by Melinda Metz
"I don't know why you say that we shouldn't trust the consciousness," Max said to Liz, although he said it without turning around to look at her. "I mean, just because it interferes with us kissing-"
"That's not why," Liz snapped. "Have you forgotten what the consciousness did to you, Max? It used you as a killing machine. Don't try to pretend you weren't sickened when it made you attack DuPris because I know you were."
"The consciousness also almost killed you," Isabel added. "It sucked out so much of your strength to open the wormhole that you almost died."
Is she coming around to my side? Michael wondered.
"That was necessary," Max insisted.
"Besides, it's not just information from the consciousness we're going on, remember?" Alex asked. "I felt-"
"We're here," Michael interrupted.
He jumped out of the car and sprinted to the crack in the desert that opened into the cave. He wanted to give Trevor a few seconds warning before he was descended upon.
"You've got company," he called. "Lots of company." He swung himself down onto the big rock and jumped onto the cave floor from there.
He did a quick check of the cave. Trevor was alone.
Of course he is, Michael thought. You knew he would be. But Michael still felt relieved.
"I wasn't expecting you this early," Trevor said. He stood up from Michael's sleeping bag and headed toward him.
"Look, we think someone kidnapped Maria's brother and-" Michael began, speaking as rapidly as he could.
Before he could get out the explanation, Maria half leaped, half fell into the cave.
"Where's Kevin?" she shouted. She lunged at Trevor, but Michael caught her before she could reach him. He wrapped one arm across her shoulders and held her against him.
"We're going to find out everything," Michael told her. "We're going to get Kevin back, I promise."
The tension in Maria's body didn't ease at all. Michael wished there was something he could say to her, something to make her believe. But he didn't think she trusted him enough right now to have faith in him. The thought was like a boulder in Michael's chest.
Max scrambled into the cave, with Alex right behind him.
"See? No Kevin," Michael announced.
"Just because he's not here doesn't mean Trevor didn't take him," Max shot back.
"It doesn't mean he did, either," Liz said as she hopped down onto the rock and then moved over so Isabel could climb down.
Trevor turned to Michael. "Would you please tell me what the hell is going on?"
"I'll tell you what the hell is going on," Maria cried. She wrenched herself away from Michael and went toe to toe with Trevor. "You kidnapped my brother so we'd give you the Stone. Now where is he?"
Trevor shook his head and stared up at the roof of the cave. "Unbelievable. First I was a killer, and now I'm a kidnapper."
At least Trevor's trying to stay cool, Michael thought. He gave his brother a nod of encouragement.
"Why don't you come back tomorrow?" Trevor smiled at Maria, or at least he twisted his lips in an attempt at a smile. It came out more like a grimace. "By then I'll probably only be a bank robber or something."
"You knew Kevin was important to the group!" Maria yelled. She lurched forward and pounded on Trevor's chest with both fists. He didn't even try to defend himself. "That's why you asked all those questions about him at the party!"
Michael hauled Maria away from Trevor again. She fought violently in his arms.
"That's why you took him!" she screamed at Trevor. "Because you know we all care about him, and because he's small and weak and can't defend himself."
"Shhh, Maria," Michael murmured in her ear. "Shhh. Kevin is okay. He's okay."
Maria twisted around to face him, her face so twisted with fear and fury that it was almost unrecognizable. "You don't know that!" she screamed. "You're just refusing to accept that you're wrong about Trevor. And Kevin could be out there somewhere dying! Don't you even care?"
Alex rushed up to them. He put his hand on Maria's shoulder, and she flung herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, ragged sobs making her body heave.
The weight in Michael's chest doubled in size as he watched Liz and Isabel join Alex, surrounding Maria in a protective circle. A circle that kept Michael on the outside. He turned a helpless look on Trevor.
Trevor gave a low growl of frustration. "If I was the kidnapper, right now I'd be telling you that I'd give you a map to your brother's location as soon as you handed over the Stone," he said impatiently. "But I'm not doing that. Why?" He glanced from person to person.
"Because you're not the kidnapper," Adam finally said from his spot under the cave's entrance.
"Are the rest of you listening?" Michael demanded.
"What Trevor said makes some sense," Liz said, her arm still locked around Maria's waist.
"It's also what an intelligent kidnapper would say right now," Alex protested. He stared at Trevor over the top of Maria's head, his eyes narrow. "And no one is doubting Trevor's intelligence."
"And there's no one else who has a reason to take Kevin," Max added.
"Don't you have any real enemies?" Trevor asked.
"There's DuPris," Michael answered quickly. "DuPris would love to have another one of the Stones." He shot Max and Alex challenging looks, daring them to deny the truth.
"How would DuPris have gotten behind me in the wormhole?" Alex asked.
Michael shoved his hands into his pockets, fighting the urge to slam his fist into the cave wall. Alex was right. DuPris couldn't have been in the wormhole. "Who else?" he muttered. "There has to be somebody else."
"There is," Isabel said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her. Her eyes hardened as she spoke. "Kyle Valenti."
ELEVEN
"Michael, Liz, Trevor, Adam-you circle around back in case Kyle tries to bolt," Max instructed. "The rest of us will go straight to the front door."
He was almost surprised when the group split into the teams he'd specified with no argument. At least we finally found something we can agree on, he thought as Michael's team headed out.
For now. Max still had a bad feeling about Michael's brother. But it wouldn't hurt to check out the Kyle situation. He was praying that Kyle did have Kevin. If not, Max didn't know what was going to go down between him and Michael. And of course, Trevor himself.
He dug the heel of his hand into his forehead and twisted it back and forth, trying to get some relief from the headache that had kicked in during the drive to the cave.
"Max, let's go," Maria urged. "The others should be around back by now."
"Okay, let's do it." He led the way up to Kyle's front door and knocked. The door swung open immediately. Kyle smirked at them, appearing obscenely self-satisfied.
"Where is he, Valenti?" Max demanded.
"Kevin?" Maria shouted, trying to peer around Kyle. "Are you in there?"
"I'm glad you decided to tell me what I want to know," Kyle said.
Max charged forward, knocking Kyle back into the house. He slammed him against the wall of the front hall and jammed his forearm across Kyle's throat. "No, you're telling us what we want to know. Where's Kevin?"
He raised his fist and aimed it at Kyle's face. He was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. It wasn't safe to use his power. "Talk," he ordered.
Before Kyle could say anything, Max heard the rest of the group burst into the back of the house. "You got him?" Michael shouted.
"Got him," Max called back. Not using my power isn't going to be any kind of problem, he thought. He could feel Alex crowding him, and a second later Michael, Trevor, Adam, and Liz burst into the hall, the fury coming off them like heat waves.
No, dividing Kyle into small enough pieces so everyone could get a shot at him-that was the problem. But Kyle, for some reason, didn't look worried.
"I'm not asking you again," Max warned him.
"You hit me, you never get Kevin back," Kyle said calml
y.
Stalemate.
Max glanced at Michael. It was automatic. No matter what had been going on between them lately, when Max thought of backup, he thought of Michael.
"Oh, I'm sure that we could come up with something painful enough-long and painful enough-to get you squealing," Michael answered.
Kyle raised one eyebrow. "Possibly," he answered. He pinned Maria with his gaze. "But are you willing to risk it? He's your brother."
"Don't let him mess with you," Alex told her.
"Kevin!" Maria shrieked again. "Are you in here?"
Max heard a sound. Very faint. Possibly nothing. But possibly-
Max jerked Kyle away from the wall and pushed him toward Alex. "Keep him here," he ordered.
"My pleasure," Alex answered. A second later Kyle was on the ground and Alex was kneeling on his chest.
Max started down the hall. He heard footsteps behind him. He glanced back. Michael and Trevor.
The thought of Trevor covering his back wasn't a happy one, but there was no time to battle it out. Max jerked open the first door on the left. Obviously Kyle's bedroom. Total sty. No Kevin.
Michael pushed past him and strode to the closet. He flung open the door. No Kevin.
Max rushed to the next room-Sheriff Valenti's office. Papers strewn everywhere. No Kevin.
"Kevin, if you can hear us, try to make a sound," Trevor shouted.
Where did the guy get off? He'd been on earth for like a day and he was-
Not now, Max told himself. He listened hard and thought he heard a muffled thumping. "What do you think? Under the-"
"Yeah," Michael answered. "Under the floor. There must be a crawl space."
He took the lead, Max and Trevor right behind him. As they entered the master bedroom Max felt a tingle from the consciousness. Some of the beings were interested in the texture of the bedspread.
Automatically he took a step toward the bed. Then he jerked himself away and turned down the volume on the consciousness as low as it could go. He could still feel the beings urging him to go over and run his hands across the material, maybe climb on it and roll around. But it was at a level he could ignore.
"Got it," Michael announced. He yanked open a small, square trapdoor.
"I'm going in," Max said. He strode over and lowered himself through the opening. "Stay here. I'll hand him up to you," he told Michael.
He crouched down until his head was low enough to clear the ceiling of the crawl space. The darkness under the house was no problem for Max. He spotted Kevin almost instantly.
"Your sister's upstairs," he called as he crawled on his hands and knees toward the boy. Kevin gave a muffled cry through his gag. It looked like Kyle had stuffed a tennis ball in Kevin's mouth and then duct-taped it into place. A rush of pure hatred overtook Max. Kyle's lucky Kevin didn't suffocate, Max thought. He is so very lucky.
"Almost there, almost there," he told Kevin. Max felt a nail in one of the beams rip through his shirt and slice down his back. He ignored it. "Okay, got you." He reached out and ripped the duct tape off Kevin's mouth with one quick pull.
Kevin clawed the tennis ball out of his mouth and took a long, gasping breath. "Why?" he choked out.
Max hadn't been expecting that question. "The guy's one sick little puppy," he answered, hoping Kevin wouldn't push the issue.
"Let's get out of here. Think you can crawl all right?"
Kevin gave him a duh look. "If you untie my hands and feet," he answered.
Max quickly untied the clothesline that bound Kevin. Maybe I should keep this, he thought. Give Kyle a little taste of what he did to this kid.
The second he was free, Kevin was crawling toward the square of light in the open trapdoor. He was faster than Max. Sometimes it helps to be small, Max thought as the same nail got him a second time.
"It smells like mouse poop down here," Kevin complained. He squirmed his way over to the trapdoor.
Max smiled. If Kevin was feeling good enough to whine, he was fine.
"Yeah, it does," Max agreed. "We're coming up," he called to Michael. But Kevin was already hauling himself into the closet.
A moment later a hand reached down to Max. He grabbed it and used it to pull himself up. Two realizations hit him as his head cleared the trapdoor.
It was Trevor helping him out.
And Trevor had his free hand in Max's pocket.
The volume on his connection with the consciousness went all the way up. A shriek of warning ripped through Max, so strong, a shower of red dots streaked past his eyes.
"Michael, he's going for the Stone!" Max shouted.
***
Michael jerked his attention away from Kevin. Trevor had Max pinned half in and half out of the crawl space. Max had both his hands locked around one of Trevor's wrists. Michael could see Max's arms trembling with the effort to keep Trevor's hand from reaching back into his pocket.
"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted at his brother.
"What's necessary," Trevor yelled back, without turning toward Michael.
Power began to build up in the room. Michael could feel it vibrating through the floor, through the walls, through his body. He didn't know who was getting charged up, Max or Trevor or both, but he knew that the amount of power he was feeling could do some serious damage.
The power let go, and Trevor flew across the room. He slammed into the dresser, shattering the big mirror above it.
Michael bolted toward him, but Trevor was on his feet instantly. His eyes were cool and determined as he advanced on Max.
"Why aren't you doing something?" Kevin shouted.
Because I don't know what to do, Michael felt like shouting back. Any course of action meant hurting Max or his brother. Michael's eyes flicked back and forth between them. Max was standing by the closet, still, but ready.
Trevor paced back and forth, studying Max. Then he gave a growl of fury and leaped at him. He was clearly using his power to propel himself because he was flying at Max bullet-fast.
"Trevor, pull back," Michael screamed. If he hit Max at that velocity-
But before Trevor could touch Max, there was another power detonation. Trevor somersaulted through the air. He crashed into the ceiling, then fell to the floor with enough force to send a shudder through the house.
"Do you need me?" Adam cried from down the hall.
"No," Michael shouted back. "Stay where you are." Anyone in this room had a very good chance of getting hurt.
He hoped Trevor would just stay down, but a moment later he was on his feet, clearly having turned his healing powers on himself.
"Give it up, Trevor, you're no match for me. Not when I still have this." Max reached into his pocket and pulled out the Stone. It was glowing more brightly than it ever had, throwing its blue-green light onto Max's face, making him look like a stranger.
"Trevor, he's right," Michael said quickly. "The Stone has more power than you can imagine. This is over."
"It's not over until I'm dead," Trevor announced.
"Your choice," Max answered.
Michael had to defuse this situation. Now. He turned to Max.
"You don't need to kill him. You have all the control here," he said, going for the logical approach. "Just use the Stone to immobilize him, then we'll figure out what to do."
"Thanks for the support, brother," Trevor said.
"You lied to me," Michael shot back, without taking his eyes off Max. "You lost the right to my support."
But that didn't mean he was going to let his brother die.
The glow on Max's face intensified as the Stone shone brighter and brighter. "What's it going to be, Trevor?" he demanded.
"Max, get a grip," Michael cried. But Max's face was blank. He was so deeply connected to the consciousness, it was like he wasn't even in the room anymore. Michael could reason with Max, but he knew he had no influence over this Max thing.
Michael's heart felt like it was about to hurl itself out of his chest. "Trevor,
you've got to walk away," he said, turning all his attention to his brother. "You go after him, it's suicide."
"I have no problem with that," he answered.
The glow of the Stone had become so bright, it was making Michael's eyes water. He shot a quick glance over at Max. Max had the hand holding the Stone stretched out in front of him now. Aimed at Trevor.
Michael didn't think. He just reacted to the threat. He lowered his shoulder and went at Max low and fast.
Max never saw it coming. He went down as easily as a bowling pin. Michael knocked the Stone out of his hand, and it rolled across the floor.
"You've got to snap out of it," Michael yelled. He grabbed Max and shook him hard. He thought he saw a little awareness come back into his friend's eyes. Michael shook him again.
"Get out of the way, Michael," Trevor said, his voice like ice.
Michael twisted around and stared at his brother. Trevor had the Stone now. It's blue-green light was too brilliant to look at directly. And it was aimed at Max.
"No," Michael said. He positioned himself between Max and Trevor. "No."
"What is going-" Max began, sounding groggy.
"Just stay down," Michael barked.
"Max is a vessel of the consciousness, and he must die," Trevor answered. "Move out of the way."
"No," Michael repeated again. He could hardly see Trevor through the glare from the Stone.
"Michael, the consciousness is evil. If I could pull Max away from it, I would. But it's not possible," Trevor answered. "Now move." His voice was ragged with emotion now, not icy as it had been.
"No." Michael didn't move. He wasn't going to move.
"Guys, Kyle's coming your way," Alex shouted from the front of the house. "He tried to pull a Tyson on me and got loose."
Michael didn't even spare a glance at the door, even when he heard it fly open. Kyle was the least of their problems now.
"Don't make me kill you," Trevor begged.
"I'm not making you kill me," Michael told him. "Just put down-"
Suddenly a piercing metallic screech filled the room, the sound so high, Michael thought it was going to burst his eardrums.
