The Gathering (DR) Read online

  That seemed like a selfish way to look at things. But living in Salmon Creek, I could afford to pursue anything that interested me. I had parents who gave me everything I needed. I didn't even have to take a part-time job. No Salmon Creek kid did. Our "job" was school. If we wanted to do more, we were encouraged to volunteer in our community.

  If you lived on the streets, though, your job was survival. You couldn't afford to take an interest in much that didn't directly affect you. Obviously, Ash had focused on the skin-walker aspects of Project Phoenix. Anything else, he'd learned incidentally. I couldn't imagine not wanting to know more. Not being curious. But so far, he hadn't shown much curiosity about anything--our situation, our experiences, our lives. Maybe even that--basic personal curiosity--is a luxury for some.

  Given his lack of interest, I suppose it was surprising how much he remembered of things he'd heard in passing. He knew what the four successful types were even before meeting us. He also knew that every kid between the ages of fifteen and seventeen in Salmon Creek had been a Project Phoenix subject.

  Every kid between fifteen and seventeen. Every kid in our grade, most in the grade below us, and a few in the grade above. That didn't even cover all the subjects, though. There'd been a lot of attrition at the beginning--parents realizing they didn't want their kids being brought up in a lab after all, however utopian that lab might be. All four skin-walker parents went on the run, as Rafe already told me. Which is why they'd fought so hard to get me back into the fold.

  There'd been six subjects in each of the six groups. Thirty-six altogether, excluding the preliminary subjects like Annie. Of the eight in Salmon Creek showing powers--me and Rafe, Daniel and Sam, Serena, Nicole and Hayley, and Corey--seven had been on that helicopter. The eighth--Serena--was already dead. Was that a coincidence? No. We were the only ones for whom the modifications seemed to work.

  While it was still possible there would be late bloomers, we were the guarantees. That's why we'd been on the same helicopter. That's why the mayor went with us. We were the most precious cargo. The Nasts knew that, which is why they'd targeted our helicopter. Hell, it's probably why they started the fire to force the evacuation.

  That was really all Ash knew. I'm not sure how much it helped our situation, but at least we understood it a little better.

  TWELVE

  OUR MEMORIAL SERVICE WAS set for three thirty the next afternoon. That seemed like an odd hour, but maybe it was the only time they could get the park. Or maybe it was like holding it in Vancouver--a way to minimize the turnout. I'm sure they would have liked to skip the memorial altogether, but that was impossible, as long as they were pretending they gave a damn.

  As soon as we realized the St. Clouds had declared us dead, we'd understood that they'd washed their hands of us. Traded us to the Nasts. Ash had a little more insight into the deal from his contacts, who knew supernaturals in both Cabals.

  Cabals were, as we'd figured out, corporations run and staffed by supernaturals. Huge corporations. For regular supernaturals--like witches and half-demons--it gave them a job and a community where they didn't need to hide their powers. Kind of like what they apparently had in mind for us. You work for us; we'll look after you. Wage slaves provided with a decent job and good benefits.

  The St. Clouds were the second smallest Cabal, more heavily invested in science than industry. The Nasts were the biggest. They'd let the St. Clouds do all the hard labor of creating and raising us, then they'd swooped in to steal the finished product. After the fire and crash, the two Cabals had negotiated a deal. The Nasts got all the kids on the helicopter . . . if they could catch them. The St. Clouds got paid for us and kept the "rejects" in hopes that some would be late bloomers.

  So we'd been sold. Did that mean Rafe and Sam were with the Nasts now? What about Annie? We had no idea.

  Not surprisingly, Ash hated the idea of showing up at the memorial. Also not surprisingly, he didn't keep his objections to himself.

  "This is the stupidest idea ever," he grumbled as we lay on adjacent tree limbs a hundred meters from the memorial site.

  "Is it any more stupid than it was the last fifty times you said that?" I asked.

  "Maybe."

  I sighed, shook my head, and looked around. Our ceremony was being held in a park. Outdoors, at the request of the parents. I knew whose parents had initiated that. Mine. An outdoor ceremony for the daughter who loved the wilderness. If I had any doubt who'd selected the location, it vanished when we'd arrived and I realized we'd been there before, my parents and me, for "breaks" when we'd come to Vancouver and the city got to be too much for me.

  "I still don't get what you hope to accomplish here," Ash said.

  I twisted to look at him. "We're going to try to make contact with one of our parents. Hopefully mine."

  "Yeah, I get that part. What I don't get is how in hell they're supposed to help you." He put up a hand against my protest. "Your dad's a forest ranger. Your mom's an architect. You're sure they don't know about Project Phoenix, but hell, we'd be better off if they did, so at least they'd have some idea what's going on."

  "Which is why they'll talk to Corey's mom. She's the police chief. Corey doesn't think she knows about the project, but she might. If she doesn't, they'll talk to Daniel's dad, who does know."

  "So why not target him?"

  I couldn't tell Ash about Daniel's father. Not without breaking a trust. So all I said was, "He isn't a good choice."

  "Great. So we have a guy you don't trust, a small-town cop, and your parents, who know zip about the experiment, zip about fighting bad guys, and probably zip about supernaturals in general. Can I ask again what exactly it is you hope they can do?"

  He already knew the answer. We'd told him the first time he asked. He was just making a point now. We really didn't know what our parents could do. We held on to the hope that someone would know about the experiment and the Cabals, and if they didn't, then they'd know someone who did, someone from Salmon Creek who could help us.

  Help us do what? Free the others. But we couldn't take Annie on the run if the Cabals knew how to fix her. We couldn't take Corey on the run either if they could fix his headaches. And what if I started regressing?

  The trouble was that the source of care was also the source of the threat. How were we supposed to reconcile that? I had no idea. All we could do was focus on making contact. On getting help and answers, and as nebulous as that plan was, it was all we had. Even Ash himself had admitted he didn't have another.

  Ash wasn't the only one who didn't think I should be here. Daniel and I had a bit of a dustup about it this morning, when I'd declared my intention to watch the proceedings.

  "I don't think you should do that, Maya," he'd said.

  "Um, that's the plan, isn't it?"

  He'd gone quiet then, shoving his hands in his pockets before saying, "The plan is for us to go and try to talk to someone. Not for you to watch the service. I think it's going to be too much for you."

  I'd stared at him, unable to believe what he'd just said. Daniel might have a mile-wide protective streak, but he's never treated me like "a girl." If he had, our friendship would have ended years ago.

  "What? I'm going to start sobbing and run to Mommy and Daddy? Seriously? You think--"

  "I worded that wrong. I think it'll be too much for you and Corey. Watching your families grieving . . . It's going to be tough."

  "I know that."

  "Good. That's why I'm asking you both to hang back. Ash and I will watch. If my dad is mourning, the most I'm going to feel is shock."

  "That's not true."

  He shrugged. "Okay, maybe, but it's not going to hit me as hard. You know it won't. We haven't gotten along in years and I'm past the point of wishing it was otherwise. It'll upset me to see my brothers, but we're not really that close, either." He looked at me. "The point is that I'll be okay."

  "And I won't?"

  "I'm not saying--"

  "Then don't say it. The mo
re eyes on the service, the more likely we are to spot someone we can approach."

  That hadn't ended it. We'd fought. Really fought. Enough to bring Corey running, and when I told him what Daniel wanted, Corey lit into him, too. Yes, this would be hard, but we could handle it and we weren't happy with Daniel for implying otherwise.

  "What are the chances one of your parents is going to wander off anyway?" Ash said, bringing me back to the present. "We're taking a huge risk here, you know."

  "If you're worried, you can go wait--"

  "I'm not worried." His chin shot up, eyes flashing, and I recognized the look. Probably the exact same one I'd given Daniel when he suggested I couldn't handle this. At least we had something in common.

  I looked over to where Daniel and Corey were hidden in the long grass, just inside a patch of woods. I couldn't see either of them. Which meant they were well hidden. Except that I'd feel better if we had visual contact.

  Ash had a cell phone. We probably should have bought a cheap prepaid ourselves. I hadn't thought of it until now. Hindsight . . .

  At the rumble of tires on gravel, I looked over to see a black car pulling in to the parking lot. It had been roped off, but a man in a dark suit now held the rope as a line of black cars rolled in. They parked. Doors opened. I inched forward, wriggling to see better. My branch creaked.

  "Careful," Ash said.

  I stopped moving.

  Mrs. Tillson climbed out of the first car, leaning heavily on the arm of a white-haired man I recognized from corporate literature as the head of St. Cloud corporation. Head of the St. Cloud Cabal, I should say. A sorcerer. Ash said all the Cabals were led by families of sorcerers. Did Mrs. Tillson know what he was? Did she care? Not right now. She'd suffered the greatest loss. Her husband--the mayor--really had died in the crash, and she believed that both her daughter, Nicole, and her niece, Sam, had perished, too.

  Corey's mom was next. Chief Carling. Only she didn't seem like the Chief Carling I remembered, a petite blonde who could make her son quail with a single look and make him laugh just as easily. She looked tiny now, fragile and overwhelmed, clutching the hand of Corey's brother, Travis. He was all she had left--her husband had died a few years ago from an epileptic seizure. Was that seizure caused by sileni blood? One more thing to worry about for Corey.

  Mr. Bianchi and Daniel's older brothers were in the next car. His brothers walked stiffly, side by side, gazes straight ahead. They hadn't helped their father from the vehicle. Hadn't even waited for him to get out. Just walked away, as if they blamed him for this. He followed, head bowed, like he accepted that blame, shambling along in a daze. I glanced toward the thicket where Daniel was hiding. I couldn't see him. I wished I could. I wished I wasn't up in this tree. My idea. A stupid idea. We should have been together for--

  My parents stepped out of the last car. Dad first, then reaching in and helping Mom, and when I saw them, my heart stopped. I just lay there, frozen, clutching the tree so hard I dimly registered pain in my fingers, but only clutched it harder.

  "Those them?"

  Ash's voice brought me back again. I tore my gaze away just long enough to nod. When I looked back, Mom and Dad were at the front of the car, helping Grandma from the passenger seat.

  "They Navajo?" Ash asked. "The women?"

  "My mom and grandmother. They're Haida."

  "What the hell's that? Some Canadian tribe?"

  "Yes."

  He snorted. "Figures. Got a spare Indian baby? Give it to any Indian who'll take her. They're all the same anyway." He waved at my parents. "Hell, doesn't even matter if the new dad is Indian or not. He's a forest ranger? That's close enough. At one with nature and all that--"

  "Shut up," I snarled. "Just shut the hell--" I choked on the rest and turned back to my family. They were making their way forward. Dad had his arm around Mom, gripping so close he seemed to be holding her upright. Grandma was on her other side, clasping her hand.

  Someone met them and gestured to chairs in front of a giant photo. It was from this past spring, of me crouched, hugging Kenjii, and grinning. We were both splattered with mud after Dad let Daniel and me take his Jeep off-roading after a heavy rain. We'd come back and Mom made us stay outside--not because of the mud, but because she wanted pictures. In the real photo Daniel was there, too, standing behind me, and I could see his hand in the blown-up version. A disembodied hand resting on my shoulder. I wished they'd left him in it, maybe even let us have a joint photo, but his dad had picked one of Daniel in a suit, looking somber and uncomfortable and not like Daniel at all.

  When the man directed them to their spot, Mom seemed to notice the photo for the first time. She stopped, making Dad falter and Grandma stumble. Then she . . . she made this noise. This horrible noise. A keening wail as she dropped. Just dropped, like someone had cut her legs out from under her, and Dad grabbed her before she hit the ground, and he crouched there, bent on one knee, with Mom collapsed against him, and I could hear her crying. Even from here, I could hear her crying.

  "I can't do this," I said, scrambling onto all fours. "I have to go tell--"

  "No!" Ash swung up. He poised there, ready to pounce on me. "You can't, Maya."

  I looked back at my parents, buried against each other, my dad's back rising and falling hard, and I knew he was crying, too. I should have listened to Daniel. Why the hell hadn't I listened to Daniel? Because I'd been stubborn. Stubborn and proud, as always, and now I saw exactly what he'd meant and how right he'd been. This was cruel--unbelievably cruel--watching my parents suffer when all I had to do was leap from this tree and run over--

  I let out a shuddering breath and looked over to where Daniel was hiding and saw him there, half rising from the grass, his gaze fixed on me. He raised his hand, not quite a wave, more just . . . something. Some attempt at contact, at comfort, and I wished I was there. Damn it, why wasn't I with him? What the hell had possessed me to be up here, to go through this alone?

  I lifted my hand, reaching out. Then Corey pulled him down.

  "Good," Ash grunted.

  I glanced over and reminded myself I wasn't alone. Not really. But in some ways, I wished I was, because I got nothing from Ash. Not a smile. Not a kind word. Not even a sympathetic look. He just scowled, like I was going to blow our cover over nothing.

  I turned back to my parents.

  "Don't."

  I looked over again. Now I saw some glimmer in his eyes, though he held his face tight, lips still compressed.

  "Don't look," he said. "Just . . . don't look."

  I hesitated, and I wanted to say I could handle it. But I couldn't. Not this. So I dropped my cheek to the rough bark, closed my eyes, and listened to the ceremony.

  Listening wasn't easy, either. It was surreal when you knew that the kids they were reminiscing about were still alive. It was like hearing speeches at a wedding or a graduation, talking about someone's life, the best of their life, but instead of joy and laughter, each new recollection brought a sob or cry of grief.

  When my dad got up to speak, I plugged my ears. I knew I had to. One crack in his voice and I'd have leaped from that tree, running to the stage, shouting, "I'm here, Daddy. I'm still here." So I plugged my ears and I squeezed my eyes shut until Ash reached over and tapped my arm.

  When I took my fingers from my ears, he caught my hand and I looked over to tell him not to worry, that I wasn't going to do anything stupid, but he only gave my hand a squeeze--a quick one--before letting it fall.

  THIRTEEN

  THE SERVICE ENDED AFTER that. It wasn't until it did, and people started filing back to the cars, that I realized what had happened. Nothing. Not a single parent had wandered from the service for a few minutes of solace. How could they? They were all trapped in the front row. They couldn't have slipped away even if they had wanted to.

  When the service ended, ushers surrounded our parents and escorted them directly to their vehicles, just as they'd escorted them in.

  "They're not letting
them stop for nothing," Ash said. "Not even a piss break. They have to hold it until they get them someplace safe."

  I kept watching. Kept hoping. But Chief Carling and Travis climbed in their car. So did Daniel's family and Mrs. Tillson and the Morrises. My parents and Grandma lingered. They didn't get up and talk to anyone, just sat in their seats as if they hadn't realized it was over. Two more ushers came over and finally got them into the car.

  "No one left," I whispered. "No one at all."

  "Could have told you that," Ash said.

  I glared over at him.

  "What? I could have. Cabals are geniuses at this kind of thing. They've been around since the Inquisition. That's hundreds of years of experience acting like good corporate citizens while they do stuff that would make the Mafia take notes. They'll cover up your deaths and they'll hold your parents prisoner until they've rounded you all up. And the beauty of it? Your parents won't even realize they were prisoners. They'll just think the St. Clouds were being really, really helpful."

  He eased back on his branch. "I knew they'd never let you near them."

  "Then why didn't you say so?"

  "You wouldn't have listened."

  There was no response to that, so I lay on the branch, staring down, sifting through the remaining friends and families for someone left that we could contact. Maybe. If we were careful. And desperate. When I saw Brendan Hajek over by the washrooms I turned my attention to him. He started heading in the opposite direction--away from the service area. I glanced back to see his mother, the local veterinarian, helping remove the posters from the stage.

  So Dr. Hajek had volunteered for clean-up duty and Brendan was using the break to wander off for a bit. Alone.

  "I need to talk to Daniel," I said. "I'm going down. Can you cover me?"

  "What?"

  Ash had been peering at something and jumped when I spoke. I had to repeat myself.

  "No, we need to stay here."

  "There's no one around. I can dash--"

  "You need to stay here, Maya, until those guys are gone." He pointed to a cluster of strangers beside the stage.