“And what could I do if I return there?” I leaned back, crossing my arms. “It wasn’t like they trusted me with their whole plan or pointed me in the direction of the evidence against them, anyway.”
“Elemontera films everything, right? There is evidence in their building, and it’s one they can’t easily disprove. Footage, murder weapons, files about missions and orders. It has to be somewhere. You’d have to find it. I know it wouldn’t be easy, but it’s worth a try.”
“Yeah, but can’t they just say you fabricated the footage and evidence?” I said. “And I don’t think they’d really keep such stuff if they wanted to stay off the cops’ radar.”
“I’m sure they have something in there. We’ll find a way to use it. If there are witnesses or anyone they keep prisoner... anything that could expose them but keep your kind hidden.”
“But if we revealed the truth about elementals like me, wouldn’t that force the government to reveal what Elemontera is doing? People would be curious. The revelation about element preservers didn’t cause a major outrage, even though everyone knew they could take more than one of people’s elements and keep it forever, and that was a big threat for every healthy elemental.”
“Element preservers can’t hack minds and be invisible. I’m sure people would be way more afraid of that,” she said. “At least you could see element preservers coming, and even block your element to protect yourself. With elementals like you, that wouldn’t work.”
“So you only want to get rid of Elemontera? Why? You protect carriers and element preservers, so what’s your interest here?” I chewed on the insides of my mouth, waiting for her answer. Maybe she did care about all people, but she wouldn’t risk everything to help a few.
“I care about people, especially minorities, but you’re right, there’s something else. Elemontera is the government’s pet organization that receives most of the funding. If we take it out of commission, there will be more funds for some of our projects. Or maybe the government will even let me take over and look after elementals like you, and then we could stop this nonsense, tell elementals to keep quiet about their abilities or pretend to be element preservers and warn them to stay off radar. Don’t you want a better world for everyone?”
“What about that boy, Jaiden?” my dad suddenly said. “Can’t he give you information about all that? He knows Elemontera the best, and if he wants to help his friends, then he’ll tell you everything.”
“He’s not cooperating,” Lily said. “But that was to be expected. We can’t trust him. He’d probably set us up and ruin everything.”
“That’s because he doesn’t trust you,” I said. “And you’re not giving him much reason to do so.”
Lily just looked at me. “I think he’s more loyal to his father than you think, and it’s not really surprising. You shouldn’t trust him. Anyway, I’ll let you think about this. Elemontera isn’t only hunting those like you and killing them off when they aren’t strong enough, but they’re also killing families, and experimenting on, torturing, and probably killing regular elementals, too. I know you’ve seen some of this and I know your experience there must have been very unpleasant and that you’d never want to go back there. I understand that, but I still want you to think about it. You might have a better chance than anyone to expose what’s really going on at Elemontera and take away their privileged status. I won’t lie to you. Going back is risky and dangerous, but your abilities are very good and Elemontera needs you. I believe you’re strong enough to do this. My team knows a way to protect both you and your family.” She got to her feet and started for the door. “Take your time. We’ll talk again soon. If you have any questions, you know where to find me.”
“My daughter isn’t doing this,” my mom said, but Lily just smiled and closed the door. My mom was in front of me in a second, looking deep into my eyes. “There’s nothing to consider, honey. You’re not going to that horrible place ever again. Once the bracelet is off, we’ll go somewhere far from here and Elemontera. You’ll never have to worry about anything again. This isn’t your war. Lily will find another way. She always does.”
“We won’t let anyone use you for your abilities ever again, and that includes Lily,” my dad said. My mom pulled me into a hug and my dad squeezed my shoulder.
“We just got you back.” Tears filled my mom’s eyes. “The thought of you there makes my stomach curl.”
“I don’t really want to go back,” I said, and my mom sighed in relief, her smile returning.
“You don’t have to,” my dad said. “Everything’s going to be fine. You’ll see. Lily will find a way to get some info out of Jaiden and that will be it.”
I let go of my mom and chewed on my lip. What was I supposed to do? Lily thought that I could help save everyone, but I wasn’t so sure. It wouldn’t be easy to bring Elemontera to their knees. Even if I wanted to, could I really go back and work undercover? I hadn’t had much luck with escaping on my own, so if I was discovered or things went wrong, I didn’t know how I’d fare.
I didn’t even know how Lily planned to deal with the bracelets, because once I got this one off me, I didn’t want to put it back on. Besides, what if Elemontera improved the bracelet based on my abilities and then I’d never be able to take it off? There were way too many possible complications, not to mention that I might not be able to find anything and get myself in trouble instead, and maybe never get out of there alive.
Elemontera might like my abilities, but there were other people like me. If they caught that girl Raven, they’d probably find a way to force her to do things as they’d done with me. I was invaluable to Elemontera as long as they didn’t find me a substitute. Hell, I didn’t even know how much my life was worth to Lily. I doubted she’d mind sacrificing one life, even her friend’s daughter, if it helped her to achieve what she wanted. Maybe I was being selfish, but I didn’t want to leave my family now that I finally got them back.
“You’re not thinking about it, are you?” My mom’s eyebrows were drawn together in concern.
“Let her think it through,” my dad said. “She’ll know what’s best.”
“You’re already a hero for surviving what you did,” my mom said. “You’ve been protecting us for so long. It’s time that we protect you again. We won’t let Elemontera anywhere near you. We love you so much, honey.”
“And we’ll love you no matter what you decide,” my father said, and my mom cut him a glare. He gave her an apologetic shrug, and I assumed he was saying that only because he was afraid their antagonistic views would push me toward the wrong choice, but I could understand they didn’t want me to become an undercover agent and put my life in danger once again.
“I know. I love you, too,” I said, getting to my feet and heading for the door.
“Are you going somewhere?” my mom asked. “Didn’t we agree we’d watch a movie?”
“Yeah, sure, but I forgot to tell Lily something...”
“That can wait, can’t it?” my mom said, her eyes pleading.
“I guess.” I turned back and flopped on the couch. My parents settled on each side of me. I hoped Lily wouldn’t try to get any info out of Jaiden by force, but then again, if she wanted to do something, I was sure she’d do it no matter what I said. As my dad turned on the TV and the movie started, I leaned my head on my mom’s shoulder, like I used to do when I was a kid, but I couldn’t get Lily’s offer out of my mind. One question bothered me in particular. What if I was the only chance of stopping Elemontera and blew it? I knew that was a silly thought. There had to be more ways to stop Elemontera, and there had to be more people who could do this. I could never take Elemontera down on my own.
Chapter 25
I was sitting on the bed and reading a book my mom had found for me somewhere when a loud sound pierced the air. Something was constantly beeping, so I put down the book and hurried outside, my heart thudding in my chest. Had Elemontera found us, so the alarm system had activated? But as I got to
the end of the hall that probably led outside, I saw the guards pointing their rifles and surrounding someone.
“On your knees. Now!” one of the guards barked. I inched closer and saw Jaiden with his hands raised, an annoyed look on his face. He obeyed, and the guards roughly grabbed him by the arms, their grips tight as they cuffed his hands behind his back. Lily pushed past me and glared at Jaiden.
“Take him away,” she said, curling her lip in disgust, and a guard propelled him forward with the butt of his gun. Jaiden didn’t look at me as they all went past me. Noah, Ashley, Nick, and Marissa came running, stopping to look at Jaiden.
“What’s going on? Are we under attack?” Noah asked.
“No, we’re not,” Lily said. “Jaiden tried to escape.” She went after the guards, the dark circles around her eyes more prominent.
“He tried to escape? Wow,” Noah said. “Looks like he’s really loyal to Elemontera.”
I frowned, unsure how Jaiden had planned to escape. I didn’t think he’d seen enough of the building, and his elements were blocked, so how on earth did he think he could get past everyone and the alarm systems? It didn’t make sense. Unless he was afraid of what Lily’s team would do to him, so he decided to take his chances. He must have gotten himself out of the cuffs and thought escaping would be easy.
“No doubt about that,” Ashley sneered.
“But why would he do that?” Marissa asked, hugging herself.
“Probably wanted to run to his daddy and tell him about this place so he could be Elemontera’s hero again,” Noah said, rolling his eyes.
One part of me worried what Lily and the others would do to Jaiden now that he’d tried to escape. His attempt would undoubtedly confirm their theory that he wasn’t trustworthy and that he was loyal to the enemy. And maybe that was true.
I faced the elementals. “Did Lily talk to you or offer you anything?”
Marissa and Ashley shook their heads.
“Nope,” Nick said.
“She did to me,” Noah said. “I told them how I pretended I was mind-controlled, and they thought I could go back to Elemontera and work undercover.”
“I’d never go back. Not for a million dollars.” Nick whistled and looked at Noah. “What did you say?”
“I told Lily I’d think about it. I don’t really want to run forever and I don’t have much to lose, no family or anything.” He shrugged.
“You can’t,” I said. “What if they discover you weren’t mind-controlled or they send someone else to mind control you? You’d be at risk.” I was surprised Lily was desperate enough to offer this to Noah, too, when she still didn’t know my answer, or maybe she assumed my parents would never let me go or thought I needed help. Still, if Noah was faced with another mind controller, he could compromise the whole mission.
Wouldn’t the government then punish Lily for trying to undermine their organization? Unless, of course, Lily counted on the fact that no one could prove anything without revealing all about the ability of mind control, and now that she knew everything, the government had to tread carefully or she could expose the truth as she had done with element preservers and sub-elements. Still, the government probably knew Lily didn’t want elementals like me to be hunted and in danger, so they expected she wouldn’t expose any secrets.
“I don’t know. Maybe I could try to learn mind control, although I don’t think I have enough juice to do that,” he said. “Three elements, and I still can’t do anything. That sucks.”
I thought about it for a moment and looked at him. “I have another offer for you.”
He arched an eyebrow at me. “I’m listening.”
“When we get these bracelets off, you could take your friends back to Roivenna or somewhere safe if the hideout has been compromised. You could watch over them and go to the city to find more of those like us before Elemontera gets them. Kind of something like Jaiden used to do.”
“Except I wouldn’t try to recruit the best of them for my father’s evil organization,” he said dryly.
“Even if we take Elemontera down, I’m sure some other organization will pop up and try to hunt down those like us to experiment on them or use them, so it would be great if someone like you could train them or at least warn them about the dangers. Help them out or something.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Noah said thoughtfully. “And what are you going to do? I assume Lily offered you a similar deal.”
“I don’t know yet. My parents are freaking out already, and I don’t really want to separate from them. I just want all of us to be safe.”
Noah nodded. “You could come with me. We could recruit elementals for our own cause.” The corners of his lips went up. “Actually, that could be a lot of fun. If some of the elementals would refuse to cooperate or try to run away, you could calm them or catch them with your mind. Some persuasion would be helpful.”
“Ha ha. Not funny.”
“We were about to go watch TV before the alarm sounded. Would you like to come with us?” Noah asked.
“No, I’ve watched enough movies with my parents already.”
“Okay, see you later then.”
I flashed him a smile. “Have fun.”
He followed the group down the hall. I looked after them until they rounded the corner, and then I decided to go to the main room to see if I could find Lily or someone who could tell me what they were planning to do with Jaiden. But as I neared the computers, everyone tensed and eyed me when they thought I couldn’t see them, the screens of their computers suddenly going blank or random when I approached.
Were they afraid I’d mind control them? If yes, then Lily was right to worry about what the world would do if people found out about this particular ability. But I still had my bracelet, and I was sure some of the people in this room were tracking it so they could block Elemontera from finding me or using the bracelet against me, so why were they all so jumpy? Lily wasn’t anywhere in sight, so I just walked away, wondering if people would sigh in relief after I was gone.
I’d wandered the halls and inspected every room until I found a tiny hall that led into another room, which was filled with guards. On the other side of the room, backed into a corner, was Jaiden. He was on his knees, his hands tied behind his back, his face turning blue, his chest heaving as if he couldn’t breathe. I glanced at one of the guards, who laughed.
“Don’t feel like talking back now, do you?” He sneered, and the rest burst into a laugh. No one glanced my way or saw me standing right behind them.
“Stop,” the other tall and dark guard said, and Jaiden suddenly sucked in a breath, doubling over. I realized one of the guards must have been using his element on Jaiden to choke him. “He can’t speak without air.”
“Fuck you,” Jaiden yelled, glaring at them.
The guard who had been choking him stepped forward, his face red with anger. “What did you say?” he said through his teeth, grabbing Jaiden by the hair and forcing his head up at a painful angle.
“I said, fuck you,” Jaiden spat. The guard punched him in the face. When Jaiden hit the floor, the guard kicked him hard with his heavy boot. A sudden, hot white rage filled my whole body, my fingers curling into fists. My bracelet started to burn, but my element squeezed through it, sneaking into the guard’s mind so fast that I nearly stumbled, the burning sensation on my wrist gone.
“Get away from him!” I yelled, and everyone looked at me, startled. The guard scurried back, and my whole body was shaking. As the element pulled itself out of the guard’s mind, I felt it come back, and it seemed like I had broken through the bracelet’s blocking system. That realization dissipated my anger and my bracelet started to burn my skin again. Focusing on my element, I tried to push it out, but I couldn’t. What the hell? Whatever had happened the first time seemed to be temporary.
“Everyone get out. Now!” I said, glaring at the guards, who hesitated, glancing at each other.
“Miss, you’re interrupting the
prisoner’s questioning,” the guard closest to me said. “Lily’s orders have been pretty clear. We...”
“That’s what I’m here for now. Go ask Lily if you don’t believe me. I’m sure she’ll be very happy when she finds out you’re bothering her for no reason.” I narrowed my eyes at them.
“I’m sorry, but Lily specifically said that you weren’t allowed to talk to the prisoner,” he said.
I cocked my head at him. “Well, she changed her mind. Now get the fuck out.” I wasn’t about to back down or admit that I was lying.
“I don’t like your tone, girl,” the guard who’d hit Jaiden said, his features twisted into a sneer. “I’m going to ask Lily to clarify this.” He started for the door. The other guards just stood there, and I knew I didn’t have much time, so I brushed past them. Jaiden had already pulled himself up and was sitting with his back leaning on the wall.
“I won’t tell you anything,” he said through his teeth as I approached, cringing away from me. “I’ve been trained for this. No matter what you try, I won’t talk.”
“I’m not here to hurt you,” I said, crouching far enough from him so I wouldn’t startle him, but still close enough so I could whisper and he would hear me without anyone else overhearing us.
“Yeah, that won’t work either,” he said. “Just because you won’t torture me but try to sweet-talk me instead doesn’t mean...”
“Look, I know you don’t trust me and that you’re afraid.”
“I’m not.” He glared at me.
“Okay, you’re not, but I don’t trust these people either. They’re hiding something from me, from all of us. I can feel it. I need your help to discover what it is.”
“She’s lying!” I heard someone yell and glanced behind me to see the stupid guard had returned. Shit. I was running out of time.
“If you help me, I’ll get you out of here,” I said.
“Why? Why do you trust me?” His voice was filled with disbelief.
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