Invisible

by Alycia Linwood

  I rushed down the hallway but slowed down once I got closer to the door of my room. When my bracelet was near enough, the door opened and I saw Jaiden, who was sitting on my bed, his eyes squeezed shut, his chest rapidly rising and falling. It seemed that Sheridan hadn’t been lying about the panic attacks, but I was still confused about the trigger. Maybe when someone else was in the room, he was too distracted to notice the room around him, but I couldn’t know until I found out the story about how these attacks had started. Besides, maybe there was something specific about Elemontera’s rooms that triggered him, so there was no way I could use his panic attacks against him if we were outside and he chose to betray me again.

  “Jaiden?” I whispered.

  He opened his eyes, which were now a bit too wide, and looked at me, his shoulders relaxing almost instantly. I swallowed hard. I shouldn’t have left him alone. I shouldn’t have. Damn it.

  “Are you okay?” I came to sit on the bed next to him. “What’s wrong?”

  He kept shaking his head. Before I could think about it, I pulled him into my arms, and he let me, lowering his head into my lap. I gently ran my fingers through his hair, feeling his whole body lean into my touch. He closed his eyes, his breathing regular again.

  But then his whole body went rigid as he tore himself out of my embrace, mumbling under his breath. His left hand turned into fire as he got to his feet, and he swore, furiously shaking his hand. Something had made him lose control of his element, but what?

  “Is there something you need...?” I asked.

  He looked at me, his eyes cold and hard. “What do you want from me?”

  “What?” I gaped at him.

  “You want something from me, don’t you? You wouldn’t do all this otherwise.”

  I bit my lip. He was partly right. I had wanted to find out more about him for my own benefit, but now I was just worried. “I only want to help you. That’s all,” I said, even though I had a feeling he wouldn’t believe me.

  “You can’t help me.” The fire no longer covered his arm as he stormed out of the room. I let myself drop to the bed and stared at the ceiling. Grabbing my pillow, I hugged it to myself. I couldn’t stop thinking about Jaiden. Where would he go now? Did he even have someone to talk to about this? Someone who cared about him? His father seemed like a real jerk, but I didn’t know anything about the rest of his family.

  Then again, Jaiden could probably go out as he pleased and maybe he even had a girlfriend outside of Elemontera. Except he wouldn’t be able to tell her what exactly bothered him without mentioning his father’s organization. I rolled over, burying my face into the pillow, and groaned. Jaiden had betrayed me and nearly gotten Noah killed. So why did I even care what happened to him? And why was my throat constricting every time I remembered that I’d considered getting close to him only to use him, like Kenna had done? If I were sure he wouldn’t betray me again... No, I couldn’t think about that. Jaiden was a distraction, and I couldn’t afford any distractions. Not now.

  Chapter 14

  A shrill sound of the alarm pierced the air, making me jump and sending a cold shiver down my spine. I rushed out of my room and into the hall, nearly bumping into an agent. The world spun around me and I had to support myself on the wall for a few moments.

  “Moira!” Noah yelled as he ran toward me, his brow wrinkled. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.” I pushed myself off the wall, glad that the walls remained in place and hadn’t started dancing around me. “What’s going on?”

  “I think they found the elementals.” His eyes met mine, and I had a feeling we’d both hoped our friends would stay away or leave.

  “You two. Sheridan’s office. Now,” a guard said, pointing his finger at us.

  My stomach churned on the way to the office, my palms getting clammy, but I kept my face expressionless. If Sheridan and the boss realized what connection Jaiden, Noah, and I had with the elementals who we were supposed to hunt down, they’d take us off the mission and we’d be powerless. But as Noah and I entered the office, I couldn’t stop myself from staring in surprise at all the people who’d gathered in the small space. There were eight more agents, including Jaiden and Nick, whose lips were pressed together into a tight line. If we were lucky, Kenna hadn’t been able to come with the others because of Jaiden’s mind control, but Nick couldn’t know that. I didn’t even want to think about how he felt.

  “You’re all here. Great,” Sheridan said, and my head snapped in her direction. She was huddled in the corner of the room, the boss sitting next to her. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail and there were dark circles under her eyes. The boss’ gray eyes sparkled with excitement, his lips spread into a small smile.

  “Are we finally going after the elementals?” a guy asked, running his hand through his black hair. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and I couldn’t remember seeing him before, but I hated the enthusiasm in his voice.

  “Yes. We think this is our best chance to deal with this threat,” she said. I gritted my teeth together. A threat? Yeah, right. The only threats to anyone were sitting in this room and, unfortunately, no one was hunting them. Yet.

  “Until all the elementals are here, no one will be safe,” the boss said ominously, carefully observing our faces. An agent standing next to me flinched. Well, at least now I knew not everyone here was eager to hunt down our own people, but I wasn’t sure that fact would do me or anyone any good.

  “You’ll get all the info you need on your tablets, which will be delivered to your rooms right away,” Sheridan said. “So go get ready and be quick about it. You don’t want to miss this mission. Trust me.”

  Everyone started for the door. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Really? That was it? Why the hell had they even called us to the office when they could have simply given us the tablets immediately? It must have all been the boss’ idea because he’d wanted to see us before the mission or monitor our reactions. Noah gave me a brief nod before he hurried out.

  “Moira, wait,” Sheridan said just as I was about to follow everyone else. I slowly turned around, barely breathing, my blood racing. What if the boss had discovered Jaiden and I had stolen a device from his office? I’d been carrying it around with me and only taking it out in the showers where no one could see it, and tucking it safely into the pillowcase before I went to sleep so it wouldn’t accidentally slip out. No one could have seen it. Had Jaiden told his father the truth or was there some kind of a detector that could pinpoint the device’s location? I dug my nails into my palms, the device suddenly feeling hot and heavy in my bra.

  “We haven’t had enough time to train you properly, but I think your mind-controlling abilities are just fine. Don’t be afraid to use them on the elementals,” she said. “You may go now.”

  I nearly staggered from a wave of relief that overcame me. When I returned to my room, I noticed someone had moved my chair, and my bed was more rumpled than I’d left it. Was that why Sheridan and the boss had called us to the office, so someone could search our rooms? Wonderful. A tablet lay on my desk and I took it, expecting to see the information about our mission. But the video that played on my screen made my heart skip a beat. My parents were sitting in a café and laughing about something. My mom’s curly blonde hair was longer than I remembered and she wore a beautiful black and white flowery shirt. My dad’s back was turned to me as he scratched his head. The video stopped and a message flashed across the screen.

  This is a very recent footage of your family. Make sure the mission runs smoothly and you’ll get to see them again.

  I dropped the tablet on the bed, pushing back tears. My parents looked so happy, and I... I hated Elemontera even more.

  I had to squint as our team walked out into a sunny morning, my eyes watering. We were on the rooftop so we could immediately turn into air and head after the elementals. As I rose into the air, my body becoming invisible, I saw the city was full of people and
life. We’d have to be extra careful to make sure no one noticed us. It would be unfortunate if some poor soul saw us appearing and disappearing.

  Jaiden and Noah flew close to me, but I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to get rid of the seven agents. The device we planned to use was hidden in my black suit and I hoped it would still be there once I turned corporeal again. The only problem was that I had no clue how or when to use the device.

  “Over there!” someone yelled. One of the shimmering clouds swished to the left and quickly started to descend. That meant we were near the spot where someone had spotted our targets, so we all followed. We touched the ground in an empty alley, becoming visible again.

  “It’s Marissa,” Jaiden whispered as he pulled me aside, away from the others. “I can mind control her to go back to the island.”

  “No,” I hissed. “If you do that, your order will be more important to her than her safety. She might not be able to stop herself even if someone is following her and that could put her in danger. Besides, you don’t want to accidentally damage her mind because she’s on the move, right?”

  “Then what should we do?” Jaiden said, just as someone exclaimed that more elementals had been detected. Jaiden sighed and stepped forward so everyone could see him, but not many paid him attention. Being the best agent clearly didn’t earn you any sympathies. “Listen. We should split up. Noah, Moira, you two will come with me. Everyone else, figure out who you want to work with and do it fast, but make sure you don’t look suspicious. Don’t engage if we won’t be able to explain later to the press what happened.”

  Jaiden, Noah, and I separated from the rest of the team, hurrying after Marissa, who, according to our tablets, was quickly heading west. An agent or a regular elemental who worked for Elemontera had put a tracker on her somehow, probably in a crowded area when she couldn’t have seen it. We had to catch up with her as soon as possible, warn her about the danger she was in, and rush after the rest of the elementals from the island before Elemontera got their hands on them. I truly hoped Ashley, Sam, and Bailey were smart enough to stay in crowded areas and strong and fast enough to escape.

  “Shit. She’s moving too fast, probably in a car. I can’t reach out to her and get her to stop,” Jaiden said. “We’ll have to fly again.”

  “Should we use the device?” I asked Jaiden, because I knew it would be impossible to take it out while we were flying. If Marissa was in a car and on the run, then someone must have warned her about Elemontera coming after her or she’d seen the shimmering clouds in the air and assumed the worst. Good for her.

  “Not now,” he said.

  Pushing all of my energy into my element, I zoomed into the sky, the chilly air whipping my face. Jaiden and Noah rushed after me.

  “Maybe she’s running away,” Noah said. “Why don’t we just go after the others? She’ll be far away from everyone soon, and the agents could be going straight for Sam, Ashley or Bailey.”

  “Do you really think she wouldn’t come back for the others?” Jaiden said. “If we let her go now, we risk her returning at the worst possible moment.”

  “What do you think?” Noah asked, and I knew he didn’t trust Jaiden’s judgement. “How about the two of us go after Marissa, and Jaiden can go after the others?”

  “No, we’re not splitting up!” Jaiden’s voice was laced with annoyance. “And we’re going after Marissa.”

  “Why? So you can catch her? Get a big fat bonus for your work?”

  “Noah...” Jaiden said. “I’m not going to...”

  “Are we supposed to believe you? Because you sure as hell proved to be trustworthy. I mean, you only failed to mention you still worked for the evilest organization on the planet, lied to us, and almost got me killed. I thought we were friends! But now I don’t even know if everything has been a fucking lie! I’ve no clue on whose side you’re on!” Noah was yelling so loudly that I was afraid someone on the ground would hear us.

  Jaiden remained silent.

  “Now’s not the time for this. We have to find Marissa and get her to safety,” I said, hoping Noah would calm down. He had every right to be angry with Jaiden, but their fighting would only slow us down.

  “Of course,” Noah said bitterly. “It’s funny, though. If the asshole over there told us the truth and warned us that this could happen, we wouldn’t even have to be doing this! How do you know this isn’t a trap? Because he told you so?”

  “Noah.” If we weren’t invisible, I would have shaken my head at him.

  He sighed. “Sorry. I guess we’ll have to live and see.”

  I looked down and noticed some of the buildings were familiar. “Oh my God.”

  “What?” Noah asked. “Did you see something?”

  “My university is in this direction.” Which meant my home was also nearby, but I pushed that thought away. “Do you think Marissa is going there?” It would be a good idea for her to hide at the university because at this time it would be full of students. No one would ever be able to catch her there without drawing everyone’s attention and risking exposure. Not even Elemontera could silence so many people, and she could easily slip away unnoticed... if she actually managed to realize there was a tracker on her.

  “No idea,” Noah said, but as we whizzed past the city library, I was even surer Marissa was going straight for my university. Where else would she go? There weren’t any good hiding places around, unless she didn’t know that.

  “She stopped,” Jaiden said. “I think.”

  “You think?” Noah groaned.

  “Why don’t you try tracking someone’s mind?”

  “Guys!” I yelled. “She’s probably at the university. We should land somewhere far enough so no one sees us and check the tracker.”

  “But what if she isn’t there? Maybe she stopped for some other reason, and if we go to the ground, we won’t be able to follow if she tries to run again because there will be people around us,” Noah said.

  “Jaiden?” I hoped he’d agree with me.

  “Yeah, let’s do that. I can’t reach out to her mind anymore. Too many people,” he said, and we landed behind thick trees at the edge of the university’s park. Having made sure no one was there to see us, we turned visible again. As we started toward the university, my vision swam a little, my knees getting weak. If I hadn’t developed another element and hadn’t been captured by Elemontera, perhaps I’d be having classes right now. The only worries I’d have would be exams, classes, and all the regular problems.

  A tremor ran through my body, and I took a deep, slow breath. There were people who knew me here. Would someone alert my parents or did everyone believe I was having fun and traveling the world?

  “We should umm, talk or something so we don’t look suspicious,” Noah said, placing his hand on my arm and giving me a gentle squeeze. “You know, I never even had a chance to think about going to university. This is... weird.”

  I didn’t say anything because I was trying to focus on finding Marissa and not think about all the people and friends I hadn’t seen or talked to for months. Patting my black jacket, I brushed against all the weapons I had on me. Yep, I was still an Elemontera agent and not a student.

  “She’s somewhere inside, but the tracker is no longer active,” Jaiden said, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, his brows drawn in concentration. “I’m trying to trace her, but too many minds are getting in my way!”

  A girl who was sitting on one of the benches in front of the entrance openly stared at Jaiden, her dark eyes full of curiosity.

  I stepped closer to him and leaned forward to whisper into his ear. “We already look weird. Don’t add to it.” I wondered what kind of missions Jaiden had been on, because he sure as hell didn’t seem experienced with this type of work, but as we entered the building, a strange sensation overcame me. Something tugged at my consciousness, calling me to reach out and touch it.

  I looked at Jaiden, my eyes wide. “Do you feel like your air wants to reach
out for people’s minds?”

  He shook his head. “It will go away. Don’t worry.”

  “How well do you know your way around here?” Noah asked.

  “Pretty well,” I said. “Why?”

  “Any help with the direction in which we should go?” Noah looked at Jaiden.

  “Somewhere to the left.” Jaiden scratched his head.

  “Okay, what’s there?” Noah turned to me.

  I chewed on my lip, mentally running through all the rooms in that direction that I could think of. There were a couple of classrooms, but I doubted Marissa would be pretending to be one of the students. “The university’s library,” I finally said.

  “Okay, let’s check it out,” Noah said, and we strode down the hall. As we passed by a couple of classrooms, Noah glanced at me. “I kind of like your university. What did you want to major in?”

  “Psychology, I guess. I didn’t have a chance to really think about it or decide. Not that it matters now,” I said bitterly.

  “What about you, Jaiden? Do you already have a degree? I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if you lied to us about that, too.” Noah glared at him.

  “I told you I...”

  I didn’t hear the rest of the sentence because my feet were rooted to the spot, my heart skipping a beat. Cassandra was only a couple of feet away from me, and there was nowhere I could run or hide.

  Chapter 15

  Cassandra’s eyes went wide, her mouth falling open. A wave of warmth rushed through my body, leaving me breathless. I was glad to see my friend again, but I couldn’t help but think that she could be in danger if Elemontera found out I had a connection to her.

  Cassandra ran toward me, her curly brown hair cascading around her shoulders. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you called? Why...?” she blurted out, her face flustered. “Your parents told me you were traveling to some remote areas, but that didn’t make sense because I was sure you’d have told Isabel or me something. Why didn’t you at least answer your phone or email? We were so worried!”