Book Read Free

Elemental Betrayal

Page 15

by Elle Middaugh


  “Let me out!” I screamed, so loud it rattled my vocal chords down to individual threads. “Let me out, let me out, let me out!”

  Up the hall, a new face appeared at a different set of bars, a girl. She had beautiful black curls and stunning brown skin.

  “Shut the fuck up,” was all she said.

  My mouth snapped shut in surprise. I hadn’t realized there were other prisoners down there, nor had I realized they’d be quite so rude.

  “Who are you?” I asked stupidly.

  She merely flipped me the bird before disappearing back into her lit-up box.

  Paxton sighed. “Her name is Lilly.”

  “What kind of Elemental is she?”

  Paxton shook his head. “No idea.” Then he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

  What time was it? Was I supposed to be asleep? I didn’t feel tired. I felt panicked.

  “Hello?” I cried out again. “Help me! Get me out of here!”

  I shook my full weight against the crystal bars, trying to get them to budge, but they refused. I contorted my fingers, squeezing them as tight as I could, and willed my power to flow…but it wouldn’t.

  “Help!”

  Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the hall. A short woman in a bright white lab coat strode into view. Her features were severe—even her haircut was sharp—and she had a syringe in her right hand.

  My throat tightened. I knew exactly what was coming next.

  “No!” I cried, backing up against the wall as the sickening sensation of fear overwhelmed me. “No, no, no! Someone help me!”

  She crossed through the bars like some sort of magic. They were there in front of her one minute then disappeared and reappeared behind her the next. How the hell was that possible?

  I kicked out at her, but she merely shook her head. Grabbing my arm with the swiftness of a snake, she stabbed the needle into me. A stinging broke out across my skin and sank deep into my muscles. Immediately, the strength drained out of me, and as I slumped to the floor, the room spun sideways and wobbled.

  The last thing I saw was a jumbled mess of her exiting feet.

  20

  Holden

  I stared into the dusky clearing, watching, waiting.

  The early glow of the moon just barely illuminated my surroundings, but I knew them well enough.

  When my father was a boy, a whole town had thrived in this area, rich in lumber and coal. Now, only a few crumbling foundations remained. The rest had been reclaimed by nature. My friends and I had played here a few times when we were kids, imagining the former glory of the place however we wanted to. That was back when the world was still pure and magical, back when our futures were wide and bright, our potential limitless. Now I saw the abandoned town for what it was: just another broken piece of a run-down world that was slowly falling apart.

  A twig snapped, and my eyes darted toward the source of the sound.

  Neither Loren nor I were Earths, so I assumed the ominous crack meant she’d finally decided to show.

  I crossed my arms and my lips thinned as she strode into view.

  “Loren,” I said by way of greeting.

  A wicked smile spread across her lips. “Holden.”

  I decided to cut straight to the chase. “The Shadow Sect has Valerie.”

  She shrugged as if she didn’t care, and in all honesty, she probably didn’t.

  “And who has Cade?”

  “I do,” I said.

  The truth of my words startled even me. When had I become so depraved that I’d kidnap a man for the love of a girl? But then I remembered it was Landston we were talking about, and my remorse quickly faded away.

  I hated him. If he hadn’t broken Traditionalist law, he never would have spoken to her in the first place. She’d have been with me right then, happy and safe. It was his fault she’d been captured, his fault my life had been ruined. Taking him out of the picture would be the best thing for all of us.

  Loren pursed her lips. “So, what’s this deal you want to make? Surely you don’t expect to trade Cade for Val?”

  I grinned. “That’s exactly what I expect, actually.”

  “I can’t do that. No one knows where the Shadow Sect is, and even if they did, there’s no one alive strong enough to infiltrate it.”

  “Maybe not alone,” I said with a shrug, “but as a group? I think the Elitists are more than capable.”

  Her eyes narrowed, the blue of her irises shining an inky black in the growing darkness. “That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know where it is.”

  “Don’t you?” I asked with a smirk. “I heard a rumor that Nicholai, your father, and your uncle were captured by them once, a long time ago when the Elitists failed the first time. I also heard your father and uncle have been captured again and need to be set free.”

  She growled, clearly unhappy to be reminded of her family’s shortcomings.

  “You want me to lead a team of Elitists on a suicide mission into the heart of the Sect? I’ll get my dad and uncle back, you’ll get Valerie back, and then you’ll hand Cade over to me?”

  She made it sound a bit preposterous, but I knew how badly she wanted him, what she was willing to risk for him, because I felt the same way about the person I loved.

  “Yes.”

  I sort of hated myself for coming up with the idea, but my love for Val overpowered any rational second thoughts I might’ve been having. She had been happy with me once; I knew she could be happy with me again…once Cade was out of the picture.

  I swallowed hard and held out my hand. “Do we have a deal?”

  For a long moment, Loren didn’t say anything, didn’t move. She simply stood there as if feeling conflicted about the choice. Then, slowly, a grin crept onto her face, and she placed her hand in mine.

  “Deal.”

  21

  I blinked, and the brightness of the room assaulted my eyes. Squeezing them shut as they watered, I pushed myself into a sitting position. My muscles ached and shook violently.

  Paxton was back to standing at the bars across the hall.

  I rolled my eyes and looked away. “How long was I out?”

  He shrugged. “I have no idea. I lost track of how to keep time long ago.”

  Slowly and tenderly, I pushed up onto my feet. My legs trembled, and I rested my palms on my thighs. Whatever was in those syringes, it was more than a sedative. My body felt like it was deteriorating already.

  Dizziness swarmed in my head like a cloud of bees. My stomach lurched, and I swallowed down the impulse to puke. Staggering, I pressed my forehead against the brightness of the closest wall.

  I forced myself to think of something else, anything to distract me from the impending sickness creeping up my throat.

  In the past, I had counted my steps to calm down. Maybe I could count my breaths in the same way.

  Inhale. One. Exhale. Two. Inhale. Three. Exhale. Four.

  “You okay?” Paxton asked.

  I nodded. “I’m fine.”

  I licked my lips and reassessed my body. My stomach had settled a bit, but my muscles were still shaky. The simple act of standing there had caused a vibration to flare up in my legs and core. I hoped it’d go away, and soon.

  I recalled Paxton’s words from earlier: We wither away to skin and bone with no physical strength to use to break out.

  I couldn’t allow that to happen.

  If a Sect scientist came down to anesthetize me every time I caused a ruckus, I would just have to do it again, except next time, I would fight back and knock the bitch out, maybe give her a dose of her own medicine—literally.

  I would need to stay strong in order to make that happen.

  Despite the aching in my body, I dropped to the ground and held a rickety plank position. Breathing deeply, I lowered myself and pushed back up. One. Swallowing hard against the pain in my arms, I moved my body down again. It took forever to lift my chest and fully extend my arms. Two. Sweat broke out along my ha
irline and dampened my spine. I lowered myself again, but this time I fell to the illuminated floor.

  Frustrated, I punched it, but it didn’t even hurt. There’d been no real strength behind the motion.

  I needed to try harder.

  Holding another plank, I lowered myself down and struggled to rise back up. Three.

  “What are you doing?” a voice snapped in irritation.

  Lilly.

  I wanted so badly to flip her off like she’d done to me, but I couldn’t do that and continue my exercises, so I ignored her. Instead, I channeled that pent-up anger into determination. I bent my arms then pushed back up, faster this time. Four.

  Footsteps sounded again in the hall, faster than they’d strolled in last time. Another scientist, if I had to guess.

  Were there cameras hidden in the walls? I suppose it wouldn’t have surprised me. Was exercising a crime? Maybe it was the only way to counteract the serum they were so fond of injecting. More likely, they just preferred their prisoners to be weak and desolate.

  Regardless, I now had another chance at escape.

  A man in a white lab coat entered my line of vision. I lowered myself then pushed up. Five.

  He slipped through the bars as if they didn’t exist, holding another syringe. His thumb was already on the plunger.

  I did another push-up. Six.

  He strode over to me, grasping the back of my neck, but before he could stab the needle into my skin, I thrust my elbow back into his face. He cried out, dropping the syringe and grabbing his nose as it bled.

  Quickly, I rolled over and seized the syringe, sending the needle straight into his neck. The next second, the scientist dropped to the floor in an unconscious heap.

  Paxton’s eyes went wide across the hall. His fingers were bone-white as he squeezed the bars. “What’s your plan?” he asked. His tone was either one of excitement or terror—maybe both.

  “Um…” I said, but I wasn’t exactly sure. I hadn’t had time to plot much further than that.

  There had to be something on or in the scientist that allowed him to enter and exit the cage. I patted him down, checked all his pockets, his socks, and his security card, but I couldn’t find anything useful.

  “Check his neck,” Paxton suggested. “Maybe there’s a chip or something?”

  I cocked my head. Okay… We were basically living in a sci-fi movie at this point, so I figured we might as well cover all the stereotypical bases. I scanned his neck, poking and prodding. I even checked his temples.

  “Nothing,” I said, flipping him over and searching his back.

  “Wrists,” Paxton suggested.

  I shook my head. “Nothing.”

  Suddenly, more scientists entered the hall. The sound of their racing footsteps echoed like the clip-clop of galloping horses.

  I was almost out of time.

  Hefting the scientist up, I dragged him over to the bars, thinking maybe if I was touching him when he passed through, I’d be able to sneak through, too.

  But no. I slammed into the bars, losing my hold on him, and he fell to the floor, half in and half out of my cell.

  Three scientists stopped in front of me, glaring. Two of them picked up their fallen comrade, and one of them stabbed me with yet another needle.

  “Damn you!” I slurred as my grip on the bars slackened.

  The next second, I slumped to the floor, my face dragging down the glassy surface.

  22

  When I woke, my lungs burned with the sharp tang of bleach. My room had been scrubbed bare. No sign of my fight with the scientist remained.

  “I have a theory,” Paxton whispered.

  I rubbed my eyes with weakened hands. My face was still sore from crashing into the cell bars. “And what’s that?”

  He licked his lips and looked both ways. “I think you should drink his blood next time.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a vampire, Pax.”

  “I know it sounds crazy,” he pressed, “but maybe that’s where the secret’s hiding?”

  “I think he’s right,” Lilly said from down the hall.

  I raised a brow. “Oh, you’re being social now?”

  She glared at me. “Put yourself in my place. I’ve been trapped here for hundreds of years. No one who enters ever escapes. Do you know how many loud-mouthed prisoners I’ve had to listen to, day in and day out, until they finally lost all hope and stopped screaming for help?”

  I looked at the brightened floor, ashamed of my attitude. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said, sighing. “I’m sorry, too, for being such a dick earlier.”

  A smile tugged at my lips. “So, you think Pax is right about the blood?”

  She nodded. “I saw you searching the scientist. He didn’t seem to have any physical object outside of his person. The next logical assumption is that it must be inside his body.”

  “And what do you think ‘it’ is?” I asked, glancing between the two of them.

  “A serum, most likely,” Lilly suggested. “A potion they drink to counteract the restrictive properties of these light boxes.”

  I nodded, wishing I knew what the secret ingredient was. If I could get my hands on that knowledge, I could shut the Sect down forever once I escaped.

  “So how much blood are we talking about?” I asked.

  It turned my stomach to think about drinking any amount of blood, but these were desperate times.

  Lilly grasped the bars and thought for a moment. “I have no idea how much serum is necessary to ingest in order to pass through the barrier. The more the better, I would assume.”

  Son of a bitch.

  I scrunched my nose and tried to convince myself it’d be okay. Surely, I wouldn’t puke, at least long enough to get the hell out of the cage and get everyone else out too.

  “What if they send even more people down next time?” Paxton asked nervously. “First they sent one, then they sent three. What are the odds they’ll send five or more next time?”

  “Or worse,” Lilly said. “What if they start sending Sect soldiers down with the scientists?”

  “I thought the soldiers only operated on the outside.”

  Lilly raised a brow. “You really think they wouldn’t move inside if necessary?”

  I was silent for a moment. Of course they would.

  “I’ve fought the soldiers before,” I said quietly. “I can do it again.”

  I didn’t want to admit how difficult it had been even with my powers, how impossible it’d be without them, especially with how weak I felt.

  From the look in her eye, Lilly seemed to understand. “Just make sure you get the blood before it comes to a fight with soldiers.”

  I nodded, and we all dissipated to our respective corners.

  Dropping to the floor, I began doing sit-ups. My abdominals quivered, threatening to give out at any moment, but I only squeezed them harder. One. The more I did, the stronger I became. The quivering lessened, and my pace picked up. When I reached a hundred, I stopped and wondered where the hell the scientists were. They had to hate seeing me regain my strength. Why were they not being all needle-happy this time?

  Frowning, I started on squats. My quads and hamstrings burned as the sedative mixture made its way out of my body, and like with the sit-ups, the more I worked, the better I felt. Again stopping at a hundred, I narrowed my eyes and walked to the glass bars of my cell.

  Exercise apparently wasn’t drawing them in this time. So, I resorted to obnoxious shouting.

  “Hello?” I called, and my voice echoed down the hall. No footsteps answered. “Someone let me out of here!”

  I pounded on the glass with my fists. A dull ache spread through my hands, but still no one came.

  Suspicion welled up inside of me, followed quickly by numbing despair. They’d heard us talking; they must have. They knew how I was planning on gaining my power back, and they were avoiding me to ensure it didn’t happen.

  I gritted
my teeth as I fought the urge to cry.

  How would I ever escape this place?

  Days passed, maybe weeks. Distinguishing between morning and evening was impossible. My room always glowed that annoying shade of fluorescence, and still no scientists came.

  Pax and Lilly had given up talking. He’d curled up in his usual corner, and while I couldn’t see Lilly if she wasn’t at her bars, I had a feeling she was in a similar position. It seemed to be the way the helpless sat.

  I’d taken to daydreaming. I thought about Cade most of all, remembering the feel of his sun-kissed skin, the taste of his lips, the scent of his natural cologne. I imagined what it’d feel like to have his arms wrapped around me, and I even half-convinced my nerve receptors I’d actually felt it. I would lean my head into my own shoulder and pray for it to be real, only to open my eyes and realize it was a dream that may never come true again.

  I thought of Sienna and Xavier, imagining them the way I wanted them to be: a happy couple who laughed and held hands and loved without fear.

  I thought of my father, hoping my disappearance hadn’t caused him too many sleepless nights, or worse, sent him spiraling into some sort of depression.

  I wondered how Kendrick was doing, and I often pictured him laughing as he ran through fields of wildflowers, even though I’d never seen him in one. I supposed it was just my mind’s way of idealizing everything.

  It was easy to curl up in a corner and get lost in your imaginings. They were certainly better than the reality of the situation, but every day, I forced myself to not get complacent. As soon as I started feeling exceptionally hopeless, I would rise from my fetal position and do a workout. No one had come to inject me lately, so my muscles didn’t seem to be withering anymore. If anything, I was becoming as fit and agile as I had been before capture.

  I’d started practicing parkour like we did back at Revolutionist Headquarters. I didn’t really have much room to run freely or any obstacles to scale, but I did have four walls, and I practiced jumping off them. There was a subtle art to how you positioned your feet and how much muscle you used to power your launch. If you timed it just right, you could land with minimal impact and keep moving on to the next wall. Once, I even leapt from wall to wall, skipping the floor altogether.

 

‹ Prev