The Calling

by Kelley Armstrong

  "What about Nicole?" Sam asked as they came into view.

  They were still eyeing me warily, but I ignored it. Explanations later. Right now, I had to tell them what Moreno had said about Nicole. And, admittedly, I was happy for the diversion.

  "So Nicole's alive," Sam said after I finished talking.

  "Somewhere." Daniel's look said he knew exactly where this was headed. "They won't be holding her around here."

  "Why not?" I said. "She's their best source of information about us. And she'd be the perfect lure."

  "Which is exactly why we can't try to rescue her. It's a setup."

  As Daniel and I argued, the others were quiet, still assimilating the news.

  Corey spoke first. "Okay, it's freaking amazing that Nic is alive. I have no idea whether we should look for her or not, but I'm pretty sure we need to discuss a few other things. Like what the hell happened to Maya back there."

  "She's a shape-shifter," Daniel said. "Eventually she's going to be able to turn into a cougar. Sam and I? We're demon-hunters."

  Corey studied Daniel's face, then mine.

  "This is going to be a long talk, isn't it?" he said at last.

  "Yep. Better sit down." Daniel pointed at the bag in Corey's hand. "And break out the granola bars and drink boxes."

  FIFTEEN

  WE TOLD THEM EVERYTHING--WELL, almost everything. I was saving the stuff I'd found out at the cabin. This was enough for now. Too much actually. Despite having seen our powers in action--my near-transformation and Daniel knocking out the pilot--Corey and Hayley couldn't seem to process it.

  Corey kept saying, "Are you sure?" tentatively, as if he didn't want to insult our intelligence, but he couldn't help thinking there had to be a logical explanation. Hayley just stared at me.

  When I finally stopped talking, she said, "Are you crazy?"

  "Hey!" Sam said.

  "No, seriously. You think you're going to change into a cougar? Maybe in thirty years you'll start thinking college boys are kinda hot, but that's the only sort of cougar you can turn into, Maya. Anything else is nuts."

  "Right," Sam said. "So you weren't here an hour ago? When her face started changing?"

  "Yes, something did happen to her face. I don't know what it was, but I'll bet it has to do with those vitamins and drugs they were feeding us back in Salmon Creek. That's what all this is about. They were doing medical experiments on us. It explains what Daniel did on the helicopter and what happened with Maya's face."

  "And Rafe?" Sam said. "Does medical research explain why Rafe thought he was a skin-walker, too, when he'd never even been to the clinic?"

  "I ... I don't know." Hayley squared her shoulders. "No one ever saw Rafe do anything magical. He just thought he was one of these skin-walkers. That's from your religion or whatever, right?"

  "My religion?" I said.

  "The stuff you people believe in."

  "You people?" Corey said. "Holy hell, Hayley. Did you really just say that?"

  She went beet red. "I--I didn't mean--"

  "We know exactly what you meant," Sam said. "Got a racist streak there, huh? Surprise, surprise."

  "I--I didn't mean it like that," Hayley stammered. "I just meant their, you know, heritage. Indian. Um, Native. Or--or--"

  "It's okay," I said. "I'm sure you didn't mean it like that. Yes, I'm Navajo. Mostly anyway. Rafe's mother was Hopi. Both have skin-walkers as part of their belief systems, but I hadn't even heard the word until a few days ago. My mom--my adopted one--is Haida. That's what I know. No skin-walkers there."

  I tried to keep my tone even. Explaining, not lecturing. Whatever problems I'd had with Hayley in the past, she'd never showed any prejudice. It still pissed me off, though.

  "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm really sorry. I'm just... I'm going to take a walk, okay?"

  "You can't wander off," Sam said. "We're being chased by--"

  "She's fine," Daniel said. "I think we should all take a walk. Were you done looking at the ATV, Corey?"

  Corey hesitated. "Um, no. You want me to see if I can get it running?"

  Daniel nodded.

  "What?" Sam said. "We don't have time--"

  "Yes, we do." Daniel's voice took on that low, soothing tone. "We're going to walk back to the ATV. Hayley's going to follow us. Corey's going to try to fix the machine. And we'll all relax. Just take twenty minutes to relax. If he can't get it going, we'll set out again."

  I suspected Daniel's skill wouldn't work on a fellow benandanti, but Sam would do as he said anyway. And it did calm Hayley and Corey. They nodded, and we made our way back to the ATV.

  The ATV still sat there, keys in the ignition. Sam stalked off to sit on a fallen log and glower at us. Hayley murmured that she was going to walk a bit and promised to stay close. Daniel and I stood watch, leaving Corey to the ATV. He was good mechanically--without him, Daniel's truck would have been relegated to a scrap heap long ago. Right now, it gave him some time to think. Same with Hayley and her quiet moment in the woods.

  We couldn't force them to accept that we had supernatural powers. Maybe they'd decide that these people were after us for another reason. Either way they'd keep running and that was all that mattered.

  After a while, Corey turned on his haunches and said, "Too much damage. I'd need tools and even then I doubt I'd get her started."

  "It was worth a shot," Daniel said. "Thanks."

  Corey nodded and wiped a spot of grease from the red ATV's paint. "I don't have the same symptoms as you guys," he finally said. "But I know you think I'm something, too. Something supernatural."

  "There were two other terms on that list," Daniel said. "Xana and sileni."

  "Which are...?"

  "I have no idea. I tried a Web search on all the terms. I couldn't get results for any, including benandanti and skin-walkers, which makes no sense, because we know they're part of folklore."

  "We think the St. Clouds were blocking those terms," I said. "In case something like this happened and we tried looking them up. If we want clues, we need to look at the extracurricular activities they pushed at us. Clearly, with Daniel and me, they were trying to boost our natural talents: fighting for him and running for me. Serena, Hayley, and Nicole were all in the choir and on the swim team. Plus they're all blonde and pretty."

  "Um, thanks," Hayley said as she came over. "But what..." Her brow furrowed. "You think we're mermaids?"

  "Isn't that sirens?" Corey said. "Those chicks we studied in Greek mythology. Lured guys to their deaths by singing."

  Hayley glared at him. "I thought you liked my singing."

  "Yeah, because apparently it's magical. That's how you seduce guys."

  "Seduce them? Or kill them?"

  "Same thing, kind of, if you think about it. Like that other guy in mythology. The one who got his hair cut and lost all his power. Mr. Parks said it symbolized men losing their power by falling for women."

  "No," I said. "Mr. Parks said it symbolizes men's irrational fear of losing their power to women. And unless I'm remembering it wrong, mermaids don't sing and sirens don't swim."

  "Ariel sang in The Little Mermaid," Corey said.

  Sam came over to join us. "Do I even want to know why you remember her name?"

  "Mermaids and sirens weren't on the list," Daniel said. "Maya's point is that Hayley, Nicole, and Serena shared common characteristics, which probably means they're the same type, and it has something to do with singing and swimming."

  "And being pretty," Hayley said.

  "That's not a superpower," Sam muttered.

  Hayley turned to her. "No? How many times have you gotten into movies for free because you're a tough warrior chick?"

  "What about me?" Corey said. "What's my superpower?"

  Silence fell.

  "Oh, come on. I'm good at a lot of stuff. Right?"

  More silence.

  "You're cute," Hayley said. "Well, cute enough."

  "Fun to be around," I offered.

  "So I
'm ... a clown?"

  "At least you're a cute clown," Hayley said. "Not a scary one."

  "You're a good fighter," Daniel said.

  "And you're a good drinker," Hayley added. "You can hold your liquor better than anyone I know."

  "Uh-huh," Corey said. "So Maya will grow up to be an amazing healer who can change into a killer cat. Daniel and Sam will roam the country hunting criminals and demons. Hayley and Nicole will divide their time between recording platinum albums and winning gold medals in swimming. And me? I'll be the cute, funny guy sitting at the bar, hoping for a good brawl to break out."

  "In other words, exactly where you were already headed," Hayley said.

  We all laughed at that, even Corey. We had to. For now, this was the best way to deal with it. Tease. Poke fun. As if we were comparing Halloween costumes. Look, I'm a superhero. Yeah? Well, so am I.

  "I'm sure you have powers," I said. "You're just a late bloomer."

  "Thanks... I think."

  "Your headaches might be related to it," Daniel said. "They began a year ago, right?"

  "And Dr. Inglis was very interested in them," I said. "She started looking after you personally and giving you special medicine."

  Corey nodded. "She asked about them a lot, too. Whether anything was happening when I got them."

  "Happening?"

  "Like whether I was seeing things or hearing things. I thought she meant like my dad, who always smelled burned toast before he had a seizure. I figured she thought it was a sign I was getting epilepsy."

  "More like a sign you're getting your powers," I said.

  "And the headaches went away with the pills, right?" Sam said.

  Corey nodded.

  "That was the point," I said. "Suppress whatever was happening to you until they were ready to tell us all the truth."

  "Or suppress it because it's dangerous," Sam said.

  "We don't know it is," I said.

  "And we don't know it isn't."

  "Ultimately, it doesn't matter," Daniel cut in. "Because we're doing our damnedest to get to safety before anyone needs to worry about a superpower meltdown."

  "Where's safety?" Sam said. "With the people who apparently want to help us ... by burning down our homes, killing Uncle Phil, and shooting us with tranq guns? Or with the people who did this to us in the first place?"

  "Obviously you have some third option," I said. "So let's hear it."

  "I can contact people my parents knew. One of them must have known why they were on the run. Maybe they can help. I was going to do that after my parents died, only I got shipped to Salmon Creek and for a while everything seemed to be okay."

  "Until you discovered your fake aunt and uncle were evil," I said.

  "What? No. I never said--"

  "Because they aren't evil. I don't know whether my folks knew anything about this, but I know one thing. They're amazing parents. So were your aunt and uncle."

  "My dad's not Father of the Year material," Daniel said. "But he isn't evil. If our parents did know, then it's like Rafe said about his mom--they agreed to this experiment because they honestly thought it was a good thing. Right or wrong, they didn't mean to hurt us. I'm not as sure about the St. Clouds, but I still believe we can trust our parents."

  "So let's go back to Salmon Creek," I said. "Check it out. See if it's safe to return. Agreed?"

  They all nodded.

  There was, however, one question still to be resolved. Should we try to find Nicole?

  Daniel and Hayley voted no. I wanted to look for her. Corey wavered, and I could have swayed him, but Sam locked it up by voting to keep going. I think that surprised the others--voting against finding her cousin. It didn't shock me, though. It fit pretty well with the image I had of Samantha Russo.

  So I was outvoted, and we pushed on, hoping to find the road I'd seen from the ridge.

  I wasn't angry with Daniel for opposing me. I saw his point, too. We had no idea where to look for Nicole. She wasn't at the cabin. We didn't have the energy to go back over the mountain, to see if she'd still be there. I really doubted she was. Leaving her behind was just a really, really tough decision to make, and I admired him for having the courage to make it.

  SIXTEEN

  "CAN WE WALK ON ahead?" Daniel whispered after we'd set out.

  I nodded and told the others we were going to scout a little and to just keep us in sight.

  He moved to the side to let Kenjii take the lead. "So what did you read in that cabin?"

  I told him what I'd deciphered from the handful of memos I'd found. And "deciphered" was the right word. While they weren't written in secret code, they were intended to be read by people who already knew what was going on. There was no overt mention of benandanti or skin-walkers or supernatural powers of any kind. That meant I had to combine what I already knew with lots of guesswork.

  The St. Clouds were a real corporation--I'd seen its subsidiary names on products and heard their corporation mentioned in the news. The same seemed to be true for the company that was after us--the Nasts. Piecing that together with the cryptic messages we'd found on Mina Lee's answering machine, I deduced that these were two rival corporations: the Nasts and the St. Clouds.

  It seemed that these companies were both staffed by supernaturals. A progress memo had said things like "Working on getting the Enwrights flown up. Their unique skills could be helpful in this search" and "A scent tracker would be a huge benefit. Would love to hire a ww on contract but company policy forbids. Meeting with Josef Nast today to discuss."

  Call me crazy, but I was going to bet the Enwrights' unique skills weren't an astounding ability to read wilderness signs. As for a supernatural scent tracker, I suspected "ww" meant werewolf--Sam had said such things really existed.

  When Daniel and I had hacked onto his mother's old computer, we'd found references to an experiment in Buffalo that had gone wrong. We'd thought it was another drug-testing venture. From another memo I'd read in the cabin, I now suspected something very different.

  "Project Genesis," Daniel said. "There was a Delaney on that list, too. And an Enwright, I think. Was it another branch of our experiment?"

  "No, ours was referred to as Project Phoenix. Meaning they're resurrecting extinct supernatural types, like Rafe said. It looked like the Nasts were concentrating on our group. The memo said they were leaving cleanup on Project Genesis to the St. Clouds, and they'd get involved later if it looked 'profitable.'"

  "Cleanup?" Daniel swore. "Not liking the sound of that."

  "Apparently the St. Clouds 'lost control' of some 'assets' and were searching for them."

  "In other words, the subjects took off."

  I nodded. "I think so. The only other thing I got from the memo was the name of the guy in charge of the Edison Group. Dr. Davidoff."

  "Davidoff...?" He swore again. Dr. Davidoff was the guy the St. Clouds sent for our annual checkup.

  "He's dead," I said. "Like a bunch of other members of this Edison Group. Killed in an 'incident' last spring."

  "So I guess we know why he skipped the summer teleconference."

  I nodded. We walked in silence for a few minutes, then fell back in with the group.

  We'd been walking for about thirty minutes when Daniel asked me to do another treetop check. I'd been avoiding it--really couldn't afford to stumble into another pit of grief and regret right now--but that bird's-eye view of the region was invaluable. Also, while I could gauge our direction by the sun and the foliage the others felt better if I climbed to "check."

  So I found a tree and scaled it. Yes, I thought about Rafe, but after that cabin visit there was so much else swirling around my head that I could push it aside.

  Kenjii took up position at the bottom. A few minutes later, she stood and gave a chuff, meaning someone was coming. I peered down to see Sam approaching Kenjii warily, looking around for me. I considered ignoring her, but when Kenjii glanced up, Sam spotted me.

  I climbed down to the lowest branc
h. She waited for me to jump to the ground. I didn't, just said, "What's up?"

  "I wanted to talk to you."

  "Okay, talk."

  I settled on the branch, feet dangling. She stood there, looking up at my feet, then pointed at my legs. I'd taken off my socks after the crash--they'd been soaked--and hadn't replaced them. When I sat, a few inches of bare shin were exposed.

  "Those scratches," she said. "They're from when you got dragged underwater, aren't they?"

  "Yep."

  "They're fingernail gouges. You didn't get caught on anything. You were pulled down. By a person." She held up her hands, nails bitten to the quick. "It wasn't me. And if that's not enough proof, you can ask Corey. I was in front of him when Nicole went under. I wanted to help, but he told me to stay put. I did until he had her."

  "Okay."

  "You're speculating that Hayley, Nicole, and Serena are the same supernatural type, right? Something to do with water. Which explains how they can swim so well and hold their breath so long. You think someone drowned Serena, someone who could stay under even longer than her. Someone who also tried to drown you."

  I slid from the tree. "Where's Hayley?"

  "She's not the one who drugged you."

  "What?"

  "At your party. Hayley didn't dose your drink. It was the person who accused her. The one who worked with her at the clinic and had access to the drugs, too."

  "Nicole?"

  Sam nodded. "I found the pills in her room afterward. She tried to say Hayley had planted them. I didn't believe her. She finally broke down, sobbing, saying she hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt, just that it was her big chance with Daniel and she knew you kind of liked Rafe, and he was coming to the party. She just wanted to give you and Rafe a push, so you wouldn't interfere with her and Daniel."

  "I've never interfered--"

  "Yeah, I know. But when it comes to Daniel, Nicole is..." She took a deep breath. "Anyway, I told her that she screwed up and if she ever went after you again, she'd be dealing with me."

  "And you didn't think to tell us?"

  She met my gaze. "The wrong decision. I see that now."

  "So Nicole dosed my drink." I tried to process that, but my brain refused. Sam was lying. Covering up something when Nicole wasn't here to defend herself.

  Then I realized where this was heading. "You think Nic... Nicole drowned Serena? Tried to drown me? No, that's not--She was almost drowned herself this time."