“Please come out. We mean no harm,” the woman said, louder this time.
“Who are you?” I heard Sam’s voice, which was laced with suspicion. “What do you want from us?”
“We’re friends. We only want to help. Come with us and we’ll show you,” the woman’s voice was sweet and enticing, as if they hadn’t just shot at us.
“Why should we come with you? So you can kill us?” Sam yelled.
“Someone’s coming. We have to hurry,” a male voice said, and I heard shuffling.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have much time. You’re coming with us,” the woman said, and men dressed completely in black, their faces covered, with rifles in their hands, came at us. A wave of heat flew through the air, and I had a feeling someone without a bracelet had tried to use their element to defend themselves, but a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that was unsuccessful. Sam cried out Bailey’s name. Five soldiers surrounded Jaiden and me, and I slowly got to my feet, my hands raised.
“If you truly want to help us as you claim, save him,” I said, nodding at Jaiden.
One of the soldiers grabbed me by the arm and something was stuck in my neck. Then the world went black.
Chapter 21
“Moira, honey.” I heard a familiar voice. A voice I hadn’t heard in months. My mom’s. My whole body felt heavy and I couldn’t quite open my eyes. I had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation. “Honey, wake up.” Someone’s warm hand touched my cheek, and I leaned into the touch, slowly prying my eyelids open. My mom’s face stained with tears came into view, but a smile protruded on her lips.
“Mom?” I asked tentatively, a fluttery feeling in my stomach. No, it couldn’t be. We’d been attacked by some people and Jaiden had been shot, and what I was seeing had to be an effect of some drug they’d given me. Were they trying to make me hallucinate so they could get information out of me? I slowly sat up, but no matter how much I blinked, my mom was still there.
“Oh, honey, I missed you so much.” My mom pulled me into her arms, squeezing tightly. I buried my head into her hair and breathed in. Tears prickled my eyes because the scent of roses was so familiar, so real.
“Mom?” I choked out. “Is it really you? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”
“No, you’re not dreaming. It’s me,” she said, letting go of me.
“My turn now,” my dad said, and I turned my head to look at him, my eyes widening. He pulled me into a hug, his eyes pooling with tears. His hair was a bit longer than I remembered, and he had even grown a beard. I let him hold me for a moment, but then I backed away. Elemontera’s images had shown him looking like the usual, with no beard or any other change.
“I don’t think she believes it’s really us.” My dad laughed. “Are we going to have to go through a test? Tell her something embarrassing about her childhood that only we could know?”
“No, I just...” I said, my cheeks burning. “E...” I decided it was better not to say anything about Elemontera until I was sure this wasn’t a product of my imagination or of some twisted technology. A part of me refused to believe this was real because I was afraid it would be rudely taken away from me. “I was shown some images and you looked... well, not like this.”
“We tricked Elemontera, so what they showed you were fabricated images. We knew you’d be going on a mission, so we thought that would be the perfect time to get you out of that horrible place,” my dad said, his lips curling in disgust at the mention of Elemontera’s name.
“So Elemontera isn’t tracking you? But how? They’re really good at that,” I said, glancing at my wrist, which still had the bracelet on. My eyes widened in panic. “I still...”
“Don’t worry about the bracelet. Elemontera doesn’t have control over it. We’re blocking their signal. Well, our team does,” my mom said. “You’re safe now, honey.”
I didn’t know what to say. My head was reeling and I was torn between jumping up in childlike delight and bursting into tears. In the end, I settled on hugging my parents again, tears prickling my eyes.
“Oh, don’t cry, sweetie,” my dad said, rubbing my back. “We’re so glad to have you back.”
My mom kissed the top of my head. “I’m so sorry it took us so long to find you, but we caught your face on surveillance only recently and we knew we had to do something. Our friend, Lily, didn’t want to get involved at first, but what Elemontera is doing could put so many innocent people in danger, so she finally decided to form a team to save you.”
“Where... where is Jaiden? Is he okay?” I asked, still unsure why someone who wanted to help had shot one of us. That didn’t make sense.
“Who?” my dad asked.
“The guy who got shot,” I said, hopping off the bed I’d been lying on. I realized I was in a small, plain room, which seemed to be made only for this purpose, with only a bed and a couple of chairs. There were no windows, only a door, and I rushed to it. My parents followed me out, and I found myself in a large room with dark gray concrete walls. A group of people were standing in a circle and discussing something near the desks with computers. Guards with rifles were in every corner of the room and under the tiny windows, which were very high up. I had a feeling we were underground.
“Honey, you should rest,” my mom said, catching up with me as I stopped in the middle of the room, unsure where to go.
A woman with long dark hair and dark brown eyes approached me, a smile on her face. “Welcome, Moira. I’m Lily. I hope we didn’t scare you, but you should know we had no choice. There are spies everywhere and we couldn’t risk someone seeing us.”
“Where is Jaiden?” I asked, crossing my arms. Noah and the others trudged toward me, their faces bright and smiling, and I realized they’d been sitting at the table on the other end of the room. The smell of rubber suddenly filled my nostrils, and I wondered if this was an old underground garage.
“I’ve been discussing his fate with my team,” she said. “Don’t worry about him. He won’t harm you anymore.”
“Excuse me?” My jaw went slack.
“If you know him, then you’re aware he’s a dangerous elemental who works for Elemontera,” Lily said.
I gave her a blank look. “Umm, yeah, but so am I.”
“Moira, hey!” Noah tried to pull me into a hug, but I stopped him with a hand on his chest and glared at Lily.
“Where is Jaiden? I want to see him,” I said.
“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible,” Lily said. “He’s unconscious, anyway.”
“But is he okay? Why the hell did you shoot him?” I raised my voice and everyone in the room glanced my way. Lily licked her lips, trying to touch my shoulder, but I moved away.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, but you have to know. He’s the son of Jack Maiers, Elemontera’s founder.”
Nick gasped next to me, Marissa covered her mouth with her hand, and the others just stood there dumbfounded. I didn’t even blink. “I asked you if he was okay, not who his father was.”
Nick gaped at me. “You knew! You knew and you didn’t tell us! What the hell were you thinking?”
I turned to him, closing my eyes for a moment. “Yes, I knew, and? Doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t matter? Doesn’t matter?” Nick yelled. “Are you out of your mind? He could have... He could have gotten us all killed!”
“But he didn’t. He was trying to help us.”
“That’s what you think, but we don’t know for sure. He could have contacted Elemontera at any time. God, Moira, why didn’t you tell us about this? We could have done something!”
I faced Lily. “I’m going to ask one last time.” My bracelet started to burn on my wrist, which meant my elements were blocked. Wonderful. “Is Jaiden okay?”
Lily sighed. “He’s okay for now, but we think it might be better if we let him...”
“What? Die?” I stared at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“He’s Elemontera’s strongest w
eapon. We know you’ve been taken against your will and were forced to do their bidding, but now...”
“Now I’m your prisoner, aren’t I?” I waved the bracelet.
“No, that’s not true,” my mom said. “We haven’t figured out how to take them off completely without activating the kill chip inside, but we managed to take control of the bracelets’ mechanisms that controls your elements.”
“Wait, does that mean Elemontera can still activate the killing mechanism?” Noah asked, his brow wrinkling.
“No, they can’t. We’re talking about a different mechanism, not the one that works remotely, but the one that is built in the bracelet as a last resort to prevent someone from taking it off,” Lily said.
“But you’re blocking my elements for no reason,” I said bitterly.
“You’re blocking my daughter’s elements?” My mom shot her an incredulous look, and I was glad she wasn’t in on this. “But why?”
“She’s been in Elemontera for a long time. Every agent’s elements are blocked until we can assure they weren’t mind-controlled and that they have full control of their elements,” Lily said calmly.
“I can’t be mind-controlled,” I said.
“We assume you can’t, but we’ll see. You don’t need your elements here, do you? If someone attacks us, they’ll be unlocked immediately. I promise you that,” Lily said, and a wave of warmth spread through my body, because what she was saying kind of made sense, but I was sure she had ulterior motives.
“If something happens to Jaiden or you let him die, you’re going to make an enemy,” I said.
My mom gasped. “Moira!”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to get rid of that bastard,” Bailey muttered, and if I’d had my elements, I’d have thrown him across the room.
“What his father is doing is very bad,” Lily said, as if she were talking to a child. “We’re still thinking about extracting some info about Elemontera out of him or using him to get what we want from his father.”
“Right.” I let out a nervous laugh. “You’re the good guys. You don’t just help people who need it. You do it only when it suits you.” I frowned. “Wait, that doesn’t fit with the definition of the good guys. Am I missing something?”
“Jaiden is a serious threat to people,” Lily said. “You must have seen what he can do. And his father...”
“His father is a monster, yeah, I get it,” I said. “But apparently, my biological father was the same, and I have nearly all the abilities Jaiden has. What does that make me in your book?”
Lily opened her mouth and closed it. “I’ll make sure Jaiden receives the best care our doctors can provide,” she finally said. “Then we’ll talk to him and see what he has to say. Maybe you’re right. Maybe he’s not a threat to anyone.”
“Thank you,” I said, but I still felt like punching something. “Can I see him?”
“I’ll arrange that. Give me a moment,” Lily said and strode off.
“Forgive her, honey,” my mom said. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks for her. She needs to ensure the safety of all elementals and magic disease carriers, and that’s not easy when the government is backing her biggest opponent. She had to do all this in secret, and find the techs who used to work for Elemontera and get them to explain the technology of the bracelets. If someone finds out what she’s doing, she’s going to lose her position in the government, and who knows what will happen to element preservers and carriers?”
I ran a hand across my face. “I know it’s complicated.”
“Her team brought you back to us,” my mom said. “I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. I don’t know this boy you’re talking about, but I hope you’re right about him. Because if you’re not, things could go south very soon, and not just for us, but for the whole world. We can’t know whose side people would take if they knew the truth. Maybe it would be us, but maybe they’d side with Elemontera. We could lose everything.”
“I can’t believe this! I told you we shouldn’t have trusted him,” I heard Ashley’s high-pitched voice ringing through the room. I didn’t even have to guess that they were talking about Jaiden.
“Give me a sec, Mom,” I said, and marched over to the group.
“Are you all really going to ignore everything Jaiden has done for us just because his father happens to be the founder of Elemontera?” I asked.
“Umm, Moira, it’s not just that,” Bailey said. “He betrayed us. He lied to us. How can you even defend him?”
“She slept with him,” Noah said, and my fingers curled into fists.
“Ah,” Bailey said, as if that explained everything.
“I didn’t sleep with him! That was a cover so we could steal the damn device. And thank God we stole it because you would all be in Elemontera right now if it weren’t for that device.”
Noah gave me a sheepish look. “I’m sorry, I assumed...”
“Well you assumed wrong,” I said, gritting my teeth. “And even if I had slept with him, so what?”
“I’m with Moira on this,” Marissa said. “We shouldn’t judge him because of who his father is, but I don’t want to trust him either. I mean, what do we really know about him? Everything he told us, or most of it, turned out to be a lie.”
“Moira?” a male voice said behind my back and I turned around to face a short, bulky man with reddish hair and green eyes.
“Yes?” I said.
“I’ve been instructed to take you to see Jaiden Maiers,” he said. “If you’d please follow me...”
“Oh, sure. Thanks.” I went after him, feeling everyone’s gazes on my back.
Chapter 22
“Do you want me to come with you?” my mom asked.
“Yeah.” I nodded, taking her hand. I never wanted to part with my mom again. She smiled at me as we went into a long hall, and the guy stopped in front of a door, opening it. Jaiden was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, a bunch of tubes and wires attached to his body. Aside from the bracelet, there were cuffs on his wrists, tying him to the bed.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked, but the guy had already walked away. I went closer to the bed, not letting go of my mom. Jaiden didn’t look dangerous like this. His face was too pale, his lips dry and cracked.
“You care about that boy, don’t you?” My mom’s eyes were full of comprehension.
Before I could answer, a woman in white came in, carrying a chart in her hand. “Oh, I didn’t know he’d be having visitors,” she said. “Is there anything you want to know?”
“Yeah. How is he?” I asked, holding my breath.
“He’s fine. The wound was mostly superficial. The bullet didn’t hit any organs, only muscle,” the woman said.
I sighed in relief. “When will he wake up?”
“In a couple of hours. The painkillers I gave him have a sedative effect.”
“Thank you.” For the first time I had a feeling someone actually cared about what happened and didn’t judge Jaiden for what he might or might not have done. The woman smiled at me, checked the levels of some liquid, and left the room.
“Whatever Lily decides to do with Jaiden, that doesn’t have anything to do with you,” my mom said, and I looked at her, frowning.
“What do you mean?”
“I think you’re afraid people will treat you like they treat him because of who your biological father is, so you feel like Jaiden and you are similar. But honey, don’t make any rash decisions. Think things through first. I know there’s a reason you trust him, but I want you to be sure it’s the right reason. Don’t let anything cloud your judgement.”
“Cloud my judgement,” I muttered, shaking my head. “What did Lily tell you about Jaiden? And about me?”
My mom eyed me suspiciously for a moment, raising her eyebrows.
“I mean, about my time in Elemontera. She must have told you something. What does Lily’s team know about Elemontera, anyway?”
My mom glanced at Jaiden, and t
hen tugged at my arm. “Let’s go somewhere private. Leave the boy to rest.”
I let her take me out of the room and into another one, which actually had couches and tables. We sat down next to each other.
“All we know from Lily’s sources is that you were trained by Elemontera, and that you are considered to be a very important agent because of your abilities. They said Elemontera thinks you could be as powerful as Jaiden, so they were planning to use the two of you for important missions.” She tapped my knee.
“And what about Jaiden? What did they discover about him?”
My mom averted her gaze.
“Mom?”
She hesitated. “They said he worked undercover, but before that, he had captured at least a dozen elementals, some of whom we couldn’t find any info on. They probably all work at Elemontera now and I suppose Lily will show you some pictures to see if you can recognize some of the missing elementals.”
“What else?” That couldn’t be the sole reason everyone was against Jaiden so much. If there was something he had done to earn everyone’s distrust, then I wanted to know about it.
“Apparently, Jaiden’s ability to mind control people led to some elementals’ deaths, but we didn’t get too much info on that. And some of his missions were classified and the files couldn’t be opened no matter what we tried.”
I thought about what Jaiden had told me about the elemental whose mind he’d messed up. “Mind control is tricky. I admit that.”
“Are you really resistant to mind control?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. Most of the time I was able to deflect it. Maybe if an elemental was stronger than me, then I might not be. I don’t know. I didn’t meet anyone like that yet.”
“How have they treated you at Elemontera? I hope they didn’t hurt you.”
“Well, they mostly threatened everyone I loved.” I gave her a wide, fake grin.
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