Called, p.22
Called, page 22
part #2 of The Grey Gates Series
“Yes. We can’t search in the dark,” Bryce added. Another sensible, practical observation. Even with magic to provide additional light, it wasn’t the same as daylight. “We’ll do a wider sweep when it’s daylight. In the meantime, we should all get some rest.”
Although he addressed his comments to everyone, Max had a feeling he was speaking to her more than the others, and her face burned again. The warriors didn’t look tired, or weary. They looked as if they were more than capable of setting out right now to search the entire Wild if they had to, to see if they could find the missing child. Whereas Max wasn’t sure she would make it back to the building.
Chapter twenty-two
Max woke slowly, reluctantly, aware of space and gentle movement around her. It took a moment to orient herself. She was in what had been the canteen of the oil field’s main building, tucked into a narrow cot bed. At least she had remembered to take off her extra ammunition and her knives before she had lain down to sleep this time. There was nothing digging into her ribs. And her leg felt better. She’d taken painkillers and applied an ice pack over her trousers the night before, not wanting to strip in the communal space, and the diffused cold seemed to have helped ease the ache.
She sat up, rubbing her hands across her face, opening her eyes to find the soft toy staring back at her from its place on top of her pack. She had put it into an evidence bag to preserve any scent on it, but through the clear plastic she could tell it was the toy she had seen in the photos of Ynes, down to the mended tear across its stomach. Even with the evidence bag around it, she was a little surprised that it had survived the rest of the night with both Cas and Pol nearby.
Still not fully awake, she looked around the space. Only about a quarter of the beds were occupied, forms huddled under blankets with the covers pulled over their heads to try to shut out the daylight from the floor-to-ceiling windows that ran along one side of the room. The windows looked out onto the Wild, and part of the oil field. From what Max could see, none of the machines seemed to be working. A chill ran through her, wondering if it was even going to be possible for the oil crews to get the machines working and extract the crude oil that they needed to fill the tankers outside.
There were a few people moving around the space, taking care to be quiet and slow, trying not to disturb the sleepers. Max stretched, feeling the protest in her muscles. She needed to move. She got to her feet, putting her weapons back into place and slinging the ammunition bag across her body, tucking the bear into the bag. She didn’t want to leave it behind.
Cas and Pol were silent shadows as she moved across the room, heading for the makeshift dining room. They should have coffee there, if nothing else.
As she settled with coffee and a plate of hot food, she glanced up at the clock and paused, the coffee halfway to her mouth. She had slept far longer than she had planned, and she was due to be on watch in about half an hour.
Even as she thought that, Faddei settled onto the bench opposite her. He had his own coffee and plate of food, steam rising into the chill morning air.
“You look how I feel,” he commented, voice gruff. He had dark circles under his eyes. The healing gift extracted a price for its use, draining him of energy. She was surprised he was up.
“That bad, huh?” Max asked, starting on her food. She paused almost at once to appreciate it. The very good cooks who were part of the science team and oil crew had outdone themselves with this morning’s offering.
“Feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” Faddei grunted in reply.
They didn’t say much else while they finished their food.
“How’s the injured man?” Max asked.
“He woke up early morning,” Faddei said, grim expression lightening for a moment. “He’ll be up on his feet in a day or two.”
“Well done,” Max said, meaning it.
“Vanko told me about the mammoth spiders,” Faddei said, nose wrinkling in distaste, “and something about demon magic and lights in the distance?”
Max nodded, putting her coffee down and giving Faddei an update on what had happened. She paused before telling him about her sensing the demon the night before, after everyone had settled to sleep, then brought out Ynes’ lilac bear to show him.
Faddei stared at the bear, face grim. “So, this demon is playing games with us. You think the girl is nearby?”
“I don’t know,” Max said. “I mean, I can’t think how that’s possible. We’re a long way from the city and as far as I know neither Nati or Ynes have the magic or skills to survive this long in the Wild.” There was the other, awful, possibility that one or both of them were dead already, but Max didn’t want to think about that. She would much rather believe they were alive until she had proof otherwise. Alonso and Elicia deserved to see their daughter and granddaughter again.
“But we can’t rule it out,” Faddei said and nodded, once. “Alright. I’ll pull you off the watch rotation. Take Cas and Pol and see if you can find a trail. I assume they can track scent?”
“They can,” Max confirmed. “I’ll need to check in with Bryce, though. I think he might have been sending out a search team at first light.” She grimaced. “I didn’t mean to sleep so late.”
“Vanko gave orders that everyone was to be allowed to sleep as long as they needed,” Faddei said, the suggestion of a smile crossing his face. “He’s turning into a fine leader, that one.”
“He did a great job yesterday,” Max agreed.
Bryce was easy to find, as he was coming into the main building as she was heading out. He stopped as soon as he saw her, sweeping her with a cool, professional gaze. Max had seen him look at other students like that. Measuring their capabilities. Whatever he saw seemed to satisfy him as he gave a small nod.
“We’ve gone a few paces into the Wild all around the perimeter, but haven’t found anything,” he told her. “I was just coming to see if we could use your shadow-hounds to track.”
“Faddei suggested the same thing. We’re ready,” Max said. She had swapped out her ammunition bag for a backpack, stocking up with water, food, blankets and a basic first-aid kit. She had her shotgun and spare ammunition strapped to the backpack, and was as ready as she would ever be to head out of the comparative safety of the perimeter. Ynes’ bear was dangling from her backpack, still in the evidence bag. Bryce had a vest over his body armour that looked to be stocked with ammunition and a radio, but she was sure he was also carrying basic supplies as well. Order warriors liked to be prepared.
“Alright,” he said, turning and walking with her out of the building into the weak sunlight.
As they made their way across the concrete, heading for the spot where they had found the bear the night before, a great groaning sound split the air. Max tensed, wondering if they were under attack, then a ragged cheer went up and she turned to find that one of the machines was working, its movement stop-start at first, then easing up into a smooth motion. She paused to watch for a moment, relief coursing through her. If the crew hadn’t been able to get any of the machines working, the entire convoy would have been a failure. More cheers erupted from the people outside as the machine kept working. She didn’t blame them.
“Finally, a bit of good news,” she said.
“Indeed. Let’s hope they can get some of the others running as well,” Bryce said, and started walking again.
There was a group of warriors waiting by the edge of the concrete. Osvaldo, Khari and Joshua, along with three less welcome faces. Killan, Hop and Gemma. Max had first met them when she and Zoya had been assigned to repair a breach in the Wild not that long ago. Hop and Killan had done their jobs, but Gemma had been openly scornful about Max, somehow recognising her from her past life within the Order.
“We’re here to help,” Bryce said in a low voice, not meant to carry to anyone else, as they came closer to the others.
Max stiffened, then tried to ease the tension in her shoulders. She hadn’t realised her reluctance was so obvious. “Alright,” she said. She couldn’t quite manage enthusiasm, but she could manage some basic manners.
As they stepped off the edge of the concrete, she pulled the lilac bear out of the evidence bag, careful to handle it by the ear again, and called Pol then Cas over to get whatever scent might be left on the fabric.
She stood, waiting with the warriors, while her dogs went straight to the point where the bear had been the night before. Max wouldn’t have recognised the precise spot in the daylight, but her dogs had no hesitation. They worked out in a spiral from where the bear had been left, then Pol gave a low bark, pausing and looking back over his shoulder.
“He’s found a trail,” Max said to the others, stowing the bear again before she walked after her dog, skin tightening. He had found something to follow. Something that might lead them to Ynes.
Pol led the group on a more-or-less straight line through the Wild. Cas had appointed himself as lookout for the group, ranging from one side of the group to the other, careful to keep behind Pol so as not to interfere with the scent trail his brother was following.
Max trusted her dogs, following their lead without hesitation through the densely packed jungle that was the Wild. She was no tracker, but even she could see that some branches had been bent back and broken. Someone or something had forced their way through the undergrowth, heading to the edge of the concrete platform to leave the bear for Max to find. If she had to bet, her first and only suspect would be Queran, even if she didn’t understand why he had done it.
She kept her speculation internal, saving her breath for trying to keep up with her dog. Pol was going slowly, for him, but it was still a struggle to keep him in sight from time to time as Max had to navigate around giant tree trunks and tangled plants on the ground. With her recent injury, she hadn’t been doing as much exercise as normal and was embarrassed by how quickly she was out of breath. Still, she did not want to stop. There might be a little girl and her mother somewhere ahead of them.
Pol scrambled up a sharp incline and came to a halt on the top, letting out another low bark. He had found something that she needed to see.
Max drew her weapon on instinct, the warriors all around her readying their own guns in response.
With Cas beside her, Max made her own way up the incline, with far less grace than either of her dogs managed, reaching the top feeling sweaty and red-faced.
Once there, she stopped and stared. The incline hadn’t been natural, but was in fact the side of what had once been a road. She could see it stretching out to either side, the once-clear surface now covered in short, tough plants.
By a quirk of the land around them, they were high enough to see a bit further ahead than the next tree trunk, and Max squinted, spying a hill in the distance with what looked like the remains of a building on it. It wasn’t that unusual in this part of the Wild to find old buildings. It had been inhabited by humans for a long time before the Wild reclaimed it. The building looked large, even from this distance, and had somehow survived in good enough condition to have many of its windows intact, from the way she could see light bouncing off glass. She remembered the lights from the night before and glanced back in the direction they had come. She couldn’t see the oil field from here, but the building might be more or less where the lights had been. Possibly.
Pol made a low sound, catching her attention. He hadn’t been looking at the building, but at something much closer.
On the ground not far from where he was standing were strips of fabric. They looked as if they had once been white but were now stained with a reddish brown substance that might be blood. There were three strips, arranged in a crude arrow sign, pointing in the direction of the building. Max stared down at the fabric, jaw tight. First the bear, now this. Someone was playing games, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit.
Cas paced forward, sniffing delicately at the fabric before turning away, snorting and shaking his head.
“It’s not from Ynes,” Max said, reading her dogs’ body language.
“Did the demon leave it here?” Bryce asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t sense any trace of him,” Max said, hearing the frustration in her voice. She rubbed a hand over her face, dragging her fingers through her hair. Her scalp was sweaty. Her whole body was tired. “But it looks like someone wants us to go that way,” she said, pointing in the direction of the arrow.
“I don’t like it,” Khari said, and Max could see the unease reflected on Joshua’s face, the married pair in perfect agreement.
“Me neither,” Max agreed, tilting her head to try to ease the stiffness in her neck. She’d forgotten just how uncomfortable it could be to carry a backpack for any length of time, particularly with all the other bits and pieces of equipment she had stashed around her person.
“It’s fresh,” Killan offered, surprising Max. He’d taken a step forward, crouching down to get a better look at the fabric. “The blood doesn’t look all that old. It’s not been here long. Since daybreak, perhaps.”
Max glared at the fabric strips. Daybreak made sense. Whoever had left it here had meant for it to be found by whoever was following the toy bear’s trail through the Wild. Even though it was just fabric, the scent of blood would almost certainly have drawn predators to it if it had been in place overnight. As it was, the position was exposed. Even predators in the Wild didn’t want to be out in the open this much during the day.
“We’ll take a break here,” Bryce said. He had taken a long, frowning look from the crude arrow to the building, then back along the roadway.
“We don’t need a rest,” Gemma protested.
“That’s because you had a full night’s sleep,” Khari said, the sharp edge to her tone surprising Max. “Some of us were up all night. A few minutes being still would be nice,” she added, glancing across at Max and sending her a wink, out of sight of Gemma.
Max ducked her head to hide a smile, and shed her backpack, settling herself on the ground with a sigh of relief. The only thing she could be grateful for was that she hadn’t had any episodes of displacement during the day. Perhaps being truly exhausted was the key to stopping them. She had lost far more fitness than she had thought possible. As much as she hated running, she might need to start jogging again to build up her stamina when they got back to the city. The dogs would enjoy that, at least. They found her running pace laughably slow and usually entertained themselves by running in circles and loops around her.
Cas came to settle beside her, lying down, his tongue lolling out. Keeping an eye on her, she realised. He might have sensed Gemma’s hostility, or just be reacting to Max’s tiredness. Pol was a few paces away, also taking the chance to lie down. Her dogs wouldn’t need much of a rest, she knew, but they would stop as long as she wanted. She reached out and stroked Cas’ silky soft ears. He tilted his head, silently demanding a scratch behind each ear. She complied, smiling. It didn’t matter what was happening in the world, her dogs would always make her feel better.
She drank some water and ate half a protein bar, still reasonably full from the excellent breakfast, but knowing she needed to keep taking in food and water.
Just as she had cooled down and was beginning to think about moving, Cas and Pol both lifted their heads, ears pricking. They turned as one in the same direction.
Max scrambled to her feet, along with the others.
“What is it?” Osvaldo asked.
“They’ve heard something,” Max said. “Sorry, I can’t be more precise than that.”
“Dangerous?” Joshua wanted to know.
Max looked at her dogs’ postures. Alert, but not worried. “I don’t think so. Not right now, anyway.”
Gemma muttered something under her breath that Max didn’t hear, but from the sharp, sideways look she got from Killan, it hadn’t been a nice thing. No surprise there. When they had first met, Max had understood Gemma’s hostility. The only thing Gemma had really known about Max was that Kitris blamed Max for the death of nine warriors. Anger had seemed entirely appropriate. But as time went on, Max couldn’t help wonder if there was more to Gemma’s reactions. The warrior seemed extraordinarily bitter.
“I hear something, too,” Bryce said. Osvaldo, Khari and Joshua agreed. “Sounds like something coming towards us. Let’s take cover.”
They must have far sharper hearing than the others, Max thought, as none of the others seemed to be able to hear anything. Still, Max trusted her dogs and Bryce, and grabbed her backpack before following the group as they went further along the old road to a place where a pair of giant, old trees formed a natural arch over the road surface. Tucking themselves under the spreading branches of the trees should keep them from view of whatever was coming, rather than being out in the open on the roadway.
It was only as they gathered in under the trees that Max realised that Bryce and the others were looking up, towards the sky, as were her dogs.
No sooner had she realised this than she heard it, too. The low, thump-thump-thump she associated with the helicopters that were used to ferry tourists on their visits over the Wild. A dark speck formed against the pale, washed out sky, growing larger until she could see that it was, indeed, a helicopter. It was a black shape against the sky, whether painted dark or just shadowed against the bright sunlight, Max couldn’t tell.
“Single rotor,” Osvaldo commented, “looks like a ten- to fourteen-seater. Landing skids, not wheels.” He was peering into the sky. Max looked again, but could barely make out the detail he had seen apart from the single set of rotor blades.
“Did Faddei call for a medical evac for the injured man?” Bryce asked Max. Like everyone else, he was crouched in the shadows of the trees, keeping still.
“He didn’t mention it, but we were told at the briefing that there would be no rescue. We’re on our own,” Max reminded him. “And if we’d been able to use helicopters, we wouldn’t have needed to bring so much equipment on the trucks.”
“We have no assigned air support,” Osvaldo confirmed. He was crouched next to Bryce. “We checked when we realised the Guardian had stowed away.”
