Kelley Armstrong - The Gathering

“Proving I mean it when I say I’ll be back.”

My cheeks heated and I pressed it into his hand. “Please. I don’t want to lose it.”

He took it. Before I could pull my hand back, he caught my wrist and tied the bracelet around it.

“Problem solved.”

I tried to glance down at it, but his fingers slid under my chin, eyes closing as his mouth moved toward mine. Our lips brushed. Then his eyes snapped open and he pulled back fast.

I jerked away. “Right. Bad idea. We—”

“No.” He pointed. “That.”

I twisted to see a wall of smoke heading straight for us. Rafe started scrambling down the tree, shouting to Daniel below. I stayed where I was and got my first good look at the fire. To the north and south, the forest was clear and calm. There was just one huge swath of smoke heading our way.

“Maya!” Rafe tugged at my foot. “Come on.”

I took one last look, making sure I was seeing right. One patch of fire heading straight for Salmon Creek. That didn’t seem natural.

Rafe yanked again, but I was already coming down, calling for Annie as I did. There was no sign of her. Gone to safe ground. Or so I hoped.

Once my shoe was back on, we ran. Within minutes, the ash began to rain down again. We kept calling for Annie, staying close together now, running full out toward town.

Rafe heard the sound of an engine first and shouted, “Someone’s coming. Where’s the road?”

I waved to the north, but Daniel shook his head.

“We’re too far from it,” he said. “We should be almost in town now.”

In other words, no time—or need—to detour. A few strides later, though, we hit a strip of empty land.

“Road!” Rafe yelled. “It’ll be quicker than running through the forest.”

It used to be a road, back when our town was just an empty space for logging camps. Then the St. Clouds came and the loggers left, and this road no longer led anywhere. The forest had crept in on either side, weeds stubbornly poking through the packed earth. But the diesel fumes I was smelling weren’t fifteen years old.

As we stepped onto the winding road, I noticed a truck going the other way, barely visible through the trees.

Daniel followed my gaze. “We’d never catch it. It’s heading away from town, anyway.”

“But why? There’s nothing over there.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just keep moving.”

We’d just rounded the next curve when I heard the rumble of an engine behind us. I turned to see the truck heading back our way.

“They must have spotted us.” Rafe started to lift his hand.

Daniel stopped him. “Let’s be sure first.”

We moved into the alder bushes at the side of the road. When I looked over at Daniel, he was focused on the truck like a hawk watching an approaching cougar. I’d seen that look before. When I touched his arm, he didn’t respond. I knew he wouldn’t.

“What are we—?” Rafe began.

“Shhh!” Daniel hissed, still staring down the road.

“Um, okay,” Rafe said. “Maya, what are we doing? We’ve got a fire bearing down on us, and a rescue truck coming—”

Daniel hit my back so hard he knocked the wind out of me. “Down!”

I dropped. When Rafe didn’t, Daniel pushed him to the ground, too.

“What the hell?” Rafe said, rolling out of his reach.

“Shhh!” Daniel met Rafe’s glare with one of his own. “Something’s wrong. I can tell.”

“You can tell?”

“Cool it,” I whispered. “Both of you.”

I lay there, under the alder bushes, the branches poking into my back. Ash drifted down like snow now. Tendrils of smoke wafted over on the breeze. When I closed my eyes, I could hear the steady crackle and the occasional rumble and roar as fire consumed the forest.

I imagined the devastation, and my chest seized, tears springing to my eyes. My forest. My beautiful forest.

“It’s getting closer,” I whispered. “We need to go.”

“Just hold on,” Daniel said. “Let me figure this out.”

“Figure what out?” Rafe looked at me for an answer.

When I didn’t reply, Rafe turned away, tense and angry. I could feel that—bursts of anger that made me anxious, too, every muscle tight, telling me to run, just run, before the fire caught me.

The truck rounded the last corner. It was more like a cube van, yellow with some kind of crest on the side. I struggled for a better look. The air was getting hazy now. Invisible smoke stung my eyes.

“The fire department?” Rafe scowled at Daniel. “We’re running from a fire and hiding from the fire department?”

I could see the insignia now—a red crest with a lighthouse in the middle. An auxiliary vehicle for Nanaimo Fire Rescue.

Rafe started getting up.

“Wait,” Daniel said sharply, not a request but a command. I swore Rafe’s hackles rose.

“Just hold on a sec,” I said.

“No. I’m sorry, Maya, but this is nuts. I need to get to town and see if Annie’s there.”

“Go on, then,” Daniel said. “But don’t expect me to come to your rescue if you do something stupid again.”

Rafe stopped, crouching. “Stupid? What the hell did I—?”

“Standing up to a bear? Yeah, kinda stupid.”

Rafe’s face reddened.

“It wasn’t like that,” I cut in. “Rafe, just—”

The truck’s brakes squealed. We were still beneath the alder, but they could have caught a flash of color through the branches.

The truck was idling, less than twenty feet away. I caught the muffled sound of voices. Then a click and a slam as a door opened and shut, echoed by a second.

Figures walked to the front of the truck. Anonymous figures in dark blue jumpsuits and gasmasks.

Rafe started to rise again. Daniel caught his arm.

“They’re not from the fire department,” he whispered.

“Right. In a fire truck, wearing fire—”

“And carrying automatic rifles? Maybe that’s standard gear for rescue workers in the States, but no one carries those here. Not even the cops.”

I saw the guns now, slung across the backs of the two figures.

“Fine.” Rafe studied them, then said, “I still think they might be search-and-rescue, but we … shouldn’t take the chance.”

He stretched out beside us again, moving carefully to not make any noise.

The two figures still stood in front of the truck, looking around. Something stung my scalp and I jumped. Another glowing ember landed on my hand.

The ash was falling heavier now, flakes glowing with fire. When I turned to look over my shoulder, I caught a blast of smoke that filled my mouth and nose, and I clamped my hand over them, struggling not to cough.

“These guys aren’t moving on fast enough,” Daniel said. “We need to go. Back out slowly.”

“Back?” My heart raced. “Toward the fire? We can’t—”

I stopped myself. Struggled for calm. Glanced over at Rafe and saw him doing the same. He met my gaze, and mouthed, “It’s okay.”

Push past the instinct. That’s all it was. Animal instinct telling me to get away from the fire at all costs. Human reason had to overrule.

I crept backward. As we got into the thicker woods, Daniel’s foot slipped in scat. He stumbled. I tried to catch him, but he grabbed a skinny pine for support. The tree creaked and swayed. Dead needles rained down.

“Did you hear that?” a man’s voice asked. “Someone’s out there. I see white.”

Daniel glanced down at his white tee and swore. Rafe yanked off his denim jacket and tossed it over. Daniel tugged it on as we moved.

We were running straight into the fire now. A curtain of red shone through the trees. The heat blasted us. Ash and smoke filled our eyes and noses. The roar sounded like an oncoming train. I could hear shouts, though, and what sounded like an ATV.