The Calling
Page 66
But theyll
Theyll catch me. I know. Its the only way. Theyll think I did my best, so Annie will be safe. I wish He looked away, then leaned toward my ear again so I couldnt see his face. Theres no other way. Annie needs me. And you you dont. Not like that. You can look after yourself and He straightened and gave me a crooked smile. By then youll be happy to be rid of me, Im sure.
I leaned forward and whispered, No, I wont.
Then I kissed him. Just a kiss, my hands still at my sides. When I pulled back, he looked stunned. Then he rubbed his mouth and said, I know that just means you understand. At least, I hope you do.
I do.
I understand that you had an impossible choice to make. I understand that I couldnt be that choice. It had to be both of usAnnie and mesafe, and what you wanted didnt matter. Just like when you let go of my hands in the helicopter.
I said the same words hed said to me before hed let go.
Its okay.
A twisted smile. No, not really. But itll be okay soon. Or as close as it can get.
THRTY-ONE
RAFE LEFT THEN. GOT out, dried off, dressed, and slipped away before anyone caught him. I washed in the now-cool water. Or I think I did. I couldnt remember doing it, though the walls were flecked with suds when I got out.
Id forgiven Rafe for what hed done. I suppose that surprised me a little. But he really didnt have a choice. I couldnt hold that against him.
Back when hed told me why hed come to Salmon Creek, I hadnt forgiven him nearly as quickly. There had to be a better way to find the other skin-walker, I reasoned, one that didnt hurt the feelings of every girl in town. But a lot had changed since then. A lot had changed in me, and even if I still thought Id have found another way, I understood that hed done his best, that he regretted any hurt hed caused. This time, I wasnt even sure there was another way.
That didnt mean I was okay with it. Okay with his decision, yes, as painful as it was. What I wasnt okay with was the overall situation. We were sitting in a trap. The St. Cloudsand maybe even the Nasts by nowwere out there, watching us and listening. And there wasnt a damned thing I could do about it because Rafe was rightwe needed to get to Vancouver, where we could lose ourselves in a metropolis. Until then, we had to act like nothing was wrong. No, I had to act like nothing was wrong. The others couldnt know.
But Daniel Daniel wasnt just the others. Not telling him felt like a betrayal. It was a betrayal. Id told Rafe that I wouldnt, but the more I thoughtabout it, the less certain I was I could keep that promise.
We gathered food and supplies from the other houses. As for money, Id cleared out the emergency stash my parents had forgotten, and even if I knew theyd want me to have it, it still kind of felt like stealing. The others did the same, taking money from anyplace they knew their parents hid it. We all had bank cards, tooall except Rafe. We agreed to take out the maximum just before we got on the ferry.
Would our accounts be blocked? We didnt know. If not, would the banks alert our families? Would our parents think some ghoul had taken the cards from the crash wreckage? Or would they realize how unlikely that would benot only finding our cards but our PINsand would that make them consider the possibility we were still alive? I hoped so. God, I hoped so.
We decided to stay at Principal Barness house. He had a ten-year-old son and a daughter in the grade below us, so there were three bedrooms, plus a sofa bed. Daniel wanted the sofa bed, so he could sleep on the main level, in case anyone broke in. Id get Kenjii to stay with him, as backup.
Sam and I took the kids rooms. Both had just single beds, and Id suggested Sam and I could share the master room instead, but Rafe said no. Give that to Corey and hed use the futon in the covered back patio and guard the back door.
Did he need to sneak out and report in? Maybe. Wed barely spoken since the shower. Or, I guess, Id barely spoken to him. I couldnt stop thinking about his clothes being bugged.
I was heading to bed when Daniel appeared. Is everything okay? he whispered when we were inside my room with the door closed.
Sure.
His look called me a liar. You and Rafe. Somethings up.
I hesitated and the urge to tell him everything was so strong, I had to clamp my jaw shut.
No, I said quickly. Everythings fine. I just Its a little much right now. I thought he was dead, and he isnt, and Im feeling a lot of things. Which was the truth.
Okay. I just wanted to make sure there wasnt a problem.
There is. Theres a huge problem. And I should tell you. If anything goes wrong and you get hurt, Ill never forgive myself.
No problem, I said. Im just confused and exhausted and worried about my parents, and really hoping well get somewhere tomorrow.
We will.
I lay in bed and stared at the wall. Rafe had put me in an impossible position. If I didnt tell Daniel, what did that make me? The kind of girl who fell head-over-heels for a guy and forgot her friends? Whod put her new boyfriend ahead of those whod been in her life for years?
Theyll catch me. I know. Its the only way. Theyll think I did my best, so Annie will be safe. I wish He looked away, then leaned toward my ear again so I couldnt see his face. Theres no other way. Annie needs me. And you you dont. Not like that. You can look after yourself and He straightened and gave me a crooked smile. By then youll be happy to be rid of me, Im sure.
I leaned forward and whispered, No, I wont.
Then I kissed him. Just a kiss, my hands still at my sides. When I pulled back, he looked stunned. Then he rubbed his mouth and said, I know that just means you understand. At least, I hope you do.
I do.
I understand that you had an impossible choice to make. I understand that I couldnt be that choice. It had to be both of usAnnie and mesafe, and what you wanted didnt matter. Just like when you let go of my hands in the helicopter.
I said the same words hed said to me before hed let go.
Its okay.
A twisted smile. No, not really. But itll be okay soon. Or as close as it can get.
THRTY-ONE
RAFE LEFT THEN. GOT out, dried off, dressed, and slipped away before anyone caught him. I washed in the now-cool water. Or I think I did. I couldnt remember doing it, though the walls were flecked with suds when I got out.
Id forgiven Rafe for what hed done. I suppose that surprised me a little. But he really didnt have a choice. I couldnt hold that against him.
Back when hed told me why hed come to Salmon Creek, I hadnt forgiven him nearly as quickly. There had to be a better way to find the other skin-walker, I reasoned, one that didnt hurt the feelings of every girl in town. But a lot had changed since then. A lot had changed in me, and even if I still thought Id have found another way, I understood that hed done his best, that he regretted any hurt hed caused. This time, I wasnt even sure there was another way.
That didnt mean I was okay with it. Okay with his decision, yes, as painful as it was. What I wasnt okay with was the overall situation. We were sitting in a trap. The St. Cloudsand maybe even the Nasts by nowwere out there, watching us and listening. And there wasnt a damned thing I could do about it because Rafe was rightwe needed to get to Vancouver, where we could lose ourselves in a metropolis. Until then, we had to act like nothing was wrong. No, I had to act like nothing was wrong. The others couldnt know.
But Daniel Daniel wasnt just the others. Not telling him felt like a betrayal. It was a betrayal. Id told Rafe that I wouldnt, but the more I thoughtabout it, the less certain I was I could keep that promise.
We gathered food and supplies from the other houses. As for money, Id cleared out the emergency stash my parents had forgotten, and even if I knew theyd want me to have it, it still kind of felt like stealing. The others did the same, taking money from anyplace they knew their parents hid it. We all had bank cards, tooall except Rafe. We agreed to take out the maximum just before we got on the ferry.
Would our accounts be blocked? We didnt know. If not, would the banks alert our families? Would our parents think some ghoul had taken the cards from the crash wreckage? Or would they realize how unlikely that would benot only finding our cards but our PINsand would that make them consider the possibility we were still alive? I hoped so. God, I hoped so.
We decided to stay at Principal Barness house. He had a ten-year-old son and a daughter in the grade below us, so there were three bedrooms, plus a sofa bed. Daniel wanted the sofa bed, so he could sleep on the main level, in case anyone broke in. Id get Kenjii to stay with him, as backup.
Sam and I took the kids rooms. Both had just single beds, and Id suggested Sam and I could share the master room instead, but Rafe said no. Give that to Corey and hed use the futon in the covered back patio and guard the back door.
Did he need to sneak out and report in? Maybe. Wed barely spoken since the shower. Or, I guess, Id barely spoken to him. I couldnt stop thinking about his clothes being bugged.
I was heading to bed when Daniel appeared. Is everything okay? he whispered when we were inside my room with the door closed.
Sure.
His look called me a liar. You and Rafe. Somethings up.
I hesitated and the urge to tell him everything was so strong, I had to clamp my jaw shut.
No, I said quickly. Everythings fine. I just Its a little much right now. I thought he was dead, and he isnt, and Im feeling a lot of things. Which was the truth.
Okay. I just wanted to make sure there wasnt a problem.
There is. Theres a huge problem. And I should tell you. If anything goes wrong and you get hurt, Ill never forgive myself.
No problem, I said. Im just confused and exhausted and worried about my parents, and really hoping well get somewhere tomorrow.
We will.
I lay in bed and stared at the wall. Rafe had put me in an impossible position. If I didnt tell Daniel, what did that make me? The kind of girl who fell head-over-heels for a guy and forgot her friends? Whod put her new boyfriend ahead of those whod been in her life for years?
