I tried to remember the map Noah had shown me. A shortcut could take me straight to where the cloud might have been going, but I couldn’t even be sure the cloud was one of us. It could easily be another agent, but would that man really hurry after one of his own? I wasn’t so sure. I knew it was super easy for Kenna, or whoever, to fly faster and disappear from view, but if she wasn’t careful enough, she wouldn’t see the guy coming. I could be the only one who had seen him walking out of the building.
Chewing on the insides of my mouth, I tried to decide what to do. I could be putting myself in danger by getting in the man’s way again. Maybe he didn’t have a way to detect me because my face wasn’t in Elemontera’s system and I wasn’t using my elements in front of him, but he could become suspicious if he thought I was following him or that I could see a shimmering cloud of air.
But I couldn’t let Kenna, Jaiden, or Noah get captured simply because I was afraid to go warn them. I ran across the street and hurried down the two alleys that were supposed to take me straight to the shimmering cloud. As I reached the end of the alley, I slowed down, taking a quick peek around the corner. A cloud of air slammed into me and I closed my eyes, even though I could only feel a light breeze ruffling my hair.
Kenna materialized in the alley, a scowl on her face. “What the hell are you doing here?” Her hazel eyes took me in as I turned toward her. “Is that my dress?!”
“Kenna, we have to get out of here.” I raised my hands up. “An Elemontera agent saw you.”
“I know.” She rolled her eyes. “I wanted him to see me.”
“What?” I stared at her open-mouthed as she pressed herself flat against the wall.
“You should get out of here. He’ll be here any second,” she hissed.
“What are you planning to do?” I had no intention of leaving her here to deal with an Elemontera agent all on her own.
“None of your business!” she whispered, annoyed. “Go away.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She glared at me. A gust of air sent me flying, my back hitting a brick wall.
“Damn it, Kenna!” I barely managed to catch myself before I fell to the ground, scraping my arm on the sharp surface of the wall. As soon as the man came into view, Kenna dragged him into the alley with her air. His eyes wide, the man returned her attack and she gasped, but didn’t fall. Kenna tried to choke him, but he managed to stop her with a hit to the stomach. I aimed a gust of air at the man’s leg, but he avoided it. Kenna sent him flying to the ground and, as he hopped to his feet, something fell out of his pocket.
I used my air to get the object and realized it was a black bracelet. Kenna turned invisible, trying to confuse the guy by appearing behind his back, but just as she was about to materialize, he transformed into a cloud too. I stood there, unsure what to do. The two clouds rushed each other, but all I could see was a bunch of shimmering. Could I even attack them with my air or would it pass around them or through them? If I threw a fireball at them, I risked hitting Kenna with it. I didn’t even know what that would do to her.
I looked at the black bracelet in my hand, wondering what it could do. It was probably the device that could block our elements, something similar to the element-blocking bracelet for regular elementals, only this bracelet was much heavier and it appeared to have tiny buttons in it. I hurled the bracelet toward the shimmering clouds.
The bracelet made a beeping noise as it hit the clouds and both Kenna and the man fell to the ground, completely visible. I tackled the guy before he could rise to his feet, swinging at his face. As he tried to push me off him, I held him down with my air and grabbed the bracelet off the ground. His face paled as he realized what I was about to do, but he was too weak to use his element again. I snapped the bracelet around his wrist just as Kenna got to her feet to loom over the guy and me.
“Nice,” she said when she saw the bracelet. I scrambled to my feet and Kenna grabbed the guy by the collar of his shirt, pulling him up and slamming him against the wall. “Where is Nick Elinders?”
“Who?” The man kept glancing between Kenna and me.
Kenna slammed her fist into his jaw. “My brother, you son of a bitch. His name is Nick and he works for Elemontera, just like you do. Now tell me where he is or I swear to God I’ll gut you right here.”
I looked right and left, making sure no one was around to see us and call the cops or Elemontera. Did Elemontera have a way to track their agents? If they suspected something happened to the guy, they’d be after him in a second.
“I don’t know your brother. Never seen him.” The man spat out blood, glaring at Kenna. “If you know what’s best for you, little girl, you’ll run now before my partners come for you.”
She gritted her teeth, pressing her elbow against the man’s neck. “Firstly, I’m not a little girl. And secondly, I don’t believe you and I will kill you if you don’t give me something.”
The man laughed. “You’ll never find your brother. He’s dead.”
Kenna brought her knee into the man’s groin, making him yelp. “You’re lying.”
I shifted my weight from foot for foot, wishing Kenna would realize how pointless it was to question the guy. He wasn’t going to tell her anything. The only problem was that if we let the guy go, he’d tell Elemontera about us. It wouldn’t take much time before they found us based on our descriptions and what Kenna had told him.
“You can’t kill me,” the man said, smiling at Kenna. “If you choke me to death with your element, the cops will detect the traces of your element on my body. And they will find you, if Elemontera doesn’t find you first.”
“Do you think I care? I’ve been on the run for months thanks to your stupid employers!” Kenna’s grip on the man grew weaker, and I wondered if she was really capable of killing someone. Maybe if we scared the guy enough, he’d tell us what we needed to know. I reached for the gun in my boot and came closer to Kenna so that no one from the street could see it.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” I cocked the gun at him, hoping he wouldn’t notice the tremor in my voice. “Tell us what you know about Nick or I’ll make a nice hole in your leg. If you still don’t tell us anything, I’ll aim a bit higher.” My lips spread into a smile. The guy swallowed, blinking at me. “So what’s it gonna be?” I aimed the gun at his knee. Kenna looked at me as if she saw me for the first time.
“Alright! Alright,” the man said. “Nick is alive. I never talked to him, but I saw him. He’s looking for you.” He turned his head to Kenna, who inhaled sharply.
“Is he okay?” she breathed. A shimmering cloud whizzed past me and slammed itself into the man, ripping him out of Kenna’s grip and sending him to the ground. Jaiden materialized above the guy, who let out a startled gasp.
“You...” the man said, but Jaiden punched him so hard that the guy’s eyes fluttered closed.
The vein in Jaiden’s neck pulsed as he got to his feet and turned his furious gaze toward Kenna and me. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“You promised,” Kenna yelled, lunging for Jaiden. “You promised me you’d help me find my brother!”
“You can’t just barge into Elemontera to get him!” He caught her wrists as she tried to shove him.
“All of this is your fault. You should have let me come here. You could have already saved my brother.” She jabbed her finger into his chest. I lowered the gun, keeping an eye on the unconscious guy and the street.
“Kenna, you should go back to the island. It’s not safe for you here.” Jaiden glanced at the guy on the ground. “You’ll get yourself killed.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Not when I’m so close.” She shook her head. “This guy says he saw Nick. My brother’s here. I can’t leave now. I have to see him.”
“And you will, but not now.” Anger vanished from Jaiden’s eyes and now he just looked weary.
“Not now? Then when? Never? I’ve spent seven agonizing months as your gir
lfriend in hopes that you’d get to love me enough to do this for me, but no. You’re completely useless!”
Jaiden flinched. “Kenna...”
“No.” She waved her hands. “No more. I’m going to get my brother whether you like it or not.” As she turned to leave, her hand flew to her temple.
“Stop.” Jaiden’s eyebrows were drawn in concentration. “Turn around.”
She gritted her teeth, but she couldn’t resist Jaiden’s mind control. I made a step toward Jaiden, but I had no clue whether I should interfere or not. Kenna had to realize that she couldn’t just walk into Elemontera and demand to see her brother, but what Jaiden was doing was wrong. But how to reason with Kenna when she could disappear into thin air?
“If you do this, we’re over,” she said, her fingers flexing. “Do you hear me? I’m going to hate you forever.”
“I’m sorry, Kenna. I can’t let you go to your brother.” Jaiden put his hands on her face, his eyes boring into hers. “You will leave now and go back to our hideout on the island. You will no longer search for your brother and you won’t leave the island without my permission.”
“Hey, you can’t do that!” I would understand if he wanted Kenna to go somewhere safe until she calmed down, but forcing her to stop looking for her brother was wrong.
“Stay out of this.” The look Jaiden gave me was so cold and dark that I stumbled back. It was like staring into a dark pit. Kenna was struggling, tears filling her eyes.
“Jaiden!” I yelled, but I couldn’t catch his attention. His face was blank, his eyes swirling with an unknown emotion. Squinting, I tried to spot that tiny shimmering thread that led from him to Kenna, but I couldn’t see it. I raised the gun and pointed it at him. “Let her go.”
His lips pulled into a wicked smile. “As you wish.” He let go of her. She just stood there, unmoving. When I was about to reach out to her, she slapped Jaiden across the face.
“I hate you,” she choked out, then with one look at me, she turned into air and flew away. I lowered the gun, frowning. What the hell just happened? If Kenna had left, then it could mean only one thing. Jaiden’s mind control had been successful. Damn it. How could he have done that to her?
Jaiden stumbled back and leaned his head against the wall. I tucked the gun back into my boot, unsure what to do. The agent was still lying on the ground, not even twitching. His chest was moving up and down, so he wasn’t dead, but I didn’t know if other agents were coming. We had to get out of here, but at this point I wasn’t sure if I should just leave Jaiden. He was one of those that Elemontera considered to be too dangerous for our society. Maybe they were right.
But when I looked at Jaiden again, he was sitting on the ground, his head in his hands, his breathing heavy. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and looked up at me, a tear sliding down his cheek.
“Jaiden?” I asked quietly, taking a step toward him. “Are you okay?” I bit my lip, wondering if he had finally realized what he had done. The agent moaned and Jaiden immediately pulled himself up, pressing his boot against the man’s neck.
“I’ll deal with this. You go,” he said.
“What are you going to do?” I couldn’t just leave. Not when Jaiden was in this weird state of mind that I couldn’t even begin to understand.
“I said I’d take care of it. Go.” He gave me an exasperated look as the man gurgled.
“Not until you tell me what you’re going to do.” The guy had seen both Kenna and me, but he was an elemental like us. Maybe we could convince him not to tell anyone or help him run away from Elemontera.
“Give me the gun.” Jaiden opened his hand. “If we let him go, he’ll babble to Elemontera about us. We can’t let that happen. I hope you understand that.”
“I do, but shouldn’t we find out first who he is? Maybe we can free him from Elemontera if he...?” I didn’t want to let Jaiden kill this guy for nothing. Maybe Jaiden was capable of ending someone’s life to save ours, but what if the guy only worked for Elemontera because he had to? I wasn’t about to watch an innocent guy get killed.
Jaiden sighed and leaned forward, patting the guy’s pockets. He found an I.D. and flipped it over.
“Can I see? How old is he? He looks older than us, but he’s one of us. I know you said someone had tried genetic manipulation before, but this early? I don’t think so.” If Elemontera or someone had figured out how to enhance a regular elemental’s element to appear more similar to ours, then our whole world could change.
“He looks older than he is,” Jaiden said.
I reached out for the card. “Give it to me.”
“Moira, you should go. Now.” He set the I.D. on fire, letting it burn in his palm. My mouth fell open as I stared at him. I wasn’t aware we could actually burn something in our hand and not burn ourselves with it, but it didn’t really matter. What mattered was the reason why Jaiden bothered to burn the I.D. It didn’t make sense.
“Your...” the agent struggled to say, but Jaiden increased the pressure on his neck to shut him up. Was it wrong of me to assume that the guy knew Jaiden? Maybe from the time when Jaiden was captured? Was that why Jaiden was so eager to kill him? But if we were dealing with a bad guy, why wouldn’t Jaiden tell me anything? Maybe he thought I wouldn’t believe him after he’d attacked the guy like a madman.
“The gun! Now.” Jaiden gave me an intense look, but my head didn’t start to hurt. “He’ll come after all of us if we let him go. You shouldn’t feel sorry for him.”
“Why not?” I hesitated.
“Because he...” Jaiden didn’t have time to finish his sentence. The guy had somehow managed to kick Jaiden off him. Jaiden’s head collided with the wall and he fell to the ground.
“Hey!” I yelled at the agent, who was clambering to his feet. I quickly pulled out my gun and pointed it at him. “Don’t move.”
“Look, Moira? Right?” He raised his hands in the air. “Please don’t do this. I have a family. You’re not a monster like him.” His gaze dropped to Jaiden, who let out a soft moan. My finger tightened on the trigger. The guy knew my name. If I let him go, he’d come after me or my family. It would take Elemontera a second to match the name with the face.
“Why do you work for Elemontera? You’re not hunting only monsters, but children too.” Noah, his sister, Sam... None of them had done anything and Elemontera had gone after them nevertheless.
“It’s not that easy to separate monsters from innocents. It takes some time, but we make sure the monsters never come out.” He was inching closer to me.
“I said, don’t move!” My hand started to shake, but I didn’t want to lower the gun. If the guy tried something, I could stop him with my element. I was glad he couldn’t take off the bracelet.
“Moira, don’t be one of them. Don’t be a monster. Don’t let your tainted elements drag you into the darkness, because that’s what they’ll do if you let them.”
A frown creased my brow. What the hell was he talking about? Then again, why was I expecting any coherency from someone who worked for Elemontera? The gun flew out of my hand, a gasp escaping my throat. I hadn’t even seen that Jaiden was back on his feet. He held my gun to the back of the agent’s head and fired.
I bit back a scream as the shot rang and the guy plummeted to the ground. Jaiden bent down and grabbed the guy’s phone. He quickly dialed a number and threw the phone on the guy’s dead body. Tucking the gun in his waistband, he came toward me. I couldn’t stop myself from flinching back when he put his hand on my arm. He turned us both into air and we rose up, getting far away from the blood and the body.
Chapter 23
I had no idea for how long I’d been staring at the wall in front of me. Ever since Jaiden had brought me back to the apartment, I couldn’t stop replaying what had happened in my mind.
“Moira, thank God!” Noah burst through the door, running toward me and placing his arms around me. “I thought something happened to you.”
“No, I’m fine.” I bur
ied my face into his shoulder as he held me close.
“Marissa called me. Kenna returned to the island pissed off. They had to stop her from wrecking the place.” He pulled back to look at me, his blue eyes searching my face. “What exactly happened? If it’s what I think it is...”
“Jaiden mind-controlled her,” I sighed, running a hand over my face. “I tried to stop him, but I didn’t know how.”
“You couldn’t have done anything. When he decides to do something...” Noah shook his head.
“But it’s not okay! He can’t do that to her!” I was afraid to think what else he could force her or anyone else to do. “He won’t let her leave the island without his permission. How sick is that?”
“He shouldn’t have done that, but he’s just looking out for her. She would have gotten herself killed.”
I glared at him. “But at least it would have been her decision! Not his! Who is he to force someone to do or not to do something?”
“They’ll solve this once they both calm down.” Noah leaned on the counter. “What else happened? Jaiden wouldn’t tell me anything.”
I briefly recounted to him everything that had happened. “I don’t understand why Jaiden called someone with the agent’s phone, then just dropped it there like...”
Noah didn’t look surprised. “He called Elemontera so they would be the first ones to arrive at the scene. There won’t be an investigation. Elemontera is good at covering things up.”
I frowned. “Oh, perfect. Just perfect.”
“We should go back to the island. Nothing here for us to do.” He drummed his fingers against the wooden surface.
“I’m not going anywhere.” I put my hands on my hips. “We’re not done here.”
“What do you mean? Kenna is safe. Jaiden will be back as soon as he’s ready... You saw how dangerous it is out here. They might not be able to track us down, but if you use your elements or appear suspicious...”
Different (Tainted Elements Book 1) Page 14
