"And if you just stopped talking nonsense, we'd be actually working." I pinned the woman with a cold stare, and she pressed her lips together into an angry line.
"Leave the girl alone," a man said, loosening his red tie. He was much younger than the rest of them, probably in his thirties. "It takes a lot of courage to accept such an honorable position, even for a couple of days."
"Fine," a blonde said, her hazel eyes meeting mine. "So, what are we discussing today?"
"We need to assure all element collectors are in place in the next two weeks," I said, pleased with gasps of surprise that followed.
"Your father told you about that?" The blonde gaped at me.
"He did." I fought a pleased smiled that was threatening to spread across my lips.
"Well," a gray-haired man said, "I guess we can start by listing all the shops that agreed to test our product."
"That's an excellent idea." I sat down, taking out my phone and setting it to recording mode. God knew I wouldn't be able to remember everything that was said during the meeting, and Lily and others could interpret business talk better than me, so it was smarter for me to sit back and get people to talk. Unlike my brother, Lily was worried about the whole element collectors thing and she wanted to do what was the best for everyone, not only magic disease carriers. Oliver might have manipulated her earlier to seduce her, but now she was thinking with her own head.
Two hours later, I rested my elbows on the table and wished for everyone to shut up because they were starting to seriously go on my nerves. People on the left side of the table were babbling about their plans for the holidays and I had no idea when and how that topic had come up. No one paid any attention to me, so I stopped the recording on my phone and got up, purposely knocking over a bottle of water.
"Sorry," I said as everyone turned their heads toward me, the murmur dying down. "We should bring this meeting to closure, shouldn't we?"
"Of course. We have said everything we wanted," an elderly man said. Relief that I felt was immense.
"Good. I hope my father will be back soon." I smiled politely. "Oh, he also hired a couple of new people to help us out." It was way too easy to lie to all these people because they didn't know me well enough to recognize any nervous ticks that might give me away. I wanted Lily and a couple of her people to work in the Element Preservers, but I couldn't simply say I brought my friends with me, so I prayed that no one was too interested in new workers my father hired.
A few people eyed me suspiciously, but no one said anything or complained. I guessed it wasn't part of their job to worry who worked in this building. Of course, they trusted my father and his judgment. I could picture the blond woman's hair rising in the air like an angry cat's fur if she ever found out my father had nothing to do with the Element Preservers, and that magic disease carriers ruled over the organization. As soon as I said my goodbyes, I practically ran out of the room, feeling everyone's elements until I was out of the building.
"I think I have an idea how to let people know that magic disease carriers are being tortured in labs all over the country," I said when I found Adrian in the training room, back at Lily's compound.
He turned to look at me, beads of sweat covering his forehead. "You do?"
"Yeah, we should leak the info. You know, accidentally send an e-mail to someone or drop a flash drive somewhere where people will be curious enough to check it out first." It was hard to keep eye contact with Adrian and not keep glancing at the muscles in his arms or the way his black sweatshirt hugged his body.
"And what are the chances that pro-carrier person will get it?" A small smile hovered on his lips as he no doubt realized I was shamelessly ogling him.
"It's worth a try." I shrugged.
"We'll see." He put his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, pressing his lips against mine in a gentle, deliberately slow kiss, which set my body on fire. Not literally, of course. "Do you want me to show you something?" His gray-blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Yeah," I said breathlessly, even though I didn't have a tiniest idea what he was talking about. He spun me around so fast that I half-fell against him.
"Close your eyes." His voice was low and seductive, his hands roaming down my back. I glanced at him over my shoulder, but then did as he asked.
"Relax." I could feel his hands slide under my shirt, caressing my skin. I leaned into his touch, enjoying the sensation. Then I felt like a thousand of icy needles pierced my skin, making me gasp. The weird, tingling feeling spread from Adrian's fingers all over my body, the sudden coldness coming and going. I was trembling, but when Adrian pulled back and stopped whatever he was doing, my whole body was full of new energy.
"Oh my God!" I laughed, spinning around in Adrian's arms and kissing him. "What did you do?"
"Lily had a theory that we can transfer energy to each other if we lightly use our element when our skin is touching. I guess she was right." He grinned. "Of course, she forbade me to try it out because it could have weird consequences, but we're already weird, so... no harm done."
I rolled my eyes at him. "I don't like to be a guinea pig." Except for Paula.
"You're right. You don't look anything like a guinea pig, although if you wore that furry coat I saw in the closet..." He chuckled, and I hit him in the shoulder.
"Do you want a shower?" I asked, satisfied with the look of surprise he gave me.
"A shower?" He arched one eyebrow, a playful smile on his lips.
"Yeah. I want to try out my new element, so I predict we'll both get wet." I grinned, hoping that getting wet was the worst thing that could happen.
"I don't mind." He spread his arms, pointing at the walls around us. "You can do here whatever you want. It's perfectly safe."
"Umm, maybe you should step back." I took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on all of my elements.
"As you wish." He retreated a few steps, leaning on the wall, his attention on me.
Closing my eyes, I felt for my elements until I found water. Even after I took two other elements, my fire was still the first one to surge. I didn't know whether that was because it was mine to begin with or because I had it longer.
I pictured a small puddle of water appearing at my feet, a refreshing sensation spreading through me. Something wet hit my arm, so I opened my eyes and saw a spray of water seeping from my arm and dripping to the ground. "This is so messed up."
"Looks like you're melting." At least Adrian found the whole thing funny.
"I want to create a puddle, but without water touching my skin." I willed the water to stop, but it kept dripping from my skin. I let out a frustrated huff, shaking my arm. Considering I had much more trouble with air, I thought I was doing pretty well. All those hours of practice with my elements must have paid off.
"Try to push the element back," Adrian suggested.
"I am trying!" An eternity later, I finally stopped the water. "Maybe I should ask a water user for a tip or two. Water feels so much different from fire and air."
"Really? I would have never guessed that." Adrian teased, pushing himself off the wall and strolling toward me. "Will you take a tip from an ice user? After all, ice is a sub-element of water."
"And what should I do according to you?" I didn't want him to stand so close to me, but he didn't seem to be worried. He could probably stop my water with his ice if necessary.
"Focus your attention on water and let it out bit by bit."
"Like when I'm warming the room with my fire?"
"Yeah."
"Umm, ok." I wasn't confident about his idea, but it was worth a try. Thinking about water, I let go of the sensation, feeling it seep through me, but I couldn't see anything. "Nothing is happening," I said a minute or two later, breaking the magic current going through my veins. As the words left my mouth, a drop fell on my nose. Another drop followed closely after, and then another, until multiple drops fell on Adrian and me.
"I created rain." I frowned, wiping the drops o
ff my face.
Adrian laughed, extending his hand to catch the raindrops. He turned one of the drops into a snowflake and offered it to me. The light rain stopped, but as soon as I touched the snowflake, it melted. Only Adrian could hold ice and not feel its biting cold or melt it, but it had taken him lots of practice in this room to be able to do that.
"Oh God," I groaned as I saw the floor was slick. Calling to my fire, I warmed the floor until it was sizzling. The smell of boiling water filled the room, but at least the floor was dry and didn't need cleaning. I made a step and my knees buckled under me. Adrian caught me before I hit the ground, cradling me in his arms.
"Ria!"
"I'm fine. Just tired." I tried to squirm out of Adrian's arms, but I felt as if someone had sucked out my energy.
"Let me get you to the room." He picked me up as if I weighed nothing and went for the door. As he carried me through the door, we saw Lily striding toward us, her face full of worry, her long black hair disheveled.
"Thank God you're here," she said, clearly too upset to notice I was in Adrian's arms. "There's a man outside who wants to talk to you two. I have no clue how he got here, but... he says there are men waiting for him, so we can't harm him."
"Did he tell you his name?" Adrian asked.
"Alan," Lily said, looking at Adrian. "I believe he's your guardian."
I swore under my breath. Alan was the last person we needed now, but how the hell had he found us? We had a serious security problem.
"I'll go talk to him," Adrian said.
"No." I shook my head. "We both have to talk to him."
"You're exhausted," Adrian said. "The last thing we need is that you collapse because of that bastard."
"Well, he already knows our location. We might as well receive him in our room and make sure he doesn't yell for help or something." I stifled a yawn, wondering whether using water really took that much energy or there was something wrong with me again.
"What's up with her?" Lily frowned as she finally realized Adrian wasn't holding me in his arms because we were being silly.
"We'll talk about it later," Adrian said. "Can you bring Alan to my room?"
Lily sighed, running her hand across her forehead. "I guess he's seen enough already, so I'd say yeah. We have to start packing and be ready to move, though."
"Great. Bring him to us, then," I said, determined not to worsen my condition by setting Alan on fire. Lily turned to leave, but a man running from the other side of the hall yelled her name and she stopped.
"What now, Tyler?" Lily's face darkened and the man flinched under her piercing gaze.
"Someone found the remains of some guy whose element can open the Pandora's Box. They're a going to blame a magic disease carrier for that. I thought you should know," Tyler said, bowing his head.
"Thank you, Tyler," Lily said, clenching her fists. "Find out all you can about it and report to me." Tyler nodded and retreated, hurrying down the hall.
"So they finally found him," I whistled. "Took them long enough."
"You knew about this?" Lily's green eyes swirled with something between anger and annoyance.
"Sort of," I said. "Ask my brother about it. He'll know more."
"Aw, great." Lily stormed off, no doubt furious with my brother for not telling her anything. Oh, well, at least she wasn't angry with Adrian and me.
Chapter 14
I was lying on the bed, propped up on various pillows. Adrian sat down on the bed next to me, his hand resting on mine. We didn't need to feel elements to know that Alan was coming. His shoes were loud enough to echo in the small hall, especially since Lily had probably cleared the whole part of the building so Alan wouldn't see any faces he'd be able to recognize later.
Nevertheless, a knock on the door startled us so much that we jumped, and Adrian yelled it was ok to come in. Alan peered through the half open door, assessing the situation. When he convinced himself we weren't going to attack him, he slipped into the room and closed the door firmly behind him.
"Nice to see you two are both alive and have found new friends." Alan grinned, settling himself in the chair opposite to the bed.
"What do you want?" Adrian's grip tightened on my hand, his voice icy and strangely detached.
The smile disappeared from Alan's lips. "Well, let's get down to business then. The police have found out one of the keepers of the Pandora's Box is dead."
"We know," I said. "But we haven't killed him, so I don't see how that is our problem."
"Oh, but you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I mention you two were near the Pandora's Box, persuade a few people to claim that the remains were brought to another country to hide the trail... You know how it goes. Adrian would be blamed for the worst possible thing ever and persecuted by the whole world."
"Do you think it matters if I get blamed for a murder? You absolutely can't prove Ria was with me," Adrian said. "And you can't prove the people here have anything to do with me. You lied to everyone about my whereabouts, so you can't change the story just like that."
"Oh, but it matters, Adrian. It matters to her!" Alan nodded toward me, and Adrian frowned.
"No." Adrian shook his head. "I won't let her risk anything for me anymore. If you want to see me dead, fine. But you're not dragging anyone else with me."
"I would never want you dead," Alan said and I made a show of rolling my eyes so he could see it. "But the decision is not in my hands. It's in Ria's."
"And why is that?" I crossed my arms in front of me, wincing at the dull pain that shot up my shoulder. The strong painkiller I'd taken earlier had made me forget my wound was still healing, but the pill's effect was clearly starting to wear off. Maybe I should have taken a double dose like one of the doctors suggested, but my aversion to pills of any kind was too big.
"A little bird told me you are the current president of the Element Preservers." The slow smile that spread across Alan's lips was extremely unnerving. I opened my mouth to deny everything, but he stopped me, shaking his finger. "Nuh uh. You're not going to convince me my source lied."
"Right. You're friends with one of my father's associates." I hoped it was only that. If Alan had spoken to my father, then we were in trouble. I didn't know for how long we could hide the fact that my father wasn't on a temporary leave, but we needed more time. My father trusted Alan to an extent, but probably not enough to confide this secret to him. He would never get the president's pension if Alan or someone else suspected something fishy was going on.
"Yes, of course I am. I have friends everywhere."
Great. Now Alan was implying we should better do what he requested or he'd send all of his little spies, associates and bodyguards after us. "What do you want?" I sighed, tired of the stupid games. "I know you want an awesome position in the Element Preservers, but most of the time I have no clue what I'm doing there, so I have no idea what would that position be."
"I want you to assign me to the position of the vice president." Alan crossed one leg over the other, leaning back in his chair like he could already picture himself in the office.
"There's a vice president?" My eyebrows shot up. "I've never heard anyone mention a vice president."
"That's because the current vice president is Cassandra Praine. Your father chose her a couple of months ago."
I could have sworn I heard that name before, but I couldn't quite remember where. "Wait, wouldn't that mean she gets to be the president if my father leaves?"
"Yes and no. The presidency doesn't work that way." Alan looked annoyed by my ignorance. "The vice president gets a nice paycheck, makes sure the president's work is done correctly, deals with minor issues within the organization, and of course, substitutes the president until the new election. However, that happens only when the president dies or doesn't transfer the presidency to someone else."
"Why didn't you go after my father then?"
"They wouldn't have elected me if your father had died. Besides, he is far m
ore dangerous when you cross him than you two will ever be." Alan threw his head back and sighed, then focused on us. "Your father chose Cassandra because she was from the acceptable family and because her mind isn't what it used to be, so he could control her and have absolute power in the organization." My father must have been glad that Cassandra had come to his party back in Rosentown, because I was under the impression that they hadn't seen each other for a long time before that. How convenient for my father.
"Why didn't you force him to give you the presidency? Where were your awesome resources then?" I shifted on the bed to get more comfortable, breaking contact with Adrian, but I couldn't feel Alan's element. Glancing at Adrian, I tried to stay calm and pretend nothing strange was going on.
"If you actually read any of the documents in the office instead of painting your nails, you'd realize the president can only transfer the presidency to someone over 18 from his family. So, hypothetically speaking, if your father lost his mind and transferred the presidency for more than a little while, you'd be the president for the next three and a half years until the new election."
It was a good thing Alan didn't know my father had done exactly that. "And how do you think I can fire Cassandra and choose you? My father will be pissed when he comes back and sees what I've done."
"Don't worry about that. The presidency is temporarily assigned to you and you can do whatever you want."
"Awesome," I said dryly. Adrian nudged me in the ribs with his elbow, moving his shoulder toward Alan. What was he...? Oh yeah. A black bracelet was peeking out under the sleeve of Alan's suit, no doubt blocking the feel of his element. The bastard had known where he was coming, so he'd acquired one of the element-blocking bracelets to make sure no one could detect him until it was too late. No matter what Lily claimed, I was sure there was a mole in her group. Alan wouldn't have found us otherwise.
"So, am I getting the vice presidency or what?" Alan uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his dark eyes observing me carefully.
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