Kelley Armstrong - The Gathering

“Maya?” The footsteps picked up speed. “What’s going—?”

“My drink,” I whispered as Sam crouched beside me. “Something in my drink.”

A bone-crunching crack. Then a thump as Rafe hit the ground beside me. I scrambled back. Nicole helped me to my feet, and pulled me out of the way as Daniel bore down on Rafe, his face livid.

“Get up,” Daniel said.

Rafe stayed down, lifting his hands. “If Maya’s been dosed—”

“If? If ? Are you saying she’s faking it?”

“No. Obviously something happened. I mean maybe her drink was spiked. But I had nothing to—”

“Get up!”

Rafe didn’t. Sam stepped behind him, blocking his escape.

“Go ahead,” Sam said. “Stomp him.”

Daniel continued forward. “Get up, you son of a bitch.”

“Screw that,” Sam said. “Hell, if he does get up, I’ll hold him for you.”

“Stay out of this,” Daniel said.

“Just leave him,” I said, my voice still thick, the world still tilting. “Let him go.”

Daniel didn’t seem to hear me and kept bearing down on Rafe. I staggered forward to stop him, but now it was Corey taking my arm and pulling me back.

“Daniel,” I said. “Don’t—”

Branches crackled. A blur burst from the forest. It charged so fast all I could see was that blur. Then it jumped between Rafe and Daniel.

A cougar. Not Marv or the new tom, but a female, planted between them, facing Daniel, lips curled back. She let out a snarl. I jerked forward. Corey caught me and held my arm.

I’m not exactly sure what happened next. I faded again, everything sliding in and out of focus, no matter how hard I struggled to stay alert, heart pounding at seeing that cougar so close to Daniel, the house and safety too far away.

I remember the cat snarling. I remember Daniel backing up. And I remember Rafe, lying on the ground, saying, “It’s okay. It’s okay,” over and over in this calm voice, completely calm, like he didn’t even see the cougar. The cat backed up, getting closer and closer to Rafe and he didn’t move a muscle and I remember thinking, “She’s protecting him,” which was crazy, but that’s what I thought.

Then the world blinked, and my legs gave way. As I went down, Daniel ran toward me, and I opened my mouth to shout for him not to turn his back on the cat, but she was already twisting away.

I don’t remember anything else.

No, that’s a lie. I remember one more thing. I remember the cougar turning away and I remember what I saw on her flank. A dark patch of fur in the shape of a paw print.

I BLACKED OUT AFTER that. I came to a few minutes later, but the rest of the night is fuzzy. I couldn’t seem to stay awake and kept drifting off.

Someone had dosed my drink, and everyone was sure who’d done it. Everyone except me.

I kept replaying the evening. Rafe had handled my drink. More than once. He’d been the one to suggest we go someplace quieter to talk. He’d been the one to suggest we go outside. So he was the obvious choice.

Except that once he’d gotten me alone, he’d done what he promised—talked. I’d kissed him first. He’d made sure it was okay before continuing. He’d asked how much I’d had to drink. He’d hesitated. And maybe that was all part of the setup, so later if I regretted what happened, he could say that I’d taken the lead and he’d just followed.

Maybe he did do it. I wasn’t ruling that out. I wasn’t sure I believed it, though, certainly not enough to call Chief Carling, which is what Daniel wanted to do.

It was strange. I remember sitting there, talking, but it was like I was watching someone else saying things I’d never say. I didn’t defend Rafe. But I wouldn’t let them call Chief Carling or even my parents. If it had been anyone else sitting there, I’d have been the one leading the charge, insisting the victim take action.

Two years ago, a summer guy—a grown-up—had cornered Nicole in the woods, and if Serena and I hadn’t found them and scared the guy off, I’m sure she would have been raped. She hadn’t wanted to tell anyone. I’d talked her into it, then escorted her to Chief Carling and sat with her while she told her parents. Now, having her there, listening to me refuse to report it … It felt wrong.

But reporting it felt even more wrong. If I accused Rafe, they’d find out about Annie. If Rafe had done it, then I would have to tell someone, because he might do it again to another girl, but if I wasn’t totally sure it was him … I couldn’t say anything unless I was sure.

I was in no condition to make a decision. I had witnesses, so it wouldn’t matter much if I reported it now or in the morning. I wanted the night to think about it. Daniel wasn’t happy with that, but he finally agreed, and I called my dad to come and get me.

I dreamed of the cougar. I kept seeing that mark on her flank. Kept seeing her in front of me, looking at me, and I was mesmerized by her eyes. Then it wasn’t her eyes at all, but Rafe’s, looking into mine as I kissed him. Then we weren’t kissing, we were scaling the climbing wall. Then it wasn’t the wall, but the roof, climbing across the roof, jumping off the roof, flowing back and forth, the roof and the wall, flipping between them until both were gone and I was back in the dream of two nights before, that amazing run.

This time, I wasn’t alone. Rafe was beside me, and as we ran, a subtle shift brought me lower and lower, until I wasn’t running on two legs but on four. I looked down at the ground blurring beneath me. Beneath my paws.

I jolted upright in bed, gasping for air, heart pounding so hard it hurt.

Yee naaldlooshii .

I knew that word. As I sat there, doubled over, panting and shaking, I kept hearing it over and over, and I felt that I knew it. Somewhere, somehow I knew it.

When I caught my breath, the feeling passed. Of course I knew it. I’d heard the old woman say it and hadn’t been able to forget it.

Look it up .

How?

My gaze shifted to my laptop. I shook my head. There’s a reason the U.S. Army had used Navajo for codes in WWII—because it was almost impossible for anyone to decipher. I knew about a half-dozen words and struggled with them. I had no chance of spelling this one right.

Try .

“No.”

I said the word aloud, startling myself. My heart pounded again. My hands trembled as I clutched the covers.

Afraid of a word? How stupid was that? I was just stressed out from the party and the dreams, and it was too late to fire up my laptop. Our connection out here sucked anyway. I would look it up tomorrow, at Daniel’s place. Having him there would help put it in perspective.

That settled, I laid back down and fell back to sleep … right into a fresh dream.

This time, I saw the cougar again, the one with the mark on her flank. Only she was chasing me. I ran through the forest, trying to get away. She was right behind me. Then I heard Rafe, his voice echoing through the forest.

“Maya, stop!” he shouted. “Don’t run. It won’t help.”

I kept running.

“Please!” he yelled. “You’re only making it worse. Stop running away. You can’t run away. Accept it.”

Accept death? Never. I ignored him and ran until my lungs burned, and still the cat was right on my heels, one leap away from ending my life.

Finally I saw my salvation. The lake. As I raced up the rocks, Rafe shouted to me again. I saw him, across the water, motioning and yelling.

“Maya, don’t! Please. Listen to me. Whatever you do, don’t jump—”

I jumped.

Icy water closed over my head. I pushed to the surface and swam, not stopping until I was in the middle of the lake. Treading water, I looked around. The cougar was back on the rocks, pacing and yowling. Rafe was on the other side.