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*****

GAHRYE

A thick, rough tongue scraped up the side of his face, taking his tears—and probably a layer of skin with it. Gahrye rolled onto his back and told himself he had to pull himself together. He was in Anima. With Elia. She was in beast form, but she was here—just as she was needed.

Something urgent and frantic with him that had been pressing at him ever since the Creator's revelation when he was here the day before had loosened its grip the moment they'd passed through the Portal. But as he lay there on the cold stone he realized that while it no longer pressed him forward, a piece of it remained. A knot. Something to be untangled. Something important.

He could hear Elia's beast breathing heavily, but he struggled to open his eyes and face it all.

He was in Anima.

Kalle wasn't.

And she was, possibly, carrying his baby.

"They lie,

" he whispered to himself, his knuckles curled and pressed into his eyes. That tongue raked up his face again and he put one of his hands to her face to reassure her.

"I'll… I'll be fine in a minute. Just… Just give me a minute.

"

She huffed, her breath washing over his hands and face, then she turned, padding down the tunnel.

Gahrye pushed himself up to sit and propped his back against the cave wall, staring at the Portal doorway, it's blue, shimmering surface twirling slowly again.

Kalle was on the other side of that. A short time, an impossible distance. She was right there and possibly… possibly in danger, possibly pregnant. Possibly already dead.

Gahrye shook his head. He couldn't let himself think that way. Shaw hadn't ever hurt Kalle, and he'd been possessed by the voices… or whatever it was that they'd done to him.

No. They were lying, trying to throw him off the Creator's plan. And it had almost worked. He couldn't let that happen again.

No more crossing the traverse without giving time and energy to preparing for the onslaught.

No more taking others across until he was certain he could do it again safely alone.

And no more listening to the voices when he did.

Gahrye sucked in a deep breath and threw up a prayer for Kalle and… and the baby, and opened his eyes.

His hands were there. His body. Everything was normal. Well, except for the bite marks on his arm, the massive crescent of puncture wounds from Elia's teeth.

She'd done the right thing. The question was, had it been Elia or her beast that had known he needed saving?

He sighed and turned.

"I don't know which of you was—

"

He blinked. Then blinked again.

The tunnel was empty.

Elia was gone.

"Shit!

"

*****

ELIA

The prey that was kin was struggling. But she had protected, had listened to the other within and saved him from himself, from the ancestors of malice. But now the other within was fading. The little one was coming. Both weakened.

She groaned with the pain of it, like claws up her side and back. Too soon. Too soon. This little one hurried to join the world.

She needed the den. The mate. Her mate was strong, he would protect her and the other within until the cub was born. She was tired from not sleeping, holding guard, watching for the mate. But the other within had made her understand, the mate was here.

This place smelled good, filled her with life. Filled her with hunger.

With a last scent of the prey that was kin, licking her teeth clean of his blood—and growling at the voice within that said NO, she turned from his sadness and padded up the tunnel. The pain was gone again. It came and went without rhythm. She needed food before it returned, or became too strong to deny.

The pains of a little one on the way. She shook her head so hard her ears snapped against her skull.

Too soon. Too soon.

Stay where you are, little one.

But it was the Creator's choice. As she turned into the main cavern of the cave, she paused and looked back.

The prey that was kin had pushed himself to sit, but his eyes remained closed.

He would follow when he caught her scent. She had to find food before the pains overwhelmed her.

Food. Then the mate.

With a low groan at the last echo of the pain, she started down the cave, reading the stories it old in the scents of its floor and walls, the winds that breezed through it.

She was home. This place… this place was where she should be. She did not know where the prey that was kin had taken her, but it was an ugly, dark place owned by the Ancestors of Malice. Now that she knew its scent she would not enter it again. She would stop anyone that tried to enter it. That way lay death.

She stopped at the mouth of the cave and raised her nose to the wind, groaning with pleasure at the feast of scents that greeted her, the fresh air, the natural cave… everything here was right.

This was where she was meant to be. This place was safety. If she could find the mate. His scent was not on the wind, and she didn't know this land. But she could hunt as she travelled.

Food first, her stomach reminded her. Food first, then the mate.

She would sleep well tonight under his protection. If she could find him.

And she would not think of what might happen if she didn't.

It was the Creator's choice who lived and who died. Not hers. Perhaps life without the voice within would be easier.

She shook her head again. Something about that did not sit on her well. But she could not change it. The one within weakened. The little one, too.

Perhaps the pains brought the little one to death. She would grieve, if so. She would honor. She would remember. But she would walk on in this place that fit her.

It was the Creator's choice who lived, and who died. And when.

She was only to listen and follow.

Food first.

Then the mate.