The Calling (Darkness Rising) (23 page)

“Don’t dignify that with a response, Cal,” the woman said.

A cough sounded from one of the tents, and they all glanced over.

“Penny, go see if she wants another sausage,” Antone said. “I’d like to see her eating more.”

“I have a Snickers bar in my bag,” the woman—Penny—said. “I’ll take her that. Kids always like candy.”

“Not sure that applies to teenage girls, but you can give it a shot.”

Teenage girls? Hayley? I inhaled. This close to the fire, though, all I could smell was smoke. I strained to see inside the tent as Penny pulled back the flap, but she didn’t open it far enough.

I slid backward until it seemed safe to turn around. Then I circled the camp. I eyed a massive tree with branches stretching close to the tents. My claws extended and retracted, as if urging me to climb it. Tempting… The tents were in the middle of a large clearing, meaning there was no way I could get close from ground level. I saw a flap tied open on the tent roof. A vent that I could probably see down through.

Up it was then.

I’ll say this much for cat form. It made shimmying up a long evergreen trunk so much easier. I’d seen Marv—our local cougar—do it by taking a run at the tree and landing ten feet up it, but I wasn’t quite ready for such athletics yet. So I started at the bottom, reached up, and unsheathed my claws. Four massive paws equipped with climbing spikes.

I was up the tree in no time. Getting out on the branch was a little tougher. I had to creep along while using my tail for balance. It was the tail part that threw me. I was sure I’d get the hang of it, but for now, I was just glad I had sixteen claws digging into the tree to keep me from sliding off every time I wobbled.

Halfway along the branch I smelled who was in that tent. And when I did, a tiny growl rumbled up.

Nicole.

Penny emerged. “No to the sausage and no to the candy bar. I’d say she’s understandably upset, but it seems more like a hissy fit. She didn’t want to come back out here. She was quite comfy in Vancouver, with her soft bed, hot baths, and room service.”

“All the more incentive for her to lure her friends out so she can get back there,” Antone said. “Hayley obviously wasn’t going to do it.”

They talked for another minute, enough for me to confirm what had happened. Kenjii had escaped and Hayley hadn’t done her job, so they’d swapped her out for Nicole.

As I thought of Nicole, my ears flattened and my chest vibrated with another growl. I swallowed it. Was Nicole really responsible for Serena’s death? What if Sam was mistaken? Wasn’t that exactly the sort of thinking I’d berated myself for earlier—jumping to conclusions?

I continued creeping along the branch until I could look down through the mesh skylight and see her, sitting on a sleeping bag. She wasn’t bound—there was no way out except past her captors. A lantern provided illumination and a pile of magazines provided entertainment. She was reading one, leafing through the glossy pages.

I told myself that was her way of dealing with stress, but still…? Reading fashion tips? If it was me, I’d be plotting my escape, no matter how unlikely it seemed, just to feel that I was taking control of my fate.

I shimmied a little closer and the branch creaked. Nicole looked up. She saw me, and her mouth opened to let out a shriek. I froze. I was stuck out on a branch, with no easy way to back up and escape. She didn’t scream, though. For a minute, we just stared at each other. Then she lifted the lantern and squinted, her gaze sliding along my side.

“Maya,” she whispered.

I followed her gaze to my flank. There was my birthmark, black fur forming a paw print.

“It is you, isn’t it?” She stood. “They told me what you are.”

She smiled up at me and I saw the same old Nicole, sweet and shy, yet all I could think was,
You killed Serena
. I looked into her eyes and it wiped away that last piece of doubt.

“You came to rescue me,” she said, keeping her voice so low I could barely hear it.

When I just stared at her, she said it again.

“You
are
here to rescue me, right?”

I thought about how easy it would be to drop from my perch, slash through that tent, and take her down. I imagined my fangs clamped around her throat, and felt a kernel of horror in my gut, but it was only a kernel.

“Stop that,” she hissed, yanking her gaze away. “Go get the others. You outnumber these guys. Together you can save me.”

I didn’t move.

She looked at me again, and the sweet and shy Nicole disappeared. Her eyes blazed.

“The others aren’t here, are they?” she said. “You have no intention of rescuing me. Why would you? I’m competition for your precious Daniel. You don’t want him, but you don’t want anyone else to have him either. You’re a selfish bitch, Maya Delaney. A slut, too, fooling around with every guy in sight, right under his nose.”

As Nicole raged, the hair on my neck prickled, because in her eyes, I saw madness. Obsession and madness.

“Everything comes so easy for you, doesn’t it, Maya? School, boys, friends, sports. Even your precious animals. You can’t just take care of them like any normal person. You have to be some kind of animal whisperer. Magical healer. So damned special. Like Serena, captain of the swim team and the best singer on the freaking island, and how much does she practice? Sings in the shower. Paddles around the lake. Do you know how hard I work? It’s never enough. You two get the trophies and the solos and the As and the boys.”

You’re crazy
, I thought.
Did they do this to you with their experiments? Or is this just you?

I started inching back.

“You’re just going to leave me here?” she said. “Well, you know what, Maya? I could use a little company.”

She screamed, a long drawn-out shriek of feigned terror.

M
ORENO WAS THE FIRST
to see me, and he let out a curse as loud as Nicole’s shriek.

He pulled a gun from his hip. An automatic pistol.

Antone knocked it from his hand and pointed his flashlight at my flank.

“It’s Maya,” he said.

He started toward me. I was inching back, the branch too thin for me to turn around.

“It could be Annie,” Penny whispered, her gaze fixed on me. “Come looking for her brother.”

Antone shook his head. “That’s Maya.” He met my gaze. “I know it is.”

He kept walking until he was directly under my branch.

“This is your first time, isn’t it?” he said, his voice soft.

“You’re scared and you’re confused—”

I let out a snarl that reverberated through the quiet forest.

Antone chuckled. “Or maybe not. I should have guessed you’d hit the ground running.” He smiled. “Or hit the trees climbing. But you’re trapped now. I know that’s not fair. You came to rescue your friend and—”

“She didn’t come to rescue me,” Nicole spat as she stormed out of the tent. “She came to taunt me. She’s a spoiled brat—”

“Get her out of here,” Antone said, eyes never leaving mine. “Maya, you know you’re trapped, and I’m sure you want to put up a fight, but that’s not going to help anyone.”

I hunkered down, measuring the distance between us.

“Cal…” Penny said. “Back away. She’s getting ready—”

“She won’t.” His gaze fixed on mine. “She might want to, but she won’t.”

I dug my claws deeper into the branch, testing my purchase. My tail rose and flicked from side to side as I adjusted my balance. I crouched. An easy leap. He wouldn’t get out of the way. He was too confident that I wouldn’t hurt him.

My hindquarters twitched. My rear legs tensed. I sheathed my front claws. I let out one last snarl. Then I leaped.

He realized then that he was wrong. That I felt no tie to him. Felt no sympathy for him. That I would rip his throat out if that protected my friends.

At the last second, I twisted. Penny fired the tranquilizer gun, and I felt the darts whiz past. I heard Antone’s shout. Heard Penny curse as she realized she’d missed. Heard Nicole shout for them to shoot me before I killed them all.

I wasn’t about to kill anyone. That wouldn’t save me. Wouldn’t save the others. I didn’t know if I could have or not. Only that it would be a life wasted, so the point was moot.

When I twisted, I flung myself at the tent roof. I hit it and the tent went down. I heard them swearing then—their quarry was in the midst of a mass of billowing canvas, impossible to shoot.

Before the tent could collapse completely, I grabbed a mouthful of canvas and ran into the forest, wrenching it along with me. It was too heavy to drag very far, but I didn’t need it to go far—just to the first trees where it caught, wedged between them like a sail. I let go and tore off into the forest.

Behind me, I heard an ATV roar to life. But I already had a huge lead.

Cougars are decent sprinters, but they aren’t long-distance runners. Soon I was exhausted and had to slow to a steady lope. By then, though, my pursuers were long gone, having headed north—the way I started running—while I’d looped south.

I found Kenjii easily, as if I could instinctively retrace my steps. When I got back to the clearing, I collapsed into sleep.

I dreamed of the rack and the bugs again. Then I dreamed of Serena at the lake. Only this time, I was right beside her, paddling around, laughing and goofing off. Then I saw Nicole, at the side, almost hidden in the bushes overhanging the lake. She slipped into the water.

I grabbed Serena’s arm and started dragging her toward shore. “We have to get out.”

“Oh, no.” Her hand wrapped around my wrist. “I just got you in.”

She tugged me out farther, then flipped onto her back and floated. Beneath the crystal-clear water, I could see Nicole swimming, coming closer with each stroke.

“It’s Nicole,” I said, pointing.

Serena grinned. “Good. I invited her, but you know how she is. All work and no play. I don’t see why she has to practice so much. I don’t.”

Nicole grabbed Serena by the leg. She let out a giggling shriek as she was pulled under. I dove and managed to grab her under the arms and pull her up. She came up sputtering and scowling.

“What was that for?” she said, pushing wet hair from her face.

“It’s Nicole,” I said, grabbing her arm again. “She’s trying to drown you.”

Serena laughed. “Nicole wouldn’t hurt me. She’s my friend. She’s just—”

She went under again as Nicole dragged her down. I swam after them, but this time they were moving too fast. I could see Serena’s face. Her eyes glittering as she tried not to laugh. Then, as she went deeper, worry crept in, and she reached for me, pulling against Nicole. She started to kick, mouth opening in a scream. They hit the bottom, and a cloud of dirt billowed up.

I hit something, too, an invisible barrier. I clawed at it, screaming as Serena fought and writhed and kicked at Nicole. Then she tried to get to me, her fingers stretching up, higher and higher and then, an inch away, they stopped.

I battered at the invisible barrier. Nicole crouched there, holding Serena down. She looked at me and she smiled.

I shot up from sleep, a scream still in my throat. Hands gripped my wrists.