at the skate park. Don’t worry about it. I’ll call them when I get back.”

  Staring at us with a slightly suspicious look again, Daniel wrapped up his conversation with his mom. “I love you too, Mom. I’ll see you guys next weekend. Just leave a message at the front desk if you need to get a hold of me this weekend.”

  After a quick exchange of goodbyes, Daniel set the phone down. Turning back to us with a sigh of relief, Daniel clapped his hands together. “Well, that’s taken care of.”

  Taken care of. He said it like he actually thought everything was fine now. If only he had any idea what we were still facing. It was a good thing he didn’t know or he never would have agreed to come. Cole watched me thoughtfully. My thoug
hts must have been showing again. Wanting to keep my fears to myself for the moment, I smoothed my expression. Cole raised an eyebrow at the change in my features, but said nothing.

  “You guys went to my house?” Daniel asked.

  Cole nodded carefully. “You thought we knew you were at camp when we left New Mexico? Of course we went by your house first.”

  He didn’t think to ask how going to his house led us to Roosevelt, thankfully. If he would have, it probably would’ve led to him wondering why his mom would tell us where he was. It was a good thing he wasn’t thinking very hard at the moment.

  “Let me grab some clothes and we can get going,” Daniel said, forgetting the exchange. He slid Claire’s picture into his back pocket as he walked past me. I stifled a pang of agony at losing the picture and shoved my hands into my pockets.

  Just as my fingers touched the strand of hair, Daniel’s step faltered. His gaze turned back to me, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Panic swept over me. He had felt something when I touched the scrap of hair. Snapping my hands out of my pockets, I folded them over my chest and attempted to lean against the wall casually. Daniel shook off the odd feeling and began walking again.

  “Make sure you put everything in a backpack, Daniel. Neither of us has room on our bikes for your stuff,” Cole said.

  “By bikes, you mean motorcycles, right?” Daniel asked.

  “No, we rode to Arizona on our mountain bikes,” I said sarcastically. “Of course they’re motorcycles.”

  Unbothered by my hot retort, Daniel lips turned up in a smile. “Nice. My mom won’t let me have a motorcycle. She thinks I’ll kill myself.”

  “She’s probably right,” I said under my breath. Cole gave me warning look. We needed Daniel. “Just hurry up, Daniel. We need to get going.”

  “Right, right,” Daniel said, bounding into the bathroom. I wondered if we had mentioned the motorcycles earlier, we could have been out of here by now.

  “Be nice to the kid, Uriah. I know you’re worried about losing Claire to him, but I’m more concerned with whether she lives right now than who she marries,” Cole said. The edge to his voice surprised me. Cole rarely spoke harshly with anyone. His words brought on a heavy dose of guilt. My face must have given away my emotions again. “Don’t get me wrong, Uriah, I’d rather have you as a brother-in-law than Daniel any day. Just remember what’s at stake.”

  I knew he was right. I wasn’t the only person in Claire’s life. There was no doubt in my mind that saving her life was more important than saving our love. “I’ll be nice,” I said quietly. I turned toward the little window hovering above Daniel’s bed. The look on Cole’s face was too full of pity for me to look at him.

  Daniel emerged from the bathroom, eagerness to get the adventure underway showing plainly on his face. “You guys ready?” he asked.

  Biting the inside of my cheek, I turned back to Cole. With a forced smile, I said, “Just waiting on you, kid.”

  “You know, Uriah,” Daniel said with a laugh, “you aren’t that much older than me. You’re what, twenty or something?”

  Cole rolled his eyes and shoved Daniel toward the door. Daniel pushed out into the courtyard and we hurried across the empty space, slipping through the gate left open to haul supplies back into the compound. We made it over to the motorcycles without seeing a single person. Daniel strapped his backpack onto his body as he said, “Getting out of there was a lot easier than I expected.” His eyes were shining with a mixture of excitement and maybe just a little bit of fear. Excitement was definitely winning.

  “Yeah, much easier,” I mumbled. The fact that his friend was willing to lie for him wasn’t that surprising. It could be that it was just a coincidence his mother was too distracted to hear the hint of deceit in her son’s voice, or that no one had seen us leaving, but I had a feeling that it was something more. Twin Souls wanted to be together, even before they knew they did. I was suddenly remembering stories of how the universe could bring Twin Souls together despite any odds. My good fortune soured. Apparently, I was more alone in my battle to keep Claire than I realized.

   

   

   

  35: Watching

   

   

  Cole and Daniel rode ahead of me. Daniel had been slightly disappointed when he realized there were only two motorcycles, although I had no idea how he thought we might have brought an extra one. When Daniel asked who he would ride with, I folded my arms across my chest and stepped in front of my bike. There was no way I was spending the next eight and a half hours with that kid sitting behind me. Cole was quick to offer his own bike, mumbling something about my size making the ride uncomfortable for two people.

  The drive through the main part of Roosevelt was slow because of the residential speed limits, and nowhere as unnerving as our first trip through Tucson or Phoenix. We were probably the only two people in those cities that had been happy about the rush hour traffic jams. Slow, but steady, we made our way north out of Roosevelt. I could see Daniel’s mouth moving almost constantly. Cole was kind enough to turn off the helmet headset.

  Driving across town toward the open desert, my anxiety rose with each mile. I hadn’t forgotten the shape shifting man or the wolves. The picture the wolves showed me had not been pleasant. The gaping wounds bled as the creature limped away. I had faith in the wolves’ estimation of the damage they could inflict. The simplicity of their messages seemed to reflect their honesty. Animals had little need for pride or deception.

  Still, a creature that could change its shape at will would most likely be capable of repairing whatever damage the wolves had done, as well. The only real question was time. We had left the creature behind almost five hours ago. I had no way of knowing how quickly it could recover and find us again. My animal lookouts had reported in just before leaving the adventure camp with Daniel, but their news had been confusing.

  Several animals reported feeling the creature’s presence nearby, but none had actually seen it. Wondering what other powers the shape shifter held, I hoped that invisibility wasn’t one of them. That would just be taking this trip into fantasyland too far. Whatever healing capabilities the creature had, they were hopefully slow enough to give us a little more time.

  I felt pretty confident that if Daniel’s and Claire’s souls were united, the creature would abandon its hunt. I was dead set against that very result, but facing the creature again, in return for keeping Claire safe, seemed a small price to pay. Even if it meant I got killed in the process. I wasn’t very optimistic about my chances against that thing.

  Warily, I watched the roadside. Most likely, the creature would continue to try and hide its existence in some way, but that only made me more wary of the long shadows creeping across the desert floor. Soon we would be on the lonely stretch of highway leading us back to the New Mexico border. Among other humans, the creature would most likely not attack, but if it did, the wolves or other animals may not be able to intervene. While in the desert we would be protected more easily, the creature would be free to attack us. It was a double edged sword. I desperately hoped we wouldn’t be forced to stay outdoors overnight.

  “Uriah,” Cole’s voice broke over the headset. “We’re about to leave Roosevelt. I want to top off the gas tanks before we head out and maybe grab some food for later.”

  My rumbling stomach reminded me that all I’d had to eat in the last twenty four hours was a couple granola bars and a hamburger. We had a long drive ahead of us and I wasn’t sure whether any of the towns we would pass through would have anywhere to eat. I was glad Cole had the presence of mind to pay attention to the details. “Sounds good,” I replied.

  “There’s a gas station up ahead.”

  Following Cole, we made a smooth exit and pulled up to the pumps. Cole swiped his card at the pump and handed Daniel some cash. Daniel hurried into the convenience store, his gaze falling back to us several times. My stomach lurched every time I
looked at him. Cole stuck the pump nozzle in his bike’s tank and walked over to me.

  “How much are we going to tell Daniel?” Cole asked.

  “As little as possible.”

  “He’s been yammering since we left, with lots of questions about what’s going on.” Cole ran his fingers through his hair. The smooth motion reminded me of Claire’s complaints about the length of my hair. Brushing my eyelashes now, it had really gotten out of hand. I resolved to get it cut as soon as possible. Cole finished filling up his bike and handed the nozzle to me.

  “He’ll give up eventually,” I said. Cole’s glare was meaningful.

  “You’re not the one stuck sharing a bike with him. I need something to tide him over,” Cole said.

  “Hormones or no, he’s in this for the adventure, as much as for Claire. Tell him he can ride the motorcycle around when we get to San Juan and he’ll be happy. Just keep him interested in the motorcycles, and sneaking off from summer camp, and he’ll drop the questions after a while.” The nozzle snapped, halting the flow of gas. Ignoring Cole, I returned the nozzle to the pump station.

  “Uriah, his questions haven’t all been about the bikes, or how exciting this is, plenty have been about Claire.” Cole’s face was serious. “He understands why I’m here, Claire’s my sister, but he keeps asking about you. He can tell there’s a connection between you and Claire,” Cole said, pausing and looking down, “and he sounds jealous.”  

  “What?” I demanded.

  “I know he doesn’t understand the emotion, but it’s there. He’s already starting to feel the pull,” Cole said. “It started as soon as he saw her picture and you know it. He wants to be with her.”

  My face tilted toward the sky. Closing my eyes, I pressed my hands against my face. There were no simple answers. Confirming his fears that I was Claire’s fiancée would only intensify his jealousy. Telling Daniel I was another relative or friend of Claire’s would make him suspicious. We had to walk a fine line with him. Tipping the scale too far either way could make him change his mind and want to leave.

  “I don’t know what you should tell him, Cole. The truth will make it worse, but so will lying,” I said. “We’ll be out on the highway in a few minutes. He won’t really be able to talk then. Just try to hold him off for now, unless you come up with something better. I’m sorry, Cole. I don’t know what to do. I’m having a hard enough time just keeping my thoughts straight half the time. Every time I think of Claire, I see her collapsing, and all I can do is hope we’ll be able to save her. I can’t focus on anything except getting back to her. Hopefully this will all be over soon.”

  Cole shrugged warily, but didn’t look too annoyed that I had failed to answer his question. There really was no good answer as far as I could see. We were hauling this kid across the desert because centuries old stories had suddenly decided to come to life. There was no way to explain that to Daniel. Besides, Cole was a capable problem solver, and I was too distracted to come up with anything useful. I just wanted to see Claire again. Even if she turned me away, I had to touch her soft skin and kiss her one more time. The promise of touching her again was the only thing keeping me going right now.

  “I just hope we can make it back tonight,” Cole said. “I really don’t want to have to explain camping with mountain lions to Daniel.”

  Nodding in agreement, I planned to keep everything to do with the animals from Daniel. I watched as a smiling Daniel exited the store with cellophane wrapped sandwiches in his arms. “Hey, Cole,” I said, “thanks for not making me ride with him. I don’t think I could take it.”

  “Sure, man,” Cole said. “We’ll be home soon.”

  Crossing the pavement quickly, Daniel held his purchases up as if proving he were more than capable of the simple task. Daniel tossed me a sandwich before climbing behind Cole. Thinking of what Cole had mentioned, I smiled politely and thanked him. Daniel eyed me thoughtfully for a brief second. His obvious excitement to move on quickly took over. Cole glanced back at me, his expression grateful for my small effort. Slowly, we rolled across the blacktop. Just before we merged back onto the road, I thought I saw a flicker of brown fur dart behind a dumpster.

  My spine tingled. Testing my new found ability, I searched for the wolves by forming a picture of the animals standing near the gas station in my mind. All I received in return was the frightened, scattered thoughts of a small rabbit as it darted away. The communication was easier each time I experienced it, but this time the answer was disappointing. The patch of fur had been too far above the ground to be a rabbit.

  “Cole,” I tested, unsure of whether his headset was on.

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I just saw something following us.”

  “Oh really?” Cole asked casually. His tone confused me until I remembered Daniel. He didn’t want to tell Daniel about the creature, and neither did I.

  “I don’t think it was friendly,” I said.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Cole said, his voice a little tighter, but still upbeat.

  “Keep your headset on for now, okay?”

  “No problem.”

  The few remaining buildings disappeared behind us. Our speed picked up when we left the city behind, but I could still see the image the mountain lion had shown me of the creature pacing us even as we drove along the highway. Cole apparently didn’t feel safer at the higher speed either. His head routinely checked the roadside as he drove.

  “Uriah,” Cole spoke, “do we have any…help out here?”

  Clearing my head, I formed the question as an image and sent it out to the surrounding desert, deeper than I had before. Immediately, answering images crowded my mind. Wolves, coyotes, even mice watched us as we passed and assured me there were more ahead. They knew we were coming. They also knew the creature pursued us. He wasn’t hiding as carefully as before. Each image of the shape shifter was tinged with fear and hatred.

  “Yes. The whole desert seems to be watching.”

  “Good,” Cole said, sounding like he actually meant it. It was a huge departure from his reaction to the mountain lion the night before, but I imagined that after seeing the shape shifting monster, Cole was willing to accept help wherever he could get it. “Let me know if anything changes.”

  Nodding even though I knew Cole couldn’t see me, I focused on the images still flooding into my mind. With so much sensory information, I could hardly concentrate on the road. Unsure of how to make my request clear to our friends, I pictured the animals watching us silently, only calling out to me if they saw the creature coming too close. The image barely made sense to me, but most of the animals seemed to understand. Thankfully, my mind cleared, letting my own thoughts dominate once again.

  “He finally stopped talking,” Cole said. “The wind is too loud to hear each other, thank goodness.”

  “That’s good. We might have to stop at some point to eat, but we’ll keep it short so he won’t have too much time to ask any more questions.”

  Cole was quiet for a few seconds. “Is this going to work, Uriah?”

  “Yes, it will,” I said with conviction.

  “What will you do if you can’t stop Daniel and Claire from connecting with each other?” Cole asked.

  I had refused to consider that I wouldn’t be able to stop the bond from forming. “I know what you were saying earlier, but can you really see Claire going for Daniel, now?” I asked.

  “Now? I don’t see it happening,” Cole said.

  I couldn’t tell whether he was merely being supportive or if he truly believed what he said.

  “Since that first week you guys hung out, you’re the only one she’s ever been interested in. I just can’t imagine her with anyone but you anymore.”

  I considered his words. Claire and I were so well matched despite what Cole had said earlier. We complimented each other in every way. Claire was my light, and I her anchor. I just couldn’t see what Daniel had to offer her
. “Even if the bond forms, I think Claire can withstand it,” I said.

  “I’ve heard that meeting your Twin Soul is something like being struck by lightning. It’s supposed to bring the most powerful emotions a human can feel, all released in one moment,” Cole said. “Could anyone abandon that?”

  He was speaking my fears. I loved Claire with every last particle of my soul. If the connection was made between Claire and Daniel, could I really ask her to give up true, soul binding love for me? It was a selfish desire, but one I believed Claire would share. “Claire is one of the strongest people I have ever met. If anyone can fight against a pull like that, it’s Claire. I have to believe it’s possible,” I added quietly.

  “Claire is incredibly stubborn,” Cole agreed. “I hope it works, Uriah. My dad is a fool for not wanting you to marry Claire.”

  I couldn’t reply. Quaile had said basically the same thing, but I knew I was the one who was lucky to have Claire in my life. Cole said I changed Claire. I knew it was the other way around. Before Claire, I had been comfortable gliding through life in the background, content with what I had, not brave enough to imagine there was more waiting for me. Claire had changed everything. The day on the riverbank had been the beginning, but each day after was a new adventure.

  Cole’s obvious fear that I would lose my battle stung. I was trying to keep Claire as close to my heart as I could, and I hoped she was doing the same. Hope was all I really had left. Although, as I thought about what was chasing us I realized I did have my dad’s training. His letter had talked about preparing me. I still didn’t know for sure what he thought he was preparing me for, but the hours he’d spent passing on to me the hand to hand combat and weapon skills he learned in the military were undoubtedly about to come in handy.

  I always thought he just wanted me to know how to protect myself and the people I loved. Doubts about the reasons behind his lessons were starting to creep into my mind. His letter mentioned me having to face difficult things and how Claire and I would have to be strong to survive them. Did he somehow know all of this would happen? A particular sparring match with my dad a few weeks before he died came to mind, working to convince me that he had.