“I’m not going to the restroom with you.” I glared at him. “We need to go.” Maybe he was even drunker than I thought. God knew what he had in mind. His face grew serious, his eyes darting between me and the entrance. “Noah is waiting for us outside,” I said.
“No, he’s not,” Jaiden said with all the certainty in the world. He started for the restroom, dragging me with him. How was he even doing it? He looked like he could barely stand on his feet, yet there was nothing I could do to stop him.
“What do you mean?”
A smile quirked his lips as he pulled me against his chest. I gasped, looking up into his dark eyes. Our faces were only inches apart, his grip strong on my waist. He leaned forward, burying his head in my hair. My pulse sped up. “Just go with it. Please,” he said, his breath tickled my ear, his warmth enveloping me completely.
I let him take me to the restroom without another word. He was either trying to trick me or he knew something that I didn’t. But wouldn’t Noah contact me if he’d seen Elemontera coming? He definitely would have... Unless Jaiden had mind-controlled him into leaving. I frowned. No, that couldn’t be it. Noah was too far for Jaiden to be able to do that, especially with so many people around. Besides, he was drunk, or was he?
As soon as the door closed behind us, I checked all the stalls and, having realized we were alone, I faced Jaiden. “What the hell are you doing?”
One moment he was standing in front of me and the next he was a shimmering cloud that rushed me. I could feel his fingers on my arm and my body started to turn into air too. We flew out, twisting and turning through God knew how many holes. Everything happened so fast that I couldn’t even see where we were going. It felt as if I’d been swallowed into a tornado. My head was spinning, my stomach heaving. It didn’t matter that I was part of the air now. I still had a feeling I could throw up. Maybe if I did that, Jaiden would finally stop this madness.
Chapter 25
I must have passed out at some point, because when I opened my eyes, I realized I was lying on one of the beds at the apartment.
Jaiden leaned forward, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief. “Welcome back.”
I pushed myself up on my elbows, giving him a cold glare. “What the hell did you do? Where’s Noah?”
“Relax. He’s fine.” Jaiden lifted a black bottle to his lips and took a sip. “I thought you could handle a bit of fast flying. Guess I was wrong.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. At this point, I couldn’t even tell if he was drunk or had a very high alcohol tolerance. “What were you doing at the bar?”
“Drinking.” He offered the bottle to me and I shook my head. “You promised.” He pouted.
My eyebrows shot upward. “I’m not doing anything until you tell me what you were doing at that bar and why you freaked out. Did you know Elemontera was coming? Did you send Noah away?”
Shaking his head, he brought the bottle to his lips. “Too many questions. Don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then don’t. We’ll do it in the morning.” I got to my feet, unwilling to deal with him while he was like this. We’d talk once he let go of the bottle and came to his senses. I was halfway to the door when he jumped up and grabbed my arm.
“Don’t go. Please.” He looked up at me, licking his lips. The slam of the door sounded from somewhere in the apartment and I flinched. If Elemontera had found us... Jaiden lifted his head and I could see a tiny shimmering thread going from him through the small gap in the door. “It’s only Noah,” he said.
The tension left my shoulders. “Okay, I’ll go talk to him.”
“No, no Noah. No, Noah.” He burst out laughing, tugging on my arm as he stumbled toward the bed. It looked like he was drunk, but there had been moments when he acted so sober that I just wasn’t sure anymore.
“You can tell Noah is here. How?” I let him pull me with him, but he abruptly let go and sat on the floor, leaning his back against the bed.
“Easy. I’ve controlling his mind enough to be able to recognize it.”
“Ah. You must enjoy doing that.” I crossed my arms in front of me.
His eyes shot up, his lips parting. Lowering his head, he chuckled. “If only you knew what it feels like.” His face grew serious, his gaze distant.
“Why don’t you tell me?” I grabbed a cushion from the chair and dropped it on the ground so I could sit opposite from him.
The bottle found its way back to his lips and he took a long gulp. Lowering the bottle to the floor, he put it right in front of me and tilted his head. I took the bottle, my eyes never leaving his, and brought it to my lips. Pretending to drink was something I’d done before. I put the bottle back and raised an expectant eyebrow at him.
The corners of his lips quirked up. “Have you ever had complete control over someone? Held someone’s life in your hands?”
“Nope.”
“Being in someone’s mind and controlling it...” His eyes darkened. “It gives you so much power. You feel like you can do anything. Like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.” He reached for the bottle. “You want to do things that...” Blinking, he toyed with the bottle in his hand. “...you can’t forget later no matter how much you drink.” He tipped the bottle and swallowed more of his drink.
“What are you trying to forget?” I leaned forward.
“Who said I wanted to forget something?” He grinned at me.
“I assumed you did, considering...” I nodded toward the bottle.
“There are many reasons to drink.”
“Did you know Kenna was in danger? Was that why you had to send her away?” I was hoping he’d at least tell me something useful. He knew more than he was letting on. After what I overheard Kenna’s brother say, I couldn’t help but think Jaiden knew about it.
His hand tensed on the bottle, nearly knocking it down. “I don’t want to talk about her.”
“Fine.” I could understand that. They’d just broken up. “Then let’s talk about Elemontera. Our lives are at stake and I don’t even know what we’re dealing with, so why don’t you tell me? I overheard some agents talking and I didn’t like what I heard.”
“What did you hear?” He became so still that I wondered if he was breathing.
“What does it matter? You won’t tell me anything anyway.” As soon as the words left my mouth, pain spread through my head. “Really?” I got to my feet, my breathing ragged. “Are you going to force me to tell you? What are you hiding?” The pain intensified and I bared my teeth at him. “I won’t give you what you want.” I focused on the shimmering thread linking him and me. Closing my eyes, I pictured myself pushing his shimmering air out of my mind and breaking the link.
When I opened my eyes, Jaiden was gaping at me, his eyes wide. “How did you do that?” he whispered.
“I won’t let anyone control my mind, especially not you,” I said through my teeth. He might not want to talk about Kenna, but I had to ask him something very important. “Kenna’s brother wants to kill her, doesn’t he?” I observed his expressionless face. “I’m sure he wouldn’t want to do that on his own. Someone mind-controlled him into it, right? And the only person who can do that...” He’d made a point of telling me that he hadn’t met anyone who could do what he could. Maybe there was someone like him, but I doubted that person had mind-controlled Nick. “...is you.”
“What are you implying?” His nostrils flared.
“You’ve been captured by Elemontera. I’m just thinking that before you escaped, you had to do something for them.” I met his anger-filled eyes. Abilities like his would be of utmost importance to Elemontera and I was sure he had to have family somewhere or Elemontera had found a way to force him to do what they wanted him to. If they could convince so many of ours to work for them, then they were very persuasive.
He scoffed, looking away from me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Am I right?” It would make sense if he had mind-controlled Nick while they were b
oth at Elemontera. Jaiden had done everything to keep Kenna away from her brother, even though he’d tried to save Noah’s sister. He couldn’t have told Kenna the truth because she’d hate him forever. “Can your mind control be reversed?” I asked when I realized he wouldn’t answer me.
He sighed. “Sometimes.”
I sat back on the floor, trying to catch his gaze. “Listen, I don’t care if Elemontera made you mind control Nick to go after his sister or if someone else had done it. Can you reverse it or fix it?” If he could do it, then we could lure Nick out and Jaiden would make sure Nick no longer wanted to kill his twin sister. It shouldn’t be so hard for someone like him who could use his ability to reach out to other elemental’s minds even when he couldn’t see them. Besides, if he was the one who had mind-controlled Nick in the first place, then he knew Nick’s mind.
Jaiden blinked at me. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” My brow furrowed.
He traced his finger across the opening of the bottle. “Some things can’t be fixed.”
Tampering with someone’s mind was a delicate thing and I had no doubt it was more complicated than it seemed to me, but if it was so difficult, why was he doing it almost every instant or as soon as someone disagreed with him? Surely he wouldn’t risk messing up his friends’ minds. “I’m not sure I believe you. Is there something specific that prevents you from convincing Nick not to harm his twin?”
“Yes.”
“Like what?” I tapped my fingers against my leg. Would I have to pull every single word from his mouth?
“I told you already. I’ve been captured by Elemontera. Their agents are safe from me.” His jaw was set.
“So you can’t access Nick’s mind? Is it a device that blocks you?” I remembered he’d mentioned the mysterious protection before, but I didn’t know anything about how it worked. If it was just a device, we could always shut it off or get Nick to throw it away.
He shrugged. “Kind of.”
“Okay, where is it? How do we turn it off?”
“We can’t.” His eyes met mine. “The device is inside their heads and can’t be taken out.”
“What?” My head jerked back.
“What can I say? I’m dangerous.” He shrugged, shaking the bottle.
“But how do we stop Nick then?”
“We don’t.” He downed his drink.
I hugged my knees to myself. If there was no way to change Nick’s mind, then Kenna was in mortal danger. I was sure she’d find a way to go after her brother again. If he were my brother, I would have done anything to get to him, even if it meant facing all Elemontera agents and Jaiden’s mind control. “What if we find someone else who can do what you can?”
He considered it for a moment. “It could work.”
“Okay.” So there was still hope for Kenna and her brother. We just had to find someone like Jaiden, which considering that he hadn’t heard of anyone like that wouldn’t be an easy task.
A knock sounded at the door and Noah poked his head through the crack. “Everything fine?”
“We’re great.” Jaiden lifted the bottle and turned it upside down. “Do we have more of these?”
“I don’t think getting another one would be a good idea,” I said, giving Jaiden a look under my eyebrows.
“Ignore her and fetch ‘nother one.” Jaiden waved the bottle and let it drop to the floor. The bottle rolled all the way to Noah’s feet.
“I’m not your dog,” Noah said, amusement flashing in his blue eyes. “Go get it yourself.”
“Oh, come on!” Jaiden rubbed his face and I could see a shimmering cloud rising out of his body and flying up. Was he trying to mind control Noah again? Because if he was, I was ready to break through the link. But the cloud passed next to Noah and disappeared through the gap.
Something crashed to the floor in another room and Noah pressed his hand to his face. “Jaiden...”
“Shut up. I’m trying to concentrate.” Jaiden blinked and we heard a thud. Was he really trying to get another bottle with his element? Did he even know where the bottle was?
“Okay, stop!” Noah said. “I’ll get you a drink.”
A small smile crossed Jaiden’s lips as Noah strode off. It didn’t take long until Noah was back with a glass full of something whitish. He handed the glass to Jaiden, who inspected it with distaste. The white thing had settled down and now the liquid looked transparent.
“Just drink it,” Noah said. Jaiden tipped the glass to his lips and drank the whole contents in one big gulp. After he put the empty glass on the floor, a frown creased his brow. He blinked a couple of times and his body swayed to the right. His eyes closing, he fell on his side to the floor.
“Jaiden?” I said, my pulse racing. He looked as if he were unconscious. My eyes shot to Noah. “What the hell did you do to him?”
“Relax. He’ll be fine.” Noah didn’t look overly concerned as he picked Jaiden up by the shoulders and pulled him onto the bed. “I gave him one of his sleeping pills.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I gaped at him. “He just drank a whole bottle of alcohol and God knows what else at the bar! You can’t give him any kind of pills! We have to get him to a hospital!”
“If you and I did that, we’d need a stomach pumping, but he’ll be fine. Trust me.” Noah gently laid Jaiden’s head on the pillow and pulled the covers over him. “And those are not regular pills anyway.”
“I swear if something happens to him, I’m holding you responsible.” I pointed my finger at Noah.
“Duly noted.” He started for the door. “Come on.”
With one last look at Jaiden’s sleeping form, I crossed the room and hoped he’d be fine in the morning. As I closed the door behind me, I was sure I’d come to check on him a couple of times to make sure he was still breathing.
Chapter 26
I took a large bite of my sandwich while Noah poured himself a glass of juice. We’d gotten at least a couple of hours of sleep and last time I checked, Jaiden was still alive. “Did you see anyone while you were waiting in front of the bar?” Jaiden hadn’t really been helpful when it came to explaining why he’d sent Noah away.
“No, but I did see Elemontera’s vans while I was flying away.” He threw the empty carton in the trash. “If Jaiden hadn’t warned me, I might not have seen them in time.”
“How did he know they were coming?” I set the plate I’d been holding on the counter.
“No idea.” He shrugged. “He must have sensed them.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “But how? He can’t read people’s minds and he told me some, if not all, Elemontera agents were protected against him.” If Elemontera was in such a hurry to get to the bar, they must have known Jaiden would be there. It wouldn’t surprise me that there were undercover agents in the most popular bar ever, even though they might not have wanted to engage Jaiden before the backup arrived. But wouldn’t they have sent agents whose mind Jaiden couldn’t access? “Or can he still recognize someone’s mind even if he can’t access it?”
Noah gave me an incredulous look. “Umm, and how am I supposed to know?”
“Didn’t he tell you?” Noah knew Jaiden longer than I did. Surely Jaiden had slipped some important info about his abilities.
“He doesn’t really want to talk about it. Says it reminds him of Elemontera.”
How convenient. I wondered why he didn’t feel the same about using mind control, considering Elemontera had probably forced him to use that particular ability on Kenna’s brother. “I think he should have at least told you what exactly he can do.”
Noah’s face was serious, his eyes hard. “If Jaiden is hiding some of his abilities from us, then he has a good reason. I trust him. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt us. Even if he can read our minds or use his ability to track us, what does it matter? I don’t have anything to hide. Do you?”
I opened my mouth to say something, then just shook my head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Umm, okay.” I leaned on the counter, cocking my head at him.
“When we get back to the island...” He licked his lips, lowering his eyes. “Would you like to...” His eyes met mine. “...go somewhere fun one day?”
Was I imagining it or was he asking me on a date? “I’d love to.” I was all for finding fun on the island.
“Great!” Noah glanced at the watch. “We have two hours until the next ferry.”
I might not have liked my dad’s idea to stay on the island at first, but Elemontera hadn’t bothered us there and I didn’t want to stay in the city while they were actively searching us. I wasn’t looking forward to the claustrophobic underground tunnels, but I did want to train more with my elements. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I quickly grabbed it to type another message to my parents.
“I see you figured it out how to text someone other than me.” He gave me a playful nudge with his elbow.
“Yeah.” I finished typing and slipped the phone back into my pocket. “My parents would have freaked out if I hadn’t contacted them. If there’s a fee for the phone or something, I’ll pay you.”
“You don’t have to. We don’t exactly receive bills every month,” he grinned. I had no idea what kind of an arrangement Noah had with the people who owned the network, but I was glad he did. The kitchen door opened wide and we both looked up to see Jaiden stumbling inside, his dark brown hair messy, his black shirt wrinkled.
“We have to go,” he said, running a hand across his face.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Noah frowned.
“Elemontera will be here in less than two minutes. They must have found out about this place.”
“Shit!” Noah’s eyes widened, his fingers curling into fists. “I’ll pack the things we need.” He rushed for the door. Jaiden grabbed a plastic bag and opened one of the cabinets.
“How do you know they’re coming?” If Elemontera would be here in two minutes, then they had to be at least a couple of blocks away. Jaiden looked like he’d been asleep not so long ago, so what had woken him up? Could he really sense someone’s mind almost on the other side of the city or was there something else?
Different (Tainted Elements Book 1) Page 16
