“Do you want to save your boyfriend?” Sebastian said, his eyes sparkling with an unknown emotion. “All you have to do is bring back my cousin’s element.”
“Are you deaf? I can’t do that. I drained my elements when I used them to create a tornado.” My hands were trembling from anger.
“Well, I’m sorry, but my scientists determined that you’re lying. The element is somewhere inside you. All you have to do is find it and activate it.” Sebastian’s face distorted into a furious grimace.
“Why? What happens if I get the element back?” I pushed back my tears. “Don’t you think the first thing I’m going to do with it is burn you to a crisp?”
“None of your concern, darling,” Sebastian said dismissively. The doctor came in, and behind him, the little girl I’d seen in my mind stared at me with her big, frightened eyes.
“Sara?” I said.
“Shut her up,” Sebastian said and one of the guards kicked me in the side.
“Sir, I don’t think this will work out the way you planned,” the doctor said quietly.
“It has to,” Sebastian said. “Can the girl sense the elements?”
“No, she can’t. She could only get into Ria’s mind, but no traces of elements or the disease were found.” The doctor’s forehead was creased with worry. I just couldn’t tell whether he was concerned about Sara, me or something entirely else.
“Ria is an element preserver or she wouldn’t have created a tornado of three elements. When did an element preserver lose an element?” Sebastian asked.
“Never.” The doctor licked his lips as if he wanted to argue, but didn’t do it. I’d bet anything that Ethan’s family either owned or was funding this place.
“Exactly.” Sebastian crossed his arms. “Now all we have to do is figure out how to trigger the element. Then I’ll extract it from her and melt it with mine.”
I gaped at him. What the hell was he talking about? No one could simply extract an element and melt it with a normal one. Was he mad? Even if it was somehow possible, maybe with Sara’s help, he would get the disease either from me or from the carrier who helped him with the transfer of the element. It just couldn’t be done. He wasn’t a magic disease carrier. That much I was sure of because Adrian could feel his element.
“We should test this first with someone else. Many things could go wrong...” the doctor said.
“We can’t!” Sebastian yelled, the vein in his neck sticking out. “No one else has an enhanced element like my cousin and I have! We are the only ones who went through the experiment without getting the disease! There’s no one else who can do this.”
I blinked. What was he talking about? Enhanced elements? Why did I have a feeling Ethan and Sebastian had both been experimented on in the past? Was that what Sebastian was saying? My mind was reeling from this piece of info. What if Ethan’s father hadn’t gotten the disease from a lover, but instead had gotten it as a result of some failed experiment? Ethan could have easily lied to me. Or had they started the experiments because Ethan’s father had gotten the disease and they were trying to find a cure?
“I will be unstoppable once I have both elements.” Sebastian’s eyes got a distant look. I wouldn’t be surprised that instead of giving them the disease, the experiments had damaged Ethan’s and Sebastian’s brains. When Sebastian’s eyes focused again, he was glaring at me. “We don’t have much time. You need to find my cousin’s element and bring it back to life or I’ll kill everyone dear to you.”
“This is madness! You can’t take something that no longer exists. You don’t even need Ethan’s element when you have your own.” I knew there was nothing I could say that would dissuade Sebastian from his idea of becoming a very powerful elemental, but having two elements and not having the disease was impossible. “You don’t want to live with magic disease. If Ethan’s element was so special, don’t you think it would have stayed or cured my disease as soon as I got it?” It was questionable whether my disease was gone too, but I hadn’t felt anything different about Ethan’s fire except its strength and the burning sensation in my body.
“Don’t talk about something you don’t understand.” Sebastian pulled the doctor aside and pointed at Sara. “Margaret told me you woke up from a coma during her attack and not a second earlier. You thought your boyfriend was in danger, didn’t you? Maybe shocking you is the best way to get something useful out of you. I believe you met Sara.”
“Leave the girl alone. None of this is her fault.” I held my hand over my chest, glad that no one attempted to tie me up. Now all I had to do was get rid of the gorillas who were holding me down.
“Do you know that Sara is unique? The scientists created her to have special abilities, but, you see, we no longer have use for her. We studied her and saw all there was to see. She’s too dangerous to be released into the world.” The sly smile on Sebastian’s face was creeping me out.
“Whatever you are planning to do to her, don’t. She’s just a child. Please.” I tensed as Sebastian’s hand moved. A wave of fire flew out of his hand, enveloping Sara into flames. I shot up to my feet, but the guards stopped me. Sara’s screams pierced my ears and I looked away. My tears were threatening to choke me.
“Funny. Looks like that serum you injected her with blocked her from using her element,” Sebastian said to the doctor.
The doctor nodded, his lips pressed tightly together, his face pale.
Sebastian’s whole hand turned into fire as he turned to me. “The next wave goes for your boyfriend. He’s wearing element-blocking cuffs, so he’s pretty much helpless. Are you going to watch him burn too or are you going to find that element?”
My heart thudded loudly in my chest, beads of sweat trickling down my back. Sebastian was insane. He’d kill Adrian and not even blink. I had to do something.
“Ten seconds, darling,” Sebastian said, admiring his fiery hand and aiming it at Adrian. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. How should I find in me something that wasn’t there anymore? I reached into the emptiness, feeling for anything that I could tap into. The smell of singed hair and flesh threatened to turn my stomach upside down. My anger and despair built and built, and I shoved it into the emptiness.
“Two more seconds,” Sebastian said. Something inside of me snapped. A rush of energy filled my whole body. Everything slowed around me, my fingers curling into fists. The emptiness twisted, became something entirely else. I could feel it on my tongue, taste it.
“I’ve got it,” I said, my voice low.
Sebastian’s head snapped in my direction, his eyes hopeful. “Put the cuff on her!”
One of the guards snapped a piece of metal around my arm, but I didn’t care about that. Sebastian was getting closer... No, my target was getting closer, and I waited.
Chapter 20
My body moved. I felt my fist collide with flesh, but I had a feeling someone else was doing all of it instead of me. My fingers wrapped around someone’s throat, my leg sending another person flying to the ground. I’d never felt stronger in my whole life, and that was both scary and beautiful. The building was swarming with elements and they were all waiting for me. All I had to do was take them.
The body underneath me went limp and the exquisite taste of air brushed against my tongue. I drank in the element, binding it to me, making it mine.
“Ria!” someone yelled and I had just enough of time to duck to avoid the assault of fire. I used my new element to pin the person closest to me to the wall. Applying more pressure, I touched the person’s skin. The energy shot up my arm, pushing aside the air. Something hit my head and I fell to the floor.
“Sound the alarms,” a familiar voice said, but I couldn’t quite place it.
“But, sir, that will kill all the subjects...” another voice said.
“Doesn’t matter,” the first voice replied.
“Ria! You have to fight it! Don’t let it control you!” At least that was one voice that I recognized. Adrian. I pushed myself
up on my elbows and saw the bodies of the two guards. Oh my God. I had done that, hadn’t I? Sebastian had wanted me to find my element, but I’d found something else instead. I’d found my disease and it’d hit me with full force.
“Stay away from him!” I yelled at Sebastian, who was standing way too close to Adrian for my liking. A dozen of fireballs flew in my direction and I tried to stop them with a wall of air. Half of the fireballs went right through and I barely managed to dodge them. The fire I’d taken from the other guard was nowhere near as strong as Sebastian’s. And even with two elements in my system, my body craved more.
As I looked around the room, I noticed the doctor was gone and the red lights were flashing in the hall. “Sebastian, what have you done?”
“Nothing much. Just made sure none of your kind gets out of here.” He reached for something in his pocket and before I could react, he stabbed Adrian in the neck with a syringe. Unleashing both of my elements, I sent a wave of fire at Sebastian, who managed to stop my attack with his own fire. I rushed at him, exchanging fire and air attacks. He dodged most of them, but a gust of wind hit him in the leg and sent him to the ground.
I was on top of him in a second, pinning him both with my element and my body. His hands turned into fire, but instead of burning me, I absorbed the energy and warmth. Sebastian’s eyes widened in shock.
“I’m sorry, Sebastian. I think my body still remembers Ethan’s element and yours tastes almost the same,” I purred as I dug my knee into Sebastian’s throat. He coughed and tried to push me off, but I intensified the pressure, letting the element seep into me. Warmth spread through every pore of my body, filling me with life as Sebastian’s eyes glazed over.
“Ria...” Adrian’s weak voice broke the spell I was under. Stumbling backwards, I tried to get as far as possible from Sebastian’s body. When I looked up at Adrian, I realized the syringe was still poking out of his neck. I sprang to my feet and grabbed the empty syringe.
“We have to get out of here,” Adrian said, his good eye slightly unfocused. What the fuck had that psychopath given him? I searched for the key to unlock the cuffs and found it on the body of one of the guards.
“Can you walk?” I asked as the cuffs fell off Adrian’s wrists. He slumped to the ground, so I used all of my strength to help him up. I let him lean on my shoulder and we slowly made our way to the door. I was determined to put on fire anyone who dared to stand in our way.
“You should let go of me,” Adrian said, wincing. “We can’t feel elements this way.”
“I don’t care. We’re almost out.” I could see the main door in the distance. All we had to do was follow the hall and pass a couple of more glass doors. “Is it true what Sebastian said? That all the other carriers won’t make it out?”
Adrian gave me a pained look. “Every lab has one of those protocols that if something goes wrong, they kill off all the subjects. I don’t know how they planned to do it here, but... I don’t think anyone can survive it.” It had to be something similar to the system my father’s lab had, but that one didn’t include killing the subjects. At least I thought it didn’t.
“Okay. I’ll get you out, then I can try to stop them.” I wouldn’t risk Adrian’s life for nothing.
“No,” he said. “You can’t go back.”
I didn’t say anything to that. First I needed to get him out, and then I could think about the rest. An element was right in front of us and I spotted the doctor. He was near the door, fumbling with something. I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to escape or lock us all in.
“Not so fast, doctor,” I said as we approached him. A tornado of sand rose from the ground, but it took me only a couple of seconds to swallow it into my fire.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I said, a smile forming on my lips. “My elements can eat your sub-element for breakfast. Now be a nice doctor and tell me something.”
The doctor pressed his back to the door, his eyes wide. “Tell you what?”
“Are the test subjects still alive?” I hoped he understood that his fate depended on his answer. If he helped me to save the carriers, I might be more forgiving for what he had done. Or maybe not.
He licked his lips. “No. We executed the termination protocol.”
“Open the door,” I ordered, pointing my fire-enveloped finger at him. “And step aside.”
He did what I told him, and we passed him by. Taking a breath of fresh air, I let go of Adrian and turned around. The doctor stayed near the door, probably waiting for an opportunity to escape. But there wouldn’t be such an opportunity for him. I slammed the door shut and took a couple of steps back.
“Ria, what are you doing?” Adrian asked.
“The people inside are monsters,” I whispered. “I can’t let them live.”
“Ria!” Adrian yelled, but it was too late. Calling to all of my new elements, I unleashed a fiery tornado at the building. The fire surrounded the whole lab, making it impossible for anyone to leave. Turning on my heel, I held the fire in place. There was so much power in me. I could do anything I wanted. The world couldn’t stop me. I was indestructible.
“Let’s go,” I said to Adrian. There were no other buildings near the lab, so we had to be somewhere outside of the city. But now we had to get away from a possible explosion.
“Ria, listen to me. Don’t do this,” he said, his eyes pleading.
I gave him a perplexed look. “Those people destroyed the lives of so many of our kind! And they’re not even sorry about it. They would have killed us too.”
“I know.” He limped across the street. I would have helped him, but I was afraid I’d lose control over my elements.
“Then what’s the problem? I’m sure you’d kill them yourself if you could.”
“I don’t care about them. I care about you,” he said. “I’m worried what this will do to you once you get off your magic high.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry about that. Everything is going to be fine.” As we reached the parking lot, I pulled Adrian with me behind one of the cars. An explosion rocked the ground and lit up the night’s sky. I didn’t bother to look back. The windows on a couple of cars shattered.
“Do you know how to start a car without the key?” I said, frowning at the cars around us.
“Yes,” Adrian said.
“Good.” I had no idea when and where he’d had a chance to learn that, but I didn’t care. “We need to get you to the hospital. Who knows what they injected you with.”
Adrian shook his head, the strands of his black hair falling into his eyes. “No hospitals. I know what they gave me. You need to get me to Alan.”
“What?” I wasn’t really happy about the prospect of seeing Alan again. Another explosion was so strong that it sent bits and pieces of concrete flying past us. Pain spread through my chest, leaving me breathless. The world tilted around me, and every element I could feel from miles away faded from my radar. The energy drained from me as fast as it had come, leaving me empty.
I slumped to the ground, the edge of my vision going dark. In the distance, I could hear the sound of an engine, but my eyelids were too heavy to keep them open.
Chapter 21
A thousand of bees buzzed in my head or maybe that was just the crackling of fire in the distance. My cheek was pressed to the cold, wet ground, and as I rolled over, I saw Adrian slumped behind the wheel of one of the cars. I got to my feet despite the protest of my muscles and rushed over to him.
His skin was cool to the touch, his eyes closed. “No, Adrian! Hey! Wake up!”
His right eye cracked open and he offered me a weak smile. I had to get him to Alan before it was too late. Somehow I managed to push Adrian to the other seat and settled myself behind the wheel. I didn’t know when exactly Adrian had started the car, but I was grateful he had done it. As I sped across the parking lot, avoiding holes and debris, I looked at the remains of the lab. I couldn’t remember it clearly, but I had a feeling I was responsible for its cu
rrent state.
I exhaled in relief when I recognized the highway. We were only twenty or so minutes away from the part of the city where Alan lived. But as I glanced at Adrian’s face, which was so pale under the bruises and blood, I didn’t know how much time he had.
“Adrian? Talk to me, please. What was in that syringe? Do you know what it will do to you?” Maybe, just maybe it wasn’t something lethal, but knowing Sebastian, I had to be ready for the worst.
“Just drive,” he croaked out. My mind wandered back to the lab, but my memory was hazy. I didn’t feel any different from how I’d felt before I got to the lab. My disease and my elements were gone, the emptiness back. I was vaguely aware that I’d taken two or three elements more and brought down the lab, but I couldn’t remember how that felt.
I parked in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the protests of people who were walking by. Dragging Adrian out of the car proved to be a difficult task. The security guy gaped at me as Adrian and I staggered into the lobby, but one angry glare from me stopped him from whatever he was about to do.
I banged on Alan’s door and rang the bell at least five times. The door flew open and I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun.
“Ria?” Alan immediately lowered the gun and tucked it into his belt. Worry filled his eyes as he saw Adrian. “Oh, God. What happened?”
“We were imprisoned in a lab and Adrian got injected with some weird red liquid. He said you could help.” I made a mental note to ask Alan why the hell he thought he had to point a gun in my face when he opened the door.
“What liquid?” Alan helped me carry Adrian inside.
“I don’t know.” I ran a hand over my face. If only I had seen what Sebastian had put in the syringe or found the bottle.
“Adrian, can you hear me?” Alan tipped Adrian’s chin up. When Adrian didn’t respond, Alan dug his fingers into the bruises on Adrian’s jaw, making him cry out.
“Hey, don’t do that to him!” I might not have any elements or weapons, but I was ready to punch Alan in the face if he kept hurting my boyfriend. I was through with Adrian getting hurt.
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