Resilient (Tainted Elements, #6)

by Alycia Linwood

  She greeted a few people on her way and headed toward a locked stairwell. After she punched in the code and had her fingerprint scanned, the door beeped open, and we followed her down the stairs. We found ourselves in what looked like a big garage, but there weren’t any vehicles in sight. At least the numerous pipes and columns provided us with plenty of hiding spots.

  Asya stopped in the middle of the room, rubbing her arms. It was chilly in here, and the room was mostly in shadows because the dim bulbs didn’t provide much light. I crouched behind one of the columns, and Jaiden hid behind the one just across from me. Pressing my back against the column, I stared at the phone.

  A few minutes passed, but no one came. Still, Asya was standing in the same spot, tapping her foot against the floor, but she didn’t attempt to leave. Had the man changed his mind about working with her? Could he have somehow found out that Jaiden and I were hiding here? Just as I was about to get up and go over to Jaiden to tell him that maybe someone outside could read our body heat signatures, the creak of a door opening somewhere made me pause. Footsteps echoed, coming closer, and my heart started thudding louder and louder in my chest.

  “Do you have it?” a male voice asked, and I focused on the phone. A man with short black hair and blue eyes came into view. I’d say he was in his thirties, so how could he be a tainted elemental? It didn’t make sense... Unless Asya’s partner had sent one of the men who work for him instead, and there was no way for her to tell the difference.

  Since she couldn’t remember what he looked like, he could send a different person each time. What I didn’t know was how she could be sure she wasn’t talking to someone who wasn’t working for the guy. Maybe he’d mind-controlled her to react to certain people. Or maybe he could reverse his mind control, but only him, and not anyone else. That would be a nice ability.

  “I’m sorry, but my scientists don’t have the serum yet. I assure you they’re working on it night and day. It will be ready soon, but you have to understand that creating such a thing isn’t easy and...” Asya said.

  “Should I care that incompetent people are working for you? I said I wanted the serum today, and you don’t have it. You failed this task.” The man’s lip twisted into an angry sneer, and the camera suddenly went all fuzzy, white noise filling the screen. What the hell had just happened? I glanced at Jaiden, who was trying to take a peek from behind the column.

  “Please, I can...” Asya started to say, but then her voice was cut off and a gurgling sound filled the room. I held my breath, my pulse racing.

  “You two can stop hiding now,” the man said. “Come out before I lose my patience.”

  How did he know we were here? Had he seen the camera? What had he done with Asya? Wrapping myself in my fire, which was now glowing stronger than before, probably thanks to Jack’s serum, I stepped out from behind the column, readying myself for an attack. My throat constricted when I saw Asya lying on the floor, blood pooling under her, her eyes staring into nothingness.

  Jaiden sent a gust of air toward the man, but it collided with something invisible... like some sort of wall. With a flick of his wrist, the man threw Jaiden across the room with his air. I let out a cry and forced my fire out of me, aiming a blast toward the man. My energy hit the invisible wall too, and I gritted my teeth, pushing against it.

  The man just stood there, looking slightly bored, his shoulders relaxed, his mouth upturned. Was some kind of device helping him to keep that invisible wall up? Or was it his element? Because if it was his element, then he was more powerful than we could’ve imagined. Sweat broke out on my forehead as I turned my fire blue and pounded against the man’s shield.

  “Stop trying, little girl. You’ll achieve nothing.” A burst of air passed through the wall, punching me in the stomach. My fire slammed back into me, and I doubled over, clutching my arm to myself. As I tried to catch my breath, Jaiden got to his feet and attacked the man with a few very strong blasts of air and fire, but no matter how hard he tried, his elements were swallowed by the powerful shield, or whatever it was that was protecting the guy.

  Clenching my jaw and forcing myself up, I swirled my air into a small tornado and flung it toward the invisible wall. Jaiden did the same, and our tornadoes pushed at the wall. My energy was depleting and I wasn’t sure how long I could keep going. Jaiden’s face was strained, his eyes narrowed. The two of us together couldn’t even make a dent in the guy’s shield.

  The guy clapped his hands, and a current of air surged out, knocking Jaiden and me off our feet. My head hit the floor, and something warm glided down my forehead. I gingerly touched the spot and came away with blood on my fingers.

  “This was fun,” the man said, and I saw him walking over to Jaiden, who was lying on the floor. A gasp escaped Jaiden’s lips and his eyes closed.

  “No! What did you do to him?” I let out a strangled cry, trying to push myself up. The man just flashed me a smile, and pain erupted in my skull. It was so overwhelming that I could no longer feel any part of my body. My eyes closed and the darkness swallowed me.

  Chapter 13

  When my eyes finally opened, I saw my mom’s concerned face poised over me.

  “Mom?” A frown creased my brow, and I pushed myself up on my elbows. I was in one of the rooms in Asya’s facility, and my parents were standing next to my bed while Lily was helping Jaiden sit up on the other bed.

  “Oh thank God you’re awake. What happened?” My mom pulled me into a hug. “We found Jaiden and you in the garage. There was a body of some woman...”

  “The man!” I said. “There was a man. He... he wanted Asya’s scientists to make a serum for him, and he gave her a deadline. And since she failed to deliver the serum... he killed her. And when we attacked him, we couldn’t... He was too strong.”

  “Who is he?” Lily asked, leaning forward. “Is he still around here somewhere? We have to find him. My men are already scouring the area, but it would be great if you could tell me more about him.”

  “He...” I blinked, unable to recall the man’s face. “I don’t know. I can’t...”

  “Me neither.” Jaiden grimaced as he hopped to his feet. “He had some kind of a shield around him and our elements couldn’t go through, but he could attack us just fine. And he did something to us before he left... I can’t remember his face, just a blurry shadow.”

  “So you can’t tell us anything about him? Hair color? Height? Is he a tainted elemental?” Lily frowned.

  “No, I think he mind-controlled us.” I called to my air and realized it was more or less fine, which made me wonder just how long Jaiden and I had been unconscious. Pushing my air into my mind, I checked my signals to see if I could heal them and uncover the truth, but some of my signals were shriveled. “Shit.”

  “What’s wrong?” My dad leaned forward, his blue eyes filled with worry. “Are you in pain?”

  “No, I just realized the guy mind-controlled me. My brain signals are shriveled... It seems like he can make his mind control permanent or maybe just erase a portion of memories. I’m not sure yet which one.” I groaned.

  “Can you try to heal mine?” Jaiden asked, and I released my element and entered his mind.

  “Some of your signals are shriveled too. I guess he did something to us so we wouldn’t remember his face.”

  “What about that camera we put on Asya’s shirt?” Jaiden said. “There should be some footage of him.”

  “Do you mean the footage we recovered from the phone that was on the floor near Moira?” Lily asked.

  “Yeah.” I couldn’t exactly remember what the camera had recorded, but I was sure there had to be something since Asya had been facing the man.

  “Unfortunately the whole video is corrupted. All we see is white noise.” Lily’s face turned sour. “How are we going to catch the guy if we don’t know anything about him? I checked all the security footage, and there’s nothing that could help us.”

  As I patted the back of my neck, my head still achi
ng, I felt a bandage under my fingers.

  “Don’t touch that,” my mom said, pulling my hand away. “We removed the chips that were placed in your necks so no one could activate them or find a way to use them again.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said, getting to my feet. “Is there any other way we could trace the guy? Maybe someone saw him or a camera caught him outside. He had to come here somehow. What about any satellite images? Or strange vehicles that were in the area?”

  “My team has already gone through all of that.” Lily drew a hand across her face, her shoulders curving forward. “I’ll tell them to check everything again, but I’m not sure how we’re supposed to find someone who can... shrivel brain signals?” She screwed her nose up.

  “Could he be using some kind of a device to do all that?” my dad asked. “If we could find out who manufactures element blockers and things like that, maybe we can get a list of their clients and see if any of them are in this area.”

  “We could try,” Lily said. “But I’m not sure how I’m going to get the list of clients... if I try to obtain it legally. The only reason I got permission to bring my team here is because you two were trapped, but the local cops are already trying to take over. I don’t think I can request to have any lists handed over to me until I have proof that we have a serious threat. I can’t tell them there might be some super powerful tainted who can do things we can’t really see, but that we don’t know what he looks like or what his name is, and we don’t have any proof against him. Every country is sensitive about foreigners meddling in their affairs. They could accuse us of trying to spy on them.”

  Before anyone could say anything, a knock sounded on the door, and one of Lily’s men came inside.

  “What is it, Fred?” Lily asked.

  The man ran his hand through his short dark hair, his hazel eyes flashing with uncertainty. “Um, Mr. Maiers insists on speaking with you. He says you can’t arrest him because he has something important to share with you.”

  “Where is he?” Lily pressed her lips together.

  “Outside.”

  “Bring him in,” Lily said, and Fred nodded, opening the door and letting Jack inside.

  “You wanted to talk to me, so talk,” Lily said. “I don’t have much time or patience, so it better be good.”

  “I want to make a deal with you,” Jack said, and a frown line creased Lily’s brow.

  “Why should I make a deal with you? You’re a criminal.”

  “Oh, please.” Jack tsked. “Why waste an opportunity to save the world?”

  “Save the world?” I said, arching my eyebrows. “If you try to convince us that you know how to find the mystery man who killed Asya, then it won’t work because you already told us that you’re clueless.”

  “Who cares about Asya’s killer?” Jack said. “I’m talking about a way to end our problem with diminishing water supplies.”

  “Don’t tell me you actually have that serum Asya asked for, but you never told her the truth.” I glared at Jack. He would’ve done something like that if he thought it benefited him more if he held onto it. I wondered why Asya hadn’t threatened him more to get what she wanted. Maybe even she had been aware that the mystery man’s request was impossible to fulfill, so she didn’t press, hoping he’d give up or extend the deadline, and she’d kept Jack and the others so they could enhance tainteds’ elements and increase energy production.

  “No,” Jack said. “It’s a different kind of thing. Since I came up with a serum that can enhance elements and create them...”

  “Yeah, your attempts didn’t really work out. Or did you forget all those people who died after you tried to turn them into tainteds?” Lily’s eyes flashed dangerously.

  “I’m not talking about involving people in this, tainteds or regulars,” Jack said, and Jaiden tilted his head at him.

  “Then what do you have in mind?” Jaiden asked.

  “I’m talking about taking small amounts of elemental energy that we have and enhancing them.” An unusual gleam filled Jack’s eyes.

  My mom rubbed her arms. “Are you saying we could use a serum directly on elemental energy, and as a result, it would increase and we’d have more?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” Jack lifted his chin up and pulled in a deep breath. “We wouldn’t have to enhance the elements while they are inside an elemental’s body, but we could do it after the energy is in the collector. We’d just mix a special serum with it, and we’d have enough water energy to turn into potable water or whatever we need.”

  My mom frowned, chewing on her lip. “That could actually work, but do you have that serum?”

  “I have the formula. It needs to be perfected, but it’ll work. Of course, I want full immunity for any crimes I’m being accused of, or you’ll never get it.”

  Lily turned to my mom. “Can you do this? Or anyone else? I really don’t want this guy walking around freely just because he has a good idea.”

  “We’ve tried that, but I don’t think anyone has even come close to discovering a formula that could work,” my mom said. “I don’t know how much water we have left, but things are not looking good. And in all these years, no one has come up with anything. Well, if we don’t count the people like Asya who decided that kidnapping and torturing tainteds is the way to go.”

  Lily took a deep breath. “Okay, Jack. You’ve got your deal. But only if the serum works. If it doesn’t, you’re going to jail.”

  “Fine, but make sure you sign all the official papers because I don’t want you to trick me.” Jack smacked his lips together with satisfaction. Was he really that confident his idea would work or did he have an escape plan in place once Lily left him in some lab to work on the serum?

  “Sure,” Lily said. “But my men will watch you the whole time, so don’t even dream about doing something silly.”

  “The only ones who can do something silly are a part of your team.” Jack grinned.

  “Speaking of serums...” my mom said, and everyone looked at her. “I might know a way to lure out the mystery guy.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “You said he wanted some kind of a serum,” she said.

  “Yeah, he wants to be able to turn all elements in a person’s body into a strong pure water element,” I said.

  “What if we announced somewhere that we’d created such a thing?” My mom’s blue eyes seemed more like green in this light.

  “We could lure him into a trap,” Jaiden said.

  “Yeah,” my mom said. “If he really wants that serum, he’ll have to come check it out, and then we can catch him.”

  “But it can’t be anyone here, or he’ll know that we’re trying to trick him.” I doubted the guy was stupid. Crazy maybe, but certainly not stupid enough to fall for this.

  “He might be suspicious that someone created the serum just now, but wouldn’t he at least be curious enough to investigate?” Lily said. “We could use that opportunity. If he’s powerful, maybe he gets cocky and thinks he can take us down, but with all of us together and with element blockers, I’m sure we could overpower him. It’s worth a try. But Moira’s right. It can’t happen here.”

  “I know scientists all over the world. If someone volunteers for this, maybe they can announce it,” my mom said. “I just don’t know how dangerous that is for them, considering what that man can do.”

  “We’ll have to take that risk, and we’ll do everything to protect that person,” Lily said.

  “Okay, then I’ll make some contacts and see who’s up for it.” My mom offered us all a smile and strode out of the room, followed by my dad.

  “You two should call in all your tainteds too,” Lily said. “We’ll need all the help we can get for this.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure Noah and the others will want to come,” I said. “Jaiden, can you call them?”

  Jaiden nodded and went to find a phone.

  “I was told Jack gave you some serum to enhance your elements. Is t
hat true?” Lily asked.

  “Yeah, but I don’t know if that really worked. I mean, I do feel my elements are a bit stronger, but we still didn’t manage to take that man down, so I’m not sure. Maybe it takes some time until it fully works.” Although by now, I was sure enough time had passed, so any other effects should have shown by now. Maybe Jack’s serum wasn’t as special as he thought it was.

  “Okay, then. There’s one thing you need to do for me,” Lily said. “Most of the people here have been mind-controlled, so it would be great if you could heal their minds. Maybe there’s something useful they can tell us, and maybe we can finally help them return to their homes and families. We’ll have to remove mind control from their family and friends too. And we need to catch the guys who helped with the kidnapping.”

  “Good idea.” I started for the door and hoped I’d have enough energy to heal everyone’s minds.

  Chapter 14

  “I didn’t expect you’d all come,” I said when Noah stepped into my embrace. Nick, Kenna, Marissa, Ashley, and Sam stood behind him, their faces smiling.

  “We want to help, and as soon as Lily told us how powerful this new guy is, we knew we had to come,” Noah said, pulling away, his blue eyes growing serious. “Do you think he’s a tainted or using technology?”

  “So far, it seems like he’s a tainted. Lily’s men couldn’t find anything out about new technological developments that had such powers. Although, if the guy can erase memories for good, then he could’ve also done it to the person who invented the machine for him, or maybe that person is no longer alive.” The man didn’t have any qualms about killing Asya, so why wouldn’t he do the same with someone who was a threat and could reveal his secret?

  “And if he’s just a very powerful tainted?” Marissa asked as she wrapped her arms around me into a quick hug.