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The people who'd saved her and Rae from the Nasts had continued to be helpful. They'd backed off for a while, after letting Rae and her mom know they were there for support. Then, they'd come back, admitting they were concerned about the rest of us. They hated to get involved--they feared the Cabals--but it was their duty as supernaturals to help these innocent teens escape the tyrannical Nasts. And as much as they'd love to do it themselves, they really needed Rae's help. She'd never gotten over what happened with the Edison Group and had told her mother many times that she wished she could do something to make up for her mistakes. Now she finally could.
"You realize they've fed you a complete line of bullshit," Maya said.
Rae turned a cool look on her. "I'm not actually talking to you. I don't know you."
"Oh, sorry," Maya put out her hand. "Maya Delaney. Seventeen. Grade twelve. Skin-walker, as you saw. I love animals, science, track-and-field and long walks in the rain. Well, no, actually, I hate the rain. It's a cat thing. But while I might not have as good a sense of smell as Derek here, mine's not bad, and it's particularly attuned to the smell of bullshit. I'm guessing, though, that yours isn't quite as good. You bought their story, right?"
Rae bristled. "Of course I did. Because it's true."
"No," Daniel said. "It just has enough of a ring of truth to make it believable. Everyone knows the Nast Cabal is capable of exactly what you've been told. You want to believe it, because you want to make up for what you did to Chloe. But take a good look at their story, Rae. They're saying that Chloe and Derek have been brainwashed into thinking they've got it good in Badger Lake. Yet, according to them, we're living in some kind of institution, our parents dead or missing from our lives. Doesn't that sound exactly like the lab Chloe escaped? What amount of brainwashing could make her accept that life? What amount could make Derek accept it?"
Oh, and another gift that benandanti get? The power of persuasion. Daniel knows how to formulate and deliver a good argument, and his powers give him an extra boost that ensures people listen. Rae didn't cave immediately, but when he asked her for more details, she gave them. He teased out everything these people had said about us, and then he poked holes, gently but convincingly, through the fabric of their story, until there was nothing left but shreds.
"So, you're telling me I've done it again," Rae said quietly. "First the Edison Group tricks me into thinking Chloe is better off with them. Then, this group tricks me into thinking she's better off escaping to them."
"You tried to do the right thing," Daniel said. "Both times. We all get that."
Her gaze slid to Derek, who said, "After you were fooled once, I'd really think you'd do a little more digging before you let it happen again."
Maya shot him a you're not helping look.
"I'll accept that you screwed up," Derek said. "Twice. But it doesn't mean I understand how it can happen. Twice."
Maya looked at him. "From the guy who spent months in a group home run by the Edison Group and thought it was just a group home."
"Hey, I figured it out. And I never did it again."
"And you guarantee you never could do it again? Get tricked like that?"
Derek's gaze shot to me for backup. I did nothing. Maya got his attention and mouthed Just work with us. Please? I suspected she found it equally hard to believe that Rae had been fooled twice, but making her feel bad about it would only get her back up, and, right now, we really needed Rae on our side.
"I won't say it couldn't happen," Derek finally allowed. "If it did, though, I'd hope that I'd have the sense to shape up and help out the person I nearly betrayed a second time."
Maya winced at the heavy-handedness of that. Clearly werewolves did not have the gift of persuasion.
"Badger Lake isn't perfect," I said. "We know exactly what it is, and we'll be happy to explain it to you, but, I can guarantee, we aren't prisoners there, and we aren't brainwashed. We've all been through that sort of thing before, and we're never going to let it happen again. Ask us anything you like, but quickly because we really need to get out of here, before your new friends find us."
"I'd suggest we get out of here anyway," Daniel said. "We can talk as we walk."
We gave Rae the proof she seemed to need that our story was legit. Derek contributed nothing beyond the suggestion that we tie her to the nearest tree and leave her there. While I was the first to defend her, it wasn't with the same conviction as a year ago. I didn't suspect her of treachery this time, but, well, I struggled more now, with the same exasperation and frustration Derek felt.
More than that, having her here thrust me back into those memories, and I looked at them with fresh eyes. She had been tricked. I knew that beyond a doubt. Yet she'd refused to listen to reason, and while I understood where that came from--the seemingly orphaned girl who desperately needed to belong, needed to feel as if someone cared--I look back now, and I'm angrier than I was then. I have less patience with her than I did then.
When she was supposed to join us in Badger Lake, I'd still hoped we could be friends again. Now, being with her and Maya, and Daniel and Derek, I had to face the truth, that my friends were those who'd stuck by me--these three and Simon and, yes, even Tori. I wanted to help Rae. I wanted to bring her to Badger Lake, if that was the best thing for her. And I was sure we'd get along, the same as I did with Sam, Corey and Hayley, but it might never be more than that. Too much had happened. I forgave her mistakes, but I couldn't trust that she wouldn't keep making them, and that endangered all of us. So, as we reached the truck, I agreed when Daniel suggested he drive, putting me in the back with Maya. I had taken the driver's seat earlier to shield Rae from Derek, but she didn't need that, and I trusted he wasn't going to do anything to make her take off.
"We need to deal with Moreno," Maya said, raising her voice to be heard over the rumble of the truck's tires on the dirt road.
She showed me her cell. Our half-hour grace period had ended ten minutes ago, and he'd texted eight times since. She'd started replying that we were almost done, which had worked for about five minutes. Then:
10:33. Moreno: U know I can track yr phone, right?
Maya: But u r not supposed to. Company rules.
Moreno: Not until I need to, my discretion.
Maya: Is that a threat?
Moreno: Does it need 2 b?
