Maggie didn't waste. time. She climbed as fastasshe could, pulling Cady, rapping out breathless instructions. But the delay had cost them. She could hear the men getting nearer.
And when she reached the far end of the pile ofboulders she saw something that sent shock waves through her system.
She was looking up a barren cliff face. There wasno connection from the rocks to the ledge above.And below her, the hillside dropped off steeply, ahundred feet down into a gorge.
She'd led Cady right into a trap.
There was nowhere else to go.
Chapter 7
Maggie could have made it to the path aboveif she'd been by herself. It was an easy climb, thirdlevel at most. But she wasn't alone. And there was no way to guide Arcadia up a cliff like that.
No time to double back to the forest, either.
They're going to get us, Maggie realized.
"Get down," she whispered to Cady. There wasahollow at the base of the boulder pile. It would only hold one of them, but at least it was shelter.
Even as she shoved Cady down into it, she hearda shout from the edge of the forest.
Maggie pressed flat against the rock. It was slippery with moss and lichen and she feltasexposed as a lizard on a wall. All she could do was hang onand listen to the sounds of two men getting closer and closer.
And closer, until Maggie could hear harshbreathing on the other side of the boulders.
"It's a dead end-" Gavin's young voice began.
"No. They're here." And that, of course, was Bern.
And then there was the most horrible sound inthe world. The grunts of somebody climbing uprock.
We're caught.
Maggie looked around desperately for a weapon.
To her own amazement, she found one, lyingthere as if it had been left especially for her. A dried branch wedged in between the rocks aboveher. Maggie reached for it, her heart beating fast.It was heavier than it looked-the climate must be too wet here for anything to really dry out.
And the rocks are wet, too. Wet and slippery.And there's one good thing about this place-they'llhave to come at us one at a time. Maybe I can push them off, one by one.
"Stay put," she whispered to Cady, trying to makeher breath last to the end of that short sentence."I've got an idea."
Cady looked beyond exhaustion. Her beautifulface was strained, her arms and legs were shakenby a fine trembling, and she was breathing in silentshudders. Her hair had come loose in a dark curtain around her shoulders.
Maggie turned back, her heart beating in her throat and her fingertips, and watched the top of the boulders.
But when what she was watching for actually came, she felt a terrible jolt,asif it were completely unexpected. She couldn't believe that she was seeing the close-cropped top of a man's head, then the forehead, then the cruel face. Bern. He wasclimbing like a spider, pulling himself by his fingertips. His huge shoulders appeared, then his barrel chest.
And he was looking right at Maggie. His eyes methers, and his lips curved in a smile.
Adrenaline washed over Maggie. She felt almost disengaged from her body, as if she might floataway from it. But she didn't faint. She stayed motionless as the terror buzzed through her like electricity-and she tightened her grip on the stick.
Bern kept smiling, but his eyes were dark andexpressionless. As she looked into them, Maggiehad no sense of connecting to another mind likehers.
He's not human. He's... something else, a distant part of her mind said with absolute conviction.
And then one of his legs came up, bulging withmuscle under the jeans, and then he was pullinghimself to stand, looming over her, towering likea mountain.
Maggie braced herself, gripping the stick. "Stay away from us."
"You've caused me a lot of trouble already," Bernsaid. "Now I'm going to show you something."
There was a little noise behind her. She glancedback in alarm and saw that it was Cady, trying toget up.
"Don't," Maggie said sharply. Cady couldn't, anyway. After a moment of trying to pull herself outof the hollow, she slumped down again, eyes shut.
Maggie turned back to see Bern lunging at her.
She thrust the stick out. It was completely instinctive. She didn't go for his head or his midsection; she jabbed at a fist-sized pit near his feet,turning the stick into a barrier to trip him.
It almost worked.
Bern's foot caught underneath it and his lunge became uncontrolled. Maggie saw him start to unbalance. But he wasn't the huge muscle-bound apehe looked like. In an instant he was recovering, throwing his weight sideways, jamming a foot toarrest his fall.
Maggie tried to get the stick unwedged, to use itagain, but Bern was fast.He wrenched it out of herhand, leaving splinters in her palm. Then he threwit overhand, like a lance. Maggie heard it hit the ledge behind her with explosive force.
She tried to dodge, but it was already too late. Bern's big hand flashed forward, and then he hadher.
He was holding her by both arms, looming overher.
"You trying to mess with me?" he asked in disbelief. "With me?Take a look at this."
His eyes weren't cold and emotionless now.Anger was streaming from him like the strong, hot.scent of an animal. And then...
He changed.
It was like nothing Maggie had ever seen. She was staring at his face, trying to look defiant, whenthe features seemed to ripple. The coarse dark hair on his head moved, waves of it spreading downhis face like fungus growing across a log. Maggie'sstomach lurched in horror and she was afraid shewas going to be sick, but she couldn't stop looking.
His eyes got smaller, the brown irises flowing outto cover the white. His nose and mouth thrust forward and his chin collapsed. Two rounded ears uncurled like awful flowers on top of his head. Andwhen Maggie was able to drag her eyes from hisface, she saw that his body had re-formed into ashapeless, hulking lump. His broad shoulders weregone, his waist was gone, his long legs bulging with muscle were squat little appendages close to the ground.
He was still holding Maggie tightly, but not withhands. With coarse paws that had claws on the ends and that were unbelievably strong. He wasn't a person at all anymore, but something huge andvaguely person-shaped. He was a black bear, andhis shiny little pig-eyes stared into hers with animal enjoyment. He had a musky feral smell that got into Maggie's throat and made her gag.
I just saw a shapeshifter shift shape, Maggiethought with an astonishment that seemed dim andfaraway. She was sorry she'd doubted Jeanne.