Free Qaletaqa by DelSheree Gladden

night we’ll
have together?” I asked.
    Claire laid her head again my shoulder and
ran her fingers up and down my bare chest, sending ripples down my
spine. “You don’t know what you’re about to face, Uriah, but I
do.”
    I didn’t understand. What could lead Claire
to believe that she knew more of the Matwau than I did? I wasn’t
criticizing her knowledge, just stating a fact. She knew only what
I had told her, and there were a few precious details I had kept
back even from her.
    “Facing your Twin Soul, it will be so much
harder than you think,” she said.
    Suddenly I began to understand.
    “You’ll need every memory of me strong in
your heart if you hope to hold onto our love. Even with every sweet
moment we’ve had together, I nearly didn’t make it,” Claire said.
“I want to give you something powerful, something to tie us
together even stronger than before.”
    I sighed in a mix of relief and physical
disappointment. My fear when she mentioned the bond had been that
Claire truly believed I wouldn’t be able to choose her over Melody,
that she wanted to share the night with me because she was scared
there would be no other nights left for us. Slowly, I took Claire’s
hands in mine and brought them up around my neck. Resting my hands
on her shoulders, I held her in my gaze.
    “Claire, as much as I want to feel your bare
skin against mine right now, this isn’t the right time. I don’t
want our first time together to come out of fear that you might
lose me if we don’t,” I said. Claire started to interrupt, but I
leaned in and kissed her before any words that might change my mind
could slip out. “Not even having sex with you tonight could make my
love for you any stronger than it already is.”
    “Uriah, you don’t know what I went through.
You weren’t there,” Claire said.
    Her expression said she wasn’t trying to lay
guilt, but the burden of my foolish choices bore down on me. My
hands slid down her arms, then ran back up again as I tried to
collect myself. The movement pushed up the sleeves of her t-shirt.
If Claire hadn’t winced and attempted to push the sleeves back
down, I might never have seen what lay under the faded material.
But I did. It was a sight I knew I would never forget. My hands
tightened on one of her arms and refused to let go. Claire tried to
yank her arm away, but I kept hold of her and slowly pulled her
back to me.
    I had so see it again, so I pinched the green
cloth between my thumb and first finger and pull it back. One by
one I revealed a mass of purple splotches and fiery red lines.
Claire turned her head away from me in shame. Anger built up inside
my chest, threatening to burst out. Bruises and cuts. How had they
gotten there? I couldn’t imagine a single person who would have
tried to harm her. Even her father wouldn’t have physically abused
her in any way.
    “Claire, what are these?” I demanded. What
had I left her to?
    Claire tugged at my fingers, begging me to
release my grip. I dropped her hand and grabbed the other one,
pushing the sleeve back to reveal similar injuries. Misery that I
had left her to such a fate seeped into me, but then fury took
over.
    “What happened?” My grip on her arm was too
tight. Claire tried to pry my fingers up, but I needed an answer
first. Claire’s eyes met mine. The steel in her gaze darkened her
milk chocolate irises.
    “I was all alone, Uriah. I tried to surround
myself with memories of you, with your things, your clothes,”
Claire said defiantly, “but it wasn’t enough after a while. It hurt
so badly to be away from Daniel, but I didn’t want him. I didn’t!
In the end, the only thing I could do was fight pain with
pain.”
    Fight pain with pain? Scenarios whipped
around in my mind before finally landing on the one I knew to be
right. My grip loosened in defeat. “You did this to yourself?”
    “I had to,” Claire whispered. Her hands came
up to my face once again, but not for another kiss. Pulling