“Looks like we don’t have to worry about Margaret anymore,” Adrian said as he glanced at the screen of his phone.
“Does that mean that they got her?” I gave him a hopeful look.
Adrian bit down on his lip. “Kind of.”
“What does that mean?” I swear if the cops let Margaret go…
“Her car went off a cliff not far from the roadblock.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say to that.
“Yeah. The scans of the area also indicate that there are some underground tunnels nearby. The passage most likely leads to them.”
I gave him a quizzical look. “Tunnels? Really? Why would Margaret need to go there?”
“No clue. The tunnels were made ages ago because people thought they’d find valuable rocks.” He handed me the phone to show me a photo of dark, slimy walls.
“Let me guess. They didn’t find anything.”
“Of course not.” He grinned.
I handed him back the phone. “But someone might have used the tunnels later.”
“Probably.” He shrugged. “It had to be before the government sold the island.”
“Interesting,” I said just as two black cars pulled over next to us. A man and a woman got out and flashed their badges at us.
“We can take over from here,” the man said, giving us a friendly smile. “Thanks for helping us out.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. “But we’d rather stay and see what you find.”
“Okay, but that might take some time,” the woman said, bewildered.
“We don’t have anything better to do,” I said. And really, what would we do? We had time to explore the island. It wasn’t going to go anywhere. I hoped.
A couple of hours later, one of the cops came through the bushes, dirt covering his shoes and pants. His face was pale and gaunt.
“Did you find anything?” I was leaning on the hood of the car, my arms crossed.
“We found a safe, but it’s locked with an element,” he said. “It seems that the safe belongs to the person who was killed by Margaret Hansel. The vic was one of the former owners of the island. She must have found out about the safe and its location when she killed him.”
“Of course.” I turned to look at Adrian, who had just gotten out of the car and was stretching out his arms. “She was in a hurry because the element would expire and she wouldn’t be able to open the safe.”
“Then why didn’t she stop?” Adrian frowned.
“How should I know? She was crazy. Then again, maybe she was afraid to go against the two of us. If she got out of the car, I bet we could have killed her before she got both of us. I don’t know why she kept driving like a maniac. Maybe she thought we’d pursue her or that the cops were behind her.” It didn’t matter what Margaret had been doing. I was more interested in something else. “So what do you think is in that safe?”
“My best guess would be money or jewelry,” the cop said. “Hansel still needed money to get herself out of trouble.”
I pouted. “That’s so boring. I hoped it would be something fun.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.” The guy grinned. “I have to go now to report to Lily. See you around.”
“Sure.” I gave him a broad smile, but I hoped I wouldn’t be seeing him. He might be one of Lily’s guys and carrier, but he was also a cop.
“Can we go now? Maybe do something fun?” Adrian hugged me from behind, his lips pressing against my neck.
“Yep.” I turned around and kissed him. “Sounds like a good plan.”
Chapter 38
There was only one thing I was certain of; the time flew like crazy. It turned out the island wasn’t as boring as I’d expected it to be. In a very short time, many shops and restaurants had been opened, more carriers arrived and with them, a lot of visitors. I wasn’t missing the city that much, except for the certain people who lived there.
“What is so interesting that you keep staring at your phone?” Adrian asked, his hands on the wheel. He knew the roads well enough to drive his black Lamborghini, so I let him.
“Paula just sent me some pictures of little Moira. For a baby, she’s cute.”
“I don’t really like babies,” Adrian said. “Let’s hope Paula brings her here when she grows up.”
“Yeah, I don’t like babies either.” Adrian and I couldn’t have kids anyway. There was no way to make sure that our offspring didn’t have the disease since we both had it, and that pretty much meant the child would have the disease. Adoption was out of the question too because there was too much risk. We didn’t mind, though. “But I hope we’ll get to meet Moira someday. I’m sure Paula won’t risk bringing her here while she’s too young, but I guess we could take her in for vacation or something.”
“Why not?” Adrian said.
“Paula and Ryan will have a problem,” I said. “Moira has brown eyes and brown hair. Paula says Ryan is considering dyeing his hair, but I think she’s joking.”
Adrian burst out laughing. “I don’t think brown would look good on him. I’m sure Paula will come up with some genetic theory to explain everything.”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Brown is a dominant gene, so she won’t have to try too hard. Besides, the gene manipulation worked. Moira will only have her mother’s element.”
“Are you still upset that we couldn’t attend Paula’s wedding?” Adrian’s gray-blue eyes met mine.
“A little. Watching it on the video just isn’t the same. I wish I could have been there for Paula.” I wished I’d been with her for some other stuff too, but there was nothing I could do about that. “Did I tell you that Michael and Amaya are planning to get married too?”
“Why? Is she pregnant?”
“Adrian!” I gave him an indignant look, but I ended up giggling. “I don’t know. Maybe she is.”
Adrian stopped the car on the brow of one of the cliffs. The view was spectacular. The sky was the most beautiful blue I’d seen. The sun caressed the waves which were crashing and jumping against the steep cliffs.
“Did Lily tell you anything about the new laws?” I asked as we got out of the car. Ever since Ethan’s father had been sentenced to a life in a special prison for allowing and participating in the torture of carriers, Lily had been trying to change the laws so that carriers couldn’t be killed on sight unless they were completely out of control and a threat to everyone. No one could discriminate against carriers or treat them differently from other people, not even the cops. Lily had also assured me that Anton wouldn’t be sending anyone after me.
“Yeah, she’s very close to achieving what she wants,” he said. “But I didn’t come here to talk about stupid laws and politics.”
“Ah, no?” I offered him a shy smile. “Then why did we come here?”
“For this.” He put his hands on each side of my face and pulled me in for a kiss. Yep, making out was much better than talking. Adrian’s tongue parted my lips, his hand low on my hip. Before I knew it, my back was pressed against the front of the Lamborghini, my fingers digging into Adrian’s back. A soft moan escaped my lips as he bent himself above me, kissing my neck. I ran my fingers through his soft hair, my eyes closed.
“What if we scratch your precious car?” I said under my breath.
“We won’t.” He flicked his tongue over my earlobe, sending shivers all over my body. Warmth spread through me, filling every part of my being. I gasped for air, gently pushing Adrian off me.
“What’s wrong?” He looked at me in surprise.
I got to my feet, holding my hand over my heart. “I don’t know. It’s so hot.”
“I don’t see how that is a problem.” Adrian came to stand next to me, a puzzled expression on his face.
I stopped very close to the edge, watching the sea. The breeze ruffled my hair, the scent of the sea filling my lungs. But nothing was enough to chase away the warmth. I wanted to grab Adrian’s hand and jump into the waves.
The warmth pulled back, slamm
ing into that part of my being where my element used to be. “Adrian,” I rasped out. “It’s back.”
“What is?” He touched my shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
I looked at the sea, calling the warmth to me. A fireball flew into the sky, making me smile.
“Ria!” Adrian said in astonishment. “Your fire.”
“Yes!” I squealed in delight and threw myself into his arms. We spun around until we were both dizzy.
“I can’t believe it,” he said.
“I can’t either.” I shook my head. “My fire is not as strong as before, but it’s back.”
“I’m sure Paula will want to hear about this. Who would have thought an element preserver could get the lost element back?” Adrian caressed my hair.
“It seemed impossible, but I guess I truly am an element preserver.” I grinned, resting my head on Adrian’s shoulder. Maybe we couldn’t leave the island because we had weakened each other too much, but I had almost everything I wanted here. I was happy. And for the first time I realized something. We might have weakened each other’s elements, but we also made each other stronger.
Adrian and I might not be indestructible, but our love was. If I had him with me, we could be anywhere and we could deal with whatever trouble came our way. Of course, I hoped we were done with trouble. My fame had died out pretty quickly and I was sure no one even remembered me. Not even that little girl, April, who had gotten the last element she needed so she could control herself and now lived a more or less normal life somewhere.
Only a month ago, Lily revealed the truth about the element collectors, but people were already more interested in preserving their elements and using them more often. Apparently, after the protests and the fight between carriers and the government’s men, many elementals realized that elements were a great way to defend themselves. Since many carriers and element preservers were coming out of hiding, some elementals thought their element was the only way to protect themselves. Still, a lot had to be done until people could all live together in peace without judging everyone who was different from them.
Our world was changing, but Adrian and I had changed too. I mean, who would have thought I’d find happiness on a carriers-only island and wouldn’t want to leave?
Calling to my fire, I formed a shape of a heart and sent it to the sky.
###
The End.
Or maybe not.
Thank you for reading!
I really hope you enjoyed this book. If you have any questions or comments, you can always contact me. Ria's and Adrian's journey might have come to an end, but I’m not ready to leave Ria’s world, so I decided to write a spin-off series, which will be told from the point of view of Moira Arnolds, Paula’s daughter. Moira will have plenty of reasons to visit Ria and Adrian, and maybe meet some mysterious boys who can help her to uncover a dark secret about her magic. Visit http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/tainted-elements-series.html to find out more! I can’t tell you how excited I am about this series!
Different (Tainted Elements, #1)
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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
Dedication
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08
Chapter 09
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
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Indestructible Page 21
