The Gathering (Darkness Rising 1)

&nbs

p; Okay, now you're just being pathetic. Get a grip, Maya. The guy is gone.

I looked down at the bracelet in my hand.

"No sign of them?" Daniel said from the doorway.

I jumped and stuffed the bracelet into my pocket.

"Sorry. I know I said I'd stay outside, but I didn't hear you talking to anyone." He stepped inside. "I don't want to freak you out, Maya. I'm sure they're just out in the woods, but there are signs of a cougar all over the place. I know your dad's busy with this fire threat. We need to get him over here, though, just in case--"

"They're fine." I lifted the note. "They left."

"Left?"

"Back to the States or whatever."

He didn't look convinced. "I still think we should call your dad. There are prints, scat, clawed trees. Even fur. A cougar has been here and been here a lot, and that's--"

"Small tracks?" I said. "Like a young female?"

"I guess so ..."

I need to tell you something.

I wanted to say that. God, I wanted to say it. Here was the perfect segue. But the words wouldn't come. Instead I said, "Okay, we should go, then. We need to get back to school."

"Actually, I thought maybe we'd head into Nanaimo," he said as we walked out. "There's something I need to look up. And, apparently, I can't do it here."

He reached into his pocket and handed me a piece of paper. "I found that in the Braun cottage. I was going to show it to you, but then with Sam turning up and the stuff about my mom ... I decided it could wait. I wanted to find out what it meant before I brought it to you. I tried this morning, but my laptop wouldn't let me search for it."

"What?"

"The nanny software kicked in. No idea why."

I unfolded the sheet to find four words written on it. The top one we'd already seen. Benandanti.

"That's the word--" I began.

"From that book. So Mina didn't just pick a random page for her note after all. But the word below it, isn't that the one the old woman used? Navajo for skin-walker?"

It was. So Mina was here investigating me? Was that what this meant? So why send us to that book about the benandanti?

I need to tell you something, Daniel.

I clutched the note and took a deep breath as we walked out of the cabin. "There's something I--"

As we stepped out, the smell hit me like a slap on the face, knocking every other thought out of my head.

Daniel stopped in his tracks. "Is that ...?"

"Fire," I said.

He swore and prodded me toward the truck.

I dug in my heels and shook my head. "It's just someone burning trash. The forest fires wouldn't have reached this far this fast. My dad would have called me."

I took out my cell phone and opened it.