She didn't know if the guards even saw her fly by. If they had, they weren't chasing her. Not yet. She wheeled around a corner and froze.
Sheriff Valenti was halfway down the cement hall, gun drawn. His cold gray eyes locked on her.
This was the moment Isabel had been fearing all her life. The moment the wolf came and dragged her off to his cave. One thing was clear-she would not let him take her alive.
"I don't want to shoot you. So be sensible. Don't try anything silly," Valenti said.
Of course he didn't want to shoot her. She was much more valuable to him alive. But the only way she was going to let him have her was dead.
Don't be insane, a little voice in her head pleaded. Let him take you. Michael and Ray will come after you. You know that. There's no way Michael would let Valenti keep you here.
But Michael could die. Ray could die. And Isabel would be left at Valenti's mercy.
That thought decided her. Isabel let out a roar of rage and terror and launched herself at Valenti.
"Stop," he shouted. "Now!"
"Stop!" another voice yelled. A hand reached out and grabbed her by the back of the shirt. Isabel jerked her head to face her captor. Ray.
"Don't shoot. We're stopping. We're stopping right here," Ray told Valenti.
Ray was going to let Valenti take her. Examine her. Experiment on her. And finally dissect her.
No! Isabel jerked away and leaped toward the sheriff.
Ray flung himself in front of her. A shot rang out. And Ray fell to the ground, the green and blue whorls of his aura instantly turning black.
Oh God. Oh no. Ray was dead.
Isabel didn't want to leave him. Didn't want Valenti to have his poor, defenseless body. But Ray was dead. And Max was still alive.
She didn't hesitate more than a quarter of a second. She raced past Valenti and hurled herself around the next corner. She spotted another set of the metal doors. She dashed through them, then used her power to shove the molecules together, slamming the doors shut.
That's not enough, she thought. Valenti would have no problem getting through that door, with a couple of guards to back him up.
Isabel yearned to run for her life and Max's. But she forced herself to stand still. She kept her focus on the molecules, making them move faster and faster until the metal doors got so hot, they began to melt. Then she allowed the molecules to slow. The doors cooled, but now they were sealed together.
Michael would be able to open them, if and when he got there. But anyone else would need at least a blowtorch.
That's right, Isabel told herself. Now you're thinking. And that's how you're going to get out of here.
She leaned against the wall and pressed her hands against her face. She felt the skin and bone move under her fingers as she changed her appearance to match that of the guard she knocked out.
Then she calmly made her way to the parking garage, got in the rental car, and took the elevator up. A few minutes later she was speeding through the desert.
"Hang on a little longer, Max," she whispered. "I'm almost there."
"Max, you've got to hang on," Liz cried. "Michael, Isabel, and Ray are going to be back here with the crystals any second."
"Yeah, Max," Alex added, only the slight tremor in his voice signaling what a wreck he actually was. "You can't check out now. You owe me a new car. One with air bags. Those babies are the only reason Maria and I are here talking to you."
Max opened his lips, but the only sound that came out was a wet clicking.
Is that what people call a death rattle? Liz thought wildly. No, he was still breathing. Shallow, ragged breaths that were painful to watch. And to hear.
"Should we help him sit up?" Maria asked. "Do you think that would help him breathe?"
Liz didn't know what to do. Should they be calling an ambulance? The paramedics could at least give him oxygen or something. But they'd take him to the hospital, and then if Michael, Isabel, and Ray showed up with the crystals, Max wouldn't be here.
And Max would die without the crystals, in the hospital or out of it.
"Liz," Max croaked out.
"I'm here," she told him. "Don't try to talk. Save your strength."
"Love… you." His eyelids fluttered shut.
"No!" Liz shouted. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. His head flopped back and forth. "No, Max. Please, no."
"Is he?" Maria exclaimed, backing away from the bed.
"Check his pulse," Alex ordered. "Maybe he's just unconscious."
He was right. She didn't know for sure. She didn't hear the horrible, ragged breaths, but maybe. Maybe.
She pressed her fingers against the side of his neck. But her hands were shaking, and her own heartbeat was pounding in her ears. She couldn't tell.
"Max. Come on. I'm not letting you leave me," she cried. She reached out and gently slid up one of his eyelids. She thought she saw his pupil contract a little.
"I don't think… I think he's still with us," Liz exclaimed.
"Max, don't go into the light," Alex yelled.
Joking as usual. But Liz could hear the raw emotion in his voice.
"Max, we need you," Maria called. "You can't go yet."
Liz heard the squeal of tires outside the house. A second later the front door banged open.
"They're here! Did you hear that? They're back!" She checked his pupils again. This time there was no response. Liz felt as if her body had turned to seawater, heavy and cold.
"I've got them!" Isabel shouted as she exploded into the room.
"I… think it might be too late," Liz answered. She pressed her hand to Max's chest. She couldn't feel his heart beating.
"Try it, anyway," Alex demanded.
Isabel pulled the crystals out of her pockets and placed them in her brother's hand. She curled his fingers, tight around them, keeping them closed with her own.
"You've got to connect to the consciousness, Max," Isabel told him.
"Please, Max," Liz begged. "You can't die on me now that you finally agreed we don't have to be just friends anymore."
Without realizing it, the entire crew had huddled together at Max's bedside to support him. Maria felt Isabel's hand on her shoulder and looked up. Isabel's face was drained.
"Don't worry, Izzy. Max is gonna make it," Maria whispered. "You brought the crystals… and now he's gonna be all right."
Isabel looked straight at Maria, her eyes wide, and exhaled.
"I hope you're right. Because Valenti's got Michael," she said.
[ front blurb]
A TERRIFYING NEW WEAKNESS…
Max took a deep breath and focused on making the connection he would need to heal the gash. Instead of the rush of images from Liz that he expected, he got the same one again and again-the image of him with his eyes rolled back in his head.
Why wasn't it working? Why wasn't he in? Max took another breath. Think of Liz, he told himself. But he only got the same sickening image.
Liz eased his hand away from hers. "It's okay. It's no big deal. Do you have a handkerchief or something? We can just make a bandage."
Max ripped the bottom off his T-shirt and carefully wrapped it across her palm. "Will you be okay to drive?" he asked.
"Yeah." She slid back behind the wheel and pulled back onto the highway. The desert around them felt much darker and dangerous now, now that he knew he no longer had his powers.
[ Version History]
1.0 – scanned, formatted, and spell-checked from mass-market paperback. ISBN: 0-671-77463-8.
2.0 – July 12, 2004 – The_Ghiti – proofed in detail against deadtree format.