The Vanished

Although for some reason he found that his eyes kept drifting away from the awesome sight over to Liz. Another awesome sight.

As the park ranger led them around the edge of the Big Room to a small, damp offshoot called the Painted Grotto, Adam felt another twinge of power and stopped.

Liz turned around, her brow creased with concern. "Do you feel it again?"

Adam opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a blast of sizzling, white-hot power slammed into his heart and vibrated through every molecule of his body. Adam strained against the overpowering pain, closing his eyes to keep them from bursting out of their sockets. The pain was viciously intense, and Adam was vaguely aware that he was shaking violently.

Make it stop, he begged silently. Someone make it stop.

And then it did.

Adam gasped in a ragged breath. His eyes felt dry and shriveled, but he managed to blink and look around. Max was pressing his hand to his chest hard, and Isabel was grasping Max's arm, her eyes closed. Michael's fists were clenched, and he stared at Adam, his eyes wide.

"What happened?" Maria asked, her voice trembling.

"You felt that one," Adam said.

"Oh yeah," Michael agreed in a low voice.

"If I never have that experience again in my life, it'll be too soon," Isabel said, still clinging to her brother. "What was that?"

"DuPris," Adam answered. "At least I think so. It sure felt like the Stone of Midnight to me. What else is that powerful? And it was pretty close this time."

Liz slipped her hand into Max's and looked into his eyes, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a low, caring voice.

The pang to Adam's heart was almost as painful as the shock had been.

"We're losing the tour group," Adam said flatly. "Should we catch up?"

"No," Max said. "I think we're close to finding what we came here for. Could anyone tell where the power was coming from?"

Adam closed his eyes, blocking out the sight of Liz's concerned expression, and forced himself to remember the shock… to feel it again so that he could concentrate on which direction it had come from.

"That way," he said, pointing toward a path that led away from the Big Room. It was a walkway with a steep slope-so steep that the asphalt paved over it was made with textured ridges in it to help with traction. "It's down there."

"Let's go," Michael said, his tone grim.

Adam started down the path, his friends following close behind as they picked their way down the damp, slippery route. He braced himself for another sudden shock of stinging energy, but it never came.

Adam felt comfortable leading the group. He ducked under a low, misshapen overhang and skirted a stone "drapery" that ran down a wall, the rock patterned like hanging curtains. Then he came face-to-face with a swinging chain cordoning off a tu

"What do we do?" Adam asked.

"We keep going," Max said. "We can't stop now."

Adam nodded. He swung his leg over the chain.

"Hey!" a deep voice shouted from up the corridor. "You can't go in there."

Adam yanked his leg back onto the asphalt path. A young ranger, dressed in his uniform of a brown shirt and green trousers, was hurrying toward them. His almost childlike features wore a stern expression.

Isabel stepped up to face the ranger, smiling flirtatiously and looking up at him with her big, blue eyes. "We're sorry," she said. "We didn't realize we weren't allowed in there. We'll stay on the path from now on."

"See that you do," the ranger said with less certainty. "It's dangerous in the back tu

"A felony?" Maria squeaked.

"These caves are a World Heritage Site and a natural preserve, miss," the ranger answered. "Foot traffic destroys them."

"No problem. We're not looking for trouble," Michael said, shooting Adam an ironic smile. Michael turned and started back up the slope.

Adam reluctantly followed the group back to the Big Room. They'd been so close. Why did that ranger guy have to wander along at that moment? But at least now they had reason to hope. They knew where DuPris was hiding.

And felony or no, Adam knew that his friends weren't about to give up that easily.

"Is it time yet?" Maria asked. She knew that she'd asked that question a dozen times in the last hour, but anticipating the showdown with DuPris was driving her crazy. Plus she was out of cedar oil to calm herself down.

Max glanced at his watch. "Yeah, we should be okay now," he said. "The last tour ended an hour and a half ago."

Maria nodded and tapped her foot nervously, staring out at the vastness of the desert.

She and her friends were standing a hundred or so yards from the cavern parking lot, behind a low mesa. It had taken them a few hours to walk out from the caves to this spot, but they wouldn't have to walk back. Not when they had Max around.

"Everyone ready?" Max asked.

Maria took a deep breath and reached out to grab Liz's hand. Adam took Maria's other hand, and Maria glanced across the circle at Michael. Part of Maria wanted to be holding hands with him, but that wouldn't do anything good for her resolve to be just friends. Touching him and still thinking of Michael as a friend was impossible.

"You okay with this?" Michael asked Max. "You've only moved us this way once before-"

"And you're still kind of weak," Liz pointed out.

"I can do it," Max said. His voice was so firm and sure that a tense knot of fear in Maria's shoulders loosened. She hadn't even realized how rigid she'd been holding them until the stiffness disappeared.

Michael nodded once, and then he grabbed Max's hand, completing the circle. The force of the co

Their auras-Max's emerald green, Michael's brick red, Maria's own sparkling blue, Liz's warm amber, Isabel's rich purple, and Adam's bright yellow-blended into one potent rainbow.

Maria wasn't sure what to call Max's bizarre method of transportation. She'd heard DuPris mention something called a lavila, which she'd assumed was a kind of teleportation, but Maria had no way of knowing if DuPris had been referring to the power Max possessed.

Then Maria silenced her chattering thoughts as she felt her body coming apart. Max was doing his thing.

He was disassembling them all, molecule by molecule.

For a long moment Maria felt like she was expanding, spreading like smoke dissipates in the air.

A disorienting sensation of vertigo overcame her as she realized she could see through the bodies of her friends. The feeling of her molecules drifting away was terrifying. Maria focused on Michael-on feeling his aura brushing against her own in the mixture-and felt calm.

A moment later she couldn't think at all.

Isabel heaved a sigh of relief when she'd re-formed in front of the chain deep in the caves. Max had pulled it off. Of course, she'd never doubted him for a moment. Still, it felt very good to have her body back in one piece.

"Good work," Michael said. He patted his body like he needed to make sure he was all there.

"Thanks," Max said, sounding tired. Isabel glanced at him, concerned. Max always seemed so in control of himself that it was easy to overlook how much he gave to their efforts. She was about to ask him how he was holding up but didn't. She knew he was sick of being asked.

"C'mon, you guys," Isabel said, rubbing her chilled hands together. "Let's find the maniacal twit and get this over with."