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"Maya!" Rafe shouted.
A sharp pain in my hip made me stumble and I went down. My hip felt like it was on fire. There was a scorched track through my jeans, the skin below it grazed and burned.
I looked up to see the guy bearing down on me, gun pointed.
"Stay down, bitch, or--"
I rolled into the undergrowth. He fired. Missed. Fired again. In the distance, I could hear Rafe shouting as his footsteps pounded the path.
Another shot. Then a click and a grunt. I peered through the brush to see him trying to unjam the gun. I steadied my breathing, then scrambled along the ground until I was a few feet from him.
I leaped up and blasted him full in the face with pepper spray. He screamed and tried to fire, but the gun was still jammed, and I was already diving away.
He fell back, fumbling with the gun as tears streamed down his face. I ran toward him and grabbed the gun. I didn't get a good enough grip on it, and when he let go, it sailed into the forest.
The guy grabbed me by the arm. I wrenched free and tore off. He tried to follow, stumbling blindly after me. Rafe was no longer shouting, just running full out in our direction. His face was taut with anger, and when I heard the growl, I thought it came from him.
Then a tawny blur charged through the trees, snarling and snapping. It was the cougar from the night of my party, the female. She planted herself between me and the guy, who'd stopped swiping at his eyes and now stared at her like he was sure he was seeing wrong.
The cat crouched. Rafe skidded to a halt.
"No!" he said sharply.
The cat kept snarling, crouched and ready to spring.
"We're okay," Rafe said, his voice firm. "I'm okay. Maya's okay."
I looked at him. His gaze was fixed on the cat. He was talking to the cat.
I took a slow step, sidling toward the gun. I kept my gaze on the cougar, and when I moved, I could see her left flank and the mark there--dark fur in the shape of a paw print.
I swallowed. I knew what I was looking at. I knew what it meant. But I couldn't let the thought form. Not now.
Rafe was still talking, sharper now, telling the cat we were okay. She crouched, hindquarters shifting, the tip of her tail twitching.
"No," Rafe said, jumping forward. "Don't--"
The cat leaped just as the guy wheeled to run. He managed to dodge her, stumbling slightly as she brushed him. Rafe took off after the cat, yelling, but she tore after the guy. I followed.
The guy ran full out, knowing he was running for his life, but the cat was faster. As the gap between them narrowed, the cat hunkered down for a flying leap. Rafe shouted something I couldn't quite make out. Or maybe I could--I just wasn't ready to believe what I was hearing.
Just before the cat leaped, the guy's arms windmilled, legs buckling as he skidded to a stop right at the edge of the ridge we'd climbed the afternoon before. He turned, hands going up, and shouted "Okay! Okay!" as the cat crouched, tail flicking, amber eyes fixed on him.
"Call it off!" the guy yelled as Rafe raced toward them. "Call that thing off and I'll go away, okay? I never found you, okay? Just call--"
The cat jumped. Rafe shouted and this time I heard exactly what he said.
"Annie!"
The cat hit the guy, and they flew over the cliff. Rafe kept shouting her name, running toward them so fast I thought he was going to fall, too, and I lunged, screaming, but he stopped right at the edge.
I raced up beside him. Below, the cat lay on the guy, who was sprawled on the grass, his eyes open. Open and unseeing. The cat lifted her head and whined. We started climbing down.
At first, the cat just lay there, whimpering. When she tried to rise, she stumbled onto three legs, her left front one dangling.
"Stay there," Rafe yelled down. "Don't move. Just stay there!"
The cat made a noise low in her throat and looked up at us. I looked into her eyes and I knew what I saw--who I saw.
