Rating: NC-17
Coupling: Z/L
Part 1
Liz relayed the entirety of her vision in as much voice as she could muster. She just wanted to sleep but he wanted her knowledge as soon as possible. Once the last word was out of her mouth, King Zan pushed himself off of her and began dressing. �That all? Find the orbs?�
�Yes, that�s all.� Liz pulled the blanket up over her body. �One in Roswell and one out in the desert.�
�Rest. You comin� wit me this time.�
�Why?� She mumbled, exhausted and ready for sleep.
�You ain�t gave me no coordinates. I ain�t doin� no guess n check, yo.� Zan leaned back over her. He ran a hand down her body through the blanket. �We be needin� you wit us for the visions.�
Liz nodded and let her eyes flutter closed. �Do me a favor. Keep Rath out of here tonight. I�m tired... too tired.�
�Whateva the lady wants, she gets.� He tilted his head before leaving the bed. He pulled on his leather jacket and head out the door, shutting it soundly behind him. He fused it shut and sent a glare Rath�s way, daring him to do anything about it.
��Bout time, yo. What took so damn long?� Lannie sat up and waited for Zan�s announcement.
�We goin� back to Roswell.� Zan leaned against the door.
�Why the hell are we goin� back there?� Ava leaped off the chair she was in and stalked up to him. �How do you know that she aint� settin� us up? You know she dyin� ta go back.�
�They some communicator orbs there. One in town and one in the desert, yo.� Zan kept going, completely ignoring his mate�s outburst.
�Yo, the retard�s right. How you know she ain�t tryin�a go back?� Rath sat up and rested a hand on Lannie�s leg.
�She loves me, yo. She ain�t goin�a lie to me.� Zan glared at him. �You leave her alone tonight. She needs rest before we go. The visions aren�t gettin� no easier for her body to take.�
�Just do her right and we won�t have this problem.� Lannie raised an eyebrow at her brother. �You keep makin� sure she loves you.�
�We goin�. Get your shit together.�
Part 2
�Yo, what you talkin� �bout? This ride is sweet.� Rath stood back so Zan could examine the Trans Am he had stolen.
�It ain�t gonna work.� Zan crossed his arms. �We have to keep her comfortable. The four of us would barely be comfortable in that. Get a van. A long one.�
�What?� Rath stomped forward. �You want me get rid of this sweet ride for a van?�
�15 passenger van. Got it?� Zan looked him square in the eye. �We goin� hick town. This�ll stand out. Use that lump three feet �bove yo ass, yo. In-con-spic-uous. Can you spell that? You know what that mean?�
�I ain�t stupid.�
�Stop actin� it, then. Get a van. Then take out the backseat and the middle seat.� Zan turned and jogged up the stairs to their temporary apartment. Lannie and Ava were waiting for him.
�Yo, she ain�t come out.� Ava complained. �I thought we was leavin� early.�
�Idiot tried to get a ride and got the wrong one.� He strode to Liz�s room and opened the door. �Yo.�
�Zan.� Liz nodded as she stuffed her clothes into her bag. �I�m almost ready.�
�We got time. You oversleep?� He eyed her carefully.
�Just a little. I�m fine now. Promise.� She nodded again and zipped up her bag. �Just needed sleep... thanks... for keeping him out.�
�No prob. Don�t worry. He ain�t goin�a touch you while we do this.� He motioned for her to come closer. She pulled her bag over her shoulder and did as told. �How long it been since you been there?�
�You came for me when I was 14. It�s been �bout... seven years.� She leaned into his touch as he caressed her face, waves of pleasure shot through her body at that innocent place of contact.
�You wouldn�t...� He leaned in and nuzzled her neck. �Think of stayin� there... wouldja?�
�No.� Liz bit her lip as her breathing picked up. Her hands wrapped around his arms for support. She could hear his silent question in his soft kisses. �I only always wanna be with you.�
�That�s what I thought.�
--
�Yo, jealous much?� Lannie taunted Ava. They could hear the hushed conversation between Zan and Liz. Ava stared at the doorway as if her eyes would set the room on fire.
�We don�t need her.� Ava crossed her arms.
�Retard, yes we do. She gets the visions and he�s the only one who can give �em to her.� Lannie smirked at the smaller girl.
�I�m �bout ready to slit her throat.�
�Don�t you dare, yo. You might be his bitch but he�ll kill you.� Lannie looked up when Rath walked into their apartment. �Rath, yo. Retard�s finally gettin� jealous.�
�She should be. The augur�s a better fuck than she is.� Rath shrugged and slung an arm around Lannie. �They ready, yo?�
�Almost. He�s just givin� her a little somethin� to keep her loyal.� She licked his lip ring. �Let�s go.�
�He here?� Zan called into the room.
�Yeah.� Rath called in.
�Good.� Zan appeared with Liz in tow. �Rath, grab the mattresses and take them down to the van. One in front, one in back and we�re good to go.�
--
�Why do I gotta get stuck drivin�?� Rath muttered. Lannie was asleep behind him and Ava was fuming beside him. Sighs and moans drifted through the van to Rath�s ears. �Right, cause he�s fuckin� the augur.�
He glanced into the rearview mirror at the makeshift curtain hanging over the one seat left in the van. It separated them from her. Rath just didn�t get it. Anywhere they went, the damn augur always got her own room and her fill of whatever food they brought back. Zan always treated her like she would break.
On the other side of the seat and curtain was a tangle of naked limbs, emitting moans and groans of pleasure. Whenever she had the itch, he was always more than happy to scratch it. Rath was only allowed this when there was a major vision dry spell... not that he ever paid attention to orders.
Liz arched her back, thrusting her chest up under Zan�s hands and mouth. He licked and sucked at her breasts until he knew she was ready. The hard peaks hardened even more once his hot mouth was gone.
�Zan, please.� She breathed out. Without further distraction, he thrust his long hard cock deep inside her body. She let out a shuddering sigh and then a moan as he started driving into her at a swift pace.
Liz wrapped her legs around him, keeping him close as possible before the inevitable visions ripped through her with her orgasm. Her fingers wound their way through his hair, pulling his head down to lose her scream in his mouth.
His fingers dug into her thighs as his thrusts came shorter and faster. Drinking the taste of her mouth, he felt her body tense beneath his. He held off until her scream threatened to break their kiss. Her inner walls clamped down around him and he let go, coming after her. Zan stayed with her while her body convulsed with both orgasm and vision.
�Liz.� He whispered and waited for her to return to him. �Liz, what did you see?�
It took her a moment to come out of her haze. This one bothered her, she clung to him while she caught her breath. So many new faces and objects. Interactions and arguments, fights and stares, buildings and people... It was all so confusing.
�Liz.� Zan sat up and held her against him. �Tell me.�
�There�s a book.� She whispered, pressing her ear to his chest. �It has many answers and someone with many different faces can read it...�
Zan waved a hand over them, dressing them both in their normal clothes. Sleeveless shirt and jeans for him and long-sleeve blouse and skirt for her. �Someone with different faces... what�s that supposed to mean?�
�Zan, he changes. He�s important but not more than the ones he protects.� Liz whispered and moved to the other side of the van where her bag sat. She pulled a pencil and a piece of paper out of it. She began drawing. �You and the others will change. Look different. Be different. There is something very important about what you do in Roswell.�
�Anything else?� He pressed.
�A cave with... a message. An old man, an Indian, and this.� She showed him the symbol she had drawn, then she lifted his shirt and matched it to the tattoo on his chest.
�Get some sleep.� Zan nodded and gave her back the paper. She stopped him from going, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before lying down. He kissed her once more before she let him go. �Sleep.�
Then Zan moved around to the front where Lannie was sleeping. He woke her. �What the fuck? I was asleep, Zan.�
�There�s a shape-shifter in Roswell. We�ll get more information out of her when we get there, just givin� ya�ll the heads up.� He told them.
�I still say this is a ploy to get us back there so she can go home.� Ava grumbled.
�She�s not going to do that. She couldn�t if she tried. They think she�s dead, remember? Unless you screwed up your part of the plan.� Zan leaned forward to stare her in the eye. �Did you?�
�No.�
�Then we cherry.� He sat back and leaned against the base of the remaining seat in the van. �Rath.�
�Yeah, we still got a couple of days.�
�Alright, everyone sleep. This goin�a be major.� Zan shut his eyes and drifted off. He never told them everything, just what they needed to know. He didn�t know how he got surrounded by such idiots. Lannie was the only decent one but then she always had that mischievous light in her eyes. It was trouble but he could handle her as long as he held the information.
--
�Max, pay attention.� Max jumped as a hand slammed into the desk in front of him. He met the blue eyes of his protector. �I know you think that school is the most important thing at the moment but remember that it�s only something to keep you from getting bored.� Ed Harding held his hand out and gestured to the room. �This is just frivolous nothing until we get a ride home. I let you live here so I can keep an eye on you. Do you think Philip and Diane would have understood if you told them the truth?�
Ed kept up his rant. �Tess tells me that you haven�t been playing nice. Isabel and Michael don�t have this problem.�
�Neither of them have Tess as a mate.� Max muttered under his breath. Ed raised an eyebrow at the comment. �She�s an idiot. What did I ever see in her on the home planet?�
�She was very beautiful.� The older man shrugged and then followed Max�s line of sight to a missing poster over the desk. �The girl is dead. There was a funeral from what I understand.�
�She can�t be.�
�This is what I�m talking about. You�re obsessing over a girl that died when you were 14. Granted she would have probably become a beautiful woman but this is insanity. Seven years I�ve watched you dote on that picture. Enough. You have a bride.� Ed sighed in defeat. �Isabel told me that you never spoke to the girl a day in your life.�
�Why would she tell you that?� Max never took his eyes off the poster.
�I do my research. This is a distraction.� He crossed his arms and eyed the young man. �You graduate in six months. It doesn�t take a genius to figure out you�re obsessed and that will get you killed. She�s dead. It�s time you moved on.�
�Then why was her coffin empty when they exhumed her?� Max stood and shook his head. �Why didn�t her parents ever give up looking for her?�
�I saw the reports. She was gunned down on Main Street in front of two-dozen witnesses. They only exhumed the body to look for the missing shells. Get over it. Some ghoul probably took her for some depraved use.�
�Shut up.� Max faced his protector. �I get the point. I have a question. If I�ve been programmed to love Tess, why don�t I? Why was I so drawn to a girl that was gunned down on main street seven years ago? Why do I still feel like she�s out there?�
�I never said you would love Tess. I said you were made for her and her for you. You�re the one that sleeps with her, you tell me. Pleasures of the flesh are all it really takes the other stuff is a distraction.�
�Enough. Tess is a distraction. She doesn�t take anything I say seriously... just like you.� Max motioned for him to leave. �Get out. I have to study or pretend to study so leave.�
Max waited until the door shut behind his benefactor and protector before letting his eyes fall on the poster he had taken from a stack at the post office when he was 15. Elizabeth Parker and all evidence that she had died had disappeared two days after her funeral. The only thing that kept him tolerating Tess was the hope that he would find her someday. If only her parents knew that the person who kept renewing the posters and missing person databases was that Evans kid that used to sit in the back booth.
Part 3
Zan felt Ava kissing on him but didn�t even bother to open his eyes. He was too tired to even think about doing her. �Stop.�
�Come on. It�s been weeks.� She whispered to him.
�I�m tired.�
�You weren�t too tired for her.� Ava accused him.
�That�s different.� Zan opened his eyes. She was waiting for him to explain how it was different. �Get off it, Ava. We need her. She only gets her visions with me. That�s why we got her in the first place.�
�You shoulda let Rath heal her.� She glared at him.
�Rath can�t heal. Besides, the way he rides her, she�d be dead by now.� Zan got up and moved up onto the seat and stretched out. Laying down, he remembered how it had started.
Zan sat straight up. He was sweating profusely. He had a dream that had taken him across the country and to a girl. She was standing in front of a Chinese restaurant. She had long brown hair and beautiful brown eyes.
��Sup?� Lannie rolled over and watched him through the sleepy slits of her eyelids.
�Vision.� He whispered.
�A vision. You got a vision?� She rolled her eyes and flopped back on the dirty old mattress, in the process, smacking Rath.
�Watch it!�
�Shut up, yo!� Ava hissed. �What�s the shit?�
�Duke got a vision, yo.� Lannie grumbled.
�Since when do we get visions? The shape-shifter ain�t said we get visions.� Rath scrubbed at his eyes.
�Road trip.� Zan sat up looked around. He knew he had stolen that Atlas for a reason. �Yo, where does the desert start?�
�Desert? I goin� back to sleep. Wake me when he ain�t crazy no more.� Ava rolled over and shut her eyes. Rath followed suit but Lannie sat up and watched her brother.
�So it really was a vision?� She watched him turn the book every which way, trying to make heads or tails of the map.
�I think so. I ain�t never had a dream like that before.� Zan met her eyes. �I ain�t crazy, Lannie.�
�I know. They�s stupid.� She pointed to their mates on the mattress. �So what was it?�
�A girl. Cornball. Brown hair, brown eyes. Our age. She needs to be with us.� He studied the maps and highways. He took a finger and traced a route to where he knew the ship had crashed. A dark blue line was left in his finger�s wake. �There, we goin� there. Have Rath scan this in the morning. More than one of us gotta know the way.�
�What�s at the crash site?�
�She is. In Roswell.� Everything was falling into place in his head. �We goin� in the mornin�.�
�Whateva you say, Duke.�
Lannie watched her brother sleep. He was becoming more annoyed with his mate daily. It was obvious. She rolled her eyes. It would just figure that the two of them, the smartest and most gorgeous brother and sister pair there ever was, would each get stuck with beautiful idiots.
Rath glanced in the rearview mirror and glared at Zan�s reflection. He wasn�t telling them things again. The last time they had gone to Roswell, only Lannie had known who they were looking for besides the great king. Then Zan had sprung this elaborate plan to get the girl at the last minute.
�You know. This seems like a helluva long way to go for orbs and to find a fuckin� shape-shifter.� Rath called back.
�Shut up, Rath. Zan knows what he�s doin� and he�s sleepin� now so shut up.� Lannie shot back.
�You know what�s up?� Rath turned his eyes back to the road.
�No. He�ll tell us what we need to know when we need to know it... just like with the girl. It all has to come together. He ain�t King just cause he was born to it, ya know.� She ignored Ava�s glares. �Last time was my idea, yo. Zan wasn�t supposed to know what went down. That ways... she don�t know what really went down.�
�Stupid.� Ava muttered.
�What you say?� Lannie sat up.
�I said this whole thing is stupid. We shouldn�t even be goin�.� She tugged on her lip ring.
�We�s goin� cause I say so. All of ya�ll just shut the hell up.� Zan shouted before going back to sleep. Then screams shut them all up and woke them up from whatever state of doze they were in.
Rath nearly swerved off the road he was so startled. �Yo, shut her up.�
Zan moved around to the back and put his hands on Liz�s head. She was dreaming of the shooting again. He lightly touched her face and shoulders. �Liz. Liz. Sh. Liz. Sh.�
She calmed down and opened her eyes as they filled with tears. She sat up and clung to him. Zan rubbed her back and kept talking in a hushed voice. �Yo, s�okay. They ain�t gonna git you long as you wit me. You got that? You stay with me and they ain�t never gonna find you.�
--
Max shut the door in Tess�s face and returned to his bed for the fifth repeat of Counting Crows of the evening. That didn�t stop her from entering his room. �Max...�
�Did I invite you in?� He groaned. �Please leave. You know the rules. If I don�t invite you in, if I lock the door and you hear Counting Crows, you are not allowed to disturb me.�
�You�re really letting this King crap go to your head.� She pouted and sat on the end of his bed.
�And you�re not? Sometimes I think the only reason you let me have sex with you is because I�m king.�
�I think you have that backwards. Michael and Isabel are getting married and you and I have barely crossed the line of waking up together the morning after.� Tess turned to him. �I love you.�
�Whatever. Leave.� Max pointed to the door. Glaring, she left him alone. His eyes fell on the Missing poster at his desk across the room. He remembered seeing that pretty brunette the first day he stepped off the bus in the third grade. From that moment, he was in love. Six years later, he had been witness to her apparent death.
Max swung his feet over the edge of the wall he was sitting on. Michael should have been there sooner. Then he saw her across the street at Senor Chow�s. She was smiling and laughing with her best friend Maria DeLuca.
Max was entranced. Her hair fell over her shoulders and shone in the sunlight. Her shirt was beginning to fill. He could remember the torture it was to sit behind her in 8th grade English the year before. He could see her bra straps through her shirts and that would lead him to thoughts he shouldn�t have at school. Her smile was enough to drive him crazy... and the way her eyes lit up... magical.
Out nowhere, a man came running down the street. The cops were after him because of the gun he was waving around. Max froze with fear, his eyes fixed on Liz. Then the gun went off. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Screams filled the air and the man kept running, as did the cops. Max sat on the wall and watched Liz Parker bleeding on the sidewalk. He wanted to go to her, to save her but he couldn�t. What if he were found out? There were so many people. He blinked. He swore he could see himself knelt over her for a split second.
He was wrong. She was gone by the time the ambulance came to collect the two bodies. All he could do was sit there on his wall and wait for Michael. There was a little hole inside him. He couldn�t believe he had just seen her die.
�Max?� Isabel sat next to him.
�Do you know what today is?� He whispered.
�Max...�
�I never told anyone but that day...� Max looked his sister in the eye. �I could have saved her.�
�Max, she was shot twice in the chest.� Isabel took her brother�s hand. She didn�t know why he kept torturing himself over Liz Parker�s death.
�Isabel... I was there.� Max whispered and watched her eyes grow wide. �I saw it happen. I could have saved her. I saw a vision of myself saving her but I sat right where I was, too scared to do anything.�
�You saw a vision?� She watched him carefully.
�She was bleeding on the sidewalk and I saw myself in different clothes. I leaned over her, put my hands on her wounds and heal her. It was only a split second but that�s what I was supposed to have done.�
�You haven�t talked about her in a couple of years. Why now?�
�It�s eating away at me. I saw her die but I know she�s not dead.� Max sighed and shook his head. He didn�t know what was wrong with him. Sometimes when he slept with Tess, he imagined she was Liz. �Something had to be up. Three months after her body disappeared... that�s when Tess and Mr. Harding showed up.�
�Max, get some sleep. You think too hard.� She kissed his forehead and switched off his CD player.
�I think she was important to us.� Max told her as she moved to the door.
�Max, ever think of why you only do this over Liz Parker? What about Maria DeLuca? She died seven years ago too.� Isabel shut and locked the door behind her.
�That is a good question.� He spoke aloud to himself.
Part 4
Liz stretched out her legs. She could hear the others griping about how much a piece of shit town Roswell was. It had been so long since she had been home that she had forgotten what everyone looked like, forgotten what the city looked like. Home... right. She whispered to herself, �Or maybe I blocked it out.�
Her last memories of Roswell were not really good ones. The only good thing it had ever brought her was Zan. He treated her decent. Better than he treated the others, slightly better than he treated his sister. Who was it to say what it was like being loved by a King? Maybe Liz.
Liz fell to the sidewalk, her chest felt so heavy. It was getting so hard to breathe. Where had that guy even come from? Shootings didn�t happen in Roswell. �I�m dying,� the thought struck her suddenly and tears poured out of her eyes. A shadow passed over her eyes. �This is it. I�m dead.�
�Look at me.� A voice said. Liz looked up and met a pair of panicked amber eyes. She got sucked in but was in too much pain to know what was going on. A warm tingling sensation filled her chest. When her vision cleared, a familiar face stared down at her. �Don�t say a word. I�ma get us outta here. Just stay quiet.�
The boy picked her up and carried her down the street and into an alley. Liz found she couldn�t take her eyes off his face. He stumbled and they fell behind a dumpster. She could swear she had seen him before but just couldn�t place where. �What did you do?�
�I brought you back from the dead.� He whispered and closed his eyes. �It took a lot outta me. I gotta rest before we jet.�
Then her eyes got wide as saucers. �What about Maria? She got shot too.�
�I ain�t come for her. I come for you.�
�Liz, you wake?� Zan peeled back the curtain.
�Yeah.� She sat up and changed her clothes. Tight three-quarter-sleeve shirt with matching ankle-skirt and boots. Then she pulled on her gloves.
�We almost there. Just gotta find a place to park, then we goin� for grub.� He watched her carefully. He had never let her get pierced or tattooed like the girls. �What�s that place your �rents own?�
Liz drew a blank, she could see the UFO that made the sign but the name eluded her. She shrugged and combed out her hair. �They probably don�t even work there anymore.�
�Com�ere.� He crooked a finger at her. She crawled over and knelt beside the seat he was sitting in. Grasping her jaw, he leaned in and kissed her soundly, sliding his tongue into her mouth, drawing on her memories. Zan felt her melt against the seat, her hands grasping his wrist and neck. When he saw the sign she had in her mind, he broke the kiss. �Just stick wit me and I take care of you.� He locked eyes with her. �Don�t forget.�
The van pulled into a parking lot and they filed out. As it turned out, Rath chose the exact wrong place to park. Liz found herself staring at the Senor Chow�s sign across the street. She immediately backed away. Zan gripped her hand but only succeeded in pulling her glove off and when her bare hand made contact with the wall, she gasped. The day of the shooting ran through her head, seen from the view of someone across the street. She felt his paralysis and fear, his anguish at not being able to help.
Zan pulled her away from the wall. He handed her the glove. �What did you see?�
�The shooting. Someone saw you.� Liz leaned against him. �Or at least he thought he saw you.�
�Yo, let�s bounce.� Rath rolled his eyes and led the way down the street. Lannie followed and after a huff, Ava followed suit. Zan wrapped an arm around Liz and led her after them. Liz couldn�t help remembering the days that she spent with Zan in Roswell. Five very long days.
Liz noticed that the boy�s pale skin had shifted into a light bronze. �Do I know you?�
�Don�t think so.� He sat up and shook his head.
�I�m Liz.� She held out her hand. He took it after a moment.
�I�m Zan.�
�Your name isn�t familiar but your face is.� She commented, staring at him all the while. �Why did you save me? Do you know who... who shot me?�
�I don�t know who shot you.� He told her sincerely. �I seen you before... in my dreams. I had �em all the way here.�
�Where are you from?� Liz realized she felt slightly weak from what she had just been through.
�New York, yo.� Zan nodded with a slight smirk. �Listen, we gotta get you outta this town. Whoever it was that shot you and your friend, they gonna try again.�
�Why would someone want to shoot me?�
�Thought maybe you could tell me. My dreams tell me that you important to us.�
�Us?�
�My family. You�ll meet them.� Zan got to his feet and pulled her to hers. �Supposed to meet them outside town.�
--
Liz let Zan lead her through alleys that she never knew existed until they were outside town. There waited three other teenagers. Zan grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. �Introductions.�
Liz stood still under the intense gaze of his friends. Zan first pointed to himself. �I�m King Zan of Antar. I�ll explain later.� Then he pointed to a pretty blonde. �My sister, Princess Vilandra. We calls her Lannie.� Then he pointed to the mean looking body. �That�s her boy, Rathard. Rath.� Then he pointed to the shorter blonde. �And that�s Avaria. Ava.�
That short introduction didn�t bother Ava. She didn�t care, she knew that Zan didn�t like her much and she didn�t like him back. She wasn�t sure she liked his cornball they had just risked their necks to get a hold of. �This is Liz. Did you guys find a place to hide out?�
�Sure.� Lannie nodded her head in the direction of an abandoned building. �Over there.�
--
�Why aren�t they looking for me?� Liz stayed as near to Zan as possible. She wanted to trust him but the others scared her. Lannie and Rath stared at her and the other blonde, Ava, sat with her eyes closed alot.
�Must be whoever shot you.� Lannie supplied. �They makin� it look like you died. If it works, we the only thing that can keep you alive.�
�But why? I don�t understand.� Liz felt she was on the verge of tears. �What did I do?�
�You ain�t done nothin�... yet. Maybe that�s what they scared of.� Rath cocked his head at her. �Maybe there�s somethin� you do that no one else can.�
Liz had found them odd but she trusted Zan. She was finally part of something important for the first time in her life. Here were these kids, the same age that she was that could do extraordinary things.
She looked around; careful not to lift her head too high, else someone might recognize her. She wasn�t here to go home, she was here to help Zan. He kept an arm around her waist, anchoring her to his side. Sometimes she was flattered by his possessiveness and other times, like now, she was annoyed by it. They stopped outside a restaurant and the other three went into action.
Liz and Zan stood outside and kept an eye out. Ava stood in the doorway and created the illusion. Rath and Lannie grabbed the takeout boxes from the counter and walked out with them. Then the five of them made their way into an alley to see what they were eating.
There were three boxes. As per usual, they were all opened and Liz got her pick of what she wanted. Then Zan chose the box that he and Lannie would eat out of, giving Lannie the choice of what she wanted from the meal. Rath and Ava got the remaining box. Didn�t really matter, cause Zan would eat what ever Liz didn�t.
Liz picked at the barbeque sandwich and chili beans but didn�t eat much. She just held out the box for Zan to take. He took one long look at what all she didn�t eat and crossed to sit next to her. �Eat.�
�I�m not hungry.� She whispered.
�We ain�t eaten in four days. Don�t tell me you ain�t hungry.� He hissed and pushed the box back into her hands. Finally, Liz tore the sandwich in half and started eating on the smaller half. He did try to take care of her, she would give him that.
Zan took a look around the sewer cavity that passed for their home and noticed that Liz wasn�t in there. �Where she go?�
�Said she was gettin� some fresh air.� Rath mumbled around the piece of pizza he was chewing on.
�Yo Duke, she went out the front.� Lannie pointed. Zan went the way pointed out and found Liz with her face pressed to a grate. She was crying.
�Yo.� Zan called stiffly.
�I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss my room. I even miss school.� She whispered.
�You miss bein� dead?� He approached her slowly.
�What?� She turned to him.
�If I hadn�t come by and healed you. You would have died.�
�How did you know to be there? You live across the country from Roswell.�
�I had a vision. I saw your face. I knew that I was supposed to bring you back to life. They was after you... your friend just got in the way.� Zan couldn�t help but smell her hair as he hugged her. His biological instincts were just beginning to kick in. He and Ava stayed far away from each other. They didn�t want to be married. They were only fourteen years old.
�I miss her. She was my best friend.� Liz whispered as she clung to this boy that had saved her life and whisked her away from a boring small town life. �What am I even doing here? I can�t do anything special. Why would I be important to you and your family?�
�I ain�t gone askin� for the vision. It came to me. Alls I know... It was you.� The strawberry scent of her hair filled his nostrils. Her soft skin against his cheek held his attention.
�It was me?� Liz repeated and turned her head in hopes of looking in his eyes for confirmation of what he had just said. This gorgeous boy had saved her life simply because a dream had told him to; for no other reason than he believed that he had seen her face in a dream.
Zan ducked his head a pressed his lips to hers. So soft. Liz closed her eyes and savored the sensation. Her first kiss and from a King no less. Zan didn�t want to pull away. Kissing wasn�t something he normally wanted to do but now he could see why Lannie and Rath were always doing it. The second his lips moved away from hers, a vision ripped through her mind. Liz gasped as before her eyes a scene unfolded.
A pod, glowing green with life. A fist punched through the membrane, ripped the film open, spilling forth life-sustaining slime and a boy. The boy rose to his feet and looked over the remaining three pods. Amber eyes searched for signs the others would be coming out soon but found none. A scuttling sound grabbed his attention. Roaches. Then a figure stepped out of the wall and bowed to the boy. �Welcome to Earth, King Zan.�
Liz�s eyes refocused on amber eyes before her. Zan shook her lightly. A buzzing remained in her head from the vision. �You came out of a pod. You came out first and a man bowed at your feet.�
�Who told you that?� Zan narrowed his eyes at her. He hadn�t told the others that the shape-shifter had been there when he was �born.�
�I saw it... In my mind. Zan, how did I see that?� Liz whispered.
�I think we know what you can do.� He studied her face. �Now, what caused it?�
�Liz, where is that building you saw?� Zan got to his feet. He looked at Liz; she was staring into space. She had been doing that a lot lately. �Liz?�
�What?� Her head snapped around.
�That building, with the book?� He asked again, pulling her to her feet.
�The library.� She answered with a slight nod.
�Let�s go.�
�What book?� Rath demanded of Zan. Zan didn�t answer, just pulled Liz with him to lead them to the library. �What book? You never said nothin� �bout a book.�
�Well, I�m sayin� now. We�re goin�. End of discussion.�
Part 5
Max grabbed his bag and stormed out the door with Tess running after him. Those words kept ringing in his ears. �Double wedding.� When exactly had his life slipped out of his hands? When did they start making decisions for him? Wasn�t he supposed to be the king? Wasn�t he supposed to decide what was best? He wasn�t even engaged and already he was supposed to be married?
�Where are you going?� She called after him.
He stopped before he got to the Jeep. �You know... the part where I leave the house without telling anyone where I�m going. That was intentional. You know why? I don�t want anyone to know where I�m going!� He took a deep breath. �I just need a little space because that house is suffocating.� He pointed to the offensive building. �Between Isabel�s planners running around and Michael�s loud music and your continual harping... and now this. I can�t get any peace. Work on that while I�m gone.�
�What is with the attitude? I didn�t hear you complaining about space last night.� She huffed and crossed her arms.
�One thing straight here. I don�t like the idea of you and me. Truth is... I was horny and seeing how the only other female in the house is my sister... your room is where I went. Don�t confuse love and lust.�
�You didn�t used to be like this?� She followed him the rest of the way to the Jeep speaking very quietly. It was a rare occasion when their dear king blew up and he certainly never raised his voice to a female.
Max climbed in behind the wheel. �I used to be normal and before you say that I was never normal, can it. I used to live a normal life and I didn�t mind too much. I wasn�t a King, I didn�t have a destiny and I wasn�t married. I want that life back. The past seven years have been torture. Now I�m leaving. I will probably be back but don�t come looking for me. I�ll come home when I come home.�
--
Liz pulled her hood over her head and entered the library. Zan motioned for Lannie and Ava to stay outside. He and Rath followed Liz through the library and ignored the strange looks they got from the people trying to study.
Something made Liz stop dead in her tracks. She took three steps back and faced the bulletin board. It was fresh, the poster that was tacked to the board. It was her. Her fourteen-year-old face smiled down from the missing poster. �Zan...�
�What?� He looked at the board. �So what? Barely looks anythin� like you anymore.�
�This was put up today.� She reached to pull a glove off to touch it but he stopped her.
�This ain�t what we here for.� Zan nudged her further into the library and motioned for Rath to take down the poster. �Where�s that book?�
�Come on.� Liz took his hand and led him through the stacks to a ladder. She looked up and matched the shelves to the ones she had seen in her mind. She pushed the ladder down the row to the middle. �It�s up there behind volumes I through V. A handprint will appear and you just reach in and get it.�
Zan climbed up and Liz took to glancing around. She could see Rath at the end of the aisle looking out. She looked up at her lover and watched him move books out of the way.
Zan�s mouth left hers to suck on her neck. His soft new facial hair tickled her skin and his tongue felt so good on her neck. Liz could feel the pressure building in her head. The visions didn�t come every time but a simple kiss usually worked. She couldn�t even remember how long they had been making out but her guess was that it had been awhile. The shadows cast from the light through the grate had shifted noticeably since she last laid eyes on them.
It had taken them a couple of months to figure out that kissing was the trigger. After he had explained the mating situation and how Zan and Ava were unhappy with it, Liz and Zan gave in to the intense attraction they had for one another. Then kissing was no longer a problem to find the visions that had started out as pieces of Zan�s past.
Zan�s mouth left her neck and the pressure released. Red stars, speeding through space and earth soared before her eyes. Slowly, Liz explained what she had seen and he nodded. �The crash.�
�The crash... you mean... THE crash.�
�That the one.� He sat up, dumbfounded.
Liz rubbed her temples. A dull ache had replaced the pressure in her skull. �I think that I pay a price for these visions.�
�A price?�
�I have a headache... and it took more then just a kiss for this one to make it through.� She whispered and fixed her eyes on her shoes.
�More?�
�I�ll figure it out I�m sure. Don�t worry about it.� Liz leaned back on the old beanbag to think.
Liz stepped back to see what Zan was doing and bumped into someone walking down the aisle. �Sorry.� She muttered and turned her face away.
�No problem, my fault.� A male voice whispered and then he kept walking.
--
Max tacked up the new missing poster on the library bulletin board and then dumped his bag on an empty table. Quiet. This is what he needed. Sitting down, he pulled a blue folder from his bag. American literature. �Great.�
After glancing at his notes and ignoring the rumble of whispers that suddenly swam through the study area, Max stood up. He needed references for his paper and he hated wading through those huge indexes at the back of the library. Gathering his notebook and a pen he made his way to the back aisle to find the authors he needed. As his eyes flew over the titles and author names on the huge bound indexes he thought about the day that Tess had showed up in his life.
�Maria DeLuca.� The room went absolutely silent. The substitute glanced around the room and called out the next name.
Max barely listened to the substitute teacher call roll. He mumbled his �present� and kept staring at the empty chair in the front of the room. Three months had passed and the seat was empty. It was too late to keep her name from being entered into the sophomore class and the teacher had done the seating chart before realizing that two students were no longer there. No one wanted to sit in her chair or the other one for that matter.
�Elizabeth Parker.� At the lack of response, the teacher continued on down the roll and the �present�s were hushed. Finally she put a hand on her hip. �Does anyone know where Maria DeLuca and Elizabeth Parker are? If they�re skipping... none of you is helping them.�
Max rose from his seat. �That must be an old roll sheet.�
�Mr. ... Evans, is it?� The substitute crossed her arms and acknowledged his slow nod. �Care to explain.�
�That�s an old roll sheet. You must be relatively new to Roswell or you would know that three months ago... Liz Parker and Maria DeLuca are no longer with us.� Max took his seat again. �Everyone knows that.�
�No longer...� She took in the subdued atmosphere that had settled over the classroom. �Oh. I see. Well then... let�s get class started.�
Halfway through class a new girl had wandered in. Tess Harding. Max felt an instant pull to her. Not the same one he�d had when he had stepped off the school bus when he was eight years old but it was a strong one.
The blonde had taken the empty seat in front of Max�s. While everyone gathered their things before the bell, she turned around and smiled. �Hi.�
�Hey.� Max nodded. His eyebrows went up when she took her pen and started drawing on his book. A circle, then swirling lines around it. So familiar and yet so alien. He knew that symbol.
�Just think about it.� She whispered. Before he could say another word, the bell rang and she was out the door.
So intent was he on looking for the index he needed that he bumped into a girl waiting at the bottom of the ladder. She quickly moved out of his way and looked down, her hair fell in her face. �Sorry.�
�No problem, my fault.� Max nodded and kept walking, returning his eyes to the shelves. He hated indexes, there were so many of them and never in alphabetical order. All he really wanted was to disappear, let Isabel take over as ruler of Antar, and never see Tess again. Surely there were better women he could be involved with. She couldn�t be the one that he was meant to end up with. �Why the hell can�t they do one author in a volume? Then they can be organized.�
Max turned to go back and saw a girl fall from a ladder. A man near the base caught her in his arms. It would have been a romantic scene if the woman weren�t pushing away at him. Another man pulled her away from the first and tore down the aisle with her. Max shook his head. Seemed like no one knew what love was supposed to be.
Sighing, Max went back to his table and gathered his things to leave. The bulletin board caught his eye. He could have sworn that he had just put up a poster when he walked in. Shrugging, he pulled another one from his bag and pinned it up. He didn�t know what he was going to do with himself now but staying around the library was sure to get him found rather quickly.
--
�It ain�t in there.� Zan hopped off the ladder and motioned for her to climb up. �Do yo thang.�
Liz climbed up and put her ungloved hand against the silver handprint. The force of the vision threw her backward. Images flashed and colors too bright. She couldn�t make anything out. Rath caught her easily. He smirked down at her. �You lookin� for some help wit that vision?�
Liz pushed at him and then suddenly Zan had pulled her into his arms. Her head was splitting. She just needed to get the vision out. �Zan...�
�What?� He glanced down at her, tearing his glare away from his number two.
�Help me... please.� Liz closed her eyes against the lights of the library and let Zan lead her away from any prying eyes. She trusted him to get them secluded enough for anything. His lips pressed insistently against hers, tongue probing until finding entrance into her mouth. The pressure inside her head lessened but the vision stayed away.
Sensing that she needed more, Zan slipped a hand inside her skirt, his fingers searching for and finding her clit and rubbing circles around it. He kept his mouth firmly against hers to block her moans as he brought her the pleasure she needed to cancel out the pain. He knew the instant she had had enough, her nails dug into his arm, signaling to him that it was time. Stepping back, he pulled away both his mouth and his hand. Liz sagged against the shelf. The vision opened itself up and allowed her to view.
A short girl led a dark-haired boy through the stacks and to the ladder. She pointed to the top. �It�s up there.�
�What is?� He asked.
�The book. Move the books out of the way on the top shelf. There�s a secret compartment that only we can open.� She smiled at him. The boy climbed the ladder and did as instructed. He didn�t see the compartment but pressed his hand against the wall. A surge of energy went through his hand and his hand pushed through the wall and his fingers met with something cold and metallic feeling. He grasped it and pulled it out. It was a book. Slowly he flipped through the pages and there they were. All four of them.
Liz gasped as the vision faded. �The book was taken by a boy and a girl.�
�Who?�
�I don�t know. I couldn�t see them too well. The book though...� Liz looked him straight in the eye. �It had you in it. You, Rath, Lannie, Ava.�
�Let�s go. We�ll find out more later.� Zan pulled her through the library, motioning to Rath to follow. They were almost out when the bulletin board caught his attention. The poster was back. �Yo, I told you to fix that.�
�I did.� Rath tore it down one more time and threw it on the ground. All three exited the library. Lannie and Ava were waiting under a tree. �Let�s go.�
�Did you get it?� Lannie asked.
�No, but we will.� Zan promised. As a group they turned and walked down the street, not even noticing the Jeep that drove past them in the opposite direction.
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