Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 19 - Wolves at the Gates - II

  "Gwen lost it again," Natalie announced, gently patting the wolf behind the ears as it twisted and turned around the clearing. She maintained an easy balance on its back despite the constant motion. Rachel could see why riding on a wolf or dog was a ridiculous idea, given how sharp and jagged their backs were and how they constantly flexed around while moving. Under any other circumstances it should be completely impractical, but between Natalie's young age and the extreme size of this particular wolf, they made it work. Rachel assumed Natalie had helped grow the wolf somehow, just as Cinza could grow plants, or else she was remarkably lucky to find such a huge specimen roaming the woods of western Washington.

  It had been twenty or thirty minutes at least, and their guide had lost the trail twice. Natalie got more frustrated with every delay. She pulled what looked like jerky out of her bag and chewed on it while waiting for Gwen to find the scent again. Rachel took the opportunity to sit down and rest for a moment. She'd sprinted all the way out into the forest hoping to catch the reverend, and they'd been on the move constantly since. Her legs were feeling like they were about to give up and fall off.

  Kendra came and joined her, looking prim and proper as always, though her clothes were quite a bit more plain than usual. "What happened?" she asked quietly, while they watched Natalie feeding a piece of jerky to the wolf, muttering words they couldn't understand.

  Rachel briefly explained how and why the Reverend had died, and why it was partly her fault, and the whole business with Hector and Julian in town. She even mentioned Cinza and the confrontation in town, though she left out the theft they'd planned for later that night, of course. As she spoke, she was noticing a slight change in how Kendra reacted to everything she said. It was small, but it was enough to finally boil over a revelation that had been brewing in her mind for a while.

  "You're not really Kendra, are you?" Rachel asked quietly.

  Kendra hesitated. "No one's supposed to know," she answered, and her rich, precise diction was gone. She was still definitely British, but she sounded much more relaxed and casual than the Kendra Laushire that Rachel knew. "I'm Lily."

  "I didn't know Kendra had a sister."

  "We want to keep it under the radar. There's plenty out there who'd exploit it if they knew," Lily smiled. "Managed to fool you for years now, and you're probably my best mate."

  "So you two have been swapping out?"

  "Sometimes. Just when we have to. It's a bit mental, yeah, but it's the only way we could keep the damn market open. Kenni'd probably fall apart if she had to do all the teaching and uni business on top of it. So we take turns. Nat knows, but she's cool." Lily laughed. "She kinda had to know, when she walked in on us both in the same room. But get this, cheeky kid just says 'which one of you is the cool one?' like it's no big deal at all. That girl isn't phased by anything."

  "But you two talk and act so differently," Rachel protested. "How could I have never noticed?"

  "Well, see, we grew up in jolly old London, in the highest of society. We had to act proper. But once we got out here, on our own and so far away from dear old dad that no one would ever find us, we got a bit more relaxed. As long as publicly it was still proper, posh and professional Kendra, everything was peachy." She smiled wistfully. "You know, I think Kendra is jealous of me. I get to be everything she wishes she could. She's too set in her ways to really change who she is, but I've got all the freedom I want, except when I need to sub in for her."

  "But why? Why go through all this?"

  "Well, I'm not supposed to exist," Lily said with a wink. "Long long story, but that's the gist of it. Trust me, it'd cause more problems than it'd solve if I popped into the world today."

  Rachel would have asked more, but Natalie was moving. The wolf had turned to face one end of the clearing and growled at the newcomer. Natalie had her hands up, and what seemed to be a stack of kitchen knives were floating in midair around her head, pointed at her target like arrows about to take flight.

  Ryan emerged from the underbrush, his hands raised in surrender. "Holy shit."

  "Ryan, what are you doing here?" Rachel asked, scrambling to her feet.

  "Will sent us. Hey, Josh, get out here before you get eaten by something." Josh, looking as though he wished he were anywhere else in the world, cautiously walked into the clearing. His eyes were fixed on the wolf.

  "William sent you?" asked Lily.

  "Yeah, apparently Rachel sent up the bat signal. You seem okay to me," Ryan added, glancing up and down her body. His eyes lingered in a few particular spots, and Rachel felt a little more disgusted with him. She had to remind herself what he'd done that afternoon and his value in general before she started talking.

  "Reverend Smith is dead, and Robert Harrison's about to start a riot in town. We need all the help we can get." She frowned. "How did you find us anyway?"

  "Easy, I was already out here. I was making sure Nate didn't get killed on the way home." Ryan looked back over his shoulder. "Ran into the greycloaks a while back. They were already gathering for some sort of ritual for the night. Josh was there as a witness when we got the call, and they clearly didn't want us there, so we fucked off." He shrugged. "Your boyfriend's good at directions. Too good."

  "Rachel, what do you mean a riot?" Josh asked.

  "I mean he thinks that the greycloaks are responsible, and he's about to form a lynch mob," Rachel said. "What sort of ritual were they doing?" If Cinza had the Scrap and was planning to read it that night, then Rachel couldn't bring them to help—but if it were anything else, they should be making all haste.

  "You think I pay attention to those?" Josh shrugged. "Doesn't really matter though, does it? If Robert's pissed and they see anything like Cinza's usual tricks, there'll be blood. A lot of blood."

  Rachel couldn't deny it. They had to go. She'd just have to get Cinza to hide the Scrap and all knowledge of it before they arrived. Between Natalie, Cinza and Makoto, Rachel just hoped they had enough firepower to hold off the mob. "Lead the way, then, Josh."

  After a few minutes of blind wandering, it became obvious Josh had no clue how to navigate through the woods at all, much less at night. With an amused smirk, Natalie brought Gwen up close. Josh shut his eyes tight and was muttering rapidly under his breath while the huge wolf sniffed his clothes. Natalie pronounced his scent caught, and they were off.