concentration. What's he concentrating on? she wondered. Driving? DuPris? Cameron? Keeping me shut out of his life?
Say something, Maria ordered herself as he reached a junction and turned off Route 285 to Route 60 west. This is your Michael. Just talk to him. Say anything!
'Uh…' Michael said suddenly. He glanced at Maria and gave her a weak smile. 'So…'
'Yeah?' Maria prompted. Talk to me! she screamed at him in her head. Can't you see I'm dying over here?
'Isabel seems really focused on getting Alex back,' Michael said. 'I guess she misses him after all. More than I thought she would.'
'Why?' Maria shot back, more sharply than she'd intended. 'I'm not surprised. Alex is a great guy. Of course she misses him. We all miss him.'
'Yeah, but that's not the kind of missing…' Michael began. He adjusted his hands on the steering wheel. 'Forget it.'
Maria slumped back into the car seat. Isabel. Michael would have to mention her name, wouldn't he? Maria knew that Michael and Isabel had decided just to be friends, but hearing her name had made Maria remember the disgustingly embarrassing scene in which she'd tried to force Michael to choose between them.
He'd chosen Cameron instead. It had been one of the most humiliating, devastating moments in Maria's whole life.
Feeling more depressed now than when they'd started the trip, Maria turned to face the window as Michael pulled up in front of the ramshackle ranch house.
'What do we do now?' Maria asked.
'Have a look around,' Michael said. 'Ready?'
'As I'll ever be,' Maria answered.
Together they walked up to the house. Maria found herself tiptoeing across the dirt yard, even though she knew it was impossible to sneak up on DuPris. At the front door Michael took a deep breath and turned the knob. The door swung open, and they both froze.
Nothing.
'He's not here,' Michael said, stepping inside. Maria followed. The air smelled stale, like no one had walked through to circulate it in over a week. The large front room echoed with emptiness.
'I don't think he ever came back to this place,' Maria said.
'I'm sorry for dragging you out here,' Michael said. 'This was a total waste of time.'
Maria wandered farther into the room. She could still so easily picture the horrible scene that had taken place there, the sense of complete powerlessness, of being under DuPris's control.
She stopped over the spot where DuPris had kept her frozen in place.
And then he'd plucked an image from her mind-an image of herself hoping to kiss Michael. Amused, DuPris had forced Maria to walk over to Michael and put her arms around him. It was the worst violation she'd ever experienced. At least touching Michael had allowed Maria to make a connection to him, which had broken DuPris's hold over them.
Now it seemed a total mystery how she'd made that deep connection with Michael. She couldn't even think of anything to
Suddenly all of it-the gulf between her and Michael, DuPris getting away, Alex exiled to another galaxy-it was all too much for Maria to handle. She took a deep breath and burst into hot, uncontrollable sobs.
This was the last place she wanted to have a meltdown. Here. In front of him.
'Maria, don't,' Michael said, his voice soft and full of concern.
She wheeled around to face him, tears trailing down her face. She rubbed them away and struggled to get a grip, but fresh tears kept streaming down her cheeks. 'How… how are we ever going to get… Alex back?' she choked out. 'Everything's against us! Nothing… nothing… nothing's going right.'
'Maria, you-'
'No!' she shouted at him. 'Don't 'Maria' me! You don't even have the decency… the common
'What?' Michael demanded.
Maria turned away. 'It doesn't matter,' she wailed. 'Nothing matters. Alex is gone. DuPris has the Stone. And you…'
And you don't love me.
But Maria couldn't say that. She could never say that.
Instead she spun around and ran out the door. She bolted over to the car, jumped in, and slammed the door. She just wanted to be home. She just wanted to be away from Michael. She never thought she'd feel that way, but she did.
After a long moment Maria heard Michael climb behind the wheel. He didn't say anything, just wrapped his arms around her. His aura wrapped around hers with all the comfort of a towel straight out of the dryer.
'I just feel so awful… about everything,' she said, pressing her face into his shoulder.
'I know,' he said. 'I do, too.'
'What are we going to do?' she asked, her voice muffled.
Michael let out a long sigh. 'I don't know.'
He held her for a few minutes, rocking her until her tears stopped. Then he pulled away, holding her shoulders.
'You know what I've got?' Michael asked.
Maria wiped her nose with the back of her hand. 'Uh-uh,' she said.
He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small cloth satchel tied with a dark red ribbon. He waved it in front of her face. 'Remember this?'
Maria's heart skipped a beat. It was the aromatherapy satchet she'd made for him. She couldn't believe he carried it with him.
'Take it,' Michael said.
Maria held the little satchel up to her nose. The smell of rose petals, eucalyptus, and pine needles filled her sinuses, clearing them with the strong fragrance. She held on to the satchel for a few moments, inhaling deeply. Those were three of her favorite scents in the world.
'Better?' Michael asked.
Maria nodded, giving him a smile that felt like it could break into pieces any second.
'Thanks,' she said.
'No,' Michael said, putting his arm around her. 'Thank you. Somebody's got to let themselves feel all this crap we're going through, and nobody can do it better than you.'
And all of a sudden Maria didn't want to be anywhere but where she was.
Michael did love her. Not the way she dreamed of him loving her. But still.
Isabel winced as she watched a look of pain cross Adam's face.
She, Adam, and Max were up in Ray's apartment-Michael's apartment-and Max had connected to Adam, trying to find out if Adam had any buried memories of the time DuPris had been in control of his body.
Adam's face screwed up in pain again, and Isabel shut her eyes. After Max was done with Adam, she was next. Isabel knew it was important, even crucial, but she was looking forward to it like a trip to the dentist.
When Isabel heard Max sigh, she opened her eyes again. Max and Adam were sitting beside each other on Michael's bed, and Adam was rubbing his forehead.
'Anything?' Isabel asked.
'Zilch,' Max said. 'Except that Adam's interesting in there. He's got powers I've never even
