Different (Tainted Elements Book 1)

by Alycia Linwood

  I licked my dry lips. “He told me that... he was my grandfather.” I slowly raised my eyes to my mom’s. “Is that true?”

  She closed her eyes, biting on her lip.

  My dad gave her hand a little squeeze. “It’s okay. Tell her.”

  When she opened her eyes, they were pooling with tears. “It’s true. Anton Marlau is your grandfather.”

  I rubbed my eyes, feeling lightheaded. “Umm, okay. So...”

  “Your biological father is... his son, Ethan Marlau.” My mom’s lips twisted a bit as she said his name. “I know I should have told you the truth, but...” She sighed. “I’m sorry, honey. If I had told you, you might have wanted to meet your father’s family and I couldn’t... I just couldn’t let Anton know about you. He’s...”

  “Clearly deranged and a murderer. Yeah, I got that.”

  “I was selfish with you. I wanted you only for me.” My mom sniffled. “I’m so sorry.”

  “You were trying to protect me. I understand.” I patted her hand. I wasn’t too happy about being lied to, but I couldn’t be mad at my mom for not telling me I had a grandfather who wanted to use me for God knew what. “And Ethan...” I didn’t know how to address my biological father. I knew absolutely nothing about him and my dad would always be my real father, no matter whose genes I actually had. “He’s dead?”

  “Yeah.” My mom cast a look in Ria’s direction. “He wasn’t a good man.” She looked at our joined hands. “I’m sorry. I should probably let you form your own opinion about him, but... He was a part of some really bad things and wanted to exterminate carriers. He would have killed Ria if she hadn’t...”

  I glanced at Ria, who looked away. So that was why Marlau was after her. She was the one who had killed his son. My father. “I don’t know how I feel about this whole thing. I mean, he’s dead and I never met him. I don’t know how I should feel.” Actually, I didn’t feel anything at all. “How did you even get together?” I searched my mom’s face. Unless they’d lied to me about it, all I knew about my parents’ relationship indicated that they had already been together at that time, so how did my biological father fit into the picture?

  “You don’t have to... I can...” my dad said, but my mom shook her head.

  “No, Ryan. I’ll be fine.” She took a deep breath. “Moira... Your father and I... we weren’t... he kidnapped me.”

  Chapter 19

  My breath hitched in my chest, my shaky hand finding my temple as I closed my eyes. I let out an uncontrollable whimper, shaking my head. No, this couldn’t be true. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare, but when I opened my eyes again, my reality didn’t change.

  “He tortured me and he... forced himself on me.” She pressed her fist to her lips.

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Not my mom. How could anyone have hurt my mom? How could he? I didn’t know much about him and now I didn’t feel like finding out more. Not after this. No. My father was a monster. I didn’t want to have anything to do with his family, but... My ears were ringing, the world spinning around me. I was having difficulty breathing.

  “Honey, are you okay? Honey?” My mom reached for me, sliding on the floor next to me and pulling me into her arms.

  I sobbed into her shoulder. “I look like him, don’t I? How can you even look at me?” Was I a daily reminder of my mom’s suffering? One part of me was glad my biological father was dead or I would have gone after him myself.

  “Oh, honey. Don’t say that. You’re nothing like him.” She ran soothing circles across my back. “You’re my daughter. I love you more than anything in the world. None of it is your fault. I blocked out most of the memories of that day, anyway. Having you was the best thing that happened to me.”

  “I love you too, Mom.” I clung to her as I cried, trying hard to push every thought out of my mind. I couldn’t deal with this right now. I couldn’t.

  The door swung open and we all looked up to see Adrian coming in with men and women dressed in white. “The ambulance is here,” Adrian stated the obvious. My mom and I got up from the floor to give them space to treat my dad’s cut. Noah lingered in the doorway, looking unconcerned. Jaiden was nowhere in sight, but he had to be okay or Noah would be freaking out.

  “Marlau is dead,” Adrian said, his eyes narrowing in concern as one of the medics inspected Ria’s shoulder.

  “What? How?” Ria’s eyebrows shot up. “Did you...?”

  “No,” he said. “We found him dead not far from the house. No wounds of any kind. Not sure what happened. The medics will tell us, I guess.”

  “Good,” Ria said, then spotted me across the room and cleared her throat. “I mean...”

  “I don’t care.” I waved her off. I didn’t need a psycho grandpa.

  Noah approached me, scraping a hand through his black hair. “I should probably go. Unless you need me.”

  “No, you can go.” He didn’t need to stay here for my family drama. “What you did today for me... Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He offered me a small smile. “See you later, okay?”

  “Yeah.” I bobbed my head a bit too fast. With one last look at me, he went through the door. I was sure he’d fly back home when no one could see him.

  “It was a heart attack,” a blonde woman said.

  “As a consequence of an elemental attack?” A frown creased Adrian’s brow.

  “We’ll need to wait for the autopsy to confirm it, but it looks like a natural cause.”

  It seemed like Marlau’s heart couldn’t have taken all the excitement he’d had today. He’d been an older man, but he seemed strong, but that could have been because of his disease. The cops burst through the door with their guns up and ready, assessing the situation. They dropped the guns immediately, going for the men on the floor. I wasn’t sure how many of Marlau’s men would wake up and I didn’t want to know either, so I went for the door.

  “We should go home,” my mom said. “Ria’s house needs renovation.”

  I turned to look at her. The medics and the cops were long gone, but I still didn’t feel like going back in the house. “Yeah. And up our security.”

  “Why?” My mom’s brow wrinkled.

  “There’s a secret organization that hunts elementals like me in the city. Governmental one.” I didn’t know what the chances were that Elemontera would find me. The city was huge. “They’re called Elemontera.”

  “I won’t let anyone take you away from me.”

  “I know.” I flashed my mom a smile. “But Noah and the others... They told me about their less than pleasant encounters with Elemontera. That organization is dangerous.” The smile vanished from my face. “They killed one boy’s whole family to get to him. Mom, I can’t put you and Dad in danger like that.”

  “Your dad and I... We’re not your average parents. We can take care of ourselves.” My mom tapped me on the shoulder.

  “I know, but I don’t want to put you at risk.” I shrugged. “Besides, it’s time I finally moved out, isn’t it?”

  “What? Honey, no! I won’t allow it. We need to stick together now. It’s not safe for you to...” Her eyes filled with panic.

  “Mom, please! I can make my own decisions.”

  She put her arm around me, leaning her head on my shoulder. “I was afraid you’d say that, but I won’t let you leave me.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll still be seeing each other and talking to each other. I’d just love to have my own place.” I hoped my mom was too tired to fight me on this. “Weren’t you living on your own when you were my age?”

  “Yes, but those were different times! Students still lived at universities back then. How are you going to live on your own? You’re still so young,” she groaned. “You can’t even cook!”

  “Mom!” I laughed. “I’m not stupid. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Yeah, and starve to death or live on junk food.”

  I didn’t know if Marlau’s men who had survived would talk to anyone about w
hat they had seen. One word about strange elementals who had attacked them would sure as hell bring the attention of Elemontera. I didn’t want my parents to find themselves in the middle when Elemontera decided to come after me. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure you can control your elements? I know you spent some time with Noah and the rest of elementals like you, but there are many things you still need to find out. I’ll continue my research.” She lifted her finger to shush me before I could say something. “I know you don’t want me to risk my life, but this will be private research. I won’t include anyone I can’t fully trust.”

  Once my mom decided something, no one could persuade her against it. “Okay, but be careful.”

  “What are my two beautiful girls doing outside on this cold night?” My dad flashed us a wide grin.

  “Talking, Dad. Just talking.” I grinned back. The tension left my dad’s shoulders.

  “Our little girl is planning to leave,” my mom said in a perfectly calm voice. “Can you believe it? We’re getting too old for her. She’d even face a dangerous organization on her own just to get away from us.”

  “Mom!”

  Concern filled my dad’s eyes as he looked at me. “For real?”

  I nodded. “It’s for the best.”

  “But where would you go?” he said.

  “I was planning to rent an apartment somewhere out of the city.” I wasn’t sure if I’d be going back to university any time soon, so I didn’t have to worry about living nearby. My control might be getting better, but it wasn’t anywhere near perfect. Besides, Elemontera could easily find me if I went to classes like nothing was going on.

  “No way,” he said, raising his voice. “If you don’t want to live with us anymore, that’s fine, but then you have to stay here. With elementals like you.”

  “I don’t really like their claustrophobic den.” I rubbed my arms.

  “But it’s a safe place for you,” he insisted. “If you go to the city, you will be in constant danger of being exposed or hunted down. Please stay here until you know exactly who you’re up against.”

  “Ryan?” My mom frowned and I was sure she’d hoped my Dad would convince me to stay with them, but my dad just shook his head.

  I didn’t really like his idea. Maybe I should tell him about Jaiden’s awesome ability to mind control people into doing things. Then he might reconsider his words. But the less my parents knew, the safer they were. A tiny voice in my mind was telling me that I was lying to myself, that my parents would always be in danger because I cared about them, but I chose to ignore it. If I stayed away from the city, Elemontera wouldn’t find me unless someone told them about me. “How many of Marlau’s men are still alive?”

  “Why?” my dad asked.

  “If they say something about Noah or me...”

  “They won’t,” my mom said.

  “How are you so sure?”

  “The cops you saw... They’re friends of a friend. They’ll make sure the men think they were hallucinating.” She gave me a small smile. “They won’t remember much of what they saw, and even if they do, they’ll think they imagined it all. Apparently, someone released a hallucinogenic gas to drive Marlau out.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Oh.” What I wouldn’t discover on this island? My whole life had turned upside down. “That’s... great.”

  A phone started to ring and my mom flinched. She dug the phone out of the pocket of her jeans. I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm. “It’s for you,” she said.

  “Hello?” I said cautiously. Who could be calling me on my mom’s phone?

  “Moira? It’s me,” Noah said.

  “Noah? How did you...?” I realized he must have found the number because I’d been calling my mom from the hideout. I should have known Jaiden had a system to record everything. “Is something wrong? Did Jaiden make it home?” I’d hate to think that something had happened to him because of me.

  “Jaiden’s fine. It’s Kenna, actually,” Noah said. “She went to the city to find her brother. Jaiden went after her. I’m waiting for the next ferry, so I just wanted to tell you that you can come back here if you wish. I don’t know if you’re going to run away with your parents while Jaiden isn’t here...”

  “Wait, Kenna’s brother is working for Elemontera. Where does she think she’ll find him?” I started walking down the narrow path that led to the street.

  “In Elemontera’s headquarters,” Noah sighed.

  “What? But they’ll capture her or worse!” I ran my hand through my hair. Was Kenna insane? Going to Elemontera’s headquarters was like offering your life to your enemy. But if she thought that was the only way to get to her brother, I could see why she couldn’t think clearly.

  “Jaiden and I will try to stop her. I hope he’ll find her before she reaches the city. If only we knew what ferry she took...”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No way.”

  “Noah, please let me help you. You and Jaiden risked your lives for me tonight. Let me return the favor.”

  “I appreciate your offer, but we can handle it.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “Both of you already had an encounter with Elemontera. What if they developed a device to stop you? Besides, Kenna is Jaiden’s girlfriend. Do you think he’ll be able to think straight if she’s in danger?”

  Noah mumbled something, but I couldn’t hear what. “You’ll just come after us no matter what I say, won’t you?”

  “Of course.”

  “Okay, meet me in an hour at the docks.”

  “I’ll be there.” I needed a distraction because I didn’t want to think about Marlau and what he’d told me.

  “Good. I was already starting to miss you.” The line went dead. I hoped this situation with Kenna would be solved soon. We didn’t need to attract Elemontera’s attention. At least not until we were ready to face them. I dreaded returning the phone to my mom because I was sure she’d come up a whole list of reasons to persuade me to stay with her and Dad no matter what. Maybe my dad had convinced her already that it was better for me to stay on the island. Of course, I wasn’t about to tell them that I would leave the island for a while.

  Chapter 20

  “I was hoping you’d change your mind,” Noah said, gripping the rail as the ferry lurched forward.

  “I didn’t.” I stopped beside him, surprised that he wasn’t just a shimmering cloud. I’d expected him to try to hide from prying eyes, but I was glad I wasn’t talking to an invisible man. Making sure no one was close enough to overhear us, I leaned closer to Noah. “So what else can you tell me about Elemontera and Kenna’s brother? I need to know exactly what we’re dealing with here.”

  He hesitated, his eyes gazing into the darkness. “Elemontera has various teams working for them. Some of them are easier to recognize because they wear all black and are visibly armed, like those guys who came with Marlau. But most of Elemontera’s agents work undercover and you won’t recognize them or see them coming until it’s too late, especially if one of our own works for them.”

  “Oh, awesome. Are we supposed to avoid our own kind then? I mean, there’s no way to tell if they work for Elemontera or not.” In a city full of people, everyone could be suspicious.

  “Mostly, yeah. I don’t know how he does it, but Jaiden is the only one who successfully found all of us in the city and none of us turned out to be working for Elemontera.”

  “Okay, so Elemontera can track us only if they know for sure we’re different and if they have one of us on their side?” Elemontera might have Jaiden and Noah in their system, but they couldn’t have me.

  He nodded. “As far as we know they didn’t develop a device that can distinguish between regular elementals, carriers and us.”

  “Do they have Kenna in their system?”

  “I don’t know. Jaiden thinks they do, Kenna thinks they don’t.” Noah licked his lips.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Whe
n Elemontera came to their house, Kenna’s brother, Nick, managed to get her out before they caught her, but there was no time for him to escape. If no one saw her, they might think she’s a regular elemental.”

  “But aren’t they twins? Is it even possible that one twin has more than one element and the other doesn’t? Wouldn’t the devices that work on Nick work on her too?”

  “Yeah, they are twins, but having an extra element or two is a result of genetic manipulation. The elemental code that the devices suppress might not be the same, but we don’t really know how those devices work, only that they can block our elements.” Noah rubbed the back of his neck, his face weary. We hadn’t had enough time to rest after the fight.

  I’d barely had time to eat something and sit down. For some reason, I hadn’t felt tired at all until now. The adrenaline from the fight must have kept me up. Now my eyelids were heavy.

  “Anyway, Jaiden thinks Nick told Elemontera about Kenna and she thinks her brother would never betray her like that. The things is, none of us know why Nick works for Elemontera. Kenna is the only family he has, so maybe he thinks he’s protecting her by working for them. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he saw some things we can do and decided that Elemontera was right to hunt us down.”

  “And you’re sure he actually works for them and isn’t being kept as a prisoner?”

  “Bailey saw him walking freely with one of Elemontera’s agents.” Noah ran a hand over his face. “God, Jaiden will kill me for bringing you into this. You’ve had a rough day and you can’t turn into air to escape.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to worry about me?” I placed my hand on his cheek. His lips parted, an unidentifiable emotion flashing through his eyes. I dropped my hand, taking a step back.

  “Maybe you should get some rest,” he said.

  “Yeah, I probably should.” My mind felt like mush. I’d better lie down and get some sleep before I fell off the ferry or said something stupid. “Just don’t go anywhere without me. I’ll never forgive you if you do that.”