The Calling (Darkness Rising) (8 page)

I had to forget what the man said. I’d always known I was adopted. Rick Delaney was still my real dad. He raised me. Nothing else—
no one
else—mattered.

I whispered to Daniel, telling him the other things that the men had said.

“They’re after all of us,” Daniel said.

“I think so.”

“I don’t get it.”

I think I do. I think it wasn’t any coincidence that my family wound up in Salmon Creek. It wasn’t any coincidence that Sam came here, either. They found me and they found her, and they brought us back to Salmon Creek, with the rest of you. I don’t know what it all means, but I’m starting to understand. I can’t tell you any of that, though. I wish I could. God, I wish I could
.

“Maya?”

I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and apologize.

I’m sorry, Daniel. I should have told you earlier. I screwed up and I think I’m still screwing up
.

He hugged me and whispered, “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

I pulled away. “I … I think I might have figured it out already. This isn’t the time to explain but… I think Sam might be right about you and her, and I think there’s more to it, and that’s why they’re after us, so you need to be careful.”

“We’ll both be careful,” he said. “We’ll have each other’s back. As always.”

As always
.

“We’ll find Corey, then we’ll get out of here,” Daniel continued. “Get to a phone. Call our parents. Go home.”

I’m not sure we can do that. I’m not sure Salmon Creek is still there, and if it is, I’m not sure it’s safe. I’m not sure we can get Corey. I’m not sure he’s still—

“Corey’s fine,” Daniel said, as if reading my thoughts.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not holding up very well.”

“Yes, you are. We just need to get this done, then you can have a breakdown. I’ll join you.”

I smiled. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. Now, let’s go.”

Like a cougar with a cache, I knew where we’d left Corey. Hayley said they’d moved a little, but he’d be close enough for me to find him.

The three searchers were still at work, but they seemed to be employing a grid pattern, like when a little boy in a neighboring town had gone missing and we’d all joined the hunt, systematically scouring the forest until we found him, scared and exhausted. Once we realized that these searchers were walking a grid, it was a simple matter of waiting until they’d passed the area where we’d left Corey so we could sneak in.

Still they’d abandon the grid if they heard something. So Daniel stood guard with Kenjii, and I got down on all fours and crawled.

When I saw a white shoe peeking from under a bush, I crept closer and whispered, “It’s me.” Corey started at the sound of my voice, then caught himself.

“You guys shouldn’t have come back.”

“We did. Now,
shhh
, before I regret it.”

I crawled under the branches and gave him a quick, one-armed hug. I whispered that we’d wait a minute to make sure all was clear. Then I said, “We’re going to crawl out of here until we get to Daniel, so he can help you walk.”

“I can walk—”

“Don’t play the hero or you’ll get us captured.”

“That’s so sweet. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

“Hey, I hugged you, didn’t I? Now follow me and try not to make any noise.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He leaned down toward my ear. “I like it when you order me around. It’s really hot.”

I stifled a laugh, and for the first time since we’d gotten in that helicopter, I felt a little more like myself.

With his wounded knee, crawling wasn’t easy for Corey. It was more of a half-crawl, half-drag. When we reached Daniel and Kenjii, Corey shakily got to his feet, tested his knee, then slung an arm over each of us. We made our way through the forest, avoiding the flashlights. It was slow. Excruciatingly slow.

When we finally got back to Hayley and Sam, we sat Corey down and I took another look at his knee. It had scabbed over and was bruising. I touched it, gently, pretending to check it out, as I closed my eyes and concentrated on fixing it.

That was supposed to be one of my powers—healing. It worked with animals, but I didn’t know
how
it worked or if it would work on people at all. I tried anyway, focusing and brushing my fingertips over his knee, willing it to heal.

There was no way of telling whether it helped. With animals, it was never an instantaneous cure. They just seemed to get better strangely fast. I hoped for the same with Corey.

When I finished rewrapping Corey’s knee, Daniel said, “I know we’re all ready to drop. But if there’s any chance we can put a little more distance between us and them…”

“We should,” I finished.

Sam and Hayley struggled to their feet. I could tell they were exhausted, but they didn’t complain. Maybe they were beyond that.

Daniel put Corey’s arm over his shoulders and we set off again.

W
E HEADED FARTHER INLAND
, not really going anywhere, just going. No one talked. No one even asked what was going on, why were these people after us, why had they shot Nicole. Reasons weren’t important.

We trudged through the woods, Kenjii and I in the lead. After a while, I let her go ahead and pick the clearest path. The shock of Nicole’s death had dulled my senses. I didn’t see the beautifully gnarled old trees and the delicate new ones. I just saw trees. Endless trees. When I heard the mournful hoot of owls or the staccato patter of paws, I didn’t stop to listen. Even the smell of cedar seemed too sharp, acidic, as I strained to pick up every smell I usually hated on my forest walks—the stink of gas or diesel fumes, the acrid scent of smoke. Signs of life. Human life. There were none.

Even when I managed to pull my thoughts away from Nicole’s and Rafe’s deaths, I still found plenty to dwell on. I thought about Annie and wondered where she was, if she was alive, if she was safe. Could she take care of herself? She was nineteen, but since she began shape-shifting, she’d started regressing intellectually. Reverting to a more animal-like state. That’s why Rafe had been so determined to find the scientists who’d reactivated our skin-walker gene. Because he hoped they could help Annie. Would the same thing happen to me?

I thought about the man on the shore, too. My biological father. I tried not to dwell on that—didn’t matter, wouldn’t let it matter—but those thoughts only led to ones of my biological mother, who’d abandoned me as an infant. I used to say she was giving me a better chance at life, but Rafe told me she’d had two babies. Twins. She gave me up and kept my brother. My twin brother. Were they still out there? Was
he
still out there? Again, it wasn’t the time to dwell on that. But I did anyway. At least until I started thinking about my parents—my real parents—and worrying about them took over everything else.

I finally snapped out of it when I realized we’d started walking uphill. I blinked and looked around. Fewer trees. More rocks. Ahead? Pitch black. I had to crane my neck way back to see stars dotting the night sky.

“A mountain.”

“Hmm?” Daniel said.

I jumped, and realized he was right beside me. Probably had been for a while. He put his hand on my back to steady me and said, “What’d you say?”

“I know why I couldn’t see lights from the treetop. There’s a mountain in the way.”

“Damn.” Daniel lowered his voice. “Corey’s not going to be able to make it up that. Not tonight.”

“I don’t think any of us could make it up that tonight. Except maybe the two-time island wrestling champ.” I struggled for a smile.

“Don’t count on it. I’m running on fumes here.”

“Let’s find a spot for the night then. We should be far enough from the crash site by now.”

We headed off the deer trail we’d been following and found a clearing next to a dead tree that acted as a windbreak. Once Daniel and I pronounced it suitable, everyone pretty much just collapsed where they stood.

Daniel and I were the last ones standing. When I started to lower myself to the ground, he tapped my elbow and pointed to a spot a few feet away.

“Looks more comfortable,” he said.

There was a slight hollow there, where dried vegetation had collected. As I lay down, I could smell it, sharp and earthy, and the smell comforted me as much as the soft bedding. Kenjii curled up in front of me. Daniel stretched out behind me, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from him, and that relaxed me, too. If anyone had asked me five minutes ago if I could sleep, I’d have thought the question was insane, but my head had barely touched the ground before I was gone.

“Maya…”

I rolled over. Dead needles crackled under me. My foot bumped Daniel’s, and he mumbled in his sleep.

“Maya…”

Another restless toss. A branch jabbed me this time, hard enough to make me open my eyes. I could make out the faint gray of dawn to the east.

I blinked and looked around. Corey, Sam, and Hayley were about five feet away, sound asleep.

I yawned and curled up again.

“Maya… Help…”

I bolted upright. A breeze wafted past, and I caught a smell I recognized.

Rafe.

I got to my feet, careful not to wake the others. Kenjii snorted, but she was too exhausted to stir. Once away from camp, I lurched blindly through the forest, following that teasing scent on the breeze, pushing the branches aside, not slowing down to look for a path or even a clear route.

I stumbled into a stream. Icy water filled my shoes, and I slipped and fell to my knees.

“Maya…”

“Where are you?” I called.

“Over here. I’m…” A sharp intake of breath. “Hurt.”

“Okay, stay where you are. I’m coming.”

I broke into a jog. Only no matter how fast I ran, his scent and his voice didn’t get any stronger. I kept going until I tripped over a root and hit the ground hard.

“Maya…”

“Just—”

“Maya? Is that you?”

I pushed to my feet, wincing as I flexed my stinging hands. “I’m—”

“Maya! I need you.”

His voice seemed to come from all around me. I spun, trying to pinpoint it, but he kept yelling, more panicked with every shout, my own panic rising until I flung myself forward—

Hands grabbed me and yanked me back. For a moment, all I saw was the darkness of night. Then it fell away, dawn light filtering through the trees, and I was standing in front of Daniel, his fingers wrapped around my wrist. Kenjii was beside me, whimpering.

“Maya—”

“I have to go,” I said, wrenching from his grasp. “It’s Rafe. He’s out here. He’s hurt and…”

I turned and saw Sam and Hayley, then heard a crashing in the undergrowth. Corey lurched through, using a branch for a cane.

I blinked. Sam and Hayley hadn’t been there a second ago. I hadn’t heard Corey crashing through the bush. It hadn’t been this light out.

I looked up to see the sun now above the horizon. My eyes filled with tears.