10. Kal’va
The humans around the table turned as one to stare at me. It might have been comical if my heart hadn’t been breaking.
“I can agree to that,” the Taverner female said, voice pitching just a touch lower when she spoke to me. “Provided they are willing to cooperate in turn, I will make sure every member of your expedition is released unharmed and compensated for their work. Do you have any other requests, Mr. Kal’va?”
A word that sounded like heaven falling from Tal’ia’s lips, Taverner made into a poison. I bared my teeth, knowing she could not see it. “Do not speak my name. You have not earned the right.”
“Very well. In that case, we have a deal,” Taverner said, with a smug tone that made me want to rip out her throat. I clamped down on my instinctive growl. As long as Taverner honored our deal and Tal’ia lived, I would put up with far worse.
“We do.”
“Like hell!” Tal’ia spoke over me, anger and grief pouring from her in waves. “No, no way, no fucking deal. You are not making him property. I won’t let you.”
“Will you not?” Taverner sounded smug and amused rather than angry. “How will you do that, given his agreement? Do you own him, then, that you can decide for him?”
My mate closed her mouth with a snap, glaring at the wall across from her. Her shoulders shook and tears welled in her eyes. Carefully taking her hand in mine, I gave her a gentle squeeze.
“My love, this is the only way,” I told her. I muted the microphone with my free hand and continued. “You must live. I will not accept any plan that risks your death.”
“She’ll kill you.” My mate’s voice shook, and she gripped my hand as though she’d never let go. “Kill you and take you apart to study.”
“Perhaps she will, but I am willing to die to protect you. Few people meet their mates at all, so I count myself among the luckiest of men.”
Her grip tightened further, knuckles turning white. “I don’t accept it, you ass. If you care about me at all, you won’t let yourself die for me. If you won’t live for yourself, then you can damned well do it for me.”
“And then we both die, along with our friends.” I cupped her cheek, feeling hot tears. “If you forbid this, my heart, what do we do instead? I will fight for you in any way I know, but I have no strategy that will work.”
“You can’t trust her.”
“I do not, nor will I. But perhaps we can trust her self-interest.”
Tal’ia just looked at me, more tears welling in her beautiful eyes. It tore at my heart, a pain like nothing I’d ever felt. I don’t know how long we’d have sat there if Taverner hadn’t interrupted.
“It is a big decision to make,” she said. “And it seems you need to discuss it. I understand, but I do not have all the time in the world. You have until six A.M. to make your choice.”
The channel dissolved into static, then cut out. As though that were a signal, Tal’ia stood, pulled her hand from mine, and fled into the tomb.
I followed,of course, leaving the other two behind at the table. Tal’ia took random turns through the tomb, and I let her stay ahead of me as long as she was safe. Only when she left the area the humans had explored did I intervene, judging the danger too high to tolerate. Lengthening my stride, I overtook her and blocked her path before she realized I was there. She almost ran into me, only catching herself at the last moment.
She looked up at me, I down at her, and neither of us knew what to say. Her pulse raced, and my soul burned.
“Don’t do this,” she said after an agonizingly long wait. “I can’t bear to lose you already.”
“You will be safe, you will live and be happy. And I will not suffer since I will be dead. If there is a life beyond the Final Gate, I will wait for you there. If not, then at least I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting you, heart of my heart. Of knowing you.”
I reached out to touch her wet cheek, stroking gently. “It is even possible that I will survive what she has planned, but if not, I will go to the Eternal Dark content that I saved you.”