The others shift restlessly for a few minutes but then drop back off into sleep. They're always exhausted, so the soft noises of Dominic crying aren't enough to keep them awake. Gradually, those noises trail off too. Maya falls asleep a few minutes later.
They're up with the sun. Dawn and dusk are the safest times to be out, so it's time to forage. Kyra has built up the fire. Ryan is making tea, an herbal mixture that they got from Cedric Solomon. They're using the leaves for the third time, so the tea is weak, practically tasteless, but they drink it anyway.
"Sorry about last night," Dominic says as Spencer passes around small portions of salt pork and beans.
"Don't worry about it," Jared says, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. "Not the first time one of us has had a breakdown. Won't be the last."
Dominic nods, gaze fixed on his plate. "Thanks."
Maya eats quickly and licks her fingers. "Dominic, I want you to stay here and work on your magic today. Jared, Gabby, stay here and guard the perimeter. Keep an eye out for those wendigos that have been lurking around lately. The rest of you are on foraging duty with me. Don't go north of zone three. Find a safe place to stash yourself once the patrols are out, and be back by sunset."
Everyone agrees, and Maya pulls on her tattered jacket. She's less than half a block away when her shoelace breaks. She mutters curses underneath her breath and tries to reknot it, but there's not enough of it left. She doesn't want to risk going without because if she has to run, her shoe might fall off. So she walks briskly back to the warehouse, keeping an eye out for patrols.
"You know, if you really wanted to see your mom, we could find a way," Jared is saying as Maya comes in.
"No," Dominic replies. "I mean, I want to, I just…I don't want to put her in danger." He huffs out a sick little laugh and says, "I don't want to put myself in danger either."
"We'd obviously have to be careful," Jared says. "I'm just saying, it's not impossible."
"It's not impossible, just very inadvisable," Maya says loudly, and sees Jared grimace as she walks over. "Jared, I know that you love your mom, and not seeing her is tough on you. But don't try to give Dominic something he knows damn well he can't have."
"He could have it if we were willing to take the risk," Jared says, getting that stubborn look to his face.
"We're not," Maya says. "Dominic, give me your shoelace. Mine broke and you won't need yours if you're staying here today."
"Just because you're not willing to take the risk doesn't mean that—"
"Jared, this isn't a discussion," Maya says. "You knew the rules when you signed up."
"That doesn't mean much when my only other option was to roll over and die," Jared snaps back as Dominic quietly unlaces his shoe.
"No, it doesn't," Maya agrees. "But I'm still the alpha. This isn't a democracy. My job is to keep everyone in this pack safe, even if they're too naïve to appreciate it." She snatches the shoelace out of Dominic's hand. "Jared, go forage. Gabby will stay with Dominic."
Jared growls, low and defensive, but then stands up and walks away. Maya sits down next to Dominic to lace up her boot.
"I'm sorry," Dominic says.
"Don't be. It's not your fault, and you handled it just fine. I was glad to hear you handle it, to be honest. Glad to know that you understand why you can't put any of us, all of us, in danger like that. Jared doesn't get it, or maybe he does but just ignores it. If he keeps being pushy with you, let me know, okay?"
Dominic nods. "Okay, I will."
"Now stay here and focus on the possibility that we'll find some good eats today," Maya says, and Dominic laughs and agrees.
*~*~*
If someone had asked, Nick would have said that he knew his daughter pretty well. They got along most of the time, except for the rough patch when Jackie was a preteen. These days, Jackie was open and honest with him. They could sit down and talk about a lot of different things.
He knows that being adopted is hard, especially interracial adoption. Most of what had happened when Jackie was in her early teens, he had chalked up to Jackie finally being old enough to really understand what had happened. And God knows that there were some family members who really didn't help. Helen had never understood why he had taken Jackie in, never approved of the decision.
There were times when Nick bitterly regretted marrying Helen, even though on a day-to-day basis they get along fairly well. They treat their marriage like a business, and it functions well enough. Looking back on it, he can't really explain why he had agreed to any of it. It was just what everyone told him he should do, what everyone expected him to do. They'd been dating a year. He wasn't in love with her and doubted she had ever been in love with him.
It was Mitchell, really. Mitchell, who was there at every turn, telling Nick that he had to 'grow up,' that he had to stop 'mooning around over childhood fantasies.' Mitchell telling him what a respectable son would do, telling him 'don't disappoint me, son.' Telling him that it was time to stop 'running around with werewolf trash.'
Nick gives a quiet snort and shakes his head. Marrying Helen had in no way ended his relationship with Ryan, and it hadn't taken long for Mitchell to figure that out. Mitchell disapproved of basically everything in Nick's life, and along with Helen, he had frequently expressed his lack of comprehension on why Nick would choose to raise another man's child.
Everyone tried to apply too much reason to it. The plain fact was, Nick had pulled a sobbing child into his arms and wanted to help her. Wanted to protect her. Wanted to be her father. It was complete chance that he had even met Jackie. Leo had found her in the house with the bodies of her parents, and one of the police officers had taken her to the station. She was the daughter of one of their brethren, and they took good care of her, but they were busy trying to solve a murder and control the riots that had broken out after it was revealed that the killer had been a werewolf.
Leo had been down at the station so he could give a statement on what he had found when he had gone to the Jacksons. He had left his car at their house, having been taken to the police station in a cruiser, and called Nick for a ride. When Nick came to pick him up, he saw Jackie huddled in the corner, sucking her thumb, largely ignored by the adults who swirled around her. His heart broke for her in a split second. A couple of quick questions ascertained that there were no plans for her custody, and Nick had volunteered to take her home.
What had happened when Jackie was twelve? Nick closes his eyes and tries to think back. It was only five years previous, but it seemed like a lot had happened since then. But the thing was, nothing in particular had happened that year. It was after Ryan's family had been killed. Mitchell came to town to help settle things down, and that was when Cold Creek had finally been cut off. But Jackie hadn't cared about that. Besides, that had happened gradually. Ryan had presented it like there had been one defining event that had changed everything.
"Helen," he says, helping her with the dishes, "do you remember the first time Jackie ran away from home?"
Helen glances over her shoulder and frowns faintly. "Yes. Why?"
"I'm just thinking back…trying to remember if there was something specific that happened to trigger that."
Helen's frown deepens. "I don't know. You're the one who talked to her afterwards."
Which is true. Helen had little enough time for her adopted daughter; the more emotional Jackie got, the more Helen withdrew. One of the patrols had collared Jackie and dragged her back home, but she had been sulky and uncommunicative. She had finally muttered something about the other kids giving her a hard time about her parents. Nick had given her a thorough lecture on why it wasn't safe to wander around by herself, then let it go. But Ryan was right—everything had changed after that day. Jackie had started refusing to do her chores, skipping school, mouthing off, stealing things. She even started using the phrase Nick had always dreaded—'you're not my real dad.'
If the others kids had been giving her a hard time, it might have caused
that effect. The children of the militia were tough. Nick had heard them refer to people who got killed as weak or stupid, even after repeatedly being told not to. They were too young to realize how precarious things were in the field, how one moment of inattention or bad luck could result in someone's death. They had their share of racists too, and children are well known for repeating what their parents had told them. Nick had certainly never allowed it while he was within earshot, but odds were good it happened when he wasn't.
"Why are you suddenly wondering about this?" Helen asks, drawing his attention back to the present.
"Just thinking about getting Jackie to take a noncombatant position," Nick says. "That's all."
Helen shrugs. "Why don't you just ask her?"
"About why she turned into demon spawn after her twelfth birthday? I can't imagine that would go over well."
"I meant about taking a different position in the militia."
"Oh. I asked her about that, she said his brothers and sisters were out there risking their lives in the field and she didn't feel he could do any less." Nick shook his head wearily. It was the sort of sentiment he found admirable. He just wished it wasn't coming from his daughter. "I'm just not sure how to get through to her."
"Well, hopefully she'll enjoy the time off," Helen says. "Hand me that platter."
Nick does as he's told and finishes with the dishes in silence.
*~*~*
Winter is the most dangerous time in Cold Creek. The shortened days leave less time for foraging, which results in hunger. Hunger plus cold lead to an increase in risky behaviors. Maya has been very firm on everyone being in by sunset, no matter what they have or haven't found. If they go to bed hungry, so be it. Better hungry in bed than dead on the street.
It's the cold that's the worst, though. The more the temperatures drop, the stronger the urge to abandon caution and find a warm place, any warm place to sleep. Even just lighting a fire is dangerous. It can attract attention, and not just the militia. All the supernatural creatures are competing for territory and resources, and some of them are more nasty than others. Maya and her pack have been having increasing trouble with some of the creatures in town, especially with a wendigo family. They had caught Kyra and nearly eaten her before they'd been able to rescue her. Relations had been tense since then. The Larsons, being almost as large a family as the Callaghans were a pack, needed more space. They had taken over the warehouse that the pack had been using as a hideout, and Maya's annoyed about it.
The longer winter drags on, the worse it gets. The constant cold and dark gets to people. And although Maya doesn't like to admit it, the pack doesn't do well with being penned in together. The more time they spend together, the shorter tempers get. This is their second winter as a pack, and she's amazed that nobody has killed anyone else. But they're surviving. It seems like it's been years since the first real cold snap, so the worst of it might be over soon.
At the moment, they're holed up in the ruins of what used to be a grocery store, and the sun is going to be setting in less than fifteen minutes. She looks up as Siobhan and Marcus come in, and some of the tension leaves her body. They're the last. Everyone made it.
But she's barely relaxed when she hears footsteps pounding towards the den. The others look up, startled, as Jackie bursts through the door. She heaves in a breath and gasps out, "Raid—right behind me—go—go!"
Everyone tenses to run, and a few of them glance at Maya. She shouts, "Pair up, library in two days, go!" and they scatter like Jackie dropped a bomb. Maya takes off too. When they split into pairs, she doesn't have a partner anymore, since the pack has an odd number now. Ryan will stay with Gabby. The others just grab whoever's closest to them when trouble hits.
She's made it out the back door and is halfway up the fence when it occurs to her that she doesn't see Jackie among the fleeing teenagers. She hesitates, then drops back down. "Maya, come on!" Ryan hisses, already over the fence.
"I don't see Jackie," Maya says. "Go ahead, I'll be fine."
Ryan doesn't wait. Gabby seems to want to, but he has her by the wrist and pulls her away. Maya runs back into the warehouse and looks around to see Jackie crouched behind some long-collapsed scaffolding, obviously hoping she can go unseen while she catches her breath. It occurs to Maya that Jackie had probably just covered several miles at top speed, and even the best-conditioned human would have trouble with that. "Come on!" she shouts.
"I'll—be okay—" Jackie says.
Maya doesn't argue. She grabs Jackie and slings her over her shoulder. The teenager yelps, but it's more out of surprise than an active protest. Maya goes back out the door and over the fence with Jackie clinging to her.
For several long minutes, the only noise is Maya's feet hitting the pavement and the whistle of the wind in her ears. She heads for an old building on the edge of town where she's stayed before and climbs up the fire escape. Once they've reached the roof, she sets Jackie down. The teenager is still trying to catch her breath but manages to say, "Piggy-back would be better next time."
"Then next time, say something about not being able to run instead of just waiting to die," Maya shoots back.
Jackie grumbles at her but doesn't actively protest. They both sit there in silence until she finally sits up. A look of slight surprise crosses her face, and she says, "Wow."
"What?" Maya turns to see what Jackie is looking at, expecting some sort of danger. Instead, what she sees is a beautiful sunset. It's just gone below the horizon, and the high vantage point gives them a gorgeous view of the mouth of the valley. She sits down next to Jackie on the edge of the roof and they both watch the light fade out of the sky.
"What do you think it's like out there?" Jackie finally asks, her voice quiet.
"I don't know," Maya says.
Jackie kicks her feet back and forth. "Mitchell always talks about it like it's a war zone. He tells all the townspeople that the supernatural creatures have taken over, that they banded together and got control."
Maya blinks at her. "But—"
"I know. He has the militia spread rumors about the opposite while they do patrols, whenever they think there might be monsters in earshot." Jackie looks pensively out into the distance. "He has everyone sitting right in the palm of his hand. But I guess it doesn't matter. We can't get out."
"The others talk about trying. Jared thinks we can make it." Maya shakes her head. "Maybe he's right. Maybe if you helped us—"
"I can't," Jackie says. She sees Maya's face start to crease back into its familiar scowl and says, "I would if I could. But I can't. I don't have the clearance yet. The perimeter patrol is pretty high up. Even the people who are on that patrol don't actually know who's being assigned and where. I know that Mitchell has snipers out there but I have no idea where they're stationed." She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Maya, but I can't help you get out of here."
"Well." Maya huffs out a breath. "It's not your fault."
"I know that. It was an expression of sympathy, not an apology."
Maya gives her a sideways look with one eyebrow arched in judgment, but then shakes her head and lets it go. "What happened today? Do you know? I mean, you usually get more notice than that—"
"Ugh, yeah." Jackie scrubs both hands over her hair. "It takes Leo and his guys time to suit up, and then they don't really move quickly, so I usually have about a half hour to get to whoever's in trouble. And that's if it's a short notice raid, which if the tip comes in at the wrong time, it isn't. Depending on who the target is and the time of day, I sometimes have a few hours. But this time, I heard the tip come in while I was in training. First I had to fake a sprained ankle, then I had to convince the medic I was okay, then I had to limp away until nobody could see me, which meant I couldn't get to my bike. To be honest, if it had been anyone but you guys, I probably wouldn't have risked it."
"What was the tip?"
Jackie rolls her eyes. "Somebody saw Jared's mom, followed her until she met up with Jared for th
eir daily hug-fest, and then followed Jared."
"God damn it—" Maya's temper nearly snaps right then and there. "I've told him a million times that if he has to keep in touch with her, he needs to be careful—"
"It's his mom," Jackie says, with a shrug. "I mean, yes, okay, he absolutely should be careful and you should probably kick his ass, but…he's not going to stop seeing her. Would you be able to cut off yours, if she was still alive?"
Maya scowls at her, but manages at the last second not to snap, 'What do you know about it' which would be the father of all stupid questions. She turns back to the light fading out of the sky. "One of these days, he's going to get us all killed. That or he'll take off and drag a few of the others with him and get them killed. And it's going to be my fault."
"No, it won't," Jackie says. "You can't control him. If he does something stupid and gets killed, that's not on you."
"I brought him into the pack."
"If you hadn't done that, he'd be dead already." Jackie shivers. The temperature is dropping, and she can see her breath. The run had kept her warm, but the adrenaline surge has worn off.
"You're going to get yourself killed too," Maya snaps at her.
"Not me," Jackie says, with a smirk that she can't help. "I'm too smart."
"You're an idiot."
Jackie shrugs. Then she shivers again. Maya reaches out, hesitantly, and pulls Jackie against her. Jackie goes stiff in surprise, but doesn't protest. In fact, she cuddles a little closer, and Maya feels something stir inside her stomach that tells her that she just made a big mistake. "It's going to be bitter cold this week," Jackie says, oblivious to the feelings that Maya is now wrestling with. "I was going to bring you guys some of those heat packs that Leo hands out to the night patrols."
The More Things Change Page 8
