Elemental Betrayal

by Elle Middaugh

  It made me feel powerful and free…for all of fifteen minutes. Then I’d sink to the floor and crawl to my corner, willing myself to get lost in the memories that kept me going.

  This day was different, though. As I buried my face and squeezed my eyes shut, I couldn’t silence the unrest I felt. There had to be something else I could do, some other way to grab the Sect scientists’ attention. I couldn’t give up, no matter how mentally taxing it was to pinball between hopeless and hopeful.

  I racked my brain, trying to uncover anything I could have missed.

  They could ignore my growing physical strength if I remained cut off from my Elemental powers. They could ignore my screams for help. So, what was something they couldn’t ignore?

  They’d overheard our repulsive plan to drink their blood. They were probably watching and listening to us at that very moment. Was there anything I could say or do that would tip the scales of fate in my favor?

  Fate.

  I wondered if Ida was watching right now, seeing my helplessness.

  I’m sorry, Ida, I thought mentally. I’m trying.

  What exactly did the scientists care about, anyway? Knowledge, I supposed, but what sort of information did I have that could possibly be of interest to them?

  I glanced over at Paxton as he slept on the floor. “Pax.”

  He didn’t flinch, but I could see his chest rising and falling with each breath.

  “Pax!”

  Suddenly, he jerked awake with wide eyes.

  “Were you ever interrogated?”

  His nostrils flared. “Seriously? This, right now?”

  I threw him an exaggerated shrug. “Is there supposed to be a better time?”

  “I suppose not,” he muttered, crawling closer on his hands and knees.

  I met him at the bars. “So, were you?”

  “Yeah, a couple of times. Why?”

  “What sort of questions did they ask you?”

  He scratched his head and scrunched his nose. “I don’t know. It’s been a really long time.”

  I chewed on my lip, trying to figure out how to attack this problem. “What were you doing when they captured you?”

  “Nothing. Just hanging out on the beach of a deserted island.”

  My brow quirked. “Did you do anything suspicious prior to hiding away on a deserted island?”

  “No.”

  I thought for a moment. “Are you a Water?”

  “Yes—or at least I think I was, a long time ago.”

  The wheels in my head started spinning. “So, you were on an island, completely surrounded by your element, when they found you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe you were accidentally affecting the ocean?”

  He shook his head. “I mean, maybe? But is that really an offense worthy of life in prison?”

  I sighed and tried to explain. “The Sect doesn’t really think of things in terms of good or bad. They only care about what they call ‘the balance.’ If something or someone is tipping the scales too far in one direction, their job is to level things out. You know what I mean?”

  He frowned and anger swirled in his eyes. “So, I wasn’t even doing anything wrong? I just had more power than they preferred?”

  “That’s my guess. Meanwhile, my grandfather is running around with more power than any Elemental before him, and no one can seem to stop him.”

  Suddenly…I had another idea.

  I looked all around me, at the walls, ceiling, and floor, and tried to find one of the hidden cameras.

  “I need to talk to Exis,” I said firmly to whoever was listening.

  No hint of hysteria tainted my tone; no crazed panic buzzed in my eyes. They must’ve finally taken me seriously. One scientist and three soldiers carrying large guns strolled down the hallway and stopped in front of my cage.

  Passing through the bars as if they were invisible, two soldiers secured my arms while the other went around behind me and cuffed my wrists. No doubt they were Element-proof, not that it mattered.

  “What are you doing?” Pax whisper-shouted. “You’re missing your chance!”

  But I wasn’t after their blood anymore. I shook my head as a warning. Hopefully he didn’t try anything stupid while I was gone.

  The scientist jabbed a needle into my neck, but it didn’t weaken me or knock me out like before. It was apparently full of that magical serum, because I was hauled through the bars and was met with zero resistance.

  The scientist led us back up the hall, through a set of vacuum-sealed doors, up about half a million flights of stairs, and around more corners than I could possibly memorize. If they were trying to confuse me, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t trying to deceive them anymore; I really did need to talk to Exis.

  We eventually came to a white room with a plastic desk and a single plastic chair. I assumed the choice of material was intentional. As far as I could guess, plastic was manmade and therefore beyond the control of an Earth. A Fire could melt it easily enough, though that wouldn’t help much.

  A projector in the ceiling cast a giant image of Exis’s silken face on the wall. Her dark skin contrasted fiercely against the white paint.

  She smiled coldly. “Valerie, a pleasure. To what do I owe the honor?”

  “I have an idea,” I said, sounding like the amateur I was.

  She merely nodded.

  “Instead of trying to capture Nicholai to reestablish balance, why not let these Elemental prisoners free?”

  Her smile grew and spread to reveal perfect, pearly teeth. She chuckled at first then laughed heartily.

  “This is what you so desperately needed to talk to me about? Freeing yourself and your friends? I thought you knew better. No one ever escapes the Shadow Sect, little one.”

  “I don’t want to escape,” I said, pressing on despite how foolish I sounded. “I want you to let us go. Think about it—it’s one of the easiest possible ways to balance out the power. It’s obviously too difficult to harness Nicholai alone, so why not allow us to join forces and add power to the opposite side of the equation?”

  Her brows lowered, but her eyes moved as if she were thinking.

  Eventually, she shook her head. “It’s too risky. If we did that, there would be far more power in play than we could ever control. It could destroy the entire world.”

  “And if we continue to fail at stopping Nicholai and he keeps gaining more and more power, he’ll destroy the world anyway.”

  She considered my words again. I could tell she wasn’t pleased with her options.

  “It’s a gamble, any way you look at it,” I continued. “But this might be the only chance we have.”

  Long seconds passed, minutes maybe, and still she said nothing.

  I sighed. “Listen, I had a pretty awesome plan for busting out of here—”

  “I heard.”

  “But I abandoned that plan in favor of talking to you. You know why?”

  She raised a brow and crossed her arms. “Because you believe so strongly that this new plan will work that you’re willing to sacrifice your freedom to achieve it?”

  I blinked. She’d basically hit the nail on the head. “Yeah, pretty much.”

  She stared at me, eyes completely devoid of whatever was churning within her skull. “How will I know I have your complete cooperation? You had the chance to help us before and you refused.”

  I sighed. “I suppose you’ll just have to take my word for it. You can always capture me again if it doesn’t work out.”

  She shook her head. “No. I want absolute assurance. I want the boy.”

  It was my turn to fall silent. Which boy was she referring to? Kendrick? Cade? Either way, I would never be okay with it.

  “My little brother?” I asked, scarcely able to believe she’d stoop so low.

  She nodded, a calculating smile just barely turning her lips up at the corners.

  “I can’t do that,” I said, voice barely a whisper.

  She shrugge
d slightly. “Then I cannot release you. You have twenty-four hours to change your mind.”

  The wall screen went blank as she ended our video call.

  My mind flashed back to a time when I was being interrogated by Cade’s parents. Back then, I was weak. Was I seriously any stronger now? When the heat was on and the stakes had been raised, I’d given up information—names—I swore to myself I wouldn’t. I’d put Cade and Holden in danger, as well as a whole host of others.

  Twenty-four hours…and another choice would have to be made.

  Would I let them hold Kendrick just long enough to save the world? Or would I stay strong and watch the world crumble while I rotted in a cell?

  23

  Within the last twenty-four hours, I’d cranked out an endless stream of workouts. Stress and anxiety whirled through my veins. The harder I worked, the better I felt, but the nagging fear of the choice before me wouldn’t leave.

  Stay strong, be weak…or was trying to stay strong my new weakness? Maybe in this case being ‘weak’ was the stronger choice?

  Over and over, these thoughts tumbled through my brain, rattling me senseless.

  Growling, I jumped from wall to wall, slowly perfecting my parkour while desperately trying to purge the tension from my system. By the third wall, I lost momentum and hopped to the ground, running across the glowing floor before climbing up the next wall. Arching my back, I flipped over and landed in a crouch. When I raised my eyes, I saw a group of Sect scientists and soldiers outside of my cell. Beyond them, Paxton and Lilly watched with bated breath.

  The time had come, and suddenly, I knew exactly what I had to do.

  Standing, I nodded to my new friends, a tiny motion the Sect members hopefully didn’t notice.

  The scientist from before—the short one with the severe haircut—approached my glass bars.

  “Have you reconsidered?” she asked in a nasally voice.

  I nodded, bigger this time. “I have.”

  Quickly, I assessed my obstacles. One scientist, by the looks of her white lab coat. Two…alchemists? I wasn’t sure, but they were dressed in plain robes rather than modern hospital attire. Three soldiers, each with a machine gun aimed diagonally at the ground.

  The scientist stepped closer. “Shall we go call Exis?”

  Again, I nodded. “Yes.”

  Her lips spread smugly, and she nodded as two of the soldiers stepped into my cell and prepared to put me in cuffs. I held out my arms willingly, coaxing them to let their guard down. As soon as they took their eyes off mine and focused on my wrists, I dropped to the ground and kicked, knocking both soldiers into a pile on the floor.

  The third soldier raised his gun as if to shoot, but there was no clear shot in sight. If he missed me, he’d hit his fellow soldiers instead, and he needed them to help bring me down. I watched him nervously shift from foot to foot, trying to find a better angle.

  The scientist and the alchemists had fled. It would have been nice to simply inject myself with serum again, but that clearly wasn’t possible. If I’d waited until I was cuffed, I wouldn’t have been able to fight my way out, and now that the scientist was gone, the syringe was gone with her.

  One of the soldiers tried to get back up, but I grabbed her ankle and pulled her down again. That was when the third soldier decided to shoot. The bullet skimmed the side of my leg and landed in the thigh of the soldier behind me. Blood sprayed as his skin split and he cried out. Acting quickly, before I lost my nerve, I ran a finger through the spreading redness and popped it into my mouth. As soon as the iron tainted my tongue, my body rebelled, and I started to gag.

  No! I scolded myself, forcing my stomach to stay down. I hadn’t come all this way just to puke up my last chance of escape.

  The guards were back in motion the next second, one rushing to the aid of their bleeding companion, one charging at me with ireful eyes. He crashed into my body, the momentum knocking the wind from my lungs and pushing us both toward the glass bars of the cell. Miraculously, we slipped through, which meant the blood had done the trick after all.

  We slid to a stop in front of Paxton’s cell. Pushing to my feet, the world spun, and my head throbbed in pain. That soldier had certainly hit me with all he had.

  He grabbed my legs and pulled me down again, but I quickly landed a series of punches into his temple, effectively knocking him out—at least for a few minutes.

  “Can you use your powers?” Pax hissed anxiously. His knuckles were white as he squeezed the bars.

  I lifted my palm and a tiny flame appeared in the center. It was smaller than I’d ever seen, from myself or anyone, so I’d obviously not drunk enough blood. The thought of consuming any more made my stomach roll uneasily. Then I glanced at the overarching ceiling. Maybe there was more power suppression even outside of the cell?

  “Get us out of here,” Pax pleaded, reaching for me beyond the glass. “Do what you have to do and get us out!”

  I nodded, and disgust curled through my chest as I crawled back over to my cage. Even if our powers were suppressed out here, drinking more blood, and therefore the serum, should counteract it. Reaching into the cell, I grabbed the wounded soldier’s ankle and pulled. She screamed and clawed at the floor.

  The soldier helping her grabbed her arms and fought against me, and the soldier I’d just taken out woke back up, latched onto my own ankles, and heaved. It was a ridiculous sort of tug of war.

  I couldn’t let go of her foot; more than anything else, I knew that. If I let go, I’d lose my chance. The tiny bit of antidote I’d scrounged from her blood wouldn’t last forever.

  The soldier at my feet pressed his gun into my calf and fired. Three bullets tore through muscle and bone in rapid succession, spraying red across us both. I screamed but tightened my hold on the soldier’s ankle, digging my nails into her skin.

  I couldn’t let go—no matter what.

  Yanking hard, I slid her across the floor and through the bars onto my side. I was just about close enough to grab her gun and hopefully another fingerful of blood.

  Crawling closer, I cried out as the pain from the gunshot wound flared up my leg. Tears stung my eyes, blurring my vision, but not my resolve. The third soldier pressed the barrel of his gun into my other calf.

  I closed my eyes, and tears spilled down my cheeks. I could hobble out of there on one bad leg, but not two. If I changed tactics and focused on the other soldier instead, I would lose my grasp on the wounded soldier, possibly indefinitely. If these three escaped, the Sect would never send another person down here again. It would truly be over.

  Gritting my teeth, I tried to steel myself against the incoming pain. Reaching her—and her blood—was worth every bullet I would have to take.

  I hauled myself closer to her as another burst of bullets tore through my flesh. Sobbing, I dropped my lips to her thigh. She punched the back of my head, over and over, trying to push me away. Blood filled my mouth and dizziness shook my skull, but I was in too much pain to even notice the metallic taste. I swallowed, and power surged through my veins like a physical force, healing my damaged legs.

  My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. I could hardly believe it.

  It was too much, though. I’d been without my power for so long, it refused to be held back any longer. It erupted out of me in multiple tidal waves of violent blue flames and deadly icy daggers before finally calming down.

  The smell of charred flesh filled the air. Blackened ashes were all that remained of the three soldiers. I scampered away from their flaky corpses as new energy surged within me, mutating my powers. It was the consequence of killing more of my fellow Elementals—absorbing their power in unpredictable ways. Previously, I’d gained the ability to create extra-heavy snow, as well as an icy force push that knocked people away from me in a cold blast. I’d also created a fire-whip, and I had no idea what skill I’d receive from this fight.

  Ignoring that thought, I directed my power toward Paxton’s cell. I tried water first, bu
t the bars refused to be manipulated by it, which meant they must have been made of glass—thick, un-breaking glass that refused to crack no matter how much force it was met with. I tried fire next, attempting to melt the bars, but again, nothing happened.

  I jerked my head to the side and tried to crack my neck, but I mostly just strained my muscles. I was way too tense for that.

  Grimacing, I put my right hand up to a bar, but my fingers passed right through it.

  Oh shit. I had the serum in my body, so I could no longer touch them. It was as if they weren’t even there.

  I took a step back and racked my brain for some idea of what to do next.

  Suddenly, a siren wailed through the air. We were seriously running out of time.

  Fucking scientists! I grumbled as my anxiety built.

  “The blood!” Lilly shouted, pointing across the hall to my old cell.

  Of course! They’d have to drink it, too. It was the only way to get them out. I’d accidentally annihilated the soldiers, but luckily the one who’d been shot had lost a lot of blood on my cell floor earlier in the fight.

  “Hurry!” Lilly hissed. “I’ve heard those sirens only once before.”

  I swiped my hand through a puddle of blood and hoped to hell it was the soldier’s and not mine.

  “What do they mean?” I asked as I reached her cell and held out my palm.

  She licked it without a second thought but cringed as she fought to get it down. “Breach.”

  I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. “Someone’s breached the walls?”

  She nodded.

  Cade! Hope filled me with renewed determination.

  “I think that means my fiancé is busting us out of here. Let’s get as many Elementals free as we possibly can.”

  She slipped through the bars and smiled. It was just a small spreading of the lips at first, but it slowly grew until the very air around us felt lighter. After a grateful nod, she entered my cell and collected some blood then ran down the hall to the left. I moved right, toward Paxton.