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"Maya?"
Sam jogged around the corner. I stepped toward her, but my legs wouldn't hold me and I went down, landing on all fours, hearing the thump of running feet from both sides, Rafe and Sam.
"Stay away from her," Sam said, then yelled. "Daniel!"
"I didn't--" Rafe began. "Whatever happened, it wasn't me."
More running footsteps. Heavy. Daniel.
"Maya?" The footsteps picked up speed. "What's going--?"
"My drink," I whispered as Sam crouched beside me. "Something in my drink."
A bone-crunching crack. Then a thump as Rafe hit the ground beside me. I scrambled back. Nicole helped me to my feet, and pulled me out of the way as Daniel bore down on Rafe, his face livid.
"Get up," Daniel said.
Rafe stayed down, lifting his hands. "If Maya's been dosed--"
"If? If? Are you saying she's faking it?"
"No. Obviously something happened. I mean maybe her drink was spiked. But I had nothing to--"
"Get up!"
Rafe didn't. Sam stepped behind him, blocking his escape.
"Go ahead," Sam said. "Stomp him."
Daniel continued forward. "Get up, you son of a bitch."
"Screw that," Sam said. "Hell, if he does get up, I'll hold him for you."
"Stay out of this," Daniel said.
"Just leave him," I said, my voice still thick, the world still tilting. "Let him go."
Daniel didn't seem to hear me and kept bearing down on Rafe. I staggered forward to stop him, but now it was Corey taking my arm and pulling me back.
"Daniel," I said. "Don't--"
Branches crackled. A blur burst from the forest. It charged so fast all I could see was that blur. Then it jumped between Rafe and Daniel.
A cougar. Not Marv or the new tom, but a female, planted between them, facing Daniel, lips curled back. She let out a snarl. I jerked forward. Corey caught me and held my arm.
I'm not exactly sure what happened next. I faded again, everything sliding in and out of focus, no matter how hard I struggled to stay alert, heart pounding at seeing that cougar so close to Daniel, the house and safety too far away.
I remember the cat snarling. I remember Daniel backing up. And I remember Rafe, lying on the ground, saying, "It's okay. It's okay," over and over in this calm voice, completely calm, like he didn't even see the cougar. The cat backed up, getting closer and closer to Rafe and he didn't move a muscle and I remember thinking, "She's protecting him," which was crazy, but that's what I thought.
Then the world blinked, and my legs gave way. As I went down, Daniel ran toward me, and I opened my mouth to shout for him not to turn his back on the cat, but she was already twisting away.
I don't remember anything else.
No, that's a lie. I remember one more thing. I remember the cougar turning away and I remember what I saw on her flank. A dark patch of fur in the shape of a paw print.
FIFTEEN
I BLACKED OUT AFTER that. I came to a few minutes later, but the rest of the night is fuzzy. I couldn't seem to stay awake and kept drifting off.
