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"It's the boys waking up," she said. "Hit the gas, not the brakes."
The driver did, the van sailing over the rutted road, me clinging to the top.
I thought of another way to get their attention. But could I do it? I wasn't even sure I knew how.
I closed my eyes, focused all my energy deep in my gut and then--
I let out a scream. A true cougar scream, the nails-down-a-chalkboard wail that sends campers fleeing their tents in the middle of the night.
The driver hit the brakes. And I went sailing along the roof, my claws scraping uselessly across the metal, the clothing I'd retrieved fluttering around me, blocking my vision as I tumbled over the front of the van and hit the hard-packed dirt.
I lifted my head, dazed, and found myself staring into the grille. The driver slammed the van into reverse and the vehicle jumped back, ready to make a fast getaway.
"No!" Dr. Inglis shouted. "It could be Maya."
The van stopped. It idled there as they argued inside. I heard the word gun but that was all I caught because as they talked, I was creeping past the van.
When I reached the back, I started to run. Dr. Inglis shouted. The doors opened as they leaped out.
I didn't go far before I swerved, then ran full tilt at the van, back legs propelling me so fast the road sped by in a blur. Then I launched myself.
I didn't think I could make it. Leaping hurdles was one thing. But jumping high enough to land on a van roof?
I actually went too high and landed so hard the whole van quaked under me. I planted my paws, lowered my head, looked at the driver, and let out a snarl that sent him stumbling backward. Silver flashed in his hand, but as he raised it, I saw it was just the keys. His other hand was empty.
"Don't startle her," Dr. Inglis said.
"Don't startle--?" he squeaked. "That--that's a mountain lion."
"She has the birthmark. It's Maya."
"I don't care. It's a goddamned mountain lion."
"I know. Isn't she beautiful? A young cougar in perfect physical condition. Did you see that leap? She must have been riding on the roof earlier. She climbed the tree to get on it. Do you know what that means?"
"Do I care what that--?"
"She planned this. There's no loss of cognitive function. She's an intelligent young woman in the body of one of the world's finest predators. This is what we've been working toward. This is everything we've dreamed--"
I pounced. I hit the driver in the chest and he went down, keys sailing from his hand and landing in the weeds alongside the road. He punched me in the nose. As a human, that would sting. As a cat, it was like a pile-drive straight to the brain.
I fell back. He started to scramble away. I managed to recover in time to grab his leg and pulled him up short. His hands dug into the dirt as he struggled to get free. Then he lifted a handful of that dirt and tried to throw it in my eyes. I chomped down on his foot. He let out a scream as loud as a cougar's. Blood filled my mouth, rich and coppery and hot.
A gun fired. I let go and wheeled to see Dr. Inglis holding a rifle.
"Please, Maya," she said. "These aren't tranquilizer darts. We don't have any with us. I don't want to shoot you. Can you understand me?"
I snarled at her.
"Everything's gone wrong," she said. "I told them we needed to tell you all the truth sooner. I said the early symptoms had begun and you'd figure it out, but the St. Clouds wanted to fly in themselves to be there when we broke the news. They hesitated and others took advantage. Others who don't care about you the way we do."
I glanced back at the man on the ground, clutching his bleeding foot. I snarled again.
"He's not one of us," she said. "He's St. Cloud security. A nobody. The people who count are the people from the lab, from Salmon Creek. We care about you and we are going to make sure your lives change as little as possible, and only for the better."
I looked at her. She seemed sincere, which meant she didn't know about the deal the St. Clouds made with the Nasts--giving us away. Or maybe she thought it was a ploy, one they wouldn't go through with. I knew better. These were businessmen. She was a scientist, which made her as much of a nobody as the man I'd bitten.
"We'll make sure you're taken care of," she continued. "Make sure you get back to a normal life. All of you. Just like Salmon Creek, only someplace else. They've already found a new location. But you have to show them that you won't fight them. That they don't need men like him." She waved at the security guy. "You need to come with me, Maya. Stop fighting and trust us. I don't want to hurt you."
