Qaletaqa Read Free Page A

it, and
I failed. I had failed her again. Despair threatened to overcome
me, but some part of me held it back, recognizing a difference in
the bond. Afraid that I was imagining it, I held very still and
memorized the feel of the link trying to pull her away from me. The
last time I felt it the force of the bond, it had nearly crushed
me. It was so overpowering I could hardly breathe. Now, it merely
swirled around her like a light mist. It waited on the edge of
regaining its full force or being snuffed out forever. I was at a
loss for what caused the change.
    “You didn’t drink the potion, but something
is different,” I said.
    Claire nodded slowly. “Daniel came back to
San Juan.”
    Instantly my muscles coiled, my eyes darting
around as if I expected him to have followed her here as well.
Claire’s hands slid up to my cheeks and brought my focus back to
her. The purity of her smile calmed my sudden panic.
    “Quaile told me that I couldn’t break the
bond…” She paused, a flicker of something I couldn’t quite catch
lighting in her eyes before she continued. “She said I could
suppress it, though. I had to face Daniel and convince him I didn’t
love him. I had to do it on my own, make that choice from the
deepest part of my soul and convince Daniel of it.”
    “How?” I asked in disbelief.
    “I had to face Daniel and make him believe I
didn’t love him, convince him to walk away and let me go.” She
stared up at me, looking both ready to cry and dance at the same
time. “I did it, Uriah. I told Daniel about how you have changed me
and made me stronger because of your love. I told him how I wake up
every morning happy because I know you are a part of my life. I
told him…I told him that there was someone out there waiting to
make him as happy as you make me.”
    I blinked at her in surprise. “And he
believed you?”
    For a moment Claire looked offended that I
would question her, but then her expression softened. She opened
her mouth to say something. Her head shook as her lips pressed
together before opening again. “I let him kiss me,” she said
quietly. “I was the only way make him believe I didn’t love him. He
needed to feel the wrongness of the bond.”
    “And he did?” I asked.
    Claire nodded. “He let me go, and the bond
changed. It’s still there waiting for me to call it back, but for
now I’m as free as I can be. I’m here with you.”
    “You’re here with me,” I said.
    I stepped closer to her, bringing my hand up
to her face and running my fingers along her jaw. It was the way I
touched her when I wanted her to know just how much she truly meant
to me. Claire knew she gesture well. She closed her eyes and leaned
into the touch.
    “I missed you so much,” Claire whispered.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”
    Thanks to Talon, I had a very good idea. The
things he’d shown me threatened to bring me to tears. “I am so
sorry,” I said. “Quaile told me there was a chance to sever the
bond, and I leapt at it, but I was too afraid of failing you again
to tell you what I was doing.”
    “It wouldn’t have mattered, Uriah. With you
by my side, I could have held on forever,” Claire said. “My love
for you is what convinced Daniel to let me go. It’s what keeps me
from bringing the bond back to the surface and taking the easy way
out.”
    “I saw you, Claire, you were barely hanging
on. I don’t know how you managed to hold out. You never thought you
were strong, but you are. I hope you realize that now,” I said.
    “What do you mean you saw me?” The accusation
in her voice hurt. “Did you see me before you left? Did you see how
much pain I was in and still left?”
    “No. I didn’t see you before you left.” I
paused, not sure how to explain what I had let slip out. Was she
ready to find out how much I had changed since she drank the
poisoned tea? I decided to trust her. I had screwed up terribly in
my efforts to protect her by holding back. “My