'I just think he deserves the chance to tell his side before we do anything,' she said. 'No prison. No sedation.'
'Okay, Isabel, you go,' Liz instructed.
'I agree with Michael,' she replied. 'I think Adam just went a little nuts when he got back into the compound. Sheriff Valenti made Adam call him Dad. He acted like he loved Adam. Then Adam finds out Valenti didn't love him, that he was using him for his stupid little tests. I would have wanted to kill him, too. And burn down the place that used to be my prison. If I'd been kept there my whole life, I would do whatever it took to make sure no one ever put me back there again.'
Isabel pulled in a deep, shuddering breath. 'But it's over,' she continued. 'Adam knows he's safe now. We have no reason to think he'd do anything like that again.'
'Except the rabbit,' Max said. 'He wasn't in the compound when he tried to kill it.'
'It was a rabbit, okay?' Isabel shot back. 'Yeah, they're cute with their fluffy fur and their big ears and their cotton ball tails. But face it, they're basically rodents.'
'Forget the rabbit. What about Max? Are you saying Adam went so crazy in the compound, he didn't know he was trying to kill one of his friends?' Liz exclaimed, her voice tight with emotion.
'You said it was right after he incinerated Valenti,' Isabel said. 'Maybe Adam just lost control of his power for a second.'
'No way. You weren't there. You didn't see him. He wanted to kill me, and he knew exactly who I was. He also knew torching the compound meant we'd all burn with it, and he was happy about it. He wasn't having some kind of post-traumatic stress reaction, if that's what you're thinking,' Max insisted.
'And how, exactly, does one look with post-traumatic stress?' Isabel challenged her big brother.
'All right. All right. We've all had our turn,' Michael jumped in before Max and Isabel could really start going at each other. 'The majority says Adam doesn't need to be restrained at all. He just needs to be with one of us all the time.'
'Alex didn't get to vote,' Max reminded him. Alex Manes was over at the UFO museum, watching Adam. 'I'm still concerned about the fact that we left him alone with Adam.'
'Adam's practically in a coma,' Michael reminded him. 'Alex is perfectly safe.'
'There's something else,' Liz added softly. 'I don't know if I should even say it, but I'm going to.' She gave Maria a long, steady look, then turned her gaze to Isabel. 'I think you two are being influenced by your feelings for Michael.'
You two. That meant… Michael snapped his head toward Isabel. Did she have feelings for him, too?
'Oh, right. Love means never having a thought of your own,' Isabel snapped. 'I'm so sure that's why you agreed with Max, right?'
'I agreed with Max because I-'
Michael tuned out the rest of what Liz was saying. He couldn't believe this. Isabel and Maria? What was going on? Isabel was like a sister to him. He glanced back at Cameron to see if she was smiling sarcastically, but she was nowhere in sight. He forced his attention back to Liz.
'All I'm saying is I'd like to hear your answers again after Michael makes some kind of choice between the two of you,' she finished.
Michael shoved his hands through his spiky black hair and lowered his gaze to the cave floor. What was he supposed to do? Did Liz really expect him to choose? I'll have one Isabel, a Maria, and two Camerons to go, he thought. Speaking of Cameron…
Michael noticed a green-purple light glistening on the floor, and it was exuding a burning, evil aura. He'd seen that color only one time before. He sprang to his feet.
'What's wrong, Michael?' Isabel asked.
He sprinted to the back of the cave and turned right. There was Cameron sitting on the ground… staring wide-eyed at her glowing hands. In her hands lay the ring with the Stone of Midnight. Her face and the wall behind were an eerie shade of green.
A horrifying image filled Michael's mind. Maria lying unconscious on the floor-pale, cold, and dying-with that evil ring on a string around her neck. He wasn't going to let that happen to Cameron.
He hurled himself across the cave at her. Cameron jerked away in surprise, but Michael caught her arm and yanked, sending the ring flying across the stone floor. She flashed him a pained expression, as if her favorite toy had been taken.
'Don't ever touch that again,' he ordered. He snatched up the ring and returned it to the metal box they kept it in. Next time he came out here, he was slapping a lock on the thing.
He straightened up and turned back to face Cameron. She raised her eyebrows in an I'm-waiting kind of way.
'The stone in that ring was stolen from our planet,' he told her. 'When you use its power, it sends out a signal to a group of… bounty hunters. Also aliens, but not like us. Let's just say that they aren't guys you'd want to party with.'
'How do you know?' Cameron answered. 'My taste might be on the kinky side, and I…' Her words trailed off.
Michael realized that tiny tremors were running through her body. He reached out and pulled her to him. She held herself stiff, her arms straight at her sides. He figured she was busy cursing herself for looking like a wimp. She prided herself on being tough.
Michael knew a little bit about that, so he didn't bother telling her that he'd do anything he had to for her to be safe. He didn't bother telling her anything. He just held her tight.
And a few moments later he felt her hands dig into the back of his jacket. Slowly the tremors stopped. And Cameron shoved him away. 'The floor show's over,' she called to the others without looking at them. She headed over to the sleeping bag Michael kept in the corner for the nights he couldn't deal with life as a foster kid. He thought about following but decided that would truly annoy her. Besides, they still hadn't agreed on what to do about Adam.
He turned back to his friends and found himself pinned by two pairs of blue eyes-Maria's hurt, Isabel's challenging.
Oh, great. He cleared his throat. 'So, what were we saying?' he asked.
'We were saying that you have no problem with the possibility that Adam might go off again and turn us all into a big pile of ashes,' Max answered.
'How's this?' Michael suggested. 'No sedation. Adam stays in the museum. Doesn't go out in public. One of us is always with him.'
Max frowned. 'I don't like it. At all. But it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice.' He rubbed his face with his fingers. 'The guards should be our resident aliens-you, me, and Isabel. Two of us should be on him all the time. That way if anything… happens, we can combine our power and at least have a chance of dealing with Adam.'
Michael nodded. He was afraid if he opened his mouth, Max was really not going to like what he heard. At all.
'I could go with that,' Liz said, sounding reluctant.
'Me too,' Isabel agreed.
'Yeah,' Maria answered. 'And while he's there, we talk to him about what happened.'
Michael shot a glance over his shoulder at Cameron. She was stretched out on her side, facing away from them. 'How would you feel about Cameron staying there, too?' he asked softly. 'She doesn't have anyplace else to go.'
'As long as there are always two of us on Adam, fine,' Max answered.
No one else said anything, which Michael decided to take as a unanimous yes.
'Let's head back,' Liz said. 'I don't want Alex to be alone with Adam when he comes to.'
'Good idea.' Michael jumped on the big rock to climb out of the cave.
Max stepped over to him. 'There's one more thing I want to say to you,' he began, his voice low enough that only Michael could hear it.
Michael knew what was coming next. One of Max's I-love-you-man moments. 'We're not going to have to hug or anything, are we?' Michael joked. 'I mean, I'm glad you're still alive. You're glad I'm still alive. But we're guys.
