Indestructible

by Linwood, Alycia

  “What are you going to do?” I asked, taking a seat next to her.

  “I’m keeping the baby,” she said determinedly.

  “You’re so brave.” A tear slid down my cheek. “I don’t think you know how much I admire you.”

  A ghost of a smile traced her lips. “Honestly, I might have made another decision, but Ryan promised to be at my side no matter what and I... I want this baby.” Her blue-green eyes flashed with an unknown emotion. “I’m glad we can make sure the baby has only my element. I don’t want Ethan’s family to ever find out.”

  “Don’t you think they might find out somehow? Won’t you have to list Ethan as the father on the baby’s birth certificate?”

  “No, I will put Ryan’s name. He agreed to it.”

  “I didn’t know things were so serious between Ryan and you.” Surely, they’d been dating, but taking so much responsibility? I didn’t see Ryan as someone willing to do that. At least not the Ryan I knew.

  “They’re not, but we’re willing to give our relationship a chance. If it doesn’t work out, it will be fine. At least my baby won’t know anything about the monster father.” She pressed her lips together for a moment. “You know, I thought I could find it in me to forgive anything, but I can’t forgive Ethan for what he did to me, even now that he’s dead.”

  “If you ever need something, you know you can count on me.” I offered her a smile.

  “Thanks.” She reached out to me and pulled me into another hug. “I’ll do my best to figure out what happened to your elements.”

  I pulled back and looked at her. “Speaking of my elements, I’m probably a regular carrier now. Why can’t I feel your element?”

  She tugged at the thin silver necklace around her neck until the pendant slid out of her green shirt.

  “Oh, right.” I’d expected to see an element-blocking bracelet, not a necklace.

  “As soon as you’re ready, we’ll have to test you and see how you react to people with elements, but I really think we should get you out of here first.”

  “Yeah, me too. I don’t feel like facing more assassins. I don’t even know who’s after me and what their reasons are.” I shook my head.

  “I’m glad both Adrian and you are fine. I don’t even want to think that you could have died.”

  “Maybe they were just trying to kidnap me, not kill me.” Although the likelihood of me staying alive after whatever they had planned for me was very low. I couldn’t imagine they’d ever let me go if they captured me. “Well, at least their attack helped me to wake up. I don’t think I would have managed it otherwise.”

  “You would.” Paula flashed me a confident smile.

  “Yeah, but maybe not in this century.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re fine now and all we have to do is make sure you stay that way.”

  If only things were that easy.

  Chapter 05

  I slipped into the hall, determined to find a restroom far from the one I’d been using for days. Even though Lily and everyone wanted me out of this place sooner rather than later, they didn’t really have where to take me, especially because one of my doctors thought I still wasn’t fully recovered. But seeing the same room, same hall, same restroom all the time was beginning to grate on my nerves. I had to get out of here, even if my short escape was just to another floor.

  No one tried to stop me as I made my way down the stairs. The guards held their positions, but their eyes were trained in front of them and I doubted they’d even seen me. My black sneakers squeaked on the carpet as I found myself in a long, nearly dark hall. The only illumination was coming from the tiny blue lights in the corners of the walls.

  I hesitated, unsure where to go. All the doors I could see were closed, maybe even locked, but there was a bit more light at the end of the hall. There wasn’t supposed to be anything dangerous in this building with all the additional security Lily had brought here, but I didn’t have my elements to protect me. Damn it. I should have taken a weapon.

  Refusing to be afraid of my own shadow, I strode down the hall. As I came closer to the last door, I heard voices. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but I recognized one of them; it belonged to Adrian. He was talking to someone, and judging by the high pitch of the other voice, he was talking to a girl. Suspicious, I pushed at the door and found myself in the restroom.

  Adrian was leaning on the wall and his surprised gray-blue eyes flew to mine. The girl who was standing in front of him whipped her long black hair back and gave me a cold stare over her shoulder. I would recognize those green eyes anywhere.

  “Amaya, what a pleasant surprise,” I said, my voice like icicles. I was thrilled to see my boyfriend’s crazy ex. She wasn’t even supposed to be anywhere near here. Last time I checked, she was shacking up with my ex, Michael.

  “How did she find us?” Amaya yelled, her attention fully focused on Adrian, who kept glancing between her and me.

  “What the hell is going on?” I came to stand at Adrian’s side, my arms crossed.

  “You’re not part of this conversation.” Amaya waved her hand at me. “Shoo!”

  My lips spread into an unpleasant smile. I totally should have brought a gun.

  “Do not talk like that to my girlfriend!” The look in Adrian’s eyes turned deadly and Amaya actually took a step back. Maybe she was missing only one brain cell, not both of them.

  “Then agree to come with me!” she said.

  My eyebrows shot upward. “If someone doesn’t tell me right now what is going on, I swear I will kick you both.”

  Adrian rolled his eyes. “She wants me to come to one of her therapy sessions.”

  “My therapist says it would be good to have Adrian with me during my next session.” She turned to Adrian and pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You know you’re the cause of all my problems. I just want to forget you ever existed and move on.”

  “Then why don’t you move on?” Adrian asked. “You know I never loved you. What we had wasn’t real.”

  “Because I can’t forget! You ruined my life! I had to leave the University of Magic because of you!” She gritted her teeth.

  “Well, I’m sorry, I’m kind of hard to forget.” Adrian flashed her a smile and I wanted to punch him. We so didn’t have time for this.

  “I hate you!” Amaya started for Adrian, but I caught her arm.

  “Hey! Stop it!” I squeezed her arm and she gave me a dark look. “I know what happened between my boyfriend and you wasn’t...” I didn’t know how to say it. Hell, I didn’t even know what exactly had happened between Adrian and her. I only knew he’d broken up with her and broken her heart. She’d tried to attack Adrian a couple of times, but I’d thought by now she would have found her peace. “I mean, I know you got hurt, but no one can take back time.”

  She snorted and pulled her arm out of my grip. “It’s so simple for you, isn’t it? You somehow captured his heart. I wonder what’s so special about you.”

  “Amaya...” Adrian said. “I’m really sorry for what happened and I wish I could change it, but I can’t. You knew very well what you were getting into when you and I got together.”

  She chewed on her lip, her green eyes desperate. “You’re lying, Adrian. You did love me. I know it. And if you would just come with me for a session or two, we could talk and you’d realize...”

  “Realize what? That I loved you?” Incredulity was written all over Adrian’s face. “I don’t think that it works that way. You can’t change how I feel about you unless you hire a hypnotist or someone to wipe my mind.”

  Okay, this conversation was getting way too awkward for me. Either Amaya had some serious issues and thought there was something wrong with her because Adrian didn’t love her or she’d come here for something else. Before anyone could even blink, I threw myself at Amaya. Her back hit the tiled wall, her eyes wide.

  “Ria! What are you doing?” I heard Adrian yell right before a wave of water hit my face, blinding me.
Fighting for breath, I punched at Amaya and my fist collided with something solid. She whimpered and the water stopped its assault. I was mildly disturbed that I couldn’t feel her element. She clearly wasn’t wearing an element-blocking bracelet.

  “What are you really doing here, Amaya?” I pushed the wet strands of my hair out of my face. “Who sent you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You must have hit your head pretty bad three months ago.” A smile curved Amaya’s lips.

  “Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  Adrian came closer, so we had her trapped. There was no way she could get out. Unless she used her element, of course. I couldn’t fight her water with mine or make it evaporate. I didn’t know how much Michael had told her about me – if he’d told her anything at all – but I couldn’t let her go without knowing what she really wanted.

  “Amaya.” Adrian’s voice was thick with warning. “Why are you here?”

  “Wait, you actually believe your delusional girlfriend?” she said. “I came here to talk to you! I didn’t even know she’d be here.”

  “Who told you I was here?” Adrian didn’t seem to fall for the innocent look she was trying to pull off.

  “Michael. He asked Lily and she told him. As simple as that.” She pursed her lips together. “Why are you so jumpy? Is something wrong?”

  “Yes, there is something wrong.” I smiled. “You’re here. That’s what’s wrong. And you are still lying. Michael must have told you about the attack on this building. He wouldn’t have let you come here if he thought it was dangerous.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “I bet if I called him right now, he’d tell me the truth.”

  “Don’t bother. He’d never answer to you.” She grinned. “I convinced him to block your number.”

  “I probably don’t even have that number anymore.” Some of my phones had gotten destroyed and Lily had given me new numbers so that no one could track me. “Doesn’t matter. Quit stalling and tell us what we want to know.”

  “You’re both crazy.” Her face grew serious. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but you’re not bringing me into it.” She tried to push past us, but Adrian placed his hand on her shoulder and slammed her none too gently into the wall, making her gasp. Ice started to form on the sleeve of her black jacket and her eyes widened.

  “Adrian...” I said, but I wasn’t really sure I wanted to stop him. He knew what he was doing.

  “I’m done being nice. Look, Amaya, I never wanted to hurt you and I don’t want to hurt you now, but I swear to God of Magic if you don’t tell me right now what you’re up to, I will cover you with ice from head to toe and there will be nothing you can do about it. Got it?” His tone never faltered, his eyes never leaving hers.

  “You can’t...” She squirmed as the ice found its way up her arm. Her water wasn’t going to help her and she must have been thinking the same thing because her shoulders slumped. “Fine. Stop the ice. I came here to deliver something.” She glared at me. “To you.”

  Both Adrian and I stepped back, and I frowned. “You have something for me, but you came to talk to my boyfriend and you didn’t want to tell me about it. Honestly, I don’t get it.”

  She put her hand into the pocket of her jacket and took out a crumpled piece of paper. “I was supposed to leave this in your room. Of course, I couldn’t exactly walk into this place without a reason, so I said I was looking for Adrian.”

  “Leave in my room? You mean I wasn’t supposed to know about it. Great.” I snatched the paper out of her hand. “Who gave you this, anyway?”

  “Some creepy woman. I’ve never seen her before. Didn’t tell her name either. Said I didn’t need to know.” Amaya shrugged.

  I spread out the paper and saw a symbol of some kind drawn in red ink. After I flipped the paper, I realized there was nothing on the other side, so I showed the symbol to Adrian. Maybe he knew what we were looking at.

  He shook his head. “Amaya, why did you agree to bring this weird note for some creepy woman you claim not to know?”

  “She threatened my family.” Amaya curled her lip. “I realized it was better to bring the stupid note than anger her. Although, you better pretend you found this in your room because I will kill you if something happens to my family. It’s your fault I didn’t leave the note where I was supposed to. Only Adrian was supposed to be here, talk to me, and then I’d sneak into your room.”

  “What if I actually agreed to come to your imaginary therapy sessions?” Adrian chuckled.

  “Oh, please. I know you. You never would have agreed to such a thing.” She toyed with a strand of her dark hair. “Besides, the therapy is real. I could have easily convinced my therapist that I wanted you with me so I could deal with my problems.”

  Adrian’s smile faded. “Is this all you had to do? Just deliver the paper?”

  She nodded.

  “Then go,” I said.

  “Gladly.” She made a mocking bow and strode toward the door. “I hope I never see you again.” She muttered as she closed the door behind her. Well, I couldn’t agree more with her last comment.

  Chapter 06

  I turned the paper to the left, then flipped it to another side. “I have no idea what I’m looking at.”

  “Me neither,” Adrian said. We’d been examining the symbol from every possible angle and we still didn’t know anything about it or what it could represent. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  “The search engine doesn’t recognize it either.” I closed my web browser with a frustrated sigh. The symbol was some kind of a cross between a crown, rose or something weird, maybe a representation of magic or some abstract concept.

  “But for some reason the mysterious woman thought you’d know what it means or she wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to deliver it to you.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe she was trying to scare me. I mean, are we talking about the same woman who attacked me or someone else?” I’d never think I’d have enemies once I stopped being the president of the Element Preservers.

  “Could be.” He shrugged. “But if it is, she could have handed you that paper while she was here.”

  “Not if she wanted to make sure I see it and not someone else. There was a lot of mess in the room and someone could have thrown the paper into the trash with the debris. Besides, she wouldn’t have needed the note if she had managed to kidnap me.” I got up and left the paper on the desk. My head was already starting to hurt from staring at the symbol for too long.

  “We can show the symbol to Lily,” Adrian offered.

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to tell her about this. It feels personal. Besides, Lily has enough of problems with all the unrest among carriers and non-carriers. We should get out of here.”

  “Are you sure you feel fine enough to leave?” Worry creased Adrian’s brow.

  “Yeah.” I placed my hands around his neck. “In fact, I couldn’t feel Amaya’s element at all.” I grimaced. “Well, except for all that water that ended up in my face.”

  “What?” His face brightened, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Are you trying to say you don’t have the disease anymore? But I couldn’t feel Amaya’s element when I touched you.”

  “I don’t know. I just don’t feel elements anymore, I guess.” We didn’t know what happened when a carrier touched a person who didn’t have any kind of an element, not even a dormant one, so it was hard to tell whether I still had the disease or not. Even if the lack of symptoms of the disease was only temporary, I still wanted to leave this place and get somewhere safe. “All I know is that I don’t want to be trapped here anymore.”

  Adrian bent his head and pressed his forehead against mine. “I’m glad to hear that. We should start packing.” He started to turn away from me, but I pulled him closer.

  “Not so fast, Adrian Liandre. You were pretty intimidating earlier with Amaya. That was kind of...” I licked my lips. “Hot.” />
  A lazy smile spread across his lips. “You were pretty intimidating too, my Ice Queen.”

  “You know, I heard what you said to me over and over again while I was in a coma.” I bit my lip and gave him a shy look under my eyelashes. “And just in case it wasn’t obvious enough, I love you too.”

  “I know.” His eyes sparkled with joy as he picked me up in his arms, his hands holding tightly onto my hips. I wrapped myself around him, my lips finding his. My back slammed into the wall as he deepened the kiss, his tongue intertwining with mine. The closeness and heat of his body ignited something inside of me and I ran my hand through his hair, tugging lightly at the soft black strands.

  “Bed?” Adrian suggested in between our kisses.

  “Umm-hmm,” was all I managed to say. Carrying me in the direction of the bed, Adrian traced a hot path of kisses down my neck. A soft moan escaped my lips as I pressed myself closer to him, my hands sliding under his blue shirt.

  He gently laid me on the bed, a wicked grin spreading his lips. “Are you sure you feel well enough?”

  I rolled my eyes, sat up and grabbed the front of his shirt. “Shut up and kiss me.”

  He fell on top of me, a soft chuckle rumbling deep in his throat. My lips collided with his as he traced his hands down my body. I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want him to stop touching me. His breath tickled my neck as he pushed my shirt up, exposing my stomach. My eyes fluttered and I threw my head back as he lowered himself down my body, placing hot kisses just above my belly button.

  My thoughts scrambled, and all I could focus on was Adrian. His name played on my lips, my fingers clutching at the soft fabric of his shirt until I managed to pull the damn thing off him. But in the back of my mind, a little voice kept reminding me that my happiness couldn’t last, so I pulled Adrian close to me and refused to let go.

  Chapter 07

  Adrian and I had packed our things and were ready to leave Lily’s building, but it appeared Lily didn’t want us to go. As soon as we poked our heads in the lobby, a guard approached us and told us to go back to our floor for security reasons. Even my pleas to let us out just for a breath of fresh air didn’t work, so we went to plan B. I was certain Lily wouldn’t like our second plan, but there was nothing I could do about that.