Chapter 11

Liz sat shivering on the smooth rocks outside the pod chamber. Marco squatted beside her, watching the winding path below through some kind of night vision binoculars. She’d never seen anything remotely like them—tiny and compact, they apparently enabled him to see for miles.

They enabled him to track the assent of Max and her friends, and she wanted to snatch them away from him. But the inexplicable thing was that as much as Marco frightened her, as much as she worried about what was going to happen, there was a tiny part of her that believed she might be able to trust him. She felt the slightest bit of kinship, sitting next to him in the dark, even though she knew it was probably the whole hostage thing playing tricks on her. She’d heard about this--what did they call it? Stockholm Syndrome?

"So, where are the others you said were outside?"

"Around," he said coolly, dropping the binoculars slightly.

"So, Max is going to get here and then you’re just going to... what?"

He remained silent, his eyes hidden behind the glasses. She rubbed her arms, trying to warm herself. All she’d been wearing that afternoon was a short-sleeved shirt, since this was the time of year when it still got hot during the day. But it definitely cooled down quickly at night, particularly in the desert.

She decided to try a new tactic. "What’s going to happen to me?"

He looked over at her, his eyes hooded and dark. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, looking away.

"So... you’re just going to ignore my questions, huh?"

"Liz... " he sighed heavily, his eyes trained on the path below. "I can’t answer these things."
Maybe if she could distract him, that would buy some time.

"How about other questions?"

"Like what?"

"Like, how is it possible that I was Max’s bride? It was always supposed to be Tess."

He glanced back at her again, drawing his dark brows together. He seemed to struggle with something for a moment, then turned back away from her.

Liz felt tears sting at her eyes. "So you won’t answer that either."

He remained quiet for a long moment. "She was a decoy," he answered flatly. "Meant to protect your identity."

How ironic to think she was learning these things now, at a time when her only thought was for Max’s very life.

Max’s life.

Her heart thundered within her chest, and it was hard to suppress her rising sense of panic. Her palms were sweating, and she could hear the sound of blood rushing in her ears. What was she supposed to do? They all needed her to do something--and now. She took deep breaths trying to get her equilibrium back in check, and felt an excruciating pain hammering in her head—something that had been vaguely there ever since Marco had invaded her mind that afternoon.

What a weird sensation that had been—painful, yes, but more like something being sucked right out of her. In its wake a dull throbbing had intensified to what was now a blinding headache. She rubbed her eyes, trying to still the pain.

And then she had the oddest memory—and she knew it was a memory, something that had actually happened.

"What if he doesn’t come back, Marco? What if this is it?"

"He’ll be here. He will always come back for you, Liz."

"I can trust you," she said quietly.

Marco dropped the glasses quickly, staring at her for a full five seconds.

"Please tell me I’m not wrong," she implored.

"I am your enemy, my dear, don’t forget that," Marco said, straightening himself where he sat.

"No." She shook her head with conviction. "I don’t believe that."

"You need to believe it, Liz."

"You may, but I don’t. It goes against everything that you are."

"You have no idea what kind of man I am." He laughed wryly. "What I’m capable of."

"I know that you would have done anything for us," she said softly.

"Once." His voice was bitter and cold.

"Whatever Max did... to make you turn from him... ." She reached for the right words, but trailed off when she saw his expression. He glared at her, eyes flashing with angry fire, and then stood suddenly. He grabbed her arm, jerking her roughly to her feet. At that exact moment, Liz heard a rustling behind them. Marco glanced quickly in that direction, shoving her ahead of him.

"I want you back inside. Now." He dragged her toward the cave entrance.

Max climbed along the path, Michael pushing forward just ahead of him. Michael had insisted on going first— big surprise. But in this case, not a bad idea. Tess walked beside him, with Isabel and Maria just behind, and Valenti bringing up the rear. None of them spoke, and they all pressed ahead with their senses totally alert.

It was a hard climb, groping along in the dark as they were, especially since they couldn’t use flashlights. They’d parked further away than they usually would, so that their headlights wouldn’t be seen, and were taking a long, circuitous route. Max found his mind drifting to Liz again. He thought of how he represented nothing but danger for her, of her words that night a week ago—she’d said his life was always going to be dangerous. That she didn’t want to die for him.

Maybe she’d been right, even if she had only said those things to try to push him away. Maybe if they got out of this, the best thing would be to just let her go.

But even as he thought it, he knew he would never be able to let Liz go—she was part of him, inextricably woven into his very being. In fact, he could almost feel her above him now... and in response, a quiet hum of energy started to grow within him. He drew a deep breath and drank in the sensation of it.

But he didn’t expect the result, which was an immediate scorching fire, shooting through every part of his body... straight to his fingers, his toes. He felt Liz more clearly than if she were standing in front of him, than if he were kissing her. She was all over him, all in him. He had to stop climbing a moment just to catch his breath. Tess stopped and placed her hand on his arm.

"Max, are you okay?" she asked quietly. He heard the others stop behind him.

Tess was the last person he wanted to know about the depth of this new connection with Liz.

He swallowed, nodding quickly. "Yeah." He began walking again. "Yeah, just... lost my footing for a moment," he whispered.

Only the sound of the ground crunching below their feet echoed around them. In the distance he heard the eerie howl of a coyote, but otherwise the night was electric and perfectly still around them. Yet his mind and body were anything but quiet—they were singing with impressions, words, emotions. All Liz. He tried to still himself enough to hear what she seemed to be telling him.

Liz stood just inside the cave where Marco had ordered her to stay. He’d shoved her inside roughly, leaving her without another word. She’d heard someone else outside, and she wondered again how many others were waiting for them all.

Perhaps she could connect with Max again and warn him that there were others besides Marco. She closed her eyes and reached out ahead of her, feeling for him. A warm buzz of energy touched her instantly—he was much closer now, and it was clear the connection was humming more clearly. She tried again, reaching out to take hold of it; then she felt a fire ignite, shooting through her whole body. Her legs grew weak beneath her for a moment, and she reached a steadying hand against the cave wall.

This was different than the vision connection they’d made before. Perhaps because they were closer, this was much more like their experience at the back of the Crashdown. She began to tremble, and felt Max touching her. Well, not exactly... it was as though she could sense him all over her, as if he were tracing his fingers up and down her skin. She was coming alive with him, and it was all happening so quickly. Seemingly, every time they tried this, it happened slightly differently, depending on the circumstance.

The sensation of Max touching her shifted, and she felt his thoughts begin to blend with her own. She knew he was walking somewhere on the path outside. He was incredibly frightened for her... and blaming himself that she was in this situation at all.

"No," she whispered out loud.

She felt electricity shoot through her, and her breathing became labored. The connection was deepening too quickly, becoming too intimate. They didn’t even know anything about this yet—how to keep it more at the surface. She drew in a quick steadying breath.
Max must have been feeling the same thing.

"I love you, Max." But she was a moment too late because the connection was already dying out. It left her feeling incredibly melancholy that he hadn’t heard the words from her.

Marco had been watching the group’s long approach. They’d come the back way, hoping to go unnoticed, but he’d been observing them from the beginning.

"They’re almost here," Marco stated calmly, studying Nicholas’s features. Unbelievable--here it was fourteen years earlier, and he looked exactly the same. Nicholas stood with two other men, skins no doubt, who Marco had never seen before. All three observed the path below.

"Well, well... Max will be very surprised to see how the tables have turned," Nicholas sneered, turning to Marco. "And Khivar will be very pleased... the granilith and the fallen king all in one day. Not bad work."

Marco bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "I am only following his own orders."

"And where is Max’s woman in jeopardy?"

"Inside the cave."

"Bring her out."

Marco hesitated. "She’s not to be harmed." He met Nicholas’ gaze pointedly. "You do remember that?"

Marco shrugged indifferently. "Well, the directive has changed slightly. We’re to get rid of them all."

Marco stared at Nicholas in disbelief. Their word meant nothing, and was ever-shifting to suit their current needs. God, didn’t he know that by now?

"Yes, we’ll just have a nice little group execution, and be on our way."

They would not hurt Liz. He simply would not allow it.

"Liz was never to be harmed. That was the deal, Nicholas."

"Well, Khivar is just a bit troubled by the idea of one dethroned queen hanging around. He wants this whole rebellion squelched once and for all."

Marco thought a quick moment, as priorities shifted and realigned in a nearly forgotten way. "You should wait behind the rocks," he said calmly. "We need the element of surprise."

Nicholas nodded in agreement. "Of course. Best to maintain the illusion that it’s just you." The three of them moved back in the direction where they’d been hidden before.

Marco knew exactly what he had to do, because despite everything that had happened between them all, he now realized he’d never fully turned away from his Queen.

Liz huddled just inside the cave door, her breath catching in her throat when the entrance slid open smoothly . Marco stepped in quickly, his expression urgent.

"Come with me, Liz. Now."

"What’s happening?"

He pulled her close to him, and she could feel his hot breath on her face. "Go to Max," he whispered. "Take the back path, head around the left side."

She stared at him in silent shock, and he squeezed her arm tightly. "Now, Liz. Before I change my mind."

She nodded quickly, moving to the entrance, but he pulled her back. "I can’t protect you, Liz. You do know that." He drew in a breath. "But Max can—get him and get out of here."