The Salvation

THIRTEEN

Michael tightened his grip on Trevor's shoulder. This was it. He was going home. He was glad there wasn't time for a lot of good-bye bull. It wasn't as if Max wouldn't know that Michael was happy he made it out alive. He didn't have to make some speech. It wasn't as if Izzy wouldn't know that he'd think about her every day if he didn't say it. It wasn't as if Maria-

He didn't intend to do it, but Michael turned his head, wanting just one more look. His eyes met Maria's, and even though he hadn't touched her, hadn't gotten close to touching her, a connection formed between them instantly.

Images of Maria shot into him with the impact of bullets. Maria telling him how she loved lavender crayons when she was a little girl. Maria fiercely demanding that Trevor tell her what he'd done to her brother. Maria helping Michael move from one foster home to another, whether he wanted her to or not. Maria snorting soda out her nose during the part of Evil Dead 2 where the guy breaks dishes over his own head. Maria crying while watching Starman. Maria being tortured by Elsevan DuPris. Maria asleep in the front seat of his car, raspberry lips gently parted.

They're all roots, Michael realized. Each memory of Maria was a root she'd put down in his body. He tried to turn his head, tried to break the connection that had begun when his eyes met hers. But he couldn't. The images rushed on, invading all his senses now. With the smell of her pillow. With the smell of her hair. With the sound of her ridiculous giggle. With the taste of icing licked off her finger. With the soft, wet heat of her mouth. With the strength of her arms when she pulled him to her and held him tight.

Using all his energy, Michael forced his eyes shut. But he could still see Maria looking at him. Maria looking at him as if he was her entire universe.

"Michael, what's wrong?" Trevor called.

Too many roots, he thought. If Michael left, all those roots would pull free, pulling pieces of him with them. There wouldn't be anything left but broken, useless chunks.

He opened his eyes and faced his brother. "I can't do it. I'm sorry."

Trevor stared at him a long moment, then nodded. "Nothing to be sorry about," he answered. He glanced at the wormhole. "It's about to close. I have to go. I wish I didn't, but-"

"They need you," Michael finished for him. He tried to hand his brother the Stone of Midnight, but Trevor pushed it away.

"You keep it," he said. He grabbed one of the loose straps and pushed it into Michael's hand. Michael tightened his fingers around it, then released his grip on his brother's shoulder.

Trevor turned to Isabel, smiled, then let go of his own strap. Instantly his feet flew off the ground. He raised his arms over his head in a gesture of triumph as he was pulled up into the wormhole, up, up, and then out of sight.

The hole closed behind him, the sudden change in pressure making Michael's ears pop. No one spoke for a moment, then everyone started jabbering at once. The words swirled around Michael-"How did you…," "You were going to go…," "Your molecules were…" He ignored them. He let go of the strap, and in two long strides he was in front of Maria.

Her eyes were on her knotted safety harness. She didn't look up, although he was sure she knew he was there. "I guess it finally sank in that Max and Isabel are your family, too. I know that you and Trevor are brothers, and I'm sure you'll see him again, but Max and Isabel-"

Why was she babbling about Max and Isabel? Didn't she know why he stayed? Impatiently he pushed her hands away from the harness. He gave the molecules a hard shove with his mind, severing the straps. He expected her to hurl herself at him. But she didn't. She didn't even look at him.

Michael crouched down a little so he could peer into her face. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and he realized she was trembling. He did a fast aura check. There was joy in the sparkling blue, but uncertainty, too. Hope and doubt. And pain.

"It's okay. You got it off. Go say hi to Max," she said, still refusing to meet his gaze.

The idiot girl. She really didn't know why he'd stayed. And why should she? Michael asked himself. All he'd been doing lately was shoving her away.

"Maria," he said. He couldn't choke out another word. He pulled her to him, wrapping one hand in her silky, bouncy hair, locking her body to his with the other hand. And then he kissed her. God, it had been so long. How had he survived without this? Why had he ever tried? There couldn't be anything better than this.

Michael deepened the kiss. He'd never be able to get enough of her. Never. An involuntary groan escaped his lips when she pushed him away from her. "I want the words," she announced, meeting his gaze full on.

"The words," he repeated, trying to get his brain functioning again. How could she even form a sentence after that kiss?

"The words," Maria repeated.

"Think three," Isabel suggested. He'd almost forgotten there were other people in the room.

"Think something starting with an I," Alex added.

Heart pounding, Michael ran his fingers down Maria's cheek, wiping away some of the tears. Did she think he couldn't do this? Did she actually believe this would be hard?

"I love you." The words came out of his mouth like birds being freed from a cage. It felt so good, he said it again. "I love you, Maria."

The silver sparkles in her beautiful blue aura glittered like stars. "I love you, too."

"Did you see Michael's face?" Isabel asked Alex. "He actually didn't know what words she was talking about at first."

"Well, the guy is kind of dense," Alex answered.

"Unlike Max, who knew he loved Liz about one second after he saw her," Isabel said. She glanced over at her brother. Not that she could see much of him. He and Liz were wrapped around each other so tight, it was hard to tell where she ended and he began.

"Are you feeling a little… out of place?" Alex asked. He shook his head as he glanced from Michael and Maria to Max and Liz.

"I'm feeling a little lonely, if you want to know the truth," Isabel admitted. "When I saw Trevor disappear, it started up this, I don't know, this ache inside me."

Alex smoothed a section of her hair away from her face, then slid his arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him, letting his warmth seep into her.

"You've changed a lot, you know?" he asked, his breath tickling the top of her head.

"No, I haven't," she answered. "I was always this perfect."

Alex laughed. "Okay, yeah, you were. But you never would have admitted something like feeling lonely. That would have been too humiliating for Isabel Evans, the girl who didn't need anything from anybody."

"That's not true. I always needed things from people," Isabel protested.

"Of course you did. But you didn't admit it then. Now you do," Alex explained matter-of-factly.

He had her there. "Only to some people." Isabel twisted around so she could look him in the eyes. "People I know I can trust."

Alex nodded. "You're kind of dense yourself, you know," he told her. "It took you a while to figure out that you could trust me, if you'll remember. I'm glad you finally realized I'd do anything for you." He kissed her quickly, lightly.

"I know," Isabel answered. She really had been dense. There were so many times she'd treated Alex unfairly. So many times she'd accused him of things he wasn't close to being guilty of. And yet here he was. Right by her side.

"I'd do absolutely anything," Alex continued. "So if it gets close to your junior prom and you don't have a date, I'll try and squeeze you in. You know that I do have quite the social calendar going, and I-"

"Alex!" she squealed, whacking him on the head.

"It's hard to accept when the wheels of popularity turn, isn't it?" he asked, grinning. "One day you're up. The next day it's, um, let me see, that would be me. You're lucky I have a forgiving nature."

Isabel hugged him tightly and closed her eyes. "Very lucky," she agreed.

"Then your molecules…" Max kissed Liz's upper lip. "Just somehow went and found my molecules?" He kissed her lower lip. It had been so long. So, so long. Trapped at the bottom of the consciousness, the memory of Liz's touch had been all that kept him sane. All that kept him alive.

"I think so." Liz kissed the side of Max's neck. "Or maybe…" She kissed the little hollow at the base of his throat. "Maybe your molecules pulled mine to them. That's the more logical explanation." Her mouth returned to his, her tongue to his. He was home. He was really home.

Max pulled Liz closer against him, lifting her feet off the ground. She locked her legs around his waist, curling her fingers into his hair. "I'm never going to let anything come between us again. Never," he murmured against her lips, not wanting to lift his completely away from hers.

"There's definitely nothing coming between you right now," Alex called out. "You know you have a sister over here who might want to tell you she's glad you're still alive or something."

Max let Liz slide down his body to the ground. She started to step away, but he looped his arm around her waist. "You're not going anywhere," he told her as he reached for Isabel and pulled her into a hug with him and Liz. "Thanks for getting me back, Iz," he said, feeling her aura swirl through his. "I'm sorry about-"

"Oh, shut up," Isabel answered. "And you-" she called to Alex. "You get over here, Mr. Popularity." She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward her without letting go of Max.

Max grinned as he felt Alex's bright orange aura join the mix.

"Michael! Maria! Over here!" Isabel ordered with a laugh. "None of us really needs to see the two of you rolling around on the floor."

A moment later their auras joined Max, Liz, Alex, and Isabel's. A shimmering rainbow of color appeared around the six of them, the strands of jade green, warm amber, screaming orange, rich purple, bright blue, and brick red binding them together.

Max had never seen anything so beautiful in his life. He looked around at the faces of his closest friends-his family. The people that had saved his life. There was nothing he could use to describe this moment except full. Full of everything good and happy and pure.

"Remember?" Liz asked, looking each of them in the eye. Everyone smiled, clearly thinking about that first time they'd all connected, back when they'd needed to prove they could trust each other. It seemed so long ago, but it was the clearest memory in Max's mind.

He pulled Liz and Isabel a little bit closer and sighed with content. "How could any of us ever forget?"

[ front blurb]