The Calling

NINETEEN

THE FRONT DOOR WAS unlocked. A bell jangled as Daniel and Corey walked in, Hayley and Sam following. I took Kenjii under a tree and told her to stay. As well trained as she was, I knew she was very hungry, and the smell of food might prove too much temptation.

“Hello?” Corey was calling as I went inside.

They’d stopped just inside the doorway and were looking around. It was your typical roadside store, crammed with non-perishable foods and items a cottager might need badly enough to pay twice the normal price. The place smelled of must and mildew, and the layer of dust on the cans suggested they’d been there a while. The dirty floor had a path worn down the middle, meaning it wasn’t deserted—just not very busy.

Beside the door stood a cooler. It was unplugged and filled with pop cans and bottles. A handwritten sign advised those looking for milk to check aisle two, for the powdered and canned variety.

“No beer?” Corey said. “What kind of place is this?”

“The kind that knows better than to leave anything that’ll make it a target for kids like you,” I said.

Corey grabbed a Coke.

“Hey!” Hayley said.

“If they aren’t here to man the shop…”

Daniel reached into Corey’s back pocket. He plucked out his wallet, took out a still-damp twenty and put it on the counter. Corey grabbed for it, but Daniel gave a look that made Corey withdraw his hand.

“Fine,” Corey said. “Drinks and snacks on me, apparently. Chow down, guys.”

“I’m a little more interested in finding a phone,” I said. “And figuring out if that open front door means someone’s here.”

“Nah,” Corey said. “They were so eager to get out of this dump that they forgot to lock up Sunday night.”

“Hmm.”

I walked behind the counter. Tucked beside the cash register was a folded newspaper. Beside it rested a paper cup of coffee. I touched the cup.

“Cold?” Daniel said.

“Not hot.”

He reached over, pulled off the lid, and stuck his finger in the coffee.

“Warmer than room temperature,” he said. He flipped over the paper to check the date. “Today’s.”

“I don’t see a bathroom,” Corey said. “Maybe he’s outside, taking a leak.”

Kenjii let out a sharp bark.

“Sounds like someone found him.”

He walked to the front door. When it didn’t open, he put his shoulder into it and pushed.

“Um, try the handle,” Hayley said.

“Um, there isn’t one.”

Corey was right. It was the kind you pushed open from the inside, in case your arms were loaded with supplies. He hit it harder. It didn’t budge.

Daniel went over and they both heaved on it. The door groaned, but didn’t open.

“Is anyone else getting concerned?” Hayley said.

My pounding heart said yes, but I struggled to stay calm. “Look for another exit.” I walked toward the back. “Corey? See if you can get a window open.”

“How about a side door?” Sam said. “There’s one right here, behind—”

She swore and jumped away from the window.

“It’s a trap,” she said, backing into the middle of the room.

“What?” I walked behind the counter and found the door. Beside it was another filthy, barred window. Beyond that, I could see two human-size shapes.

I cleared a spot on the glass. “They might not be—”

I could make out Moreno and the woman I’d seen at the cabin. Behind them, a third person was trying to tie Kenjii to a tree. She’d been muzzled and was stumbling a little, as if she’d been tranquilized, but she still fought against the rope. Moreno went to help.

“Kenjii,” I whispered.

A loud buzzing sound made us all jump. I found a radio tucked under the counter.

“Hello?”

“Maya. I should have known you’d be the one to pick up.”

My hand gripped the radio tighter as I recognized the voice. “Who is this?”

“I think you know.”

I moved to the front window. He was there. He lifted his free hand and smiled. I pulled back from the window.

“My name is Calvin Antone,” he said. “But what’s important isn’t who I am, but what I am, to you.”

Daniel moved closer. He could hear Antone. They all could. I thought of lifting the radio to my ear, but I knew that wouldn’t help.

I walked back to the counter, taking shelter behind it.

“What are you doing to my dog?”

“We’re taking good care of Kenjii. We just didn’t want her to get hurt trying to protect you.”

I twitched when he said her name. I didn’t want him knowing that. He had no business with her or with any part of my life.

“Maya?”

“What?”

He sighed. “All right. We’ll pretend you haven’t already guessed. You’re my daughter.”

Daniel’s eyes widened. I looked away quickly.

“Did you hear me?” Antone said.

I didn’t answer.

“I’m your dad, Maya.”

“No, Rick Delaney is my dad. If you’re saying you’re my biological father, then fine. You can be that. But my dad is Rick Delaney.”

“I’m sure you feel that way—”

“No, it’s a fact. He raised me and—”

“And he’s done a great job. I’m grateful to him and your adoptive mother. But you’ve reached the end of what they can do for you. You’re part of a world they know nothing about. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Are you sure? I saw a subject list for Project Genesis. There’s a Delaney on there. Elizabeth Delaney.”

“A common enough surname. She’s no relation to your adoptive parents. She was a half-demon—”

“Was?”

“She’s dead, Maya.”

I felt a pang of grief for this girl I hadn’t known, one who shared my name.

He continued, “The Edison Group killed her. That’s what they do when things go wrong. In the first wave of any experiment, there are bound to be problems. But to take such extreme measures? That’s unforgivable, Maya, and I won’t let that happen to you. To any of you.” He paused. “Serena will be the only subject they kill in Project Phoenix. You have my word on that.”

“The Edison Group didn’t kill Serena,” I said. “If they wanted to, they’d have managed an accident a lot more believable than a champion swimmer drowning in a still lake. I don’t know what happened in Buffalo, but it’s different here. You guys are the only ones killing people.”

“We have not—”

“Rafe Martinez? Mayor Tillson?”

“Unfortunate accidents—”

“Caused by your team setting my forest on fire and kidnapping us.”

A pause. “You’re upset, Maya. Nicole told us you were close to Rafe. I’m very sorry, but we’re here to help you now.”

I snorted. “Right. That’s why you locked us in here.”

“I am here to help you. You’re my child—”

“No, I’m a teenage girl who happens to share your DNA, which you donated to an experiment.”

“Is that what they told you? I was supposed to be your father, Maya. Apparently, your mother didn’t see it that way. She took you and your brother, and I’ve been trying to get you back ever since.”

I flinched at the mention of my mother and twin brother, but pushed it aside. “You don’t work for the St. Clouds. They’re the ones—”

“Who promised me I could be a parent to my children, then robbed me of that right after I found you again. Yes, I found you. I’m the one who tracked you down in Oregon. Then the St. Clouds set up a phony job interview for Rick Delaney and decided you were too attached to your adoptive parents. So they moved your whole family to Salmon Creek, while keeping me on the line, promising I could be part of your life as soon as you were ready to know the truth. It took me awhile, but I eventually figured out that was a lie. So I left.”

“And took your story to a rival Cabal. Sold us out. Told them where to find us.”

Silence. Then, “You’ve figured out a lot, Maya. You’re a very smart girl.” A small laugh. “I’d like to say that means you take after your father.”

“No, I take after my parents. The Delaneys.”

I turned off the radio, and looked at the others, who were staring at me.

“There isn’t another exit, is there?” I said.

“Got a trapdoor over here.” Corey waved us into the storage room. He pulled aside a filthy carpet. The trapdoor had been secured with a padlock, but he’d managed to pry the whole latch off.

“Does it lead anywhere?” Daniel said.

“No. It’s just a hole where they stash the beer and smokes. Big enough to hide in, though.”

Daniel shook his head and we walked back into the store, where the radio was buzzing again.

“If you don’t answer that, he’s going to come in here,” Sam said. “They all are.”

“And if she does answer, they’ll come in anyway,” Daniel said. “He was hoping she’d lead us out peacefully, but obviously that’s not happening.”

“I could fake it,” I said.

“He’d know you were up to something.”

They talked—Daniel, Corey, and Sam. I was having trouble concentrating. That damned buzzing radio didn’t help. I went behind the counter to see if I could turn it off. As I picked it up, the newspaper fell to the floor. It flipped over and a headline caught my eye.

Bodies of Local Teens Recovered.

Before I could take a better look, Daniel said something about causing a distraction.

“That’s probably our only hope,” I said as I straightened.

“The question is how to pull it off.”

He told us his idea.

“No,” I said when he finished. “Absolutely not. No one sacrifices themselves for this.”

“We don’t have time to argue,” Daniel said. “I’ll be fine—”

“But we won’t,” Sam said. “We need you to get us out of here. It has to be someone else.”

“And you’re volunteering, right?” Corey said.

Sam opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

“Thought so.” Corey turned to us. “I’ll go. Play the hero for a change.” A forced smile. “I hear chicks really go for that kind of thing.”

“It should be me,” I said. “That … guy. He wants me. I can distract—”

The crash of breaking glass had us all hitting the floor. Another crash as a second window smashed, glass tinkling. Shouts sounded outside.

I looked up to see brown liquid running down the wall under the broken window. Some kind of solidified gas? Sedative?

No—the window had been broken from the inside. A pop bottle lay on the sill, cola dripping down.

That had been Daniel’s plan. Smash the windows. Then, after our captors raced around the front, thinking we were trying to escape, he’d run through the side door and pretend to be the last one out—that the rest of us had already made it to the woods while, really, we were hiding inside.

I leaped to my feet in time to see the side door swinging shut.

“Who—?” I began.

“Guys!” Hayley shouted outside. “Wait up! Please, don’t leave me here.”

Corey ran for the side door. Daniel caught him, hauling him back. Corey took a swing at him. Daniel ducked and wrenched Corey’s arm behind his back.

“She did this for us,” Daniel hissed. “Don’t blow it or she’s given herself up for nothing. She’ll be okay. We’ll get her back.”

Corey hesitated. Then he dropped his chin, and let Daniel steer him toward the trapdoor. Sam and I followed. I won’t say I didn’t glance over at that side door. I won’t say I didn’t feel like a heartless bitch, listening to them chase Hayley, knowing they would catch her and hold her captive, like Nicole. But Daniel was right. She’d made this sacrifice for us, and she hadn’t done it hoping we’d all be taken captive with her.