The Gathering (Darkness Rising 1)

I felt bad for the old guy. He'd come to our rescue and how would he be repaid? Hunted and tranquilized to teach him a lesson about getting too friendly with humans. Yet as romantic as it is to think Marv had been protecting us, it was far more likely that he was simply protecting his territory. Still, I'd feel guilty when Dad did it, and, to be honest, I'd miss my encounters with the old cat.

SEVEN

IHAD A ROUGH night. Between being verbally attacked by a total stranger and physically attacked by a cougar, I'd need a skin of granite not to let it affect me.

I dreamed about the old woman and the cougar, and those were definitely nightmares. But I also dreamed of what I'd felt when that cat looked me in the eye. What I'd smelled and felt and seen.

I dreamed of what had happened in the shed with the marten. My blackout. No, not a blackout. A vision of what had happened to the animal.

I'd talk to Mom about it later. I always went to her with things like that, because she wouldn't go all Native mystical on me and talk about vision quests and whatever. Not that Dad or Daniel would do that--they'd been around us long enough to know better. But still, well, I'd just be more comfortable talking to Mom about it.

It's like my love of nature. Some people say it's because I'm Native, and I know they're not trying to stereotype me, though sometimes I really wish I was into model airplanes instead. I love animals and yes, I'm Native, but as my teachers would say, correlation doesn't imply causation. I have a park ranger for a father and an environmental architect for a mother. They met at a rain forest conservation rally and have raised me out in the woods. It'd be bizarre if I didn't turn out the way I did.

But what had really happened tonight? With the cougar, it was obviously adrenaline with a chaser of shock, and maybe a little post-traumatic stress thrown in for good measure. One best friend had died in front of me last year. Another almost did tonight.

I could rationalize it while I was awake, but once I fell asleep, I was running again, ground and wind whooshing past. I smelled the musk of animals, the tang of the earth, and blood. I smelled blood and it made me run all the faster, heart speeding up not with fear but something else, something that gripped my belly like ... like hunger.

I bolted upright. Sweat poured down my face, and I gasped for breath as my heart pounded. My legs ached like I really had been running.

I pushed off the covers, got out of bed, and went to the window. I stood there in the moonlight, hands pressed against the cool glass as I scanned the forest, looking for ... I don't know what I was looking for, only that I was looking and I was aching and I wanted something. Wanted it so bad.

The window was open a crack, and I could smell the rich, loamy night, just like in my dream. I bent to open it farther, then crouched there, my heart galloping. I let the cool air and the scents wash over me and, gradually, my heartbeat slowed and the sweat dried and I was left standing there, confused and shivering, until I went back to bed, pulled up the covers, and fell asleep.

"You could have stayed with my mom today," I said as Daniel navigated the potholes and ruts. "You've got to be hurting."

"Nope. Don't feel a thing."

"Tough guy," I said.

"No, well-medicated guy. You really think I'd let you go to school without me? I'd show up tomorrow and hear that I got pinned running from a cougar, only to be saved by you rushing in and staring him down."

"Um, yeah, that's pretty much how I remember it."

"Exactly why I'm going. To get my version out first."

I laughed. "Not a chance. But I will include the part about you throwing me to safety. The girls will love that. Especially Nicole."

Daniel gripped the steering wheel, his gaze straight ahead.

"So it's still a no, then?" I said. "Look, if you aren't interested, I'll stop teasing you, but you did say she's cute ..."

"Yeah."

"And it's been over a year." Not just a year since Serena's death, but a year since he'd gone on a date. That was starting to worry me. "All I'm saying--again--is ask he

r if she's going to my party. Yes, obviously she is, and obviously, as the host, you're not asking her for a date, but it would just ... open the possibility, you know. Let her know you might be interested, and see how things go. No pressure."

"We'll see."

We pulled in the parking lot to see Corey talking to a girl who looked, from the back, like Sam. As we drove closer, though, I could see her dark hair was sleek, not spiked, and her clothes had colors, which meant they'd never be found in Sam's wardrobe. Then I caught a glimpse of her face and realized it was our elusive tree-climbing hiker.

Corey waved us over. He said something to the woman and she turned, smiling. That smile evaporated when she saw us. Her gaze darted about, like she wanted to make another escape. She settled for pasting on a big, phony smile.

"Hey, guys," she said. Then, to me, "Does your dad still want that report, because I was super-busy yesterday. I can try to squeeze it in today."

"That's okay," I said. "He's got other problems right now."

"Another cougar," Daniel said to Corey. "I saved her."