Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

KALLE

When Shaw pulled her through the back door into the Big House, he still didn't let go. Kalle's wrist was beginning to ache, but she needed to convince him that she wasn't trying to fight anymore, so she hurried after him and didn't fight as he led her, not up the stairs towards Gahrye and Elia's suite, but deeper on the ground floor, to his own office.

When they were inside, he whirled to the door and pulled a key out of his pocket, using it to lock the door from the inside so she couldn't get out.

Kalle swallowed while he wasn't looking at her, her heart beginning to race. But something told her not to push. She had to stay calm—keep him calm. But she prayed that no matter what the voices had done to him, he still cared about her enough not to hurt her before she could get back to Gahrye.

When the door clicked Shaw took a deep breath, then finally let go of her wrist.

She rubbed it surreptitiously as she took one of the chairs on this side of his desk. Usually when they spoke he would sit at his massive desk, but not today. Instead, he turned from the door and stared at her long enough that her stomach began to twist, but when she opened her mouth he turned suddenly on his heel and began to pace, back and forth, in front of the door.

But still he didn't speak.

Eventually, unable to think of anything else to ask, she simply blurted, "How did you know about me and Gahrye?"

Shaw stared at the carpet as he paced, his hands moving as if he were speaking, but he hadn't made a sound yet. He answered her without looking up. "They can smell it on you," he said.

A chill ran down Kalle's spine.

"I don't know how long you have… I don't know if they knew the first day. But when I got close to you the other day, it was obvious to them."

Kalle swallowed and nodded, but her head was spinning. So the voices couldn't just watch them, then? They weren't just floating around the house and… Kalle shuddered as her mind filled with images of evil spirits drifting through walls to follow them, to watch them sleep, to watch them…

Oh, gross.

Pushing the ideas away, she took a deep breath.

"There is something I need you to find out for me," Shaw said, his voice still flat and monotone. Then he looked at her and Kalle almost flinched. That strange light was back in his eyes, and stronger somehow.

"W-what do you need to know?"

"I have to find out what Elia saw in the traverse."

Kalle frowned. "But… wasn't that the voices? Wouldn't they already know that?"

Shaw blinked… then blinked again, his face pinching. "They do not know," he said finally. "Or, at least, they do not know all of it. So I must find out." He turned to pace back across the floor and Kalle felt her skin crawling.

What the hell was happening to him?

"What's so important about this one person?" she asked carefully.

"She's not just any female," Shaw responded without hesitation. "She is a Queen. And a unique one at that. We cannot risk anything slipping through."

"Sure, but… does it really matter? I mean, aren't everyone's stories pretty much the same? With the voices, I mean? They either throw temptation at them—something they really want, or they threaten them. Something they're really scared of."

"Don't you understand, Kalle? Those conversations are only the tip of the iceberg," Shaw muttered. "What they offer or threaten reveals much about the Anima or human. And there are… other aspects to what they hear and see in the traverse—look, just trust me. We need to hear her story!"

"I-I believe you!" she said quickly, flinching back from the sudden rage on his face. "But, she's in beast form right now. She hasn't been out of it for more than a few minutes all week. I can't… she cant communicate when she's like that. And she would find it very strange if, suddenly, in those few moments she can speak I was pestering her for—"

"Hold her here, when she comes back. When she's human again. Give her the tonic. That will keep her in form for at least a few hours."

Kalle's eyes went wide. "Um… what tonic?"

Shaw cursed, then turned on his heel again and hurried across to a small chest on floor underneath the shelves. "This one," he said, scuttling back to her to hold out a small, glass bottle. It was new enough to have a plastic twist lid, but the thick glass and rubbing on the plastic marked it as something that had been around for a while. Kalle opened it and sniffed it suspiciously, jerking back at the sharp smell.

"Give that to her when she's in human form and it will keep her there for at least a few hours. Then… tell her you believe the key to her return to Anima might be in the story of her traverse. See if that will work. I know she's eager to go back."

Kalle almost scoffed? Eager? Elia was literally dying without it. But did she trust Shaw to give her something that would actually help?

Gahrye wouldn't, she was sure. But she nodded and thanked him, holding the small bottle in her lap. "I'll try. I mean, she hasn't come out of it in days that we know of, but… I'll keep this on me. Thank you."

Shaw nodded, staring at the bottle in her hands rather than her face, but then, instead of going back to his pacing, he stepped back to lean against his desk and stared at her.

"Uncle?" she asked after a minute, wishing she could shudder without him noticing.

"You vowed, Kalle. You took the vow as a Guardian—that means the traverse is not open to you under any circumstances. You must believe that."

"I do."

"I just watched you reach out to it."

"I was worried about Gahrye, that's all—"

"BULLSHIT!" His rage was explosive and immediately and Kalle startled, grabbing the arms of her chair and almost pushing out of it. But Shaw had dropped his head and was shaking it, rubbing his forehead. "It's fine. I'm fine. I'm not… you can't lie to me, Kalle. It calls to them when you do."