The Rising (Darkness Rising 3)

No, as long as she's alive she's a threat.

You're killing her, Maya!

Good. It's the same thing she tried to do to me. She deserves to die. I want her--

My fingers froze. I stared down at Nicole, lying beneath me, face turning blue, and I leaped off her so fast I stumbled back onto the bed. I furiously rubbed my face, the thick pads of my hands rasping against my skin.

This isn't me. I'm not a killer.

Of course you are. You're a cougar. A wild animal. A predator. That's what they created. That's what you are.

No, I'm not.

I looked down at Nicole and squeezed my hands into fists. As I did, I felt the rage subside, the shift reverse, like a tide ebbing, slow but steady.

I looked around. My bedroom door was ajar. I walked over, cracked it open, looked and listened. The hall was silent.

I could escape.

Escape where? The house is secured.

But Nicole had gotten out of her so-called secured room and into mine. We'd fought and no one had come running. No one even seemed to notice.

Nicole didn't just wander into your room on her own. You know that. Someone let her in and took Kenjii and probably drugged Nicole to make her flip out like that.

Which meant that the "trap" had already sprung. I'd outwitted it and now the way was clear--or clear enough.

Was I sure of that? Of course not. But the alternative was to sit on my bed and wait for someone to come and find out I'd nearly killed Nicole.

I had to take a chance.

TWENTY-EIGHT

I SLIPPED INTO THE hall. I looked both ways and listened. I even inhaled, although I wasn't sure how much good that would do. There was nothing. A still and silent house.

I didn't do more than glance at the stairs. Yes, that was the way out, but I wasn't running off and leaving everyone else. Rafe said his door was the third down from mine. I crept to it and tried the handle. It was locked, of course.

When I twisted the knob, I heard a thump inside. Then the scratch of nails against the wood floor.

"Kenjii?" I whispered.

An answering scramble as she ran to the door. She leaped up, nails raking down it as she whimpered.

A sleepy grunt from inside. Then, "Kenjii? How'd you get in here, girl?"

"Rafe?"

A pause. His light footfalls hurrying to the door.

"Maya?" he whispered through it.

"Something's wrong," I said. "The security system seems to be down." I tried his door. Still locked. "Try it from your side."

He did. The knob turned but it didn't budge. He yanked at it. Still nothing.

"It's just yours," he said.

I tried his door again, pulling harder.