Atoning (Darkness Rising 3.1)

"Fuck." He exhaled and straightened to face me. "I didn't know..." He shook his head and shoved back his hair. "Fuck."

"Can you just come? Please. It would mean a lot to her."

"I know, but I can't. I've...got stuff." He lifted his hands. "And, no, I'm not just saying that to skip out. I'm working on something. For Maya. For next week."

"Her birthday. Well, your birthday, I mean. Both of you."

"I want to get it done while she's gone. I figured you guys would be okay with me staying back, maybe even be happy not to have me tagging along."

I gave him a look.

"Yeah, I know. You'd be okay with me coming. I just thought it wouldn't be a big deal if I bailed. Now it is, and I really want to do this, and Maya's pissed."

"I'll talk to her."

"Thanks."

Four

Maya's place is tucked into the forest, but it is still close enough to see another house--an empty house, built for Rae and her mother. Sean had tracked them down and convinced them to come to Badger Lake. I'd gone with him to meet her months ago, but they hadn't shown up.

Sean had worried something had happened, but his spies had caught sight of them a few weeks later. As soon as Sean tried to make contact, Rae and her mother took off again. Apparently, they'd changed their minds. I couldn't blame them--taking refuge with a Cabal seemed crazy. But I wished I'd gotten the chance to talk to Rae myself. I don't know if that would have helped. The last time I'd seen her, she'd refused to leave the St. Cloud laboratory, convinced the Edison Group had our best interests in mind. Once burned, twice shy, I guess. I would still have liked to try.

North Bay is the biggest city in the area, but it's still almost a two-hour drive, and at fifty thousand people, it's not exactly a major metropolis. It has what we need, though, for a weekend away.

Maya left Kenjii behind with Ash. Antone stayed, too. So we had Moreno and Luke, one of the security guys. There are a dozen "security guys" at Badger Lake--well, ten guys and two women. They keep to themselves, but I at least try to learn their names, which can be tough when they only stay for three month shifts and don't interact with us much. Luke has been one of the exceptions. At twenty-three, he's the youngest guard we've had, and he's into caving and rock climbing, which we have plenty of around Badger Lake so he's joined us at that a few times. He's careful not to cross the line between guard and friend, but everyone likes him, and we were happy to have him joining us now.

We'd taken two vehicles. Maya and Daniel were in Daniel's truck. Derek and I were with Moreno and Luke in one of the vans. We could have all fit in the van, but we like the autonomy of having a separate vehicle--we all have our licenses--and to their credit, the Cabal guys are really good about allowing us that autonomy.

On the way, I did homework. I'm trying to graduate early so I can go to college with Derek. He's a year ahead of me in school. Simon, Maya and Daniel are too, and I'd like us all to go to college together, but mostly, I need to go for Derek. He's made it clear he won't leave without me, and, while he's willing to wait, I don't want that. He's already been taking college-level math and science courses for two years now. He needs more of a challenge.

We got to the park around five. It was too late for the ATVs, but that plan had really been for Ash. We'd probably stick to hiking and rock climbing. On tonight's agenda was dinner in town, shopping, a movie and then a bonfire. We set up the tents, and the guys took off in the truck to buy campfire wood while Maya and I laid out the duffels and sleeping bags in the tents. Moreno sat on the picnic table and watched us carrying them in.

"Uh, I think you're doing that wrong," he said as we unzipped the flaps on our respective tents. "Boys on the left, girls on the right."

"Nope," Maya said and tossed Daniel's sleeping bag and hers into a tent.

"You're supposed to humor the grown-ups and then swap in the middle of the night."

"I prefer honesty."

"Then you won't mind me telling your parents about your arrangement?"

"Not at all. Of course, you'll have to tell them that you allowed it. Or you'll have to stop us. You could shoot me again. It's been a while."

Luke laughed as he walked by with his pack.

Moreno sighed. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Oddly, no."

He only shook his head. Moreno is a teleporting half-demon and former mercenary. I don't quite know what to make of him. I suspect he

's not a very nice guy, but he's loyal to Antone and committed to his job protecting us, and that's the main thing.

Maya and Moreno have an...interesting relationship. He chased her and the other Project Phoenix kids through the wilds of Vancouver Island, and she's not kidding when she says he shot at her, but he'd argue he wasn't trying to kill her, and, to him, that's a perfectly valid excuse, and it was completely business, not a reflection on her personally. Yeah, it's a little weird. But he's as devoted to Maya and Ash as he is to their father.

"Do you want me to make a drugstore run for you, too?" he asked as she hauled in their duffels.