The Wild One (18 page)

He noticed a pair of shoes lying at the end of his aisle. No, not shoes. Feet. He ran forward. A sharp acid taste hit the back of his throat when he saw a security guard lying on the floor.

A few seconds later Michael and Maria reached the end of their rows. Michael rushed over and laid his hand on the guard's forehead.

“No, no, no,” Maria whispered.

“He's okay,” Michael said. “I'm going to let him
wake up on his own, though, or we'd have to tie him up or something.”

Maria swayed on her feet as she stared at the guard. “Come here. Come sit down a minute,” Alex said. He grabbed her by the arm and led her over to the photo booth. He sat her down on the little stool The last thing they needed was for Maria to faint now.

He backed up to give her some air—and bumped into the photo machine. There was a strip of photos in the slot. Someone forgot their pictures. Alex picked them up and saw Nikolas and Isabel Nikolas and Isabel practically eating each other's faces off.

Suddenly Alex felt like he needed to sit down, too. He looked at the pictures again and noticed that Nikolas was holding a sign in some of them.

It said,
Hi, Alex
.

“Let's try Victoria's Secret,” Liz whispered. “That seems like an Isabel kind of place.” She could practically see Isabel going crazy on a one-girl lingerie shopping spree.

Max nodded. They hurried over to the store. The gate was open, and the door was unlocked. But when they stepped inside, the place was empty.

“I want to check the dressing rooms,” Liz said. “Maybe they figured out Valenti's after them and they're hiding.” She made her way to the back of the store, the silky fabrics brushing against her as she squeezed between the rows of nightgowns and robes and teddies.

Suddenly Max grabbed Liz by the hand and dove behind the counter where the registers were lined up. “I hear something.”

A second Later she heard it, too. The sound of footsteps, coming closer. Valenti. Liz was sure it was Valenti. Nikolas would have knocked out the security guards. Alex, Michael, and Maria were upstairs. And there was no way Nikolas and Isabel would be moving through the mall so slowly,
so deliberately
.

Max wedged himself under the counter. He rolled
onto his back and pulled Liz on top of him. She buried her head in his chest and squeezed her eyes closed. She could hear the hangers clicking together as Valenti moved through the store.

Do the periodic chart, Liz told herself. Whenever she wanted to calm herself down, she would recite all the elements and their atomic weights. It's like it reminded her the world was a sane, orderly place. But right now she couldn't remember anything. Not one fact.

Liz could feel Max's heart beating against her cheek. She focused on the rhythm and felt her muscles relax the tiniest bit. No matter what happened, Max was with her. That helped. That helped a lot more than the periodic chart ever did.

Valenti's footsteps moved closer. Liz heard a soft hiss as he ran his fingers across the top of the counter. He was practically on top of them.

Max tightened his arms around her. She felt the connection start up between them, and she was flooded with a wave of love from Max. She felt her own love for Max pouring out to him.

He could say they were
just friends
as much as he wanted. He could refuse to ever go to the movies with her, or dance with her, or do anything remotely couple-like. But none of that mattered. Because people who were
just friends
didn't feel this way about each other.

Liz heard hangers clicking again. Then silence. Valenti was gone.

She lifted her head and stared down into Max's blue eyes. “I—,” she began.

He pressed his fingers against her lips. He was
right. It was too soon to talk. They needed to wait until Valenti was farther away.

Max kept his eyes locked on hers as he gently traced the curves of her upper lip with his finger. Then he brushed his thumb across her lower lip.

He continued to explore her face with his hands. He ran his fingers over her chin and around the dimple in her left cheek. He traced the line of her nose and the arc of each of her eyebrows. His touch was so light, like a warm feather caressing her.

And his eyes. His eyes followed the motions of his hands. He studied every detail of her face, almost as if he were trying to memorize it.

Liz couldn't stand it. She had to touch him, too. She lowered her head and brushed his cheek with her own. The rough stubble against her smooth skin made her shiver.

She continued using her face to explore his. She rubbed her nose against Max's and leaned even closer to tickle his eyelashes with her own. A butterfly kiss. That's what she and Maria called touching eyelashes when they were little girls.

Liz moved her head lower and grazed Max's lips with hers. Light and fast. Then she smoothed her chin across his.

Max took a ragged breath and wove his hands through her hair. He pulled her mouth back to his. He ran his tongue across her lips, urging them apart.

There was nothing gentle about his kiss. It was hot and desperate, as if he couldn't stand to wait another second.

Then suddenly he pulled away. “Valenti should be gone,” he said.

Liz blinked.

Was he just going to pretend it hadn't happened? Was he really going to try and pretend they were still
just friends?

She stared down at Max, but now he wouldn't meet her gaze.

“We have to find Isabel,” he said.

Liz slid off him and pushed herself to her feet. She wrapped her arms around herself. It felt so cold without the warmth of Max's body.

Isabel ran her hands down her sides, down the dip of her waist and over the curve of her hips. Yeah, this dress
fit
. She loved the intricate embroidery that circled the hem. And the low neckline showed off the ruby heart pendant.

She didn't have the right shoes, though. Maybe she'd have to hit Macy's shoe department next. How was she supposed to give Nikolas a real fashion show without the right shoes?

Max was always teasing her about the number of pairs of shoes she had. He didn't understand that shoes were the key to a really great outfit.

Max. Why did she have to think about him right now? Thinking about Max made her think about the security guard. The guy's just taking a nap, that's all, she reminded herself.

She winced as she remembered the sensation of
pinching
the blood vessel in the guard's head. I
hurt him. The thought just popped into her mind.

Okay, so she hurt him. A little. What could she do about it now? Nothing.

Isabel pulled her hair into a ponytail and then twisted it into a chignon. A dress this elegant deserved an elegant hairstyle. She checked the mirror. Perfect. Time to start Nikolas's private runway fashion show. She looked at the other dresses she'd picked out to model. They, were gorgeous, too, but the idea of changing clothes so many more times just made her feel … tired.

Maybe she should tell Nikolas she wanted to go home. But would he—

“Turn around slowly and put your hands on the wall.” The deep voice jerked Isabel out of her thoughts. She knew that voice. It was the voice from her nightmares.

Valenti was out there with Nikolas! The hem of her gown started to vibrate. Isabel stared at it stupidly It's because I'm trembling, she realized.

Remember what Nikolas said, she ordered herself. You have the power. You don't have to be afraid of Valenti or anyone else.

She stepped out of the dressing room and tiptoed down the narrow hall. She grabbed the gown's long skirt in both hands and pulled it up. She might need to be able to move fast.

Isabel peeked past the curtain shielding the entrance to the dressing rooms. She pressed her fingers against her lips to keep from crying out. Sheriff Valenti had a gun pointed at Nikolas.

“Turn around slowly and put your hands against the wall,” Valenti repeated, his voice flat and emotionless.

Do it, Nikolas, Isabel thought. When Nikolas turned around, Valenti would start toward him. He'd walk in front of the curtain, and Isabel would reach out and squeeze his brain until he dropped. She wouldn't feel bad about it. No one was going to hurt Nikolas.

Nikolas didn't move to obey Valenti. He just smiled. He obviously planned to play with the sheriff a little.

A gunshot blasted. Nikolas fell to the ground with a thud.

Nikolas lay still. His golden aura flickered once and then disappeared as if someone had flipped a switch.

How could his aura disappear? Valenti couldn't kill Nikolas. Valenti was human. Just a weak, pathetic human. It didn't happen. It couldn't have happened, Isabel thought. In a second Nikolas will jump up and squash Valenti.

But Nikolas didn't move.

Valenti strode toward the body. The curtain billowed against Isabel as he passed, filling her nose with a chalky, musty odor.

I should change back into my own clothes before he finds me, she thought.

She turned and slowly walked down the hall. Her feet felt numb. She couldn't feel them touching the floor. Maybe I'm floating. Maybe that's why. Maybe I'm a ghost. An alien ghost. She felt a giggle rise up inside her. But she shouldn't laugh. Wolves liked
laughing girls. They liked to gobble them down. It made their tummies happy.

Isabel stepped into the dressing room and slipped off the gown. The beautiful gown. She removed the tiara and the ruby pendant. She shouldn't be wearing them, anyway. She should be wearing a red cape with a hood. She should be on her way to Grandma's house, not in the mall. And the wolf shouldn't have a gun. Why wasn't the wolf following the story?

She pulled on her jeans and her lacy shirt. Then she curled up in the comer, closed her eyes, and waited for the wolf to find her.

Yes, she could hear him now. Hear his boots moving down the little hallway Boots on a wolf. That wasn't the way it was supposed to happen.

“That was a gunshot.” Max stumbled back a step. He'd just felt a massive bolt of terror from Isabel. Had she been shot? Did Valenti have her?

“I think it came from Macy's,” Liz cried. She took off, running full out past the fountain in the mall's center courtyard.

Max was right behind her. They burst through the store's main doors. Liz grabbed his arm and signaled him to slow down. She was right. There was no point in announcing to Valenti that they were there.

He moved forward quickly and quietly, scanning the perfume and makeup counters in front of him. Everything looked normal.

At least Isabel is still alive, he thought as he headed deeper into the store. He wished he could
send her a mental message telling her he was here and that she was going to be okay. But it didn't work like that. He couldn't have silent conversations with Isabel or Michael. He could just feel their feelings.

And Isabel's fear felt overwhelming.

Liz touched his shoulder and pointed to her nose. Then she pointed off to the left. At first Max couldn't figure out what she was trying to tell him. Then he smelled it. The firecracker odor of gunpowder.

He strode toward the smell. He turned the corner into one of the little dress boutiques—and saw Nikolas lying on the ground with Valenti standing over him.

Max and Liz ducked down behind a rack of long dresses. Max leaned out and took a quick look. Nikolas's aura was gone. He was dead. Valenti had murdered him.

Where was Isabel? The thought repeated itself again and again until Max felt like he was going nuts. Why didn't he run outside and pull her off Nikolas's motorcycle tonight? Why didn't he force her to come downstairs and watch that stupid movie with him?

Max risked another look at Valenti. The sheriff stood up and headed behind the curtain leading to the dressing rooms. Max's stomach cramped. Isabel could be back there, trapped.

“I'm going to distract Valenti. You find Isabel,” Liz said.

Before he could answer, Liz let out a high, shrill scream. She leaped to her feet and ran toward the exit, still shrieking. A few seconds later Valenti
charged out of the dressing area. As soon as he was out of sight Max sprang up and raced over to the row of changing rooms.

“Isabel?” he called softly. There was no answer. He hoped wherever she was, she had seen Liz leading Valenti out of the store. He turned around and started back through the curtain. He hesitated when he thought he heard a low sound behind him. He stood still and listened until he heard the sound again. A muffled whimpering. Isabel.

He followed the sound to one of the dressing rooms. He swung the door open and saw Isabel curled up in the corner.

“Isabel, we have to get out of here.” Max bent down and touched her shoulder. She flinched, but she didn't look up. She kept her head pressed tightly down against her knees.

“It's Max,” he said softly. “You're okay, Izzy. Everything is okay. But I need you to come with me.” He took her by the shoulders and urged her to her feet. He brushed her hair away from her face, and she opened her eyes.