The Rising

TWENTY-ONE

SILENCE.

Hayley stared at Sam. Then at me. Nicole’s mouth opened and closed as she made a strangled noise deep in her throat.

“Did you say . . . ?” Hayley began.

“Nicole drowned Serena. She dragged Maya under, too, probably as a warning. Then she tried to kill her after the crash.”

“No,” Hayley said. “Nicole was pulled under herself after the crash. I was there.”

Sam shook her head. “She faked it. She dragged Maya down and wrapped her foot in some weeds. She hoped in the commotion, no one would realize Maya was missing until it was too late. But Maya got free.”

“Th-that’s crazy,” Nicole said. “Y-you’ve always hated me, Sam. You hated coming to live with us and you were jealous of me and—”

“Um, no, you’re the one who was jealous. Spiking my orange juice with vodka so I’d go to school drunk. Planting drugs in my bedroom. Drugs you got from volunteering at the clinic. Like the drugs you got to dope Maya at her party.”

“That was Hayley. Everyone knows it was. She worked at the clinic, too, and she hates Maya.”

“I did not roofie Maya,” Hayley said. “I didn’t have access to the drug closet.” She turned to us. “Dr. Blair caught me sneaking Ritalin this summer. She took away my key. I couldn’t tell you guys that without admitting I got caught stealing drugs. I asked Nicole to vouch for me, but—”

Nicole crumpled—just let her legs give way and fell to the floor, hunched and sobbing. Hayley looked at me. Even Rafe did. Uncertain looks from both of them. I had to admit, Nicole was a good actor. If I hadn’t seen her switch from “sweet Nicole” to “raving lunatic Nicole” in a heartbeat at the campsite, I might have believed her myself. Even now I felt that niggle of doubt.

Had I been wrong about people before? Oh, yeah. Repeatedly in the last couple of weeks. Starting with Rafe, which is why he stood here now, looking hesitant, studying my expression. He’d been the target of my snap judgments. So had Hayley.

“Maya?” Rafe said. “Is that what you think? She killed Serena?”

Before I could answer, Nicole leaped to her feet with astonishing speed for someone who’d been in a puddle of misery a moment ago.

“Maya hasn’t said that,” Nicole insisted. “Sam’s the one doing all the talking. Maya’s smart. She thinks things through and she knows there’s no way I could have drowned Serena. How could I do that and escape without being spotted?”

“By swimming under the water,” Sam said.

“Seriously? How long would I have had to stay under water? Ten minutes? That’s impossible.”

I glanced at Hayley, who’d gone quiet. “It’s not, is it? At least, not for the members of Salmon Creek’s championship swim team. Serena could hold her breath for at least five minutes. I’m guessing you could do the same, Hayley?”

Hayley nodded. “We all could. Me and Nicole and Serena. We used to have competitions when the coach wasn’t watching. The winner was always . . .” She looked at Nicole. “Almost fifteen minutes one time, until Serena freaked out, worrying Nic would hurt herself. None of us could stay under nearly that long.”

“No!” Nicole said. “That’s a lie. No one can hold her breath that long.”

“No normal person,” I said. “But you’re not normal, as I’m sure they’ve told you here already. You’re a xana. Your talents are singing and swimming, which I’m sure includes holding your breath.”

“No!” Nicole spun on Hayley. “You’re lying about the competitions and you’re lying about the drugs. If you can hold your breath so long, then you killed Serena. Killed her and drugged Maya.”

“Why? What possible reason—?”

“Jealousy. You hated Serena because she was better than you in swimming and singing. You hated Maya because everyone thinks she’s special.”

“Yep, we’re all jealous,” Sam said. “All except you. Right, Nic? Which is good, or else you really wouldn’t want to hear about Daniel and Maya.”

“What?”

“Daniel and Maya,” Sam walked toward her. “Who do you think comforted Maya when she thought Rafe was dead? Who do you think got really close to her on that long walk through the woods?”

“What?” I said. “If you mean—”

“Oh, Nicole knows what I mean. Gotta hand it to you, Maya, you played the grief card perfectly. Completely blindsided poor Daniel.”

“What?” I stared at Sam. I could see Rafe hesitating, looking confused. Confused and hurt.

“Don’t lie, Maya,” Sam said. “I saw you and Daniel together that night. Awfully chilly to have all those clothes off, but you seemed to be keeping warm just fine.”

Nicole flew at me then, her face twisted with rage. She knocked me flying. Rafe and Sam jumped in to pull her off, but she grabbed my hair and wrapped it around her fingers, yanking, hitting and clawing with her free hand. I managed to grab her by the hair and yanked her off me. She yowled and kept coming, clawing and hitting, not caring that hanks of her own hair were ripping free as they held her back. Finally, I pinned her. I could feel the shift coming, my skin pulsing, my face changing. She could see that and still she kept fighting. I got my hand around her throat. Then the door slammed open and two guards raced in.

I backed off Nicole fast. They hit her with a needle, but she wouldn’t stop trying to get me and they had to haul her out.

“You bitch!” she shrieked back at me. “You think what I did to Serena was bad? Just wait until I get ahold of you.” They dragged her away, still spewing threats.

I stood there, doubled over, catching my breath. Hayley helped me straighten and led me to the sofa, then sat beside me.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

I gulped in breaths as the shift slowly reversed.

Hayley looked up at Rafe. “I don’t know what Sam was talking about, because I never saw anything happen between Maya and Daniel.”

“Because nothing did.” I pushed up and advanced on Sam. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but nothing—”

“Oh, of course, nothing happened,” Sam said. “Like you’d watch your boyfriend die and jump the next available guy.” She turned to Rafe. “And if your boyfriend thinks for a second that was possible, he doesn’t know you at all.”

“You caught me off guard,” Rafe said. “I just didn’t know what the hell you were playing at. I didn’t think Maya did it.”

Only he had thought I did. Or at least, he’d entertained the possibility. I’d seen it on his face.

“I think it’s clear what I was playing at,” Sam said. “Setting off Nicole. It worked, didn’t it? When it comes to Daniel, she’s got a few screws loose. More than a few. Now everyone’s seen it, and she confessed to killing Serena, so it’s all good.”

“All good?” Hayley said, standing. “Not only did you just accuse Maya of messing around with Daniel, but you’ve convinced Nicole that she did. Nicole. The girl who murdered Serena because she was dating Daniel. The girl who tried to murder Maya because she’s friends with him. And that’s all good?”

Sam sputtered and spewed excuses, but I could tell she hadn’t thought it through. Now I was trapped in a house with someone who truly wanted me dead.

The door opened again. In walked Nast, followed by Moreno, a guard, and a woman I didn’t recognize. Moreno was talking, as usual. “Look, I know you’re in charge, sir, but Calvin asked—”

“I don’t give a damn what Calvin asked for. I told him to control his daughter.”

Nast headed for me. Rafe moved closer.

“Get out of here, boy,” Nast said. “Playtime’s over. Take them”—a dismissive wave at Sam and Hayley—“with you.”

They made no move to leave. Nast didn’t seem to notice, just continued bearing down on me.

“One hour,” he said. “You haven’t even been conscious for one hour and already you’re attacking—”

“She didn’t attack anyone,” Rafe said. “Nicole jumped her.”

Nast looked at Rafe. He didn’t even seem to focus on him, just curled his lip, like Rafe was beneath his notice, before waving at the guard and saying, “Get them out of here.”

“It was self-defense,” Sam said. “Nicole attacked her.”

“Get them out.”

Nast didn’t raise his voice, but the guard jumped as if he’d shouted. He took both Hayley and Sam by the arm and propelled them to the door.

“Moreno? Take the boy. Now.”

Moreno wasn’t so quick to obey. He sauntered forward, waving at Rafe. “Come on, kid. Your girlfriend needs to go with the doc for a checkup.”

I caught Rafe’s eye and mouthed, “Go on.”

A second guard appeared as Moreno and Rafe left. Nast pointed to me.

“Take her to the lab for Dr. Wiley. And be careful.” He met my gaze. “Her wild streak is showing.”