“Oh, honey, you’re back!” She wrapped me into a tight hug, then let Jaiden and me inside. The room was full of papers that were all over the table, the chairs, and even on the floor. Jaiden’s father stood over a microscope, studying something, and a bunch of vials were on the table too. My dad was sitting in front of a computer and checking out some graphs. He smiled at me when he saw me.
“Mom, do you think someone could actually create the serum that Phil wants? Or something that could turn any element into a pure water element whose energy could be used for potable water? Or maybe just a serum that can turn impure element into pure?” Phil was willing to listen to the scientists who wanted to make a similar serum, and even though they weren’t even in the first phase with their creation, we needed something quicker. If we had something Phil wanted, maybe we could really negotiate, or figure out a way to trap him, if Lily’s techs could make a stronger blocker.
My mom bit down on her lip. “I don’t know. We can try to talk to the others who might know more, but... we’re working on the other serum... the one that could enhance the collected energy... I don’t think anyone has time to work on something that could take years to create.”
“I know, but can you please try?”
“Of course we can,” Jack said, a smile quirking his lips, and my mom raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, come on, Paula, you know you want to try. It’s not as if our project is going to go anywhere.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “But that’s nowhere near easy. I mean, we’d have to change someone’s whole DNA for that.”
“I have a few ideas that we could test.” Jack’s face was drawn in thought.
“Great, then you can do that.” I didn’t know if any of this would work, but we had to try everything, no matter how impossible it seemed.
Chapter 24
“Any news?” I asked my mom as soon as I entered the lab. Two weeks had passed and we weren’t any closer to the solution of our problem. A few people had disappeared, some of them employees of one elemental energy collecting factory, which probably meant Phil had gotten to them, but there was absolutely no evidence that he’d been there, aside from the corrupted video footage.
“No.” She lowered the tablet she’d been holding onto the table. Jaiden’s father was lounging in a chair in front of a computer. “But maybe Jack can give you more of that serum that enhances elements. Or was that just a one-time thing?” She glanced at Jack.
“One-time thing, I’m afraid.” Jack’s shoulders were tense. “Any new serum for enhancing elements would wreak havoc in their system.”
Jaiden faced his father. “Aren’t you supposed to be the best scientist ever who can figure out everything?” he said, sounding a lot like Jack when he complained about Jaiden, which made me smile.
Jack pressed his lips into a tight line. “Yeah, well, you didn’t exactly give us a lot of time to do this. Things like these take years to create and perfect, even with help from all around the world.”
“So you don’t think you’ll have it anytime soon?” I asked.
“What did I just say?” Jack rolled his eyes. “No, we’re not going to have it. Maybe not for months or years, or ever.”
I stared at one of the vials with red liquid in it. “What if we told everyone that we had it?”
“What?” My mom blinked at me in confusion.
“We could tell everyone here that we have the serum,” I said, and Jaiden’s eyebrows shot up. “But we could say that we don’t want to hand it over to Phil.”
“And then what?” Jack asked.
“Phil somehow always knows what we’re planning, right? Maybe he’s found a way to mind-control one of our team and hide that fact from us. I can see the brain signals, but if I can make sure that the others don’t notice my control too easily, what if Phil can do it too, but in a way that not even my healing can help?” I said. “Or he can mind-control someone to tell him our plan as soon as we come closer. So there’d be a huge chance he’d find out that we have the serum... if that’s what we make everyone believe.”
“You want him to come attack us, is that it?” Jack raised an eyebrow at me.
“Yes, and we have to make a good trap for him, but... there’s one problem. Only the four of us in this room will know about it,” I said, turning toward my mom. “You can’t tell Dad, and I’ll have to mind-control you as a precaution. I don’t think Phil will come all the way here before we put our plan into motion, but just to make sure.”
“I don’t understand your brilliant plan,” Jack mocked. “You want to tell everyone about the serum, but not tell them about the trap. What will they think? That you’re hiding the serum in your purse? Phil will find out and be prepared for any traps, even if you don’t tell anyone exactly what you have in mind.”
“You didn’t hear the whole plan yet.” I flashed him a smile. “After we tell the team, and hopefully the news comes to Phil, we’ll convince them to go on a mission to draw Phil out with a fake serum, because we can’t let him have the real one since he always bests us, and we want to make sure he doesn’t get his hands on it, so we’ll take the fake serum and prepare a trap somewhere, with our whole team ready. Hopefully, Phil will hear about the serum being fake too, and he’ll know we’re hiding it somewhere else, so he’ll do everything to get the real thing since he’ll believe we really have it. And since our whole team will be at the other side of town, he might leave most of his men to fight us and go alone to find the serum while no one is watching. But... Jaiden and I will be watching and waiting. We can pretend to go with the team, but come back. We’re flying pretty fast, so we can go anywhere. The only thing we have to be careful about is that Phil doesn’t sense us, so we’ll have to stay outside his force field.”
“Okay, that’s a half decent plan,” Jack admitted. “But then what? You’ll be outnumbered, and he’ll sense you as soon as you step into his force field.”
“He won’t if we come back before him and make sure he can’t sense that we’re waiting for him.” I met Jack’s eyes.
Jack just shrugged. “Eh, do whatever you want. As long as I don’t have to do anything, I don’t give a damn.”
“Actually, there’s one little thing Jaiden and I will need.” A slow smile spread across my lips. I just hoped my mom wouldn’t freak out much when I told her what it was.
Chapter 25
“I don’t understand.” Lily waved her hands after Jaiden and I explained our plan. Well, the plan they were supposed to hear about. “You want us to take a fake serum to the nearest factory and try to lure Phil to come and get it. But why? We don’t have stronger blockers yet, and if we go there to fight him, we’re just going to lose once again. I’m not willing to risk my people for nothing.”
“My mom and Jack have the serum! That’s the problem! If Phil finds out, he’s going to come after us, and then we’re going to have a problem and will have to be on alert all the time. And if he gets in here, he’s going to get the serum and use it for God knows what,” I said, my voice shaky. “We can’t let him get his hands on that!”
“I know, but why do you want to engage him over a fake serum?” Lily’s brow furrowed.
“We’ll pretend we’re taking the serum to that factory because we don’t have a safe place to keep it, and since he’s been to that factory already, we don’t expect him to come back. And once he gets there, we’ll defend the serum with everything we’ve got, so he’ll believe it’s real. We’ll let him take it, or well, he’ll take it despite our efforts because he seems to do that a lot. And when he does that and realizes it’s not working, he won’t come after my mom or after the real serum because he’ll think it’s a failed project.” I draped my hand over my stomach, as if I were imagining the horrors that could happen if Phil got his hands on that serum.
“Okay. I’ll assemble the team, and we’ll do it,” Lily said. “But what about the real serum? Where will you keep it?”
“We’ll store it somewhere safe until we figure out h
ow to take Phil down. And hey, maybe we even get lucky this time and catch him.” I offered her a small smile.
“That sounds good.” Lily nodded and headed for the door. Everyone else in the room was whispering about the serum and about the preparations, so I took Jaiden’s hand and led him into the hallway.
“It’s working,” I whispered as I placed my arms around his neck.
“Yeah. Let’s just hope Phil isn’t in our minds,” he breathed into my ear, sending shivers down my spine, his lips brushing against my earlobe.
“He can’t be. We’d know.” At least I hoped as hell that we’d be aware of it. Otherwise, I was seriously out of ideas on how to take Phil down.
“We should get ready.” Jaiden caressed my cheek and planted a soft kiss on my lips. When we were sure no one was around, we went to meet with my mom.
***
Lily was afraid of an imminent attack, so she’d quickly gathered her team and made all the arrangements with the factory where we were supposed to take the serum. We were all geared up and waiting for Lily’s instructions. Noah flashed me a smile as he adjusted the gun attached to his belt. Lily had asked us to bring all the weapons we could carry, including guns, knives, and darts coated with a sedative. We were supposed to try everything on Phil and not miss an opportunity to strike.
Part of me wondered if Phil would stay and fight just to show off his power, but even if he did that, my secret plan would still work because no one aside from us knew where the supposedly real serum was, except maybe for Phil and his men. I’d sent my mom and Jack to carry the serum to a warehouse and to make sure no one found out.
The hideout was still protected by some of Lily’s men and we didn’t want anyone to get in the way or get hurt, so it was better to take the fight elsewhere. Lily’s friend would be pissed off if we destroyed his hideout. Besides, that warehouse was a perfect trap for Phil, and hopefully he wouldn’t be able to figure that out.
“We’re ready. Let’s go,” Lily said, and her team started marching toward their SUVs while the tainteds who could fly turned into air and flew out. Jaiden and I called to our elements, and when we were only shimmering clouds, we surged into the sky.
“I’m going to observe the north side of the building,” Noah said, flying next to us.
“Jaiden and I will stay slightly away so he doesn’t feel us, and so we can catch him if he tries to run away,” I said. “If you need us, we’ll be there immediately.”
“Okay.” Noah sped up, and when we could no longer see his shimmering, Jaiden and I slowed down and hovered over one of the buildings, not far from the factory. When we were sure none of our friends or Lily’s team could see us, we landed on the rooftop and turned visible. If Phil or anyone saw our shimmering, it could alert them that something was wrong, but we had to stay here and check if he took our bait. If he didn’t, we’d have to go with the others to the factory to help them fight him off.
“If this doesn’t work, nothing will.” Jaiden leaned on the low wall, gazing at the street below us.
“It has to. He wants that serum, and he thinks we have it. He’ll at least come and check it out.” I rubbed my arms, trying to chase away the chill of the night. The good thing was that only one road led to the factory, which was hidden among the trees, and if Phil wanted to go there by car and bring his men, he’d have to go this way.
“What if he flies past us and we don’t even see him?” Jaiden asked. “He’s not really predictable when it comes to using his abilities. Just when we think he can’t do something, he proves us wrong. He used to go alone and without guards, but now they’re everywhere with him. Sometimes he walks and sometimes he flies. We never know what he’ll do.”
“That’s why we have this.” I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my jeans. “If the phone goes off, we’ll know he’s around here because he won’t want to have any footage of him coming near that factory or even going after the serum. And he’ll maybe want to make sure the fake serum is really fake, because for all he knows, someone might have changed their mind and brought the real one. My phone’s connected to all the surveillance cameras in the area, so if one of them goes down, we’ll know where Phil is even if he doesn’t come here.”
“Let’s just hope he isn’t anywhere near that warehouse already.”
“I’d have received an alert if he were. My mom’s monitoring the other surveillance cameras too.” I’d made sure she was in a protected, element-proof room, just in case, although Phil might be able to go through all that, but why bother? She didn’t have the serum with her.
“Look.” Jaiden pointed at three cars speeding toward the factory, and I glanced at my phone. “I don’t think it’s him.” Quickly switching through the surveillance cameras, I zoomed the screen of the one that was right in front of the factory. A group of men came out of the cars, but it was too dark to see their faces or if they were armed.
“I think he sent someone else to take care of the fake serum,” I said.
“That shouldn’t be a problem for our team.” Jaiden glanced at the phone. “Wait, what was that?”
“What?”
“One of them vanished,” Jaiden said. I squinted my eyes at the screen, rewinding the footage. “You’re right. Do you think it’s Phil?”
“The camera didn’t go off, so probably not, but he has tainteds working for him.” Jaiden’s hands curled into fists. “Maybe we should go help out the team. Just because Phil isn’t here doesn’t mean he’ll immediately go look for the serum in the warehouse. For all we know, his friends didn’t monitor us and don’t know the location.”
“I doubt it.” The words had barely left my mouth when a big red warning sign popped up on my screen. “We got him!”
“He’s right at the back of the factory, and I guess he’s not moving because the other cameras are still up.”
“And if someone damaged the camera?” Jaiden looked up, and I followed his gaze and saw shimmering right above the factory. The fight had started, so maybe he was right, but another red warning appeared.
“No, he’s on the move. Let’s go!” I immediately turned into air and rose up so fast that I thought I was going to be dizzy. We had to fly high enough so that no one from the ground could spot our shimmering and alert Phil about it. Jaiden rushed after me and we zoomed through the sky at a speed I never thought we could achieve.
I could feel the pressure on my face, as if something was scraping against me as I advanced. When we were right above the warehouse, we plunged down, nearly hitting the ground. I stopped myself just before my shimmering body would’ve splattered against the ground.
Making sure no one was around, Jaiden and I materialized and headed inside. I pulled out my phone and saw there were a dozen more alerts of cameras going down, so that meant Phil was coming. Why wasn’t he flying? It would be faster. Still, I wasn’t about to complain, because maybe his fear of being seen or pure laziness was giving us plenty of time to go forward with our plan.
“It’s about time,” Jack said as we stepped inside. He was sitting in one of the chairs, and in the middle of the room was a closed box with the serum.
“Phil’s on his way, which means we don’t have much time,” I said.
“I don’t really appreciate that you’re putting my life in danger here.” Jack almost pouted. “You better tell everyone that you wouldn’t have achieved anything without me.”
“Yeah, yeah, but let’s make sure this actually works,” I said as Jaiden moved the box and dislodged the floorboards, revealing a big hole.
“Are you sure about this?” Jack pulled a vial out of his pocket and grabbed a syringe from the bag that was leaned on the leg of his chair.
“Absolutely, but yeah, Jack, if we don’t survive this, you’re totally free to say you didn’t have anything to do with it and that it was all our fault.” I grinned.
“Of course. What else would I say?” He filled the syringe, and Jaiden lowered himself into the hole in the floor, and I settled n
ext to him.
“There aren’t any rats here, are there?” I grimaced, and Jaiden burst out laughing.
“Want me to send a blast through the floor to flush them out?” he asked, handing me one of the knives that was lying next to him.
“Yeah, actually. Just do it.” I eyed the darkness around us, my pulse speeding up.
“Okay.”
I could feel a ripple of Jaiden’s air going around me and spreading over the ground, but nothing squeaked or started running. I placed the knife right next to me so it would be close enough for me to reach and I wouldn’t have to think where it was.
“Satisfied?” he asked, his hand searching mine.
“Yeah.” I interlaced my fingers with his, then let go.
Jack stood above us, holding up the syringe. “Who wants to go first?”
“Just do it,” I snapped, and Jack smiled at me and took Jaiden’s arm, emptying the contents of the syringe. Jaiden’s eyelids fluttered, and his eyes closed. Jack then attached a thin tube to Jaiden’s arm and carefully taped it under the floorboards and then led it out, and I couldn’t see him anymore. When he returned, he reached for me and I raised my arm.
“Don’t be afraid. Hopefully this won’t kill you,” he said as he gripped my arm. The syringe pierced my skin, and a wave of nausea overcame me, but I pushed it back. My eyelids started to feel heavy, and I was vaguely aware of Jack attaching a tube to my arm and piercing my skin. He better make sure that the tube wouldn’t be visible and that the mechanism that was under the other side of the room would work.
When Phil stepped into the room, his elemental energy would trigger the mechanism which would pump us with drugs that would wake us up. If Phil decided not to use his element, it was enough that he stepped on the floorboard right in front of the box, and the mechanism would be triggered. None of it was technology, so it wouldn’t be affected by Phil’s force field.
Resilient (Tainted Elements, #6) Page 14
