scrambled after him, finding the big rock with her toes and jumping from there.
When she landed, it took Liz a moment to process what she saw. Isabel and Adam lay on the cave floor-and they both looked green. Someone stood over them, cackling. When the man turned around and faced them, Liz's mind reeled.
It was Elsevan DuPris-and he had the Stone of Midnight in his hand.
DuPris smiled at Max. 'I've been looking for this for more than fifty years,' he said, without a trace of his southern accent. 'Who knew that your sister held the information I needed locked inside her little pinhead? Her memories led me right to the spot where you had hidden the Stone.'
'Who are you?' Liz whispered. She felt as if her world had been turned inside out. She had spoken to this man so many times during her life and had always dismissed him as a harmless wacko.
'My guess is… he's not human,' Max said.
'Very good,' DuPris answered.
'And if he's not human, then he must be the… stowaway Ray told us about,' Max answered, his voice shaking with anger. 'The one who stole the Stone of Midnight and hid on board my parents' ship.'
Liz let her eyes slide over him. Even the way he held himself was different now. He'd been walking around Roswell for years, letting everyone think he was a UFO-obsessed nut job. That took incredible patience, she realized. He must have wanted the Stone very badly.
Max took a step toward him. 'The Stone doesn't belong to you.'
Liz wanted to reach out and yank Max back to her side. Why was he challenging DuPris? Didn't Max know that all they could do right now was try to get themselves and Isabel and Adam out of the cave alive?
'Finders keepers, isn't that what they say here?' DuPris tossed the ring into the air and caught it, then slid it onto his finger. 'I have plans for this. I could use some help, if you're interested. If you're not interested, well, help doesn't always have to be voluntary, if you know what I mean.' He pointed his palm at Isabel and Adam. On cue, they opened their eyes and rose to their feet.
Liz forced herself to stare into Isabel's blank eyes, then Adam's. Izzy's eyes looked like they had yesterday when she had shoved Max against the wall. A rush of understanding swept through Liz. Had DuPris been controlling people from afar? Was he controlling Isabel when she shoved Max? Was he behind Adam killing Valenti-and that rabbit? Was there a way for Liz to help them break free of DuPris's control?
'What do you say, Max?' DuPris asked. 'I can't offer you a partnership, but there is room for advancement in my enterprise.'
Say yes, Liz thought. Say what you have to say to get us out of here. This wasn't the time to fight. They needed time to find the others and make a plan.
'You crashed that ship!' Max cried. 'You killed my parents!'
'Don't take it personally,' DuPris answered, strolling toward them. 'They were going to take me back to our planet for judgment. I had no choice.'
Liz saw Max's hands curl into fists. She knew he was going to launch himself at DuPris any second. She grabbed his arm. 'Remember the compound, Max. Adam was being controlled by him.' She jerked her chin toward DuPris. 'It was his power that killed Valenti and started the fire.'
'You understand me,' DuPris told Liz. 'I could use a girl like you, a human girl. I suspect that you would be easier to keep in line than those two.' He gestured at Isabel and Adam. 'They managed to slip away from me a few times before I got a firm enough grasp. But you, I'd like to see what I could do with you.'
Quick as a snake striking, he grabbed Liz's wrist. 'No!' she screamed.
Liz's scream echoed endlessly through the cave. The sound paralyzed Max, freezing his muscles. He had to get between DuPris and Liz, but he couldn't move.
No, that wasn't true. He could move-he was moving-turning toward DuPris, but so slowly, it was almost impossible to perceive. Liz and DuPris-they were caught in the same phenomenon. Liz's mouth was still open in the same scream. DuPris hadn't tightened his grasp on her wrist.
Max felt a drop of sweat begin to trickle down his cheek, slowly… absurdly slowly. Time, he thought. The movement of time has been altered.
At least his mind hadn't been affected. At least he had the ability to realize what had happened. Was slowing down time something DuPris had done to stop Max from interfering? Had DuPris already made a connection to Liz? If his brain was working as quickly as Max's, DuPris could be turning her into his puppet right now.
Max couldn't take this. It was making him insane. Liz was right next to him, and he couldn't do anything to help her.
Pressure began to build up behind his eyes, penetrating deep into his brain. He knew that sensation. It came from the collective consciousness, a call for him to connect.
He continued his minuscule movements toward DuPris, the drop of sweat maddening him as it slid another fraction of an inch. Maybe he should connect to the consciousness. Maybe then he'd find a way to manipulate time himself. He concentrated and soon felt himself expand outward-beyond the cave, beyond the realms of Earth.
This time there was no warm ocean of auras waiting to embrace Max. He felt as if he'd been hurled into the core of a volcano, lava boiling around him. Every being in the consciousness was seething with hatred and fury, all directed at Elsevan DuPris. They spewed out emotions they had been holding in for all the years since he escaped from their planet.
Traitor, they called him, although not in words but in rushes of jagged feeling that Max felt in his blood and bones. Traitor. Liar. Thief. Every being joined in the chant. Betrayer. Soulless. Murderer.
Max's mouth stretched open, and a howl of rage escaped, the beings of the consciousness using his voice as their own. Time rushed forward, and instantly Max was in the air, throwing himself at DuPris.
As soon as they hit the cave floor, Max rammed his fist into DuPris's abdomen. His hand sank in so deep that he could feel DuPris's stomach under his fingers. A wave of revulsion swept through him. DuPris's body was as soft as clay-or else connecting to the consciousness had given Max incredible strength.
A burst of power struck Max's temple, but it was as soft as a cotton ball. He had the strength of millions, DuPris the strength of one.
Pain. The consciousness wanted the traitor to feel pain. Suddenly Dupris's face twisted in agonized terror and Max could see inside him. He could see DuPris's insides being ripped apart, could feel DuPris's organs moving beneath his fingers.
Liz let out a long, shrill scream. Max felt like screaming, too. What was he doing? It took every ounce of his strength, but somehow Max pulled his hand away from Dupris's convulsing form. Immediately DuPris started to heal. Max could feel him growing stronger.
'Nooo!' the beings of the consciousness roared.
Max again had no control. He reached in, holding both hands over DuPris's heart. 'You're killing him!' he heard Liz scream.
He knew it was true, but he couldn't stop. He was an instrument of the consciousness.
Please, no, he silently begged. He used all his will to squeeze his eyes shut, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling DuPris's heart beneath the skin, fighting against him. Pounding, then slowing, then slamming, then stopping.
'Max! Max!' Liz shrieked his name again and again, her voice vibrating with terror.
He couldn't answer. Dizziness and nausea swirled inside him. He felt as if the cave floor were spinning beneath him. When would it end? When would they let him stop?
He felt his eyelids twitch. He fought to keep them shut as the spinning sensation intensified, but a moment later they sprang open, DuPris's body becoming just a blur of color. 'The Stone, the Stone, the Stone, the Stone,' the beings of the consciousness shrieked.
Max could see a speck of purplish green in the blur. His hands jerked out. They came back with the ring-and DuPris's finger.
