The Calling

by Kelley Armstrong

  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.

  TWENTY-THREE

  MORENO 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.

  "Maya! It's me!"

  Daniel. Dragging me to shore. Not knowing that Serena was out there, drowning.

  "Serena!" I shouted. "Let me go and get her. Please get her."

  Arms went around me. "She's gone, Maya."

  "No, she's--" I looked over his shoulder as he hugged me and I saw the forest. Heard Kenjii whimper. Felt her tongue lick the tears from my cheek and thought, This isn't right. I backed away and took a better look around. No lake. Just a gray forest, sun rising to the east.

  "I was dreaming," I said. "Again."

  "Can't say I blame you." Daniel eased back as I moved away to sit on the ground. "Been having a few anxiety dreams myself."

  I looked at him and the events of the last day slowly returned.

  "You shouldn't be here," I said. "I'm still dreaming, aren't I?"

  "That depends. Am I better looking?"

  I gave a soft laugh and shook my head.

  "Do I at least smell better than I did yesterday?"

  "No. Sorry." I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "Where are the others?"

  "Sleeping a couple hundred meters that way." He pointed. "I figured that was far enough from you."

  "I thought I told you we should separate."

  "And you expected me to listen? The point was that we shouldn't be close enough together that the bad guys could swoop in and nab us all. Gotta admit, though, when you looked like you were going to sleep in that cabin, even Sam was tempted to join you. We would have, too, if you hadn't come out and set off again."

  I stretched. "Well, Kenjii isn't tagged. I--" I stopped and blinked harder, then murmured. "Or was that a dream...?"

  "What?"

  "I shape-shifted in my sleep. But if you were nearby all night and I'm dressed..."

  "Your T-shirt's on backward. Your socks and shoes are off. Your jeans aren't zipped. And I'm pretty sure those aren't Kenjii's."

  He pointed to two large cougar tracks in a patch of dew-damp earth.

  "But how...?"

  "I stayed downwind so Kenjii couldn't smell us. She probably didn't wake because she was exhausted. As for the clothes, I guess you do more than shape-shift in your sleep. Which is convenient."

  "So I really did...?" I looked at the tracks again. "Wow."

  "And you're going to tell me all about it, right?"

  I zipped my jeans and pulled on my discarded socks and shoes. "Later. Right now, I need to tell you what I heard."

  I gave him the amended version. Very amended, because I couldn't tell him about seeing Nicole or he might want to return for her. I was still determined that he'd never find out that Nicole went after Serena. And he'd certainly never find out why. No one deserves that kind of burden. Especially Daniel.

  I told him I'd found the camp and overheard that Kenjii had escaped and Hayley had failed to trap us, so they'd shipped her off and were looking for other ways to find us. That was all he needed to know for now.

  It was still morning when we found a paved road. Actual vehicles traveling that road would be even better, but apparently, too much to hope for.

  We walked about fifteen minutes before we heard an oncoming car. Corey stepped into the middle of the road. A pickup whipped around the curve. Corey waved his arms. The guy in the pickup laid on his horn and veered past, sending Corey stumbling as his bad knee gave way.

  Daniel and I helped him up.

  "Oww ... ," he said.

  "There'd have been a bigger oww if he hadn't swerved," I said. "That would not look good on your obituary. Survived a helicopter crash, armed kidnappers, and three days in the woods, only to get mowed down by a passing redneck."

  "From now on, we'll flag down cars from the shoulder." Daniel looked at Corey, who was rubbing his sore butt. "Or maybe the ditch."

  The next vehicle didn't come for a long time. It was a car full of guys not much older than us.

  "Quick, girls," Corey said. "Give them some incentive. Take off your--" He glanced at Sam. "Maya, take off your shirt."

  Sam clubbed him in the arm, hard enough to make him yelp.

  We waved and yelled. They waved back and kept going. Idiots.

  "Eventually someone's going to pick us up," I said. "We've spent three days hiking through the forest, and we look like it. Someone's going to stop."

  Finally, we found someone who had stopped. It wasn't for us, but only because he hadn't made it that far. We rounded a bend to see a gray-haired guy getting out of his van, having pulled to the side to take a piss. He was still about fifty meters away. We picked up speed and yelled, but he was already heading into the woods.

  "Must have a shy bladder," Corey said.

  True. With these back roads, most guys settled for walking around their vehicle for privacy. Some didn't even do that.

  "He left the van running," Corey said.

  "No," Daniel said.

  "Yes, we shouldn't take his ride," Corey said. "But we're exhausted, out of food, nearly out of water, and that van is our best chance. Do you really want to just trust he'll help us?"

  "No, I want to make sure he will. I'll try using my powers. If that fails, we'll have to resort to ... other incentives." Daniel flexed his arms. "We can't take his ride, though. We don't know how far he might need to walk to the nearest town. You two hang back," he said to Corey and Sam. "Maya, make Kenjii stay with them."

  "Excuse me?" Corey said. "Sam and I aren't going to scare--"

  "Four teenagers and a dog will scare any old guy," Daniel said. "So will two guys. So will..." He glanced at Sam.

  "Thanks," she said.

  "You know what I mean. Maya's friendly. And she can keep her cool."

  "I'm not sure that's any less insulting," Sam muttered. But she waved us ahead.

  Corey took Kenjii's collar and led her into the ditch, where they hid behind bushes.

  "Hello!" I called as we approached, far enough away that I hoped I wouldn't startle the man. He still came stumbling out, zipping up his pants.

&nb
sp; "I'm sorry," I said. "But we're from Nanaimo. We were on a school hike yesterday and we got lost. I'm sure they're looking for us. It was probably in the paper...?"

  "Don't read the paper." The man inched toward his vehicle, gaze locked on Daniel. "You kids stay away from my van."

  "We're not going to steal it, sir." Daniel moved forward carefully, his voice taking on his persuasive tone. "We just need help. Like my friend said--"

  "Town's that way." He pointed south. "About twenty kilometers."

  "Which is a very long hike, sir." Daniel met the old man's gaze as he kept walking forward. "We're really tired and we don't have any food or water. If we could just ride in the back--"

  The man pulled a switchblade from his pocket. "Don't come any closer, boy. Not you either, girlie. I got robbed on this road once. Not going to happen again."

  "Please, sir," Daniel said. "We aren't--"

  The man darted to the driver's side and leaped in as Daniel raced around the van. The man slammed it into gear. The van lurched forward. I grabbed Daniel and yanked him out of the way as the van swerved onto the road.

  Corey came out from behind the bushes as we walked back. "Next time, we consider my plan?"

  "I think so," Daniel mumbled.

  "At least he told us there's a town along this road," I said. "Same way we're heading."

  "How far?" Corey asked.

  "He didn't say," I lied. "But it can't be too far."

  Daniel glanced at me, then nodded.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY KILOMETERS IS INDEED "too far" when you're ready to drop already. "I should have listened to Corey," Daniel said. "I was so sure I could convince that guy. It's worked until now."

  "Not on Moreno," I said.

  "Sure it did."

  "At the store, yes, but we couldn't get him talking earlier. Obviously it's not going to be a foolproof power or you'd have the ability to make anyone do anything. My guess is that they have to want to already. The woman at the tattoo studio wanted to get rid of us. Moreno wanted to skip searching a filthy crawlspace. That old guy really didn't want to help us."

  "In other words, don't rely on special powers."