PART SIX

"Liz, please wait!" Max called after her, but she didn't look back. Maria gave him a glare and went to sit beside her where she had crouched near Doug. She put her hand on Liz's arm.

"Chica, you ok?" she asked, concerned.

"Yeah....yeah I'm fine," Liz answered.

"What did he do to you?" Maria asked impatiently. "Did he try some other weird alien crap on you?"

"No Maria," she said, quickly defending him without realizing she was doing it. "He didn't do anything. Nothing happened."

"Then why are you so upset?" Maria asked skeptically. "You weren't like this before you were out there alone with him," she said softly, looking over at Max.

"It's just that this whole Serena thing is hitting me," Liz lied. Well it was the truth sort of, but she didn't feel any worse about that situation than she did before she went outside. But she couldn't tell Maria what happened. She wouldn't understand.

"Liz, I know there's something you're not telling me," she said. "And if you're thinking what I think you're thinking well....don't think it! I know you think he's hot, but he's also from another planet! God, you don't know what they could do to you!"

"Maria, I'm not thinking anything!" Liz hissed, glancing at Max, who was sitting with Isabel. Her eyes caught his for a split second and she felt her face flame. She looked away. "He would never hurt us," she said quietly.

"How do you know that?" Maria asked in disbelief.

"I just do," Liz said, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Look, you can rest easy. I have no plans to start anything with Max Evans. Not now, not ever. I'm with Kyle, and he's the best thing that ever happened to me," she said, trying to convince herself of that by saying it out loud.

But if that were true, her mind argued, then why was it that just the slightest touch of Max's lips against her own started a fire in her body that she had never felt with Kyle? As if her thinking of him had called him, she heard his voice on Alex's short-wave. Alex grabbed the pendant and opened the chamber.

"Good Liz," Maria answered after a moment.

"'Cause I can tell, they're just trouble," she said, staring at Michael. He caught her looking and glared at her until she looked away, scrunching her nose in a scowl.

"Yep, more trouble than they are worth," Maria grumbled, not wanting to think about the fact that Michael Guerin had become amazingly hot himself in the time he had been away. Was it the alien genes that made them all beautiful? Still it did nothing for his attitude.

Doug stirred and Liz jumped.

"Maria!" she said, grabbing his hand.

"Doug," Liz said softly, as his brow furrowed.

"Doug, are you awake?" she said, and he opened his eyes. Amazing green eyes, just like Serena's. She smiled down at him.

"Where's Serena?" he croaked, trying to get up. She helped him sit up. The others gathered around them.

"She's been captured," Liz said gently.

"Damn," Doug cursed. "What happened?"

Liz sighed. "They found us at the museum. They killed the lights, and took her before we knew what happened." She didn't mention that Max was healing her. She could feel Max's gaze on her, and just that thought alone was making her pulse race. Let it go Liz, she thought to herself.

"What do you remember?" Liz asked abruptly, trying to get Max out of her mind.

"Just....I was in the alley behind the Crashdown and I had split up from Serena. A skin jumped me from one of the roofs. I never saw it coming. Then two more showed up. They used some sort of weapon on me. I couldn't move. They were demanding I tell them where she was, and when I didn't they beat me. The last thing I remember was them telling me I was going to die," he said.

"And then I remember dreams, strange ones. Like I was dead, but something was pulling me back," he said.

"Someone did pull you back," Liz said. "Max, he healed you," she said, glancing over at him. He looked down.

"Healed me?" Doug questioned. "How?"

"I....I'm like you, only more," Max said quietly. "I am half Antarian."

"You're Antarian?" Doug said, in disbelief.

"Doug, Max is Zan," Liz said, and Doug's eyes widened.

"You told them?" Isabel said, angrily to Max.

"No, I guessed," Liz said. "I saw the look Max gave you when I mentioned the protector. You all had a way to get into the chamber without the pendant. It wasn't hard to figure out," she said.

"Great," Michael muttered.

Max shot him a look, and he fell silent. Doug looked up at Max. "You are the King," he said. "Serena and I had hoped you were still alive, but then we had heard you were killed."

"It wasn't true," Max said. "We're still here."

"Does Serena know?" he asked Liz.

"No, she was taken before I guessed," she said.

"We have to find her," Doug said. "There's no telling what they'll do to her to find out the rendezvous point."

Liz nodded. "Do you think you feel strong enough to try to connect with her?" Liz asked.

"I don't know," Doug said. "Usually our connection is never really turned off. It's like a buzz in the back of my head. But I don't feel it now."

"Could that mean she's...." Kyle said, with a look of horror on his face.

I don't know," Doug said miserably.

"Do you want to try?" Liz asked.

He nodded. He shut his eyes for a long moment while they all watched.

His breathing became erratic for a moment, and Liz glanced at Maria with worry.

His lips tightened and he opened his eyes.

"I can't feel her," he said. Our connection is cut. I don't know if it's because I am still weak, or if something happened to her, but I can't feel her at all," he said dejectedly.

Kyle sighed. "Now what?"

"We wait until you are strong enough to try again," Alex said.

"But that could be days!" Kyle said. "We can't wait that long. She'll be dead."

"What other choice do we have?" Alex said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Doug is our only connection to Serena."

"Maybe I can help," Isabel said, and Alex turned to look at her. She looked at him uncertainly, afraid of all of their reactions. She also felt bad for the way she had treated Alex earlier. He was a nice guy. She never took the time to notice in high school.

"How are you going to help?" Maria asked, irritated.

"Hey, I think you should cut the attitude," Michael said to Maria. "Isabel may be your only hope."

"Whatever," she muttered, walking away from the group. These aliens and aliens in general had turned her world upside down, and she was at the end of her rope.

Michael glared in her direction.

"How do you think you can help?" Alex said gently, hoping to diffuse Maria's little tirade.

She looked at him and saw reassurance in his eyes. "Well, I....I can sort of get into people's dreams. We call it dreamwalking. Sometimes I can see where they are. Maybe I can get her to tell us where she is."

"It's worth a try," Alex said, looking at Liz, who nodded and gave a small smile to Isabel. She still couldn't look at Max, especially with Kyle standing next to her. She felt so guilty.

"Do you have something of hers, a photo or something?" Isabel asked.

"Yeah," Liz said, pulling her wallet out of her pocket. She took a photo out of Serena and herself on the quad. She looked at it quickly, and handed it to Isabel.

Isabel took it and walked a short distance away from the others, and sat cross-legged on the floor of the chamber. She traced a finger over the photo for a moment before closing her eyes.

The group watched as her breathing seemed to deepen, become more even.

Isabel found herself in the back of a van. Trying to get her bearings, she felt the metal wall of the van under her fingers. She looked around quickly, and spotted a huddled figure in the corner.

"Serena?" she asked softly. There was no response. She crawled carefully toward the figure, mindful of the movements of the truck.

Yes it was her, she could see. Her lip was split where someone had hit her, hard. Her left eye was swollen over. Isabel could see bruising beginning on her arms. A trickle of blood was drying near her hairline.

She gently touched the girl's arm.

"Serena?" she said quietly again and the girl jerked and cowered.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you," she said gently.

Serena peered at her through a blood red eye where blood vessels had burst in it.

"You....oh My God I should have known when I saw you. I should have seen it," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "I thought you were dead."

Isabel was momentarily stunned. How did she know who she was? Granted, she obviously knew about Zan and Vilandra, but she had never met this girl in her life. But there was no time to ask her about this.
"I see it now. Vilandra...." she said tearfully. "Why didn't I see it?"

Isabel was confused. She'd have to ask Doug about this later.

"It's ok, I am alive," she said. "I'm here because of Liz and Doug. He can't connect with you," she said.

"He's alive?" Serena said tearfully. "I couldn't feel him anymore and I thought, oh God I thought he was dead."

"No, he's weak, but he's not dead," she said, noticing a strange mark on Serena's wrist. She gently took her hand and looked at it closely.

It was a chip of some sort. She looked up quickly at Serena.

"This may be why you can't connect with Doug," she said, showing it to her.

Serena looked dismayed. "I don't know when they did this," she said. "It must have been while I was unconscious. Shit. I bet I can't do anything to get it out of me. They probably have it rigged to do something if I try to remove it."

"It's ok, we can connect this way," she said.

"What are you doing here?" Serena asked.

"I need you to tell me anything you can about where they are taking you," Isabel said. "They need to know, so they can help."

Serena shook her head wearily. "I don't know...."

"There has to be something, anything!" Isabel said. "Think hard."

Serena winced as she tried to recall anything her captors may have said, anything she might have seen before she lost consciousness.

"There had to be something," Isabel said.

Suddenly, Serena's eyes snapped open.

"Wait, they talked about a house. Horton House," she said.

"Where is that?" Isabel asked.

"I don't know," she said. "But that's where they are taking me. I can't remember anything else," she said, distraught.

"It's ok, we'll find it," Isabel said, putting her hand on her shoulder.

Serena felt her touch and her gaze snapped to her face in alarm.

"What?" Isabel said. "What's wrong?"

"You are in danger," she said.

"What do you mean? We're *all* in danger," Isabel said confused.

"No, you. I mean you. Something is going to happen. Someone you will come or have come to trust is going to betray you to meet their own ends," she said.

"I don't understand...." she said, as the van stopped.

"Know your heart Vilandra," she said, as the back door to the van opened, and sunlight poured in on Serena.

A large burly skin climbed in the back, yanking Serena out of the van.

"No!!!" Isabel shouted, as the man shook Serena.

"Tell me where they are, the half-breeds!" he said.

"I don't know," Serena answered defiantly, and the man slapped her across her cheek. Serena fell to the ground and the man kicked her, and kept kicking her....

"NOOO!!!" Isabel screamed as she felt an arm come around her. She opened her eyes unaware of where she was for a moment, the vision of Serena being beaten still floating in her head.

And then a cheek pressed close to hers. "It's ok," a soft voice said as she sobbed. Liz.

"They're hurting her because she won't tell them where the others are," Isabel cried.

Liz squeezed her comfortingly. Max watched in wonder at this girl who had put aside what they were. She didn't seem to care. All she saw was Isabel upset. She wasn't afraid of them. She wasn't afraid to touch them. He had thought that when he kissed her she had been repulsed. And maybe she was, but seeing the way she was with Isabel now, her instinct to comfort her, even knowing what she was....but then again, she had been friends with Serena for awhile, and Serena was a half-breed. That didn't mean that she had been ok with him kissing her. Being friends with aliens and being involved with one were two different animals.

"It's ok," Liz said soothingly. "Serena will be ok. They aren't going to kill her until they get what they want out of her."

"But they were so vicious," Isabel said shakily.

"She'll handle herself," Liz said. "Did she tell you anything? Did you learn anything?"

Isabel nodded her head vigorously. "She said she heard something about a place named Horton House. I don't know where it is. She didn't either, but she said that's where they're taking her," she said, trying to get control of her emotions.

"Ok, ok," Liz said. There was something familiar about that name.

"That's good. That's a start. We can go to the library and look it up."

Isabel nodded tearfully.

Doug touched her hand. "Thank you," he said. "I'm sorry for what you had to see. If only I could have...."

"No, it's not you. They have implanted a blocking device in her wrist. It must be blocking your connection. It's not your fault," she said quickly.

He smiled sadly at her. "Thank you for giving me the peace that my sister is still alive," he said.

"I think any of you would have done the same for us if it was Max," she said.

"No, you're wrong," a voice said, and Isabel turned to face Maria.

"We wouldn't have helped you," she said slowly, tears forming in her eyes. "We were ready to kill you all last night. And if we had....I don't even want to think about it," she said looking at Isabel. "Even just now, I was a bitch...."

"It's ok," Isabel said.

"No, it's not," Maria answered. "Please, at least let me apologize," she said, looking at her, and then at Michael. "I'm sorry, but the truth of the matter is, you guys freak me out a little. I know Doug and Serena are kind of like you, but they don't have these crazy powers that....do things to people, and it's easier for me to sort of forget it with them, you know, what they are...."

"Maria!" Liz said sharply.

"No, let her finish what she was going to say," Isabel said quietly.

"Ok, what I wanted to say is that I am going to try to overlook it. I can't promise anything, but I am going to try. I know you guys aren't going to hurt us, just give me time to let all of this sink in," she said.

Isabel nodded.

"You know Maria, we're still the same people we were before you found out what we are," Isabel said.

"Yeah, I think I see that now," Maria said.

"Enough of this bonding crap," Michael said, annoyed. "Are we going to get to the library or what?"

Maria glared at him, but said nothing. How can one person be *so* irritating?

Liz stood up. "Lets go," she said.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%

The library was dim in the afternoon light. A thin haze of dust had settled over everything, a sure sign of the barrenness of the town. Even now, Liz couldn't get used to it.

There wasn't any way to use the microfiche. That area of the library had been ransacked, probably by the Skins. And even if they were still usable, there was no power. They had rigged up a generator in the UFO Museum while they had hid there, but there was no use in doing that here until they had exhausted all other avenues.

She wandered the aisles filled with geography books. Her thoughts were on Max and their stolen kiss. Her body still tingled whenever she thought about it. His lips were like magic, stoking a fire in her soul she had never felt before. She had completely lost her reason after he had made that connection with her. His feelings had overwhelmed her, and brought her own lost schoolgirl desires for him to the surface.

But where did that leave them? She felt badly about running away, but it was the only thing that she could do, because the power of the emotions she was feeling was so strong, it scared her.

For one short moment, she felt like she had become part of Max, like she had never thought she could be a part of anyone. That feeling of being a part of him was something she never could have dreamed, and she had a suspicion that that feeling had nothing to do with him being human, and everything to do with his alien side.

Stop thinking about this! She scolded herself.

Where to start? She didn't know where Horton House was. But something was bothering her about the name. She had heard it before. It made her think of monsters. Why was that? She had looked through the card catalog aimlessly. There were no books on it. Now she paced to get her concentration, to find some inspiration as to how to find the place. It was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Up one aisle, down the other. Up the next aisle, then down the following, chewing her lip, she stopped and leaned against the shelves in frustration. The others were pulling books from the shelves aimlessly.

She moved on, again pacing the aisles. Monsters....what does a house have to do with monsters?

So caught up in her thoughts, she didn't hear Max come up behind her. He tentatively touched her shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly, causing her to jump reflexively, moving away from him. His heart fell at her response.

"Sorry," he said, stepping back.

"No, it's ok," Liz said, stepping closer.

"You just startled me," she said with an uncomfortable smile.

He looked at the floor uncomfortably. He had been wanting to talk to her about the kiss, and felt himself almost physically pulled to her here in the aisle, but now that he was here, he didn't know what to say.

"Um, Liz....about earlier," he started.

"Oh...." Liz said, looking down.

This is going great, he thought.

"I'm sorry for what happened," he said. "I didn't mean to, I mean I don't know what happened, I don't know what I was thinking," he mumbled.

"Probably the same thing I was Max, that you were overwhelmed with whatever passed between us. I *felt* how you felt Max. Did you, when you healed me? Did you feel what I felt?" she asked, almost embarrassed to look at him. He nodded.

"Max, those emotions were very powerful. I can't even begin to explain it, and God, if it were back in high school, I would be on cloud nine, I swear. But what's happened here, and the circumstances right now, I don't think it's a good idea if we pursue this any further," she said.

He nodded silently.

"I mean, I'm with Kyle," she tried to justify. And Max felt his jaw tighten. Kyle. He would have given anything to have been Kyle back then. And even now, he could feel his heart thawing more each time he looked at her. But he was something altogether different. He could never give her a normal human relationship. He wasn't completely human. There was that whole other side to him that couldn't be ignored. The Zan side, the Antarian side.

And that side of him was rearing its head. Monogamous wasn't a word for Antarians, it was a lifestyle. Antarians chose one they would give their heart to, and regardless of whether they wound up with their chosen, there was never another that could replace that one first chosen in their hearts. Many Antarians never bonded because their chosen did not reciprocate. Nasedo had told Max this. Zan was relatively young when he had been killed. His parents were taken first. Zan, Vilandra and Rath were killed later, in a public display. Khivar had ruthlessly murdered them all, and murdered them before any of them had found their chosen.

And now it seemed Max had chosen his mate. If he was honest with himself, he had chosen her a long time ago, that first moment he got off the bus and spotted a beautiful little brunette girl whose eyes called out to his soul.

Foolish, he thought to himself, that he would choose Liz, a human, someone who by all rights he could never be with. But that was the reasonable part of him that was rationalizing it. His heart told a whole different story.

And there was something different, more intense about the way he felt when he was around her. It was different that the mooning that he did back in high school. It was like he was *drawn* to her now. Even watching her with Doug, it took every ounce of control he had not to go to her. He didn't know what was happening to him, but it scared him a little.

"I just think it would be too complicated Max, I mean you're....and I'm, I don't know what to say," she said as he moved closer to her. She backed against the shelves as he planted his hands on either side of her head. She felt her body heat rise as she looked into his smouldering eyes.

"Max....?" she said softly as she felt his warm breath on her cheek.

"I know you're with Kyle Liz," he said. His fingers stroked her cheek as he spoke softly to her.

"I know we can't be together. There's a thousand reasons why we can't be together, every one of them valid," he said, his index finger touching her lips, running down her lower lip to her chin.

"I can't get involved with anyone. I've always known that, but seeing you again, healing you, knowing the way you felt about me, its taken over my mind. It's all I've been thinking about. Tell me you don't feel the same way," he said, his face so close to hers as his nose brushed hers.

She was feeling the same way. She was ok as long as he wasn't in her vicinity. The pull was bearable. But with him this close, she was feeling a loss of control, of how she felt, about how her body was reacting to him. She could consciously feel her skin grow hot, her stomach tighten in sexual anticipation, she felt her heart rate increase, her breathing quicken.

She pressed herself against the shelves praying he would stop, yet praying that he wouldn't move away.

"Max, please....we can't," and then her reply was smothered by his lips on hers. A little whimper came from her mouth as his left hand remained against the shelves while the other dropped to the small of her back, pulling her against him sharply, and she felt the raw need he was experiencing in her presence. His leg moved between hers and she felt the hot stiffness of his erection on her tummy.

Without thought she opened herself to him, feeling the silkiness of his tongue meet her own. He groaned lustily as her tongue slid into his mouth and automatically her fingers threaded through her hair, as his hands wound through hers, pulling her head back to taste the softness of her neck.

"Oh, this is crazy," she half whispered, half-gasped. She could feel the hardness of his chest pressed against the softness of her own, and she felt a hunger grow in her soul, Made for each other, she thought hazily, and then all sorts of crazy non-sensical images were rushing through her head. Images of her brushing her teeth, taking an order at the Crashdown, standing at her locker, eating ice cream with Maria, watching a movie with Alex, sitting writing calculus notes in class, sitting next to Max in Physics.

"William Horton....Oh my God!" she said. Max froze at her neck. "What?" he said confused.

"How did I remember that?" Liz said, confused.

"Remember what?" Max said, still holding her, trying to catch his breath.

"Major William Horton....the monsters....!" she laughed.

"Liz, what exactly are you talking about?" he said shaking his head.

"Horton House is on Jekyll Island, near Savannah. Georgia, why would they choose Georgia?" she asked confused.

"You lost me," Max said.

"Horton was an officer under General Ogelthorpe, who founded Fort Frederica and the colony of Georgia. He had a plantation on Jekyll Island. It was called Horton House. Max, how did I remember that? When I was kissing you, it was if I was being pulled toward that memory. I kept thinking monsters, Jekyll obviously, but I wouldn't have remembered that...."

"You think our....connection had something to do with it?" Max asked, his hand running through her hair.

"I don't know. It was almost like you did something to me so I was able to focus, to sift through my memories to find that information. It was like that particular memory from History class was reeling me in. I can't explain it," she said. "I've never felt anything like it."

His hand touched her neck and she felt a little shot of electricity run through her body. She shook her head.

"Max, we can't *do* anything about this....about, you know," she paused.

"I don't know why I am feeling like I am, maybe because you saved my life, but it can't be. We're too different," she said.

"I know," he said gently. "If things were different-"

"But they aren't Max," she said, looking down.

"Liz!" a voice called out.

Liz tried to move away from Max before Kyle turned the corner but she wasn't quick enough.

"What's going on?" Kyle said, slightly suspicious.

"Nothing," Liz said, smiling a little too brightly, moving toward Kyle and taking his arm.

"I think I know where Serena is," she said, leading him out of the aisle, leaving Max standing in the middle of it.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%

"What you said about Horton House," Liz said to Isabel as they all were seated at one of the tables, "I knew I remembered the name," she said, but I couldn't figure out where I'd heard it from. Max came and silently pulled out a chair and sat down.

"For some reason I kept thinking monsters. And then I remembered," she said, unable not to look at Max, her cheeks burning. She quickly looked away.

"Horton House is on Jekyll Island. It's an island that a bunch of millionaires bought in the 1800's. People like the Vanderbilts', Pulitzer, The Rockerfellers, JP Morgan built this club with cottages and this huge mansion-like building. It was really exclusive. But Horton House was a plantation that was owned by William Horton, one of the officers of General Ogelthorpe, who founded Fort Frederica and Georgia. I still don't understand why the skins picked Georgia," she said.

"What I want to know is how the fuck do you remember all that?" Kyle said curiously.

Liz's face reddened again. She couldn't say that her research including making out with Max Evans between a bunch of books.

"I don't know, my mind holds on to useless trivia," she said lamely.

"I think I know why they picked Georgia," Michael said. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Do you guys remember Nasedo saying that Khivar had a penchant for the dramatic?" he asked Max and Isabel. They nodded.

"Well we know the humans that were here aren't dead. They're in holding somewhere right?" he asked.

"Slavery *people*, don't you get it? Georgia is known for its plantations, and for slavery. It's symbolism, and as good of a place for a headquarters as any. They've been rounding up the half-breeds I think. I'd bet that's their holding camp," he said.

"Well they obviously didn't look up their history very well," Liz said. "Ogelthorpe founded Fort Frederica for debtors. He abhorred slavery, and wouldn't allow it in his Fort. People had to work for their living, but no one was enslaved. I am thinking that an officer of his would be of the same mind, hence I don't think Horton was a slave master," she said.

"Well, who ever said the skins were bright?" Michael said patiently. "I doubt they took the time to fully research it. Georgia = 1700's = plantations = slavery. They want to enslave the humans for some reason."

"And I wouldn't doubt that while the half-breeds are holed up at Horton House, the Skins are living it up in that Clubhouse you are talking about," he said. "Get me a map."

They quickly got an atlas and looked through it.

"Yep, see? The island is surrounded by water, there is a Fort a fairly short distance away, it's perfect," he said.

Maria admired his intuition, and now understood why he was Max's second in command. A soldier's ways ingrained in his DNA.

"So what do we do now?" Alex asked.

"We have to get there, and soon. I figure they have a day's head start over us. I don't think they'll let her live more than two or three days whether she tells them what they want to know or not," Michael said. Michael was a little alarmed at how easily this was coming to him, like second nature. Before he went into things rashly, without thinking, but now a strange calm had settled over him. He'd been feeling it grow the longer he was in Roswell.

Max on the other hand, felt his powers had diminished greatly, and he had a suspicion it wasn't all because of the healings.

"Max, you haven't listened to a damn thing I said since this whole thing happened back in New York, but I need you to listen to me now. We need to split up. Half of us go ahead, half follow a few hours behind," Michael said.

Immediately Max rose to object.

"Look Max, it's common sense. We have a better chance of meeting up there and travelling separate. If one group gets captured, there's still a chance that the other group will still be able to do something," he argued.

"He's right Max," Isabel said quietly.

"Yeah I think so too," Kyle said.

"I don't like it," Max said. "What if something happens to one of us?" he said.

"If something happens, at least it won't happen to all of us," Michael said forcefully.

"We need to split the groups up equally. Which of you can fight?" Michael asked.

"I can," Kyle said.

"I can," Liz said.

"No way Liz, you aren't going first. I'm going. I don't want you hurt," Kyle said.

"I can take care of myself," Liz argued.

"I don't care, you can take care of the others," Kyle said, looking at her.

She glared at him.

Alex raised his hand. "I am not really that great with a gun," he said sheepishly.

"Yeah had I only known that yesterday," Michael said, half sarcastically and Alex shot him a look.

"Just kidding," Michael said shrugging his shoulders.

"This is the way it's going to go. First group, me, Kyle, Maria and Doug," Michael said.

Maria's head snapped toward him. What?

He continued on without looking at her.

"If we get there first, he might be a help to find Serena. Second group, Iz, Max, Liz and Alex," he said.

"Michael, I think I should be in the first group," Max said.

"Me too," Liz said, glaring at Kyle. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. She had gotten his ass out of a jam more than once.

Everyone ignored her.

"Khivar will be interested to know that I'm still alive. It might distract him," Max said.

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't be there first Maxwell. You're not right. Your powers are weak. You know it and I know it. You'll probably be more of a problem than doing any good," Michael said.

"You keep Isabel safe. Let me worry about Khivar," he said, as Max's jaw tightened angrily.

We'll map out the route. We'll get bikes from the cycle shop in town. We'll leave markers on the road. You see the markers, you know everything is ok. If you don't see one, be on your toes," he said. Max was staring angrily out the window.

"Max, are you listening to me?" he asked.
Max nodded stiffly.

"Is everyone in agreement?" Michael said. He took their silence as a yes.

Right, then let's get moving," he said.