Chapter 440: Tell Me Truly - Part 1
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*****
KALLE
As she watched her mate tense and fight not to leap across the massive desk in front of him and take Shaw by the throat, Kalle wished she could be open with Shaw about their relationship so she could touch Gahrye. He was wound so tightly he shook with it, and she could hardly blame him.
She'd still been in bed that morning when Gahrye had gotten up to find Elia in beast form—again—and a note scrawled on the table.
I SAW RETH IN THE DREAM.
HE AND LERRIN ARE FIGHTING FOR DOMINANCE TODAY.
HE DOESN'T KNOW IF HE'LL WIN.
I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE. I'M SORRY.
Gahrye had rushed the note in to her. "Does it mean she's going silent?" he'd asked, panicked.
"No, no, Elia would never do that, would she?" she'd tried to reassure him. "I'm guessing she just means she wants to spend the day alone. She's been struggling already. This has to be so terrifying. If it was you, Gahrye, I'd be… I'd be…" Her breath had caught with emotion and she'd stroked his chest, and despite all his tension, he'd pushed her back into the covers and made love to her again—they'd already woken in the night and ended up in each other's arms.
She'd thought the fierceness of their desire for each other would fade as the novelty of being together became a comfortable fact. But between Gahrye's fear they could be separated any day if he was called back to Anima, and her own delight and fascination in her mate, they could barely keep their hands off each other.
She'd become one of the women she'd always been jealous of, before. Someone who knew who their person was, and was unapologetic about it.
She would have been sickened if she could see herself, gazing on Gahrye like the sun shone out of his ass. But the truth was, he was so damn close to perfect, she was still struggling to believe he was real.
Kalle blinked herself back to the present, where her near-perfect mate had been relaying what he was willing to share about his trip through the traverse—the place sounded creepy as hell—but was now leaning forward in his seat, snarling at Shaw, his teeth bared like he was a predator.
"…haven't been through it, Shaw, you can't possibly understand, so don't patronize me."
"I didn't mean I shared the experience, of course not, of course not. I meant that I have a great deal of experience speaking with and learning from those who have. So I understand—in concept—what you faced. I only wish to know whether, given your disformed status, there was something unique about your experience. That is all, I assure you!"
Shaw was almost salivating about finally getting Gahrye here to answer questions. He was the first disformed that Shaw had interviewed—that he knew of, anyway. He'd been very disappointed to hear that Elia was in beast form, but had quickly recovered and sat Gahrye down.
The two had been at each other's throats ever since.
Well, Gahrye wanted to be at Shaw's throat. Her uncle was just being his usual insensitive self. He was a man who found information far more interesting than people, and often forgot entire that in order to gather what he needed, he had to work with people who prioritized things like social etiquette and… empathy.
"Let me try this question again," Shaw said, only a touch of impatience in his tone. "I will do my best to be thoughtful of my words. Please describe to me whether the voices used temptation, or threat against you. And what form it took?"
Gahrye frowned and slumped back in his seat. "Both," he said finally.
Kalle tilted her head. As far as she knew, those who walked the traverse dealt with one approach or the other. The voices seemed to know whether to appeal to ego, or fear. She and Shaw had discussed in the past, trying to identify whether there was a pattern based on Tribe, gender, or some other constant. But so far they'd never found one.
"Please, explain," Shaw said, leaning forward over his notes. "Did they use both simultaneously? Did it change?"
Gahrye kept pausing before answering, obviously deciding what details he was going to share. Again Kalle wished she could reach for his hand, offer comfort. But she was supposed to be there as an observer and extra mind to apply to the interpretation afterwards.
She was going to have to be careful not to bring in any of the little things she'd already gleaned from the hidden histories. They hadn't found anything significant yet, but she knew—she knew!—the key to what they needed was in there. Both for Elia, and for Gahrye. And maybe even for herself.
"They started out trying to tempt me, to offer me things to follow them."
"Things like what?"
Gahrye scowled. "Nothing of great importance. Status, recognition. Wealth. I kept walking. I wasn't tempted by those things."
Shaw scribbled notes furiously. "Curious that they took an approach that did not immediately appeal. They are… very gifted at finding the heart of what an Anima—or a human—wants."
"I'm not saying those things don't appeal to me at all. Only that they weren't important enough to tempt me from my goal."
Shaw nodded and wrote more. "Then what happened?"
"Then I was walking, but it was hard. Like they were pulling me back. I tripped at one point and—" Gahrye broke off and his face went thoughtful. Kalle watched, her heart in her throat, what was he remembering? But then he blinked and shook his head. "I don't remember what the catalyst was," he said, and she knew he was lying, "but they seemed to get more desperate. I was walking faster and faster, and they started to threaten me. Threaten to kill me. Threaten to take the Queen."
"How did you respond?"
"I just kept running and launched myself out of the portal as quickly as I could."
It was so simple, and not entirely unlike other stories she'd heard, though it was different that the voices changed attack. She looked at Shaw. Gahrye was clearly hiding something—but was it only clear to her, his mate? Or would Shaw pick up on it?
Her Uncle made another note, then put his pen down and folded his hands in front of him. When he looked at Gahrye, it was with the light of fervor in his eyes that always creeped Kalle out a little bit.
*****
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