“We’re all screwed if we call 911.”
“Oh, great idea,” someone retorted sarcastically. “Let’s just wait and see if he comes to by himself.”
“How bad is it, Wes?”
“I’m not too sure.” Wesley looked defeated. “He cut his head. There was a fair bit of blood ….”
“Crap. We gotta get help.”
The image of Xavier lying on the ground bleeding spurred me to action.
“I have to find him!” I was already stumbling toward Wesley. “Someone show me the way to the lake!” Molly was suddenly by my side, her hands gripping my shoulders both restraining and comforting.
“Calm down, Beth” she said. “Can somebody drive her?”
“Don’t be stupid, Molly, the lake’s in the woods,” Ben said. “You can’t get there by car. Someone drive into town and call a friggin’ ambulance.”
I couldn’t waste another second listening to their facile deliberations when Xavier was hurt and my healing powers could help him.
“I’m going,” I announced, breaking into a run.
“Wait! I can take you.” Wes had suddenly reverted back to his former concern. “It’s faster than runnin’ in the dark,” he added weakly, as if he knew that taking me to Xavier would in no way exonerate his involvement in the accident.
“No,” Molly said protectively. “You should stay here while we try and get a doctor.”
“What about calling his dad?” someone suggested. “He’s a surgeon, isn’t he?”
“Good idea. Find his number.”
“Mr. Woods is a cool guy, he won’t report us.”
“Yeah and how are you gonna contact him without reception?” Ben sounded exasperated. “Telepathy?”
I was struggling to keep my wings from bursting free and carrying me to Xavier. It was my body’s natural reaction, and I didn’t know if I could contain them much longer. I looked impatiently at Wesley.
“What are we waiting for?”
By way of reply he mounted the bike and offered me his arm so I could use it to wedge myself in behind him. The shiny motorcycle glinted like some alien insect in the moonlight.
“Hey! What about a helmet?” Ben asked churlishly as Wes kicked the bike into gear. He resented the school jocks and their daredevil antics. I could see in his face that he was also concerned about my safety given Wesley’s questionable level of responsibility. I understood that Ben was only being protective, but right then I had only one objective in mind and that was to get to Xavier.
“No time.” Wes was curt. He reached back to grab both my arms and positioned them securely around his waist.
“Hold on tight,” he instructed. “And whatever you do, don’t let go.”
The bike spun around before careening down the driveway and out toward the black ribbon of highway.
“Isn’t the lake the other way?” I shouted over the roar of the engine.
“Shortcut,” Wes bellowed in reply.
I tried reaching out to Xavier to sense the extent of his injuries. But I drew a blank. It surprised me; I could usually sense his moods even before he did. Gabriel had told me I would know immediately if he were ever in trouble. But this time I’d missed it. Was it because I’d been too busy stressing out over a ridiculous seance?
Wes had just turned onto the highway and begun to pick up speed when I heard a voice calling my name from behind. Even over the din of the engine I knew it was a voice I loved more than any other and I’d been waiting to hear it all night. It revived me. Wes swerved the bike around, and I saw Xavier standing, washed in moonlight, on the side of the road. My heart lightened immediately. He looked perfectly healthy.
“Beth?” he repeated my name in a cautious tone. He was standing just meters away from us and I was so excited to see him in one piece that it didn’t even occur to me that anything might be amiss. I didn’t stop to wonder why Xavier looked so surprised to see us.
“Where are you guys going?” he asked. “And, Wes, where the hell did you get that bike?”
“Xavier!” I cried out in relief. “Thank God, you woke up! How’s your head? Everyone’s so worried. We need to get back and tell them you’re okay.”
“My head?” he asked, the consternation on his face deepening. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the accident! Maybe you have a concussion. Wes, let me off this thing.”
“Beth, I’m fine.” Xavier scratched his head. “Nothing happened to me.”
“But I thought—,” I began and then stopped short. Not only did Xavier look fine but there wasn’t a mark on him and no evidence of an injury. He looked exactly the way he did when I’d left him, in jeans and a fitted black T- shirt. I saw Xavier’s posture shift subtly into a more defensive stance. His ocean blue eyes darkened as understanding dawned.
“Beth,” he said slowly. “I want you to get off that bike.”
“Wes?” I tapped him lightly on the shoulder, suddenly aware that he hadn’t spoken a single word for the entire duration of my conversation with Xavier. The bike was still vibrating beneath me and yet the person in front of me remained motionless, his gaze fixed ahead.
Xavier strained to take a step forward, but something prevented him and he remained rooted to the spot. He tried to keep his voice level, but I couldn’t miss the undercurrent of urgency.
“Beth, did you hear me? Get off
I planted both feet on the ground in order to appease Xavier, but when I tried to shift my arms from around Wesley’s waist, he suddenly revved the engine and the bike shot backward. I had to clutch him even tighter to avoid falling off.
Until that moment I still thought the whole thing was an elaborate hoax on Wesley’s part that Xavier failed to find amusing. Then I saw Xavier run a hand helplessly through his hair and watched his forehead crease in anguish. I saw a look in his eyes I hadn’t seen since that fateful afternoon in the cemetery when he’d been incapacitated and I’d been captured before his very eyes. He wore that same look now — the one that told me he was desperately searching for an escape, even though he knew we were cornered. It was as if he were facing off against a poisonous snake that might strike at any moment and the slightest wrong move could be fatal. Wes spun the bike in random circles, enjoying the anxiety he was causing. Xavier yelled out and tried to run forward but an unseen force held him back. He gritted his teeth and hurled himself against the invisible barrier blocking his way, but it was no use. The bike careered tauntingly in all directions.
“What’s going on?” I cried as the bike finally stopped and settled into the dust. “Xav, what’s happening?”
We were closer to Xavier now and in his eyes I could see deep pain, but also anger and intense frustration at his inability to help me. Now I knew I was in real danger. Maybe we both were.
“Beth … that’s not Wes.” The words chilled me to the core and filled me with defeat. I tried letting go of Wesley. I was ready to throw myself off the bike, but I couldn’t move my arms. They seemed to be pinned by an invisible force.
“Stop! Let me off!” I pleaded.
“Too late,” Wesley replied, only it wasn’t Wes anymore. His voice was now slick and smooth, a polished English accent clearly detectable. That voice had haunted my dreams for so long, I would have recognized it anywhere. The body I had my arms wrapped around began to shift beneath my fingers. The broad, muscled chest and well-defined arms shrank to become leaner and colder to the touch. Wesley’s broad hands became slender and turned bone white. The backward baseball cap flew off to reveal lustrous black locks that danced in the wind. For the first time he twisted his face around to confront me. The sight of him so close made me sick to my stomach. Jake’s face hadn’t changed a bit. Black shoulderlength hair contrasted sharply with the pallor of his face. I recognized the narrow nose that drooped slightly at the tip and the cheekbones carved out of rock that had made Molly once compare him to a Calvin Klein model. His pale lips parted to reveal small and dazzlingly white teeth. Only the eyes were different. They seemed to pulse with a dark energy, and as I looked into them I saw that they were neither green nor black as I remembered but a dull shade of burgundy. Just like the color of dried blood.
“NO!” Xavier shouted, his face contorted with despair. His voice was swallowed by the wind on the empty highway. “GET AWAY FROM HER!”
What happened next was a blur. I knew Xavier was somehow released from his immobility because I saw him sprint full speed toward me. My arms too became free and I tried to wrestle myself off the bike but felt a
