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“Oh
really?” he interrupted. “I remember thinking I knew it all when I was that
age. Of course, looking back, I didn’t know crap. But I do know the girls were
always creating drama – trying desperately to drag us boys into it.”

I
laughed. “Your memory is skewed. Besides, you bring that on yourself. It’s in
your nature – still.” I giggled at his shocked expression.

“I
don’t know if that’s fair to say.” He drummed his hand on the table. “But I am willing
to admit I am wimpy when it comes to kids.” I kept giggling. “Now what?” he
demanded.

“Well
a lot of the kids are reading that
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
series, so when
you said that you were wimpy I had a random thought that maybe I should bring
you in for show and tell next time. I swear you fit the description of the main
character perfectly.”

“Very
funny,” he said sarcastically. “Now that I’ve been completely shot down, I need
some French fries for rejuvenation.” He climbed out of his chair. “I shouldn’t
even ask since you’ve completely destroyed my ego, but would you like
anything?”

“Nope.
I’ll just eat some of yours.”

Rolling
his eyes, he walked up to the counter. I was laughing to myself when the little
boy who was with his dad, turned and looked at me. His face was covered in
ketchup and his blonde hair was streaked with mustard. Chewing happily on his
bun, he waved to me. When I returned the wave, he tilted his head down and
crouched down in his seat. Every couple seconds he’d turn around and wave a
French fry in the air again. Ash waved to him as he returned with a large
basket of fries.

Squirting
a huge pile of ketchup in the basket, I asked in all seriousness, “Was it
difficult to re-link with Melanie a few weeks ago?”

He
gritted his teeth and rubbed his stubbly cheeks. “As much as I hated to be near
her again,” he said sourly, “I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe from
them for as long as I can.” In a tender voice he added, “I care about you
Lexi.”

My
heart constricted. “I care about you too,” I said.

He
swirled a couple fries around in the ketchup. “I’m really worried though.
Kieran is more and more obsessed with you all the time. I didn’t get any real
new information, because he still doesn’t trust me completely. But he’s adamant
about this plan for capturing you.”

“You
mean kidnapping me,” I interjected.

He
nodded. “Once I find you, he still wants me to wait and coordinate your
kidnapping
with the night of a full moon. I think he’s planning on taking you when he
isn’t linked. That way he’ll be able to take you himself. But Lexi,” his voice
thickened, “I don’t think this plan of ours is such a good idea. He’s gathered
at least nine Ray-pacs so far, and I think he’s after your Essence, however he
can get it. And he won’t stop until he’s got it, even if that means killing
you.”

“Do
you think it’s possible? That he’ll be able to steal
my
Essence, I
mean.”

“I
don’t know.” Worriedly, he shook his head. “Something they said makes me think
they’ve tried it before but without success. They were talking about some
experiments on Amethysts on the East Coast...” My head shot up in surprise, but
before I could comment he hurried on. “I don’t like this one bit,” he grimaced.
“And I’ve been thinking, there’s no way I can deliver you right into their evil
hands. I don’t want you near them.” He slapped the table. “We could leave the
country, wait it out, and see what happens. Your Guardian friends won’t need
your protection, especially if they have a whole network of Guardians. Besides,
you don’t even know if you’ll be able to do anything. I just can’t…”

“Ash,”
I said angrily, “I am doing this with or without your help, and you can’t stop
me. I have a plan, and I’m sticking with it. I’m absolutely convinced that what
I’m doing is right and that I will be helping my friends in the long run. If
all the Ray-pacs really want is me, and I can lead them away from my friends –
then that is what I’m going to do. They don’t know about Jessica being an
Amethyst, and I can’t let them find out about her, either.” Shaking with
conviction, I gripped the edge of my chair, and added, “But I’ve been thinking
about this too, and I don’t think you should go with me. You should separate
yourself from the Ray-pacs.”

“What?”
he growled. “And leave you alone with those psychopaths? Not a chance.”

“Listen,”
I said anxiously and grabbed his stubbly chin. “
You
could
disappear…leave town like you’ve been talking about. If you can refrain from
the hunting instincts long enough…make it through until your link with Melanie
breaks…you could take your chances on not re-linking. Remember, there are some
Guardians who survive if they don’t link – I mean you’d lose your ability to
have premonitions. But who cares? That means you could end up living a normal
life with no complications.”

He
jerked, looking horrified. “Are you kidding me?” His breath was shallow and his
face pale. “There’s no way I’d take my chances when I knew what was happening
to you. Besides, if I’m gonna die, I’m gonna do it by your side, not cowering
all alone somewhere. You don’t get it Lexi,” he said and moved his face closer
to mine until our noses were almost touching, “I don’t care what happens to me.
I’m thinking I might be better off dead right now anyways, but I’m not letting
you out of my sight. You,” he shook his head; his green eyes never wavering,
“you matter. You are my family now, and I won’t lose you, too. If you’re going
through with this insanely stupid plan of yours, I will be by your side. And if
things go bad – we’ll die together. Do you understand that?” He demanded and
touched my face but instantly jerked his hand back.

“Yes,
I…” I trailed off, suddenly feeling dizzy. Closing my eyes, I felt the
snapshots coming on strong; a swirling of colors appeared behind my eyelids,
colors forming into images:

a white semi-truck sliding across the freeway
and slamming into a guardrail

the small boy with the ketchup face and
mustard hair sitting in a blue car

the blue car being smacked in the side by the
sliding semi-truck

the green Lakeway Drive freeway sign

the trailer hanging over the guardrail ready
to crash onto the busy road below

Now,
fully aware of my body language when I was having a premonition, Ash said
apprehensively, “What? What did you see?”

“Quick,
we gotta go. We need to get on I-5 immediately and get to the Lakeway Drive
exit. Fast!” I said, completely panicked. As we made a mad dash for his
motorcycle, I told him about the snapshots, and then we were zooming out of the
parking lot like we were late for our own party.

Once
we hit I-5, we were no more than a couple miles from the exit. Holding tightly
onto Ash, I tried peering over his shoulder to get a better view of what was
happening in front of us. When I felt his body go rigid, I knew he’d spotted
something. He motioned forward with one arm. As we weaved in and out of cars at
ridiculous speeds, I finally caught sight of the semi and the blue car, which
was fast approaching the semi-truck from the right side.

Ash
grabbed my arm, and I held on for dear life. He revved the engine, and my head
jerked back almost giving me whiplash as we shot forward with breakneck speed.
It felt like we were popping wheelies down the freeway. We must have looked
like a couple careless kids out for a joy ride – completely ignorant and
detached from the dangers we were placing on ourselves and everyone around us.

When
Ash swerved in front of the blue car and all but slammed on the breaks, my butt
came off the seat, and I almost flew off the bike. Luckily, I’d been holding onto
him like there was no tomorrow, and my bottom crashed back onto the leather
seat. Horns blared, and my heart lodged itself somewhere between my throat and
my brain. Now that Ash had the motorcycle in front of the blue car, he reduced
our speed drastically. I welcomed the honking horns, because I knew that at
least the little boy and his dad were safe behind us and out of the path of a
semi that was about to fly off the road.

Sure
enough, compression brakes pumped loudly ahead of us on the highway as the
truck slid sideways across both lanes of traffic. There was a loud “bang”
followed by a thundering “boom.” Behind us, cars screeched to a halt but not
everyone made it in time, because I could hear cars crashing into each other. I
closed my eyes hoping no one would ram into the back of us, but Ash moved
fastidiously onto the right shoulder, eventually bringing us to a complete
stop. Looking up, I noticed the cars on the other side of the freeway slowing
down to take a look as all lanes of traffic behind us had become a parking lot.
It wasn’t long before people were getting out of their cars and screaming or
pointing up ahead in terror.

Curling
my head around Ash’s body, my jaw-dropped. The huge semi truck was lying on its
side on an overpass. The cab of the truck was resting partly on the freeway and
partly on the green embankment, but the trailer was hanging precariously over
the guardrail threatening to crash onto the busy road below.

A man
with long hair and a beard popped out of the side of the cab, which was now
facing upwards towards the sky. He moved with speed and fury as if he was being
chased by demons. Once he jumped off the cab and onto the ground, he
high-tailed it across the debris-covered freeway away from the truck.

Someone
called out to the trucker, “Are you okay? Is there anyone else in the truck?”

The
cabbie called out in a shaky voice, “I’m okay. No one else is inside. But I
smell smoke; I think everyone should stay back.” Frantically, he started
motioning with his hand for people to move back. A new sense of urgency rushed
through the crowd, and people started running away from the truck.

That’s
when I caught sight of Jason and Madison running through the cars towards the
semi. They were the only ones not headed in the opposite direction. My heart
picked up speed, and panic swept over me in a sickening wave. Ash and I didn’t
stand a chance if we were caught. In fact, I didn’t know if Jason would
throttle me or kill Ash first. He wouldn’t understand the circumstances, and I
doubted he’d give me a chance to explain – explain that Ash wasn’t like the
other Ray-pacs and that he was my friend. The memory of Jason telling me, “Once
a Ray-pac, always a Ray-pac” was still fresh in my mind. Foolish or not, I’d
chosen not to believe that.

I
nudged Ash and shouted, “You need to gun it and get us out of here. Now!” I
wasn’t sure at what distance Jason or Madison could sense Ash because of his
link to Melanie.

As Ash
revved the engine, I noticed Jason had stopped dead in his tracks and was
looking straight at us. Hoping he didn’t recognize me, I spun around and
wrapped my arms tightly around Ash just as the bike shot forward. Quickly, it
carried us past the wreckage and down a wide open freeway. Clinging to Ash, I
laid my head against his back and breathed a sigh of relief. That was way too
close!

And so
the days passed. Classes, work, and premonitions kept my mind occupied. One of
my biggest worries was that I’d have a premonition while on campus and find
myself rushing to the same place as Laci, Madison, or Jason. After the
semi-truck incident, I knew that was a possibility, and I certainly didn’t want
to explain how I ended up in the right place at the right time, the same as one
of them. Rarely did I run into anyone other than Jessica or Laci on campus, and
that was usually during our planned Tuesday or Thursday lunch dates at the
Student Union. But coincidences were bound to happen, and I remained cautious.

On a
Friday afternoon, Jessica and I made a trip to St. Joseph’s hospital, because
we’d heard Hannah had finally given birth. The room was bursting with flower
bouquets, and behind a large bunch of balloons we found an exhausted looking
but smiling new mother.

“Jessica
and Lexi, I’m so glad you’re here.” Hannah looked lovingly down in her arms.
“There’s a little guy here that would love to meet you.”

Jessica
set the gift bag we’d brought on a small round table next to several other
presents, and we approached Hannah on opposite sides of her elevated hospital
bed. Smiling warmly at the little bundle in her arms, she turned the little guy
around until he was facing us. With a head full of blonde hair and a pair of
half closed, dark blue eyes, he was absolutely adorable.

“I
want you both to meet Thomas Jason Larson. He was born yesterday at 5:35 p.m.,
weighing in at an incredible 9 pounds and 13 ounces.” She rubbed his little
cheek and laughed. “Had he been any bigger, I think the doctor would have
insisted on a C-section.”

“He’s
beautiful,” Jessica cooed and reached out to touch his fuzzy head.

“He’s
way too cute,” I agreed.

As
Jessica took him into her arms, Hannah said proudly, “We named him after Dan’s
father, Thomas and after his Uncle Jason of course.” She winked and smiled.

“I bet
his uncle is awfully proud right about now,” I said, picturing Jason with a
baby in his arms and a huge smile upon his face.

“He
sure is,” a deep voice said from behind me.

Turning
around, I was immediately lost in a pair of aqua-marine eyes. “Hi,” I said
breathlessly as he gave me that crooked smile – the one that left my heart
melting. “Your nephew is the cutest little baby ever,” I added, pulling myself
together.

“Of
course he is – runs in the genes you know,” he said, blowing on his knuckles
and rubbing them on his tie-dyed shirt.

“Oh
please. You ego-maniac,” Hannah jumped in. “I think you should give credit
where credit is due, dear brother of mine.”

“Oh,
all right,” Jason reconsidered, “my little namesake has inherited his most
exceptional genes from his mother.”