He swallowed hard. His desire for her was so strong and constant that it was tangible.

“So she’s okay?” Michael was standing nearby with an anxious face.

“Yeah. But you keep blocking her, too. I don’t want her to know anything.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n.”

Max turned as he heard Alex mutter behind him. He was leaning against the back of the large couch, long legs crossed in front of him. “Tell me again exactly why I can’t be with Isabel right now?” His eyebrows were knit together in frustration as he looked over at Max.

“It’s simple,” Michael smirked and stopped by Alex. “If the King doesn’t get any, nobody gets any. Right, Chatmandu?”

Max looked at Michael steadily, not giving him an inch. “Right.”

They stared at him until he walked away. “I‘m going to get in the shower. Be ready in half an hour.”

******

Isabel zipped up Maria’s dress and turned so that Maria could return the favor. Then she dashed off to the closet (keeping perfect balance in her high heels) and pulled out Liz’s long dress. She was still a bit nervous about whether Liz would like it, but she knew without a doubt that Max would.

“Oh, quit worrying so much, she’ll love it.” Isabel looked up to see Maria smiling at her. Suddenly Isabel noticed Maria’s make-up. “Oh, Maria, that color is all wrong for your dress. You need to go with blues.”

Maria hesitated, then headed for the mirror. “You think so? Can you teach me how to do that thingee you do with colors?”

“Sure.”

******

Liz wrapped herself in the soft robe and sighed in contentment. Being clean had never felt so good. And Maria and Isabel had stocked the bathroom with all of her usual supplies, so she had everything she needed. She felt so good, almost normal again. A shadow fell over her face as she thought about what her body had recently been through- the pain and the torture. But she shoved the memories away for now. It was over. Remembering would just empower those bastards again.

Quickly, she threaded her fingers through her hair and dried it. She wanted to get dressed and go see Max as soon as possible.

She opened the door hesitantly. “Maria, Isabel?”

“Be right there, hon. Your clothes are in the other bedroom.”

“Okay,” Liz called out as she walked through the cold hallway and down to the darkened room. She flipped on the overhead light and gasped. On the bed was a beautiful, white wedding gown. Her hands flew up to her face in shock. Then she smiled. He wanted to marry her... after all they had been through...

Tears flooded her eyes as questions danced in her head. “Isabel! Maria!” She walked over to the gown and fingered it gently.

It was perfect.

******

Joey was in the breezeway heading for Liz’s room when she heard her name being called. She turned to see an older man with a crinkly smile. She smiled immediately. “Matpatha!”

He held out his hand for her to come nearer and she ran to him, her long dress shifting noisily. “I’m glad you’re here. Can you change Kyle back now?”

He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and gave her a mysterious look. “We must have a talk about that, Millamalinka.”

Joey was a little surprised by his gesture, but walked with him as he directed. He was silent for a minute as they reached the end of the breezeway. The hum of a soft drink machine made their conversation even more private. This must be important. Joey swallowed hard as he turned to face her.

“You must have realized by now that I have the capability to transform Kyle into a hybrid, like the others.”

Joey gasped. She fought to keep an automatic smile off her face as he continued.

“Transforming has become an acquired ability for our people, each necessary human transformation easier and faster than the last. Kyle’s transformation will most likely be quick and almost painless, if you desire us to undertake it.”

Joey tried to keep her excitement under control. There was something in his voice that wasn‘t making sense. “Of course I want him to be transformed, I mean, if he wants to be. But why do I get the feeling that it‘s not all that simple?“

Matpatha nodded and looked away off the balcony to the pool area below. “Only twelve will return to Dagon. Kyle would not be able to go with you.“

Joey felt her heart plummet. “Then what’s the point?“

Tears pricked her eyes. It was like the world was playing some cruel trick on them. Why did everyone else get to be happy?

He turned back to her, still speaking very matter-of-factly. “The point is that you are in love. You could have one night together, before you leave. And it is possible that you could return, once enough energy is stored up.”

Joey winced. That was exactly what she DIDN’T want to do, change Kyle’s entire life and then leave him. She shook her head in frustration, searching for another way. “I still don’t understand. If twelve can be transferred home, why not thirteen?”

Matpatha smiled at her gently. “It takes a tremendous amount of power to transfer someone such an unimaginable distance, but after our disastrous attempts at sending space craft this far, it is the only way we will risk trying it. To get the twelve back home, twelve members of the royal family on Dagon have been donating their energy daily for almost two years. It takes that much power.” Joey felt her hope deflate. “They would have made it possible for thirteen, had they known there would be these... complications. We knew some of the hunters might be successful, but that’s when the idea of human hybrids was developed. Still, we expected only to bring home the royal family members here and their mates, twelve in all.”

Joey suddenly felt detached. This was so much larger than she and Kyle. People had sacrificed and planned for years. “I guess that all makes sense. They couldn’t have known. After all, I was supposed to be with Justin.” She wiped away a stray tear.

“Milla, I can still transform him if you wish.”

Joey sighed and leaned back against the railing. “That would be the worst thing I could do to him. He’d be stuck here, alone, in constant danger because he isn’t human. And no one would be here to help him, to protect him.” She winced. “No, I can’t do that to him. I have to give him a chance to have a normal life.”

Matpatha nodded. “As you wish, Milla, but you might want to give him the choice.”

Joey looked up into the kind eyes. Was he right?

******

Kyle was sitting on the couch, one leg tucked up under him in what he figured was probably the most comfortable of the less-revealing ways to sit in this freakin’ mini-skirt. Joey had left, so he probably should just let it all hang out, but-

“Kyle, can I get you anything to drink?” Mrs. Evans was being so nice to him.

“No, thank you.” It never hurt to be polite, even though they were the reason that he couldn’t sit like he wanted. He knew he was being terrible company, but all he could think about was the fact that Joey was leaving him in less than five hours and all they could talk about was feminine hygiene. It sucked, plain and simple.

A knock sounded at the door and Kyle jumped up. “I’ll get it!” The thought crossed his mind that he probably should stop being such a girl scout, but then he looked through the peephole and saw Joey. He jerked the door open and saw that she was looking oddly unsure of herself. Then he saw who was behind her and grinned sardonically.

“Matpatha. I can honestly say that every part of me is glad to see you, although some absent parts are probably more glad than others.”

The shapeshifter smiled. “Let’s see what we can do about that.”

Barely had Kyle gotten the door closed when he saw Matpatha wave his hand. The room felt like it shifted slightly and adrenaline rushed through him. Joey, smiling through tears, was in his arms in a second. HIS arms. Big, strong arms that finally felt right around her thin body. He felt her sigh against him and he could barely stand up from the sensations it caused deep within him. In those heels, she was as tall as he was. And suddenly, the memory of what she looked like in that dress hit him full force...

Kyle grinned.

Hello, boys, nice to have you back.

******

Max was dressed in a tux, again. He should be concentrating on Liz, but all he could think about was the last time he had worn one of these, about Larry and how he’d held Liz hostage and then- Max sat down on the bed and bent over, burying his face in his hands. This wasn’t going to work. Seeing him dressed like this would probably trigger Liz’s bad memories, too. As if she didn’t have enough to wade through without dragging up that disaster.

“Hey Max, someone’s here to see you.” Alex poked his head in the door, then paused. “You alright?”

Max nodded, but kept studying the green carpet. “Who is it?”

“That other guardian, Empathic or Carpatha or something like that.” Max looked up to see Alex sliding into his gangster stance. “You want I should let him in or what?”

Suddenly, Max knew what to do. He stood up and started took off his jacket. “Yeah, let him in. I have a few questions for him.”

“What, you gonna’ rough him up for turning Kyle into a eunuch?”

Max smiled in spite of himself. “No, I’m just not going to wear this, that’s all.”

Alex started to leave, then hesitated. “You do realize that this is a wedding and that penguin suits are considered proper-”

“Yes, Alex. Just bring him in.”

“Alright, you just... don’t take too much of that off before we get back, okay?” He looked at Max pointedly. “Save the buff stuff for Liz.”

“No problem.”

Not at all.

******

Liz twirled slowly in front of the floor-length mirror. The gown fit perfectly, now that Isabel had nipped and tucked it with her powers a bit.

“You look incredible,” Maria whispered.

Liz could hardly believe it was she in the dress. It was made out of shiny Mikado fabric and had a fitted bodice that framed her waist and ended over a full, ballgown skirt. There were no sleeves and the bodice was held in place by a wide band of embroidered satin material that ran over her shoulders and curved to create the rounded neckline. The neckline stopped just below the top of her cleavage, something the bodice seemed to make more... prominent.

Liz looked over at Isabel. “Are you sure I don’t look... uh...”

“Skanky?” Maria supplied easily. “No way, hon. You look just like a queen should on her wedding day, hot enough to have all the King‘s subjects drooling, but innocent enough to make it to the wedding bed.“

Liz smiled. “I can‘t believe you found a place that would rent it to you on such short notice.”

Isabel shrugged. “Well, it did take a little persuasion.”

Liz raised her eyebrows.

“Well, it wasn’t supposed to be rentable, but we changed the tag a little bit and the guy succumbed to my elusive charms. No big deal.”

Liz relaxed and turned back to the mirror. “And you’ll get them back tonight before we leave?”

Isabel and Maria traded looks. “Well, actually,” Isabel took over. “The Moms are returning them in the morning.”

Liz whipped around. “The Moms?” They looked at her uncomfortably as she ran down the possible list of meanings. The one she came up with was not one she was ready to deal with. She stepped forward and held her hands up. “Wait a minute, our parents are here?”

Maria smiled. “Yeah, you actually owe Kyle a bit on this one. And maybe your Mom, too.”

Liz suddenly felt weak and reached out for the bed. “How- how did they get here?”

“They flew. Remember, Joey said that things at home were getting really hairy so the Sheriff and Kyle had rounded them all up.”

“Yeah, I remember that.”

“Well, the Whitmans, the Evans, Mom and your parents flew out to try to help rescue you and Alex. Now they’re here just in time for the wedding. That is, IF you want your mother there.”

Liz blinked and bit her bottom lip. She had so many conflicting feelings about her mother... but this was it, they were going to Dagon soon... maybe never to return. And it was her wedding. How would her mother feel if she had to live with her guilt and Liz’s unforgiving attitude for the rest of her life, knowing she might never see Liz again?

Liz closed her eyes. After what she’d been through, she just wanted to be at peace. This was her mother and she still loved her.

Liz opened her eyes and looked over at Maria. “I do want her to be there. I do.”

Isabel smiled. “Great. You just leave it all to me. Maria’s going to fix your hair and then we’ll all go get in the van, okay?”

Liz suddenly felt joy fill up her insides like an endless fountain. They were going to take her to see Max, to marry Max! She felt like a kid on Christmas morning.

She walked over to the mirror, ignoring Maria‘s chatter for the moment. It did feel like Christmas, and like the whole world was giving her Max as a present- a gorgeous, life-changing, to-die-for present.