“Oh, you poor misguided creature,” Sheridan said and waved to the guards. They immediately grabbed Jaiden by the arms and brought him in front of Sheridan and me, forcing him down on his knees. I gaped at her.
“You have more abilities than you think, and so does he.” She raked her eyes over Jaiden’s still form. “Did he tell you that you aren’t only able to control minds but also do something more effective?”
I shook my head.
“Oh, come on. Surely you’ve felt the urge to delve deeper. To capture and destroy.” She clenched her fist as if she were catching something. “Kill, Moira. You have the ability to kill.”
“What? No.” My jaw went slack. “No way. That’s impossible.” Except one part of me knew that it could be true, and that yes, I’d felt it.
“It’s not that hard to do it, really,” Sheridan said. “You sway the brain signals, squash them a little, and it happens. No one will ever find a trace of your element on the body, and what you cause is something that looks like a regular stroke or a heart attack. Did you really think your grandfather would die so easily?”
I hadn’t been thinking about that at all. What did I care how he’d died? He’d nearly killed my real family. I looked at Jaiden. “Is it true? Did you...?”
“Yes,” he said, bowing his head. I was speechless.
“Jaiden has a lot of experience with this ability,” Sheridan said. “Tell me, Moira, do you remember the massacre in the Shellbye bank?”
“No.” I didn’t like where this was going.
“There was this guy with a bomb who blew up tons of people with him. Maybe he wouldn’t have done it if his hand hadn’t slipped off the trigger. And do you know why it did?” Sheridan grinned. “Oh yes, he had a heart attack before the cops could get to him. How sad and utterly tragic.”
My ears were ringing, but I was strangely calm as I turned to Jaiden. “Is she telling the truth? Is she?” I yelled.
He nodded, avoiding my gaze.
“Now that we revealed the monster in the room, do what you were meant to. Discover your new ability and end his pathetic existence,” Sheridan said. “Your bracelet will be unlocked in a moment, but beware, if you try anything else, your family will die. Oh, and don’t think I didn’t notice that you mind-controlled me back at Elemontera. I made sure I’m protected against you. If anyone does anything to me, my soldiers know what to do.”
“Moira, it’s okay. Just do it,” Jaiden said. “Make sure everyone else is safe.”
“No!” Noah yelled across the room, fighting against the soldiers who had strong grips on his arms, holding him back. “That’s not you! Don’t do it! You’re better than that! We don’t know what happens if you...!”
His voice was drowned out by my own heartbeat resonating in my ears. Something inside of me snapped, went cold. I slowly reached for my element, pouring in it all the anger, rage, fear, and shock I felt. The energy welled up inside of me, washing over me. The burning of the bracelet disappeared, and I knew it was time.
I unleashed my element. When it met with a slight resistance, I pushed and pushed until it tore right through. My air knew exactly what I had to do, and I let it, capturing and crushing brain signals that I could reach. I stumbled, tremors running through my body, but I didn’t stop until there was no more of my energy left. I fell to the ground, my vision going dark. There was only one thing I knew; I’d taken a life.
Nothing would ever be the same.
###
Thank you for reading!
Want more? The third book in the series is called Monster and it continues Moira’s story. For more information go to: http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/tainted-elements-series.html
If you want to be notified when I publish my next book, sign up for my newsletter (no spam): https://tinyletter.com/AlyciaLinwood
More books (prequel series) set in the same world as the Tainted Elements:
The Element Preservers series:
DANGEROUS (Book 1)
RUNAWAY (Book 2)
DIVIDED (Book 3)
NO ONE (Book 3.5)
RESTLESS (Book 4)
INDESTRUCTIBLE (Book 5)
http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/element-preservers-series.html
If you like to read young adult books about demons and angels with a bit of romance, you can check out my book, Human. It follows a 17-year-old girl who tries to figure out who she is, and who would do anything for her loved ones. The book doesn't have any mature content.
More info: http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/
Table of Contents
INVISIBLE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Invisible Page 19
