The Calling

by Kelley Armstrong

"This is a private discussion," Daniel said.

  "Not if it's about Rafael. Everyone's pussyfooting around and I'm tired of it. The guy is an asshole and--"

  She followed our gaze and turned to see Rafe standing behind her, arms crossed.

  "What?" she said. "You don't think I'd say this to your face? I will. You're a self-centered jerk, Rafe Martinez. You've got everyone convinced that you sacrificed yourself for Maya and Daniel, but that's crap. You didn't let go. You slipped. Maya wanted to believe there was more to it, so she convinced Daniel--"

  "She didn't convince me of anything," Daniel said, his voice low. "I was there, too, Sam. He let go."

  "So? He's not actually dead, is he?"

  Rafe sputtered a laugh. She glowered at him, then at Corey, who'd joined them, grinning as he heard. Even Daniel had to wipe away a smile.

  "What?" she said. "He isn't."

  "The, uh, fact that he survived his heroic sacrifice really shouldn't be held against him," Daniel said. "Look, I'm fine with Rafe--"

  "No, you're not. Heroic sacrifice or not, he's still a jerk. He waltzed into Salmon Creek and stole Maya."

  "Stole?" I said.

  "It's not your fault. You two are both skin-walkers. It's animal magnetism. You can't help yourself." She glared at Corey, who was cracking up behind Rafe. "Stop that. You know it's true. Maya's too smart to fall for an arrogant, self-centered--"

  "Enough," Daniel said.

  Sam sighed. "I know you're trying to be fair, Daniel, but you need to stand up for yourself, not let this smirking bad boy wannabe waltz in and--"

  "Enough!" Daniel's roar made everyone stumble back. He climbed the steps and stopped in front of Sam. "I don't know what your problem is, Sam, but you've now insulted everyone here except Corey."

  "Oh, she already zinged me," Corey said. "I started rubbing my temples and she suggested I don't really get headaches. It just hurts me to think."

  "It was a joke," Sam said, flinching under Daniel's scowl.

  "Inside," he said. "Everyone. We need to leave. Now."

  "But--" I began.

  Only Rafe heard me. He tapped Daniel as he passed. "I think Maya still needs to talk to you."

  Daniel turned.

  "I do," I said. "It'll only take a minute."

  "We'll talk on the way," he said. "We really need to get going, and if Corey's getting a headache--"

  "It's not bad," Corey interjected. "I'll be--"

  "You won't be fine. We need to look after that first. Now, everyone, grab your stuff and let's go."

  After they'd gone by, Rafe came back to me, still standing on the garage steps.

  "When we reach the highway, say you need a pit stop," he whispered, lips at my ear. "I'll distract the others and you can take him aside."

  "Thanks. I know you'd rather I didn't tell--"

  "I've gotten used to the idea. And you want to tell him, which is more important."

  Corey shouted, "Come on, you two," and I hurried in to make sure he took his pills before we left.

  THIRTY-TWO

  WE TOOK THE TRUCK. Corey's mom's SUV would have been more comfortable, but also extremely recognizable with the police logo. Not that it mattered, since we were already being tracked, but I could hardly say that.

  Daniel drove. I rode shotgun. I'd tried to get Sam to take that spot, so her leg would be more comfortable. She'd refused. We opened the window into the topper, though, so we could talk, and left the curtains open.

  We took the worst of the back roads. Again, that wasn't necessary. Again, I couldn't say so.

  Daniel was driving along an empty dirt road when a service truck pulled out in front of us. He eased off the gas.

  "It's okay," I said. "It looks legit."

  "So did the fire-and-rescue--"

  The truck swerved suddenly, swinging around until it blocked the road.

  "Reverse!" Corey yelled.

  Daniel had already put the truck into reverse and it was spinning backward. Then he hit the brakes hard enough to send everyone flying.

  I looked in the side mirror to see two vans blocking the road behind us.

  "They've boxed us in," I said.

  Rafe was on his knees, peering out the rear window on the topper. When he turned, I could see genuine shock in his eyes.

  "They didn't trust you," I murmured.

  "What?" Daniel said.

  "Nothing, just--Is that a lane? There! Go down there!"

  He did, but as he turned into the lane, I realized it was a driveway.

  "Doesn't matter," Daniel said, hitting the gas. "I'll get us as far as I can."

  As he rocketed along the lane, I scanned the surrounding forest for any opening big enough to drive through. There wasn't one. Just narrow tracks, ending at a cottage, trees hemming in all sides.

  "We're going to have to run," Daniel said. "Everyone out! Into the woods! Split up!"

  As we scrambled out, I yelled, "Sam! She can't run."

  Daniel swore and raced around to the rear. Corey and Rafe were helping Sam down.

  "Go," she said.

  "Corey and I can carry you," Daniel said. "Just grab on--"

  "Then three of us will get caught instead of one. Go."

  She pushed Daniel. When he hesitated, she shoved him hard enough to knock him off his feet.

  "You know it's the right thing," she said as he scrambled up. "They won't hurt me. Without you, I'm the only benandanti they have."

  We didn't know that, of course. But she was right that we'd never escape carrying her.

  "We'll come back for you," Daniel said.

  "After you have backup, please. No offense, but you guys aren't up to fighting these people."

  Daniel nodded. "But we will come back."

  "I know." She hugged him. It was an awkward, one-armed embrace that caught him off guard. She pushed him away before he could say anything. Then she turned to me. "Look after him. Don't let him do anything stupid."

  "I will."

  When I looked for Rafe, he wasn't there. Then I saw him jogging back from the woods.

  "Debugged," he said to me.

  Daniel gave us a look, but I couldn't explain then.

  We ran into the forest just as the service truck was on us. Kenjii brought up the rear, herding us. When a man shouted, she wheeled and snarled. Then she charged.

  "Kenjii, no!"

  The shot hit her square in the chest and she reared up, toppling over backward and hitting the ground, and if Daniel and Rafe hadn't both been holding me back, nothing would have stopped me from going to her. But they held me and all I could do was fight and scream at them to let me go, until Daniel said,

  "It's a dart, Maya." He pointed at her, struggling to rise. "Just a tranquilizer dart."

  That stopped my heart from pounding, but it didn't mean I wanted to abandon her. They had to drag me away, Corey helping, until I heard someone say, "Load the dog in the back with the girl," and I knew there was nothing I could do.

  So I ran, stumbling at first, still seeing Kenjii lying in the dirt, struggling to rise. Daniel kept me upright and kept me moving.

  "They aren't following us," Corey said. "Why aren't they following us?"

  "They know it won't be hard to find four kids tearing through the woods," Rafe said. "Daniel's right. We need to split up. Better than that, we need a target. One person to make more noise than all the others put together. That'd be me." A wry smile my way. "I'm good at causing trouble."

  "It'll work better if there are two targets," Corey said. "Rafe and I go separate ways. We make noise. You two keep going. We hope that splitting their attention means no one gets caught."

  "I'll do it," Daniel said.

  Corey thumped him on the back. "I know you would, but you and Maya are our best chances of getting help. Don't worry--I don't plan to get captured. We'll meet you guys..."

  "At the ferry," I said. "They won't expect us to follow the same plan."

  "But how would they know what we had planned?" Corey sa
id.

  "They must have planted bugs," I said quickly. "Maybe in the house or in the truck. We'll meet at the ferry. They won't expect that."

  Before they left, I took Rafe aside. "Will you be coming back?" I whispered.

  "They double-crossed me. I don't know what that means for Annie." His eyes darkened, but he shook it off. "I can't trust them. Better I come with you, and try to rescue her."

  "Good. I mean--"

  "I know what you mean." He turned to leave, then came back with a folded note. He shoved it in my pocket. "Just something I was going to give you before I left."

  He jogged away. Then Daniel and I took off. We moved as quickly as we could, making the least amount of noise possible.

  "They know everything," I said finally. "The St. Clouds. They--"

  "--had Rafe bugged. He told you."

  I glanced back, but his face was expressionless. Intentionally expressionless.

  "The St. Clouds caught him coming into Salmon Creek," I said. "They have Annie. They used her to get him to trap us. But that's not what happened here. He was supposed to get us to Vancouver so they could grab us there. Once we arrived, I was going to turn on him, say I knew he was working with them. We'd take off. They'd think he'd done the best he could. That was the plan."

  I looked back again. Daniel's face still wasn't giving anything away, but he nodded, as if he understood.

  "Obviously they figured out what he was doing," I said. "Or they fed him a false plan, so they could make sure he didn't double-cross them." I stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I tried to tell you."

  He paused, then swore. "Back at the house."

  "I should have tried harder. I'm sorry."

  "You did try hard. I was too distracted to listen. It wouldn't have changed anything anyway. We have to keep going." He turned me to the west. "We'll head toward that ridge. Find a place to hole up."

  As we raced toward the ridge, I heard a cry. Then a shout. Rafe? Corey? There was no way of knowing. When a second shout rang out, I told myself they hadn't both been captured, but I wasn't sure I believed that.

  Daniel and I kept running. We could see the ridge now. Safety. Just get--

  Something whizzed past me.

  "Dan--!" I whirled, shouting a warning, only to see him stagger backward, a dart embedded in his shoulder. Another zinged past my arm. Daniel yanked me to the ground. We crawled into thick bushes.

  I tugged the dart from his shoulder. He blinked hard, eyes unfocused. He shook his head to clear it.

  "I'm fine," he said. "Just a little woozy. Must not have gone in deep enough."

  I scanned the ridge, and I caught a flicker of light reflecting off metal.

  "Sharpshooter," I whispered. "But you can't do that with tranq darts."

  "These people can resurrect extinct supernatural races, Maya," Daniel whispered. "I think their technology goes a little beyond the norm."

  "Right. Okay." I took a deep breath. "Follow me."

  I started crawling through the brush. I'd gone only a few steps when I realized Daniel wasn't behind me. I turned to see him on his stomach, blinking hard.

  "Nope," he said. "It went in deep enough."

  I scrambled back to him.

  "Go on, Maya," he said.

  "No."

  Ignoring his arguments, I tried to lift him, arm over my shoulders. When that failed, I tried dragging him from the bushes, pleading with him to help me, to just get himself a little ways away from where he'd fallen, please just a little ways. But he was almost unconscious, fighting just to keep his head up.

  "Go on, Maya," he said, words slurring. "Remember what we said. Only one has to get away."

  "Then it'll have to be Rafe or Corey. I'm not leaving--"

  "They got Rafe and Corey. You know they did. Go."

  I shook my head. "I won't."

  "One of us has to get away." He managed to look up at me, his eyes so unfocused I knew he couldn't see anything. "Please, Maya. Go."

  He dropped then, a dead weight, falling on his side. I could hear a team coming.

  "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'll make it up to you." I bent and kissed Daniel's cheek. Then I left.

  THIRTY-THREE

  ONLY I DIDN'T LEAVE. Not the way he wanted. I couldn't. I hunkered down nearby as two strangers retrieved Daniel. They said nothing, just loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him away. Two others continued the hunt for me. I waited until they had passed, then hurried after the stretcher.

  They took Daniel back to the cabin. I prayed this meant they'd set up camp there, so that would be where they'd hold the captives. Of course that would be too easy. I arrived to see them loading Daniel into the back of the van. They were talking to someone inside.

  "--find the Delaney girl," a man said.

  I recognized the voice that answered. Dr. Inglis, head of the laboratory in Salmon Creek.

  "Once Maya's in the forest, she's gone," she said. "She's as at home there as any wild animal. Our only hope was to catch her with one of the others." She sighed. "We'll give it a few minutes. Then we're pulling out. The helicopter is waiting back in town. I'd like to get these kids on it before they wake up. That gun doesn't carry a big enough dose to keep these guys out long and Bryant took the rest."

  I peered out at the setup. Just the one van. Had they already taken Sam and Kenjii?

  I had to make sure that van didn't leave. Give Daniel time to wake up. If I could put a hole in one of the tires, maybe two, that would stop them. I just needed--

  My arms ached. I rubbed one absently, and felt the muscles knot. When I looked down, they were moving under my skin.

  Not now. Please not now.

  I took a deep breath. Nothing to worry about. This had happened before and it didn't go anyplace. The only time I had shape-shifted, I'd been asleep. Just ignore it and focus--

  My legs gave way, like someone yanked them from under me. I crashed to the ground.

  "What was that?" the man said.

  "Deer, probably," Dr. Inglis said. "But go check it out."

  I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn't obey. The muscles kept spasming and seizing, and it was all I could do to keep from gasping. Still, I managed to pull myself deeper into the undergrowth.

  "Nothing," the man said.

  I collapsed, body convulsing, the world going dark as my mind slid toward unconsciousness.

  No, please no. Not now. Please not now.

  I panted for air, my body wracked with sudden fever. I tugged at my shirt.

  Right. I had to get my clothing off. If I was going to shape-shift, I had to get everything off, and it gave me something to focus on, to stay conscious.

  Undressing wasn't easy. The signals from my brain seemed to short out on the way to my hands and my body kept jerking. When I finally fumbled most of my clothes off, I blacked out.

  I came to, stretching, body aching. When I reached out a hand and saw a paw instead, I leaped onto all fours and peered through the trees, heart pounding, certain I'd see an empty driveway.

  The van was still there. I lowered myself to my belly and crept through the undergrowth.

  "--really have to get going," Dr. Inglis was saying. "I don't want those boys waking up."

  "Let me check in with the team one more time."

  I reached the tree line and looked out. How was I going to rescue anyone now? I couldn't open the van door. I couldn't slash the van's tires--

  I stopped and lifted a paw. My claws shot out. I let out a soft chuff.

  That made it easy.

  I started forward, gaze fixed on the rear tire, farthest from where Dr. Inglis and the man stood--

  I stopped. So I slash the tires and then what? Fight them all? Including the team out in the woods?

  Time to reconsider.

  I retreated to a tree, dug in my claws, and started to climb. I got about five feet off the ground before realizing I was forgetting something.

  I headed back into the woods to get what I needed, then I
came out and climbed the tree. There was a branch a few feet from the top of the van, but I went higher, so I'd be hidden. I stretched out on the limb to wait.

  "They're still looking," the man said as he signed off the radio.

  "The boys are going to wake up any second--"

  "I know. I told them we're leaving. They can keep looking for the skin-walker girl."

  "Her name is Maya," Dr. Inglis said.

  The man shrugged. As they got into the van, I crouched on the branch, tail behind me like a tightrope walker's pole. When my balance was right, I leaped, aiming for the limb overhanging the van, but I wasn't that agile yet. I caught the branch, slipped, and struck the roof with a bang as the van started backing up.

  The driver hit the brakes. I flattened myself on the roof.

  The man rolled down the driver's window and peered into the side mirror. Dr. Inglis did the same on the passenger's side.

  "Looks like you hit a fallen branch," Dr. Inglis said. "Just back over it."

  The van continued down the lane. Then it turned left, heading back to town. Another turn, onto a dirt road so narrow that evergreen branches steepled over it and I had to flatten out again to avoid getting poked in the eye.

  I waited until we'd left the other road behind. Then I lifted my big front paw and brought it down on the roof with a thump. When the van didn't slow, I did it again, twice in succession, pounding hard.

  The driver eased off the gas. Dr. Inglis's window was still cracked open, and her voice came through it.

  "It's the boys waking up," she said. "Hit the gas, not the brakes."

  The driver did, the van sailing over the rutted road, me clinging to the top.

  I thought of another way to get their attention. But could I do it? I wasn't even sure I knew how.

  I closed my eyes, focused all my energy deep in my gut and then--

  I let out a scream. A true cougar scream, the nails-down-a-chalkboard wail that sends campers fleeing their tents in the middle of the night.

  The driver hit the brakes. And I went sailing along the roof, my claws scraping uselessly across the metal, the clothing I'd retrieved fluttering around me, blocking my vision as I tumbled over the front of the van and hit the hard-packed dirt.

  I lifted my head, dazed, and found myself staring into the grille. The driver slammed the van into reverse and the vehicle jumped back, ready to make a fast getaway.

  "No!" Dr. Inglis shouted. "It could be Maya."

  The van stopped. It idled there as they argued inside. I heard the word gun but that was all I caught because as they talked, I was creeping past the van.