Chapter 14

"Marco, you’ve got to let the shield down so we can get to him!" Liz screamed, pulling roughly on his arm. Just beyond the protective perimeter, Nicholas stood in front of Max, hands planted tightly on both sides of his head. Max’s eyes were squeezed shut, and he was obviously in agonizing pain.

Nicholas was quietly taunting him. "So, the king bows down before me now," he laughed dully. "Oh, Khivar will love that detail, Max."

Max’s chest rose and fell quickly as he gasped for breath.

"We’ve been in this situation before," Nicholas smirked, shaking his head. "You’re not very good at these endings, Max."

Max slumped forward under the force of Nicholas’s onslaught, catching himself when his hands hit the dusty earth.

"No matter what we do, you just keep repeating yourself," Nicholas laughed.

Max raised his head weakly and met Nicholas’s eyes.

"You’re going to lose," he rasped.

Liz closed her eyes when she heard how weak his voice sounded.

"Oh, I can see that, Max... or should I just call you Zan?" Nicholas asked sarcastically. "That seems more appropriate, in view of how this little drama will end." Nicholas looked up at Liz pointedly, across the barrier. "And of what will happen to your queen yet again."

Max was hyperventilating now under the force of Nicholas’s attack. "What?" he managed to gasp.

Why hadn’t she told Max the truth about who she was? Liz thought. About what Marco had told her....

Nicholas let his hands drop for a moment as he stared at Max in genuine surprise. "Well, you don’t think it will turn out differently for her this time, do you?" he asked. "Just because that crazy hybrid is protecting her? I’m stronger than all of you."

Liz could feel Marco seething next to her, his energy building. He glared at Nicholas, black eyes narrowing.

"That’s not true, Nicholas," Marco shouted. "You know it’s a damn lie... you’ve always known Max holds all the real power."

"But he’s barely learned to use it yet," Nicholas corrected, raising a finger. "And that’s where I can thank you for bringing them to me at just this point in time."

With that, Nicholas began the mind rape again, and Max cried out for the first time, as he doubled over on the ground.

Liz paced frantically beside Marco. This had to end--if they didn’t do something soon, Max was going to die.

Valenti approached the mass of rocks where they’d left Liz, Maria, and Max. His heart was pounding crazily, and he wished it would calm down. Not that he hadn’t been in situations like this before—life and death scenarios—but something about this night just felt all wrong. He nearly laughed out loud. All wrong—that was one way to put it. Chasing across a dark desert hillside after a bunch of aliens. What would his father say to that?

No, even after everything he’d been through with these kids, there was just something about tonight that gave him a bad feeling. It was the kind of sixth sense you developed after years in law enforcement... there was something... unholy about this night.

Michael followed closely beside him, Tess and Isabel behind. He put his arm out to stop Michael, so that they could listen to what was happening just beyond the rocks before advancing further. Everyone stood perfectly still, waiting.

There were muffled sounds... voices. Male voices and a faint female one. Maria? He wasn’t sure. He remembered the sound of the scream earlier—and somehow he’d been sure it was Liz.
He didn’t like the idea of leading a bunch of kids into a hostile situation, even if they were aliens with advanced powers. It just didn’t sit right with him.

"Michael, all of you stay here," he whispered intently, looking around at the three of them. "Be ready to follow me in."

Michael nodded, but he could see doubt in his expression.

Valenti crept along the edge of the rocks, raising his gun as he prepared to step around the outcropping. He peered around and it took only a moment to process the entire scene-- and one thing struck him right away.

Max Evans was lying on the ground... and someone was standing over him, doing something dreadful to him.

And he knew just how bad it was when he saw the expression on Liz Parker’s face.


Liz grabbed Marco’s arm, tugging on it desperately. "Let me go to him," she begged. "Now, Marco."

"So Nicholas can kill you, too? You know it’s what he wants." He paused and looked at her, his dark eyes flashing with emotion. "You heard it."

"He wants Max."

"No, he wants the king and the queen," Marco stated firmly.

Maria stared at Liz, confused. "The queen?" she asked. "What?"

Liz whirled to Maria in frustration. "Oh, God, Maria... not now," she whispered, and turned to face Marco again with fresh determination. She decided to try a new tactic—anything to convince him to help Max.

"Marco, listen, I know you hate Max...." she began quietly, standing as tall as she could. "But I know at one time we could trust you... that I could trust you. I’m begging you.... He’s dying."
Marco closed his eyes for a moment, and Liz couldn’t read his expression. Finally, he turned to her, his dark eyes full of... compassion? She couldn’t be sure.

"Liz, I’m doing what he wants me to do," he said softly. "You love him. You know its true."

A sob caught in her throat. She did know it was true. Max wanted her safe, not falling beside him. She felt hot tears begin to stream down her cheeks. "There’s got to be some way," she whispered in a defeated voice, the sobs coming more quickly now. "Why can’t you do what I want you to do?" she cried.

Marco bowed his head solemnly, hesitating for a brief moment. Finally he spoke. "Because long ago I promised him that I would protect you at all costs," he replied softly. "Above his own life, if need be. I forgot that promise for many years." He glanced at Liz sadly. "But I intend to honor it this night."

Liz turned from Marco slowly, and her gaze fell upon Max. He lay slumped forward on the ground now as Nicholas continued his assault. Slowly he raised his head, and for the briefest of moments their eyes met.

Across the barrier, through the night, something flickered between them... not their connection exactly. Some sort of understanding... a unity of minds.

And he seemed to say something to her... only his lips didn’t move. Yet she still heard it somehow, distinctly... even without the connection.

The words echoed outside of the moment, through lifetimes.

So simple... they rang within her the moment he thought them:

I love you....

Valenti rushed forward just as Max collapsed, face forward, into the earth. He began firing his weapon in rapid succession, aiming first at Max’s assailant, then the two other men who stood beside him. The attacker—who appeared hardly more than a boy--staggered for a moment, then regained his composure. The other two men wavered, but only briefly.

It was like something out of a terrible B-grade movie—the evil bad guys who were impervious to bullets.

"Michael!" he shouted over his shoulder. He needed help--and quickly.
When Marco realized that Nicholas had been shot, he knew that this was their chance to reach Max. He turned quickly to Liz and Maria, looking them both in the eye. Liz was still crying, and Maria looked close to tears herself. "Liz, Maria... on my mark, I’m dropping this shield," he commanded. "We’ll go to Max, but we only have a moment."

Liz gasped softly and nodded.

"Three, two, one," Marco counted off, then dropped his hand, and the purple barrier disappeared. He felt the energy surge as it re-entered his body.

The three of them ran in one quick, fluid motion to Max’s side, and he threw his hand up again. When he did so, he felt a slight sense of panic. His energy was depleting, and he was getting too weak to keep this up much longer. Then what would he do—and how would he protect them?

Just beyond the purplish glow, Nicholas staggered from the gunshot, but quickly rose again. His eyes flashed angrily as he turned to the man who’d fired the gun on him—a man Marco didn’t recognize. That was when Marco saw Michael Guerin step from behind the rocks. Good, another hybrid... and Michael was a consummate warrior.

He turned back to locate Nicholas’s position, and saw that he was aiming the disruptor at Michael, preparing to fire. Marco flinched, knowing what was about to come... but then Nicholas was shot again, and staggered out of the way. Michael raised his hand and hit Nicholas with a huge golden blast of power. Good work, Michael, he thought.

That was the first moment he had a chance to glance down at Max—it had all unfolded so quickly. What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat. Liz and Maria were kneeling beside Max, and Liz was sobbing... uncontrollably. Her whole body was shaking, and she’d buried her face in Max’s chest.

Max’s eyes were closed... was he breathing? He couldn’t tell, but a sick feeling was beginning to grow within him.

"Maria?" he asked warily, turning to survey the unfolding action beyond the perimeter. "What’s happening with Max?"

Maria rose slowly to stand beside him, staring at him in cold silence. The expression on her face told him everything he needed to know--her words only confirmed it.

"Well, you got what you wanted," she replied dully. "He’s dead."

Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at him in hatred. She opened her mouth to say something more, but instead turned away , and knelt again beside Liz and Max.

He could hear Maria’s unspoken words-- and it’s all your fault--because they were the same ones echoing in his own head.

If he could only figure out some way to fix this nightmare he’d created for all of them. And as he stared down at Liz’s tiny, delicate form where she knelt sobbing, a plan began to form in his mind—a way he might be able to save all their lives.