The Rising (Darkness Rising 3)

"Maya!" Grandma shouted.

I wheeled, growling, hoping she'd see or hear the team, but she just kept running after me, calling my name.

A dart whizzed past. I ran faster. Then I heard a gasp behind me and saw my grandmother falling face-first to the ground, a dart lodged in her leg. I tore back to her.

Footsteps came from two directions. Daniel called for me. Corey shouted, too, telling me to stop, to come back.

Another dart zinged past, so close it cut right through the fur on my haunch. I reached my grandmother. She was out cold, in the grass. I grabbed her shirt in my teeth and yanked as hard as I could. The fabric gave way and I tumbled back, a chunk of cloth in my mouth.

Daniel grabbed me by the loose skin around my neck. "You can't help her! Come on!"

When he heaved on me, I caught another glimpse of my grandmother, lying in the grass. Rage and fear coursed through me and the world turned bloodred. Daniel heaved again and I spun, snarling, jaws opening, fangs slashing for his arm. Then I saw him and swung to the side, biting air instead.

"Maya! Daniel!"

Another voice I knew. One that filled my gut with ice water. Antone.

"Daniel!" Corey shouted. "Leave her! She'll be fine. Come on!"

Daniel's grip on my ruff didn't loosen. He whispered, "Please, Maya. Please."

I looked back at my grandmother. Then up at Antone. Then at Moreno and two others running behind him, all armed with tranquilizer guns. And it was like when they'd shot Kenjii. When they'd shot Daniel. I'd watched them fall and there was nothing I could do. Not against so many.

I tore my gaze from my grandmother and ran. When another dart whizzed by, I veered to the side. Daniel shouted, then realized I wasn't circling back--I was separating us, making us tougher to shoot.

We were already in the long grass. That made me nearly impossible to hit. I looked over at Daniel. A dart hit the flap of his sweatshirt and lodged there. As he batted it out, I circled, racing behind him and bumping the back of his legs. He understood and bent over, running as low as he could, zigzagging, his dark shirt making him nearly invisible in the night.

"Corey!" He shouted. "Go!"

We made it to the neighboring cabin. That blocked us from sight--and gunfire--and we could hear our pursuers cursing as we slipped under the porch. They cursed even louder when they got around the cabin and didn't find us there. As we hid under the porch, Daniel whipped a stone into the woods. Antone and Moreno took off, with Antone shouting for the others to go back for my grandmother.

Three days in the Vancouver Island wilderness hadn't made Moreno any better at moving quietly through the woods. When he wasn't thundering across hard earth or crashing through the undergrowth, he was cursing. As we waited there, listening and tracking them, I relaxed, and as soon as I did I lost consciousness.

FIVE

"MAYA?"

I looked at my paw. Not a paw. A human hand. I lifted my head, blinking, then remembered.

"Grandma!" I said.

Daniel clapped a hand to my mouth. "I heard them talking. They're going to put her in her studio. They figure she'll wake up and think she had a dream. She's fine."

"Oh."

My fingers dug into the ground as I struggled against the first prickle of tears.

"I know," he whispered. "But she'll know the truth as soon as we can manage it. Better for now if she thinks it was a dream."

He was right, of course. At least the Nast team didn't plan to haul her away and lock her up.

Corey whispered, "I think the other two are gone. Your, uh, father and that guy. Can you hear anything?"

I started to rise up on all fours and felt a chill. I glanced down. I was lying on my stomach. Without clothing.

"Yep, you're naked," Corey said, with a ghost of his usual grin. "Don't worry, I'm saving all my skeevy comments for later."

"Thanks."