The Wild One (8 page)

But that would be giving Nikolas way too much power. Besides, if he worked for Valenti, he wouldn't leave her up here by herself, giving her the chance to escape. Right?

Isabel jumped off the motorcycle and swung herself into the cave. When her toes hit the big rock she used as a stepping-stone, she let go, caught her balance, then hopped down to the cave floor. She crossed her arms and stared at Nikolas. “I'm waiting.”

He laughed. “Does that usually work for you?” he asked. “Do the human guys quiver in their sneakers when you give them a little of your attitude?”

Isabel did not believe this. Didn't Nikolas know the rules? Didn't he know
he
should be trying to impress
her?
Didn't he know that she could have any guy she wanted and that it was his job to make her want him?

Wait a minute, Isabel thought. Did he just say
human
guys?

Nikolas crouched down and ran his hands over the metallic surface of the incubation pod Isabel and Max had shared. “Bigger than mine,” he muttered.

“Than
yours?
” she repeated. Nikolas was trying to get her to believe he was an alien, too. But that was impossible. There were no other aliens. She struggled to act calm. She needed to think. She needed to figure out what was going on here.

Could this all be a big setup? she thought wildly.
Was
Nikolas working for Project Clean Slate? Was his assignment to pretend to be an alien so that he could get information out of her?

Isabel took a few steps toward the mouth of the cave, ready to bolt. But that would look totally suspicious if Nikolas was some kind of agent trying to figure out if she was an alien. Just act like you have no idea what he' talking about, she ordered herself.

Nikolas straightened up. He studied her coolly. “I can feel the fear pouring off you. I'm disappointed, Isabel. I thought you'd be someone worth my tame. Not a scared little mouse.”

Could he feel her fear because he was another alien? Or was he just guessing?

“No,
I'm
the one who's disappointed,” Isabel shot back. “Like I'm supposed to think this is fun. If you want to hang out with me, you have to do better.”

She stared right at Nikolas, meeting his gaze directly. No matter what happened, she wasn't going to give him any clue that she knew about the cave or the pods or anything else.

Nikolas raised his eyebrows. “That was almost convincing. Except, like I said, I can feel your fear. You really should learn to block your emotions. I bet you can't feel a thing coming off me.”

“Isabel's bored. Isabel's leaving.” She turned away from him. She had to get out of there. She needed to go home and discuss this with Max, Michael, Liz, Maria, and Alex. They would help her figure out what Nikolas's game was. And then they would come up with a plan to deal with him.

“What about all your questions?” Nikolas asked. “Didn't you want to ask me something about my dream? You know, the one you just walked into, uninvited.”

The dream. It
was
the dream of another alien. Isabel hesitated.

“The second I got back, I felt you,” Nikolas whispered from behind her. “I had to meet you. If you hadn't come walking into my dream, I would have come into yours.” Nikolas stepped over the rock next to Isabel. He sat down and pulled her down next to him.

“Got back from where?” Isabel asked. Her heart was still pounding, but somehow she didn't know whether it was from fear or from the excitement of feeling him so close to her.

Nikolas didn't answer.

“Look. I know you said you don't like questions,” she said. “But if you want me to stay, you've got to start talking. Your choice.”

“Okay, okay,” Nikolas said. “I broke out of my pod first. I waited for a while, but I got cold and hungry. I left the cave. I dragged my pod with me—my own little security blanket. I got adopted. My family moved to California a few months later,” he said in a singsong voice. “A few months ago I started getting these dreams and visions. I knew I had to come back. So I arranged it. And here I am. Happy?”

Isabel stared at him, shocked. A Project Clean Slate agent
might
have been able to come up with that whole story. But if so, they knew a lot more about the aliens than Isabel had ever imagined.

Nikolas's golden brown eyes narrowed as he
stared at her. “Don't you believe me?” he murmured. Isabel could think of only one way to test him.

Slowly she reached out and touched Nikolas's face. She took a deep breath, trying to form a connection. Once they were connected, she would be able to see Nikolas's memories. She would know the truth.

Nikolas knocked her hand away and sprang to his feet. “What the hell are you doing? You think I'm just going to let you open my head and take a look around?”

So he knew she was trying to form a connection. And he knew about the pods. And he knew about dream walking. “You're telling the truth, aren't you?” she whispered. “You really are one of us.”

“Well, duh.”

Isabel shook her head, trying to clear away the confusion that seemed to be clouding her thoughts. Another alien. Another one of them.

Just like she had always dreamed.

“I'm sorry I tried to connect without asking or anything. It's just … I thought you might be with Project Clean Slate,” Isabel explained in a rush.

Nikolas sat back down. “I don't even know what that is.”

“It's a government agency that was formed to track down aliens living on Earth,” Isabel said. Suddenly the confusion was gone. Suddenly she wanted to tell him everything. He was one of them! Practically family. She felt as though she had to explain her entire life to him, the life with Max and Michael that Nikolas had missed, growing up alone. “Sheriff Valenti—the Roswell sheriff—he's one of them,” she added. “He's looking for us.”

She glanced over at Nikolas, trying to gauge his reaction. When she'd found out the truth about Valenti, it had terrified her.

“So that's why you were so scared. Because you thought I was an alien hunter or something?” Nikolas asked.

“Yeah,” she answered. “You've got to be careful, Nikolas. Really, really careful. You have to stop using your powers. Even little stuff like what you did to the mascot or to my golf ball. That
was
you, right?”

Nikolas nodded. But he didn't look upset. Isabel wondered if he was in shock or something.

“I don't get it,” Nikolas said.

“I know. When I found out they were watching for us, I was blown away. But if you're careful, then—”

“No. That's not what I mean,” Nikolas interrupted. His golden brown eyes burned with intensity. “I don't get why you're afraid of Valenti—or anyone else. I mean, they're only humans. How can you even
think
that one of them could hurt you? You're the one with the power.”

Isabel blinked in surprise. I'm the one with the power. The thought repeated itself over and over. I'm the one with the power.

Nikolas was right. Why was she so frightened of Valenti when
she
was the one with the power?

Isabel felt all her muscles begin to relax. Muscles she hadn't even realized were tense. I got so used to being afraid, she thought. It started feeling normal to me.

“This is so amazing,” she whispered. Impulsively she reached for Nikolas's hand. “We didn't know … we thought we were the only ones. It never even occurred
to us that there might be another one of us. You have to meet Max and Michael.”

“I started thinking I might be wrong about you and Max and Michael,” Nikolas told her. “I've been watching you for a couple of weeks, and you never used your powers. Now I know why I still can't believe you let some human scare you. And there are three of you. I could take on Valenti by myself, easy, So could you.”

An image of Valenti lying on the ground at Isabel's feet, begging for mercy, flashed into Isabel's mind. She smiled.

“Max believes in being careful,” Isabel answered.

“Careful. Is that what you call it? What a waste.” Nikolas reached for a strand of Isabel's blond hair and slowly twirled it around his finger. “You're lucky I showed up, Isabel,” he murmured. “Someone needs to teach you what your powers are for.”

Alex glanced across the quad. Isabel and that new guy Nikolas were still over by the pecan tree, talking. Talking and standing very close together.

“Can I have some of your pork rinds?” Max asked.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever.” Alex shoved the bag at him without looking away from Isabel. Max, Liz, Michael, and Maria probably thought he was pathetic. And they were right. He knew he should stop staring at Isabel like some kind of stalker. But he couldn't. It was physically impossible.

It was the hair. He knew it. Red hair could look amazing on girls. But there was no guy equivalent. Just a bunch of clowns with, like, orange hair.

If Alex didn't have red hair, Isabel wouldn't be over there with Nikolas. She'd be sitting fight here, next to him. Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Alex thought.

Alex shot another quick look at Isabel and Nikolas. They were heading over. Oh, great. Now he was going to be tortured up close while he was trying to eat lunch.

“Hey, guys.” Isabel squeezed into the circle between Michael and Maria. She grabbed Nikolas's hand and pulled him down next to her. Alex noticed she wasn't too quick about letting go of his hand, either.

Isabel did a quick introduction. She basically talked directly to Alex's ear when she got to him. It's worse than I thought, Alex realized. She can't even stand to look me in the eye.

It's not like he and Isabel were going out or anything. But he'd gotten the impression that she thought
something
was happening between them. He definitely felt something when they were together, something special.

Alex caught Liz and Maria exchanging one of those significant looks girls give each other. It was pretty clear that they thought it was uncool of Isabel to show up with another guy when Alex was right there. But they were his friends before Michael, Max, and Isabel ever joined their group. Of course they would side with him.

“We've got something to tell you,” Isabel said. She sounded all breathy and excited. Not at all the way she usually did.

I feel like one of the guests on some dumb talk
show, Alex thought. I know there's no way I'm going to like what I'm about to hear.

“Nikolas is one of us,” Isabel announced, glancing back and forth between Max and Michael. “His parents were on the spaceship, too. He broke out of his incubation pod before we did and got adopted. His family moved away before he started school. That's why we didn't know.”

Alex felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. Oh, man. Nikolas didn't just have brown hair. He was an alien, too. There was no way Alex could compete.

For a moment everyone just stared at Nikolas.

“Wow, you must have been so lonely,” Maria finally said. “At least Max, Isabel, and Michael had each other.”

“I don't buy it,” Michael said before Nikolas could respond. He turned to Isabel. “I can't believe you just brought this guy over without talking to us first. He could be anyone. He could work for Valenti. What were you thinking, Isabel?”

Alex's first impulse was to defend Isabel. But he wasn't sure she would want that from him right now.

“I didn't believe him right away, either,” Isabel answered. “But I went into Nikolas's dream. He has the same memories we do—of the home planet. And he knew exactly where our cave was.”

Max shook his head. “I don't care—I can't feel his emotions like I feel yours and Michael's. I think he's lying.”

Nikolas snorted. “You guys are pathetic. You've been so busy
not
using your powers that you don't
even know what powers you have! Don't you know how to block your emotions? You don't feel me because I don't want you to feel me.”

“That's a pretty convenient excuse,” Michael muttered.

“If you don't believe me, I could just use my powers to set that tree on fire,” Nikolas told Michael.

“Didn't Isabel warn you not to use your powers?” Max asked, his voice low and urgent.

“See, he's definitely lying. We can't use our power to set fires,” Michael said at the same time.

Nikolas rolled his eyes.

“Nikolas's power is a lot more developed than ours,” Isabel explained. “He's going to give me some lessons.”

Look how fast she jumps in to defend him, Alex thought. And look how obvious it is that she plans on spending a lot more time with him.

“I don't want you taking any lessons from him,” Max told Isabel. “I don't want either of you using your power at all.”

“You know what? I don't really care what you want,” Nikolas shot back.

“Uh, this isn't the part where you challenge each other to some kind of battle to the death, is it?” Alex asked. “'Cause if it is, I want to get out of the way. This is a new shirt, and my mom will freak if I come home with any blood or brain matter on it.”

Nikolas and Max both ignored him. Which was probably a good thing. He didn't think he really wanted to find himself in the middle of something with those two. Alex could hold his own in a fight. Growing up with three older brothers had made
sure of that. But none of his brothers had alien power.

“If you use your power, you put us all in danger,” Michael said. Alex noticed the muscles in Michael's neck knotting up. He was not too thrilled with Nikolas. And Alex couldn't help feeling a little happy about that.

“Didn't Isabel tell you about Sheriff Valenti?” Max asked. “The guy's mission in life is to track down aliens.”

“And he works for an organization called Project Clean Slate,” Michael added. “So it's not likely that he's looking for us just to say hi.”