The Rising

THIRTEEN

THE SERVICE ENDED AFTER that. It wasn’t until it did, and people started filing back to the cars, that I realized what had happened. Nothing. Not a single parent had wandered from the service for a few minutes of solace. How could they? They were all trapped in the front row. They couldn’t have slipped away even if they had wanted to.

When the service ended, ushers surrounded our parents and escorted them directly to their vehicles, just as they’d escorted them in.

“They’re not letting them stop for nothing,” Ash said. “Not even a piss break. They have to hold it until they get them someplace safe.”

I kept watching. Kept hoping. But Chief Carling and Travis climbed in their car. So did Daniel’s family and Mrs. Tillson and the Morrises. My parents and Grandma lingered. They didn’t get up and talk to anyone, just sat in their seats as if they hadn’t realized it was over. Two more ushers came over and finally got them into the car.

“No one left,” I whispered. “No one at all.”

“Could have told you that,” Ash said.

I glared over at him.

“What? I could have. Cabals are geniuses at this kind of thing. They’ve been around since the Inquisition. That’s hundreds of years of experience acting like good corporate citizens while they do stuff that would make the Mafia take notes. They’ll cover up your deaths and they’ll hold your parents prisoner until they’ve rounded you all up. And the beauty of it? Your parents won’t even realize they were prisoners. They’ll just think the St. Clouds were being really, really helpful.”

He eased back on his branch. “I knew they’d never let you near them.”

“Then why didn’t you say so?”

“You wouldn’t have listened.”

There was no response to that, so I lay on the branch, staring down, sifting through the remaining friends and families for someone left that we could contact. Maybe. If we were careful. And desperate. When I saw Brendan Hajek over by the washrooms I turned my attention to him. He started heading in the opposite direction—away from the service area. I glanced back to see his mother, the local veterinarian, helping remove the posters from the stage.

So Dr. Hajek had volunteered for clean-up duty and Brendan was using the break to wander off for a bit. Alone.

“I need to talk to Daniel,” I said. “I’m going down. Can you cover me?”

“What?”

Ash had been peering at something and jumped when I spoke. I had to repeat myself.

“No, we need to stay here.”

“There’s no one around. I can dash—”

“You need to stay here, Maya, until those guys are gone.” He pointed to a cluster of strangers beside the stage.

“You know them?” I said.

“No, but they’re obviously Cabal goons.”

They looked like normal mourners to me. The two guys in suits could be security—they were certainly big enough—but everyone else just looked ordinary. Until one of them took a two-way radio from his pocket and stepped away from the group, and I followed his gaze to see another “ordinary-looking guy” across the park, also on a radio.

“Why are they still here?” I said. “Almost everyone’s gone.”

“You’re not.” He swore under his breath. “They knew you’d come. They must have. They’re searching the park now.”

“Okay, we knew that might happen. We’ll lie low until everyone’s gone.”

We continued watching. Another car arrived and a woman got out. She looked as ordinary as the rest of them. Older, maybe in her fifties, with short graying hair. She wore a stylish jacket and slacks.

Ash cursed and scrambled up.

“What?” I said.

“Witch.”

I peered at the woman, who looked more like a prep school teacher. “How can you tell?”

“By the long black hair and pointed nose.” He shot me a look. “I recognize her, obviously. The St. Clouds only have one witch, as far as I know, and that’s her.”

“One witch? Are they rare?”

“No, it’s just that sorcerers don’t like working with them and vice versa.”

“Okay, so . . .”

“Cabals have witches so they can use high-powered witch magic, like sensing spells.”

I remembered a memo I’d seen about our escape. Calvin Antone had been asking for a werewolf and the Enwright witches to help track us.

“And sensing spells do what exactly?” I said, pretty sure I didn’t want to hear the answer.

“They . . . sense.” He waved his hand and made a face, like this was a stupid question. “Like radar or heat detectors. The St. Clouds are going to wait until the park is clear of mourners, then have her start casting. When she does, we’re toast. The Nasts are probably here, too, with their witch. A joint effort to get you guys off the street.”

“We need to get—”

I looked down. The second guy with the radio was heading our way. To our left a man and a woman pretending to be a couple strolled along, but I could see the radio stuffed in the guy’s pocket.

“Yeah,” Ash said. “Coming to your own memorial service? Really not a bright idea. We’re trapped in this tree, Maya. The guys can get away through those woods. Except they have no way to know what’s going on because we’re the ones who can see and we have no way of telling them.”

“We need to—”

“We’re trapped, don’t you get that? We can’t get down there without being spotted, and if we can’t get down, we’re going to get caught as soon as that witch casts her spell.”

“Are you supposed to be helping? Because I thought that’s why you came. To help.”

He answered with a scowl.

“I’ll take that as a yes, though it’s hard to interpret, because glowering seems to be your all-purpose response. Telling me what won’t work doesn’t help.” I looked up. “We can climb higher. What’s the range on her spell?”

“How the hell would I know?”

“Higher, then, if that’s the only option we have. But it doesn’t help the guys.”

“You can’t worry about the—”

“Yes, I can.”

I leaned out as far as I dared, with the patrolling employees getting ever closer. I waved. No response from the thicket. I pulled a penny from my pocket and turned to Ash.

“How’s your aim?”

“I’m the pitcher on my varsity baseball team and archery champ at my country club.”

I threw the penny. It didn’t come close.

Ash sighed and zinged one from behind me. It hit the right spot. So did a second. But the guys didn’t pop up.

“They’re gone,” Ash said. “Either that or they didn’t notice. Nothing else you can do.”

“I can—”

“Have you been holding their hands since the crash? Single-handedly fighting off the bears and wildcats and rattlesnakes?”

“We don’t have rattlesnakes.”

“They’re big boys, Maya. They can take care of themselves. And your benandanti boyfriend seems to know you can take care of yourself.”

“He’s my friend.”

“Why do you keep saying that? I don’t care if you’re going out with the guy, which you obviously are.”

“How is it obvious? Because we talk? Because we’re close?”

“Um, no. Because you’re always talking. Except when you’re whispering or giggling. And if by ‘close’ you mean ‘can’t keep your hands off each other’—”

“Excuse me?”

“Maybe you guys are trying to hide your relationship, but he can’t get near you without finding an excuse to touch your hand or your arm, and you’re just as bad.”

I glowered at him. “We’ve been through hell. It’s called compassion. Maybe you should try it.”

“Yeah, that’s not compassion, Maya.” He lifted a hand against my protest. “Fine. You’re just friends. Point is, Daniel will trust you’re okay and get Corey to safety.”

Ash surveyed the ground. The three people we’d spotted earlier were still close by. Over at the nearly dismantled stage, the witch looked as if she was getting last-minute instructions.

“Shit,” Ash muttered. “I’m going to need to save you.”

“Excuse me? No one needs—”

“I’m saving you, so shut up and be grateful.” He moved to a crouch. “I’ll get to the next tree and jump down. That’ll create a distraction. When they take the bait, you run.”

He crouched and reached for the limb above his head.

I pushed up. “I’m not letting you—”

He wheeled so fast I nearly lost my balance. “If I’m putting my ass on the line, you’d damned well better stay right there, Maya. You think I’m a jerk now? This is me being nice. You come after me? I won’t be nice. Now sit down and wait. They don’t know me. They won’t do more than chase me a bit and it’ll give you time to get away. I’ll find you later.”

He was right—they wouldn’t recognize him. If he could create a distraction, I should use it.

I watched him cross to the next tree. I tensed, ready to leap down and race into the woods. It was the safest place for me. I’d also run past where Daniel and Corey were hiding, so I could warn them if they were still there.

Ash didn’t jump down from that tree, though. Once he got to it, he must have realized it was closer to the next one than he thought, and I watched his dark figure make another leap. Then I heard something. A voice I recognized. I swiveled fast, following the sound, hoping I was wrong—

Antone and Moreno walked from an SUV over to where the St. Cloud witch and two men were heading out to begin scouting.

Ash was right. Both Cabals were here. They might be rivals, but it would be in everyone’s best interests to work together on some issues. Like rounding us up before we caused trouble.

But if Antone was here . . . I glanced up at the dark shape that was Ash, moving through the third tree.

I got to my feet, grabbed the next branch and went after him. Adrenaline slammed through my veins and I moved so fast that when I was leaping to the third tree, I never even paused to check the distance, noticing only after I jumped that the next branch was too far. A brief flash of terror as I realized my mistake too late. A grunt of surprise from Ash as he saw me jump.

Somehow I landed on the next branch easily, as if it’d been a mere step away. I looked back, wondering how I’d done that. Another power?

Ash let out a stream of hissed profanity as he made his way toward me. “I told you—told you—to stay there. Are you trying to get us both—?”

“You can’t jump down,” I said, crouched and holding the limb tight as I caught my breath. “He’ll recognize you.”

“Who’ll recognize me?”

“Our . . .” I gulped breath. “Our father.”

“What?” His face screwed up. “You mean your dad?” He peered down. “Did he come back?”

“No, our father. Our biological one.” I pointed across the park. “Calvin Antone.”

He squinted. “That guy over there? In the jean jacket? That’s . . .” He was looking away, so I couldn’t see his expression.

“It’s our father,” I said. “We’ve met. He used to work for the St. Clouds, then he switched sides. He’s the one who tipped the Nasts off and started this whole mess.”

He continued watching Antone, then gave his head a sharp shake and turned on the branch to face me. “Doesn’t matter. No way in hell he’ll recognize me. You look like him. I don’t.”

That wasn’t true. When I first saw Ash, I’d thought he looked familiar. Now I knew why. Antone and I might share the same eyes and cheekbones, but Ash was nearly the spitting image of him. What had thrown me was his hazel eyes and brown hair. That’s what he meant, I’m sure—that he didn’t have our father’s coloring. It didn’t matter.

“He’ll recognize you,” I said.

“He’s never met—”

“Doesn’t matter. Do you know why he quit the St. Clouds? Because they wouldn’t give me to him. That’s why he turned us in to the Nasts. Because they promised to give me to him.”

“That’s you. That’s not—”

“He wants me because I’m the one he found. He’s still looking for you. If anyone has ever taken a picture of you, you can be sure he has it. Probably in his wallet. Which would be very sweet—if he wasn’t willing to mow down anyone who gets between us and him. He’ll know you, Ash. I can guarantee he’ll know you.”

“Fine.” One last glance at Antone, then he pulled his gaze away and looked out over the park. “Now what?”

“We go back to where we were and make a dash to the woods—”

“They’ll see us.”

“We can—”

“You’re only thinking of doing that because of your friends.” He inched along the tree. “I get that you’re worried about them. You guys have grown up together and you’ve been through a lot and Daniel is obviously . . . important to you.”

“All my friends are.”

Ash rolled his eyes but didn’t pursue it. “That’s great, I’m sure. Except when you’re so concerned that you’ll make a bone-headed move to reach them. You need to trust that they can look after themselves, Maya. You need to look after yourself.”

His gaze jerked left and I saw Antone, the witch, and the others less than a hundred meters away.

Ash swore. “Great. Pep talk over.” He met my gaze. “Either you come with me or I leave. I didn’t come to have my ass hauled into a cage.”

“I’m with you.”

I scanned our surroundings. The tiny building housing the washrooms was right under the next tree. I pointed to it.

Ash shook his head. “Already scoped it. Can’t jump onto the roof without being exposed and the branches over it don’t go far enough to get us to the other side, where we could jump down and be hidden.”

“Then we’ll have to jump farther.”

“Too much risk. I can’t see how thick the branches are, and—”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re hopelessly pessimistic?”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re recklessly optimistic?”

“It’s not reckless if you don’t have a choice.” I started out. “Follow my lead. Try not to fall.”

He muttered something under his breath, but he stayed behind me.