Dangerous (Element Preservers Series, Book 1)

by Alycia Linwood

  “We touch only when we need to,” I said. “And I don’t want anything sexual from your part.”

  “Alright,” he said confidently. “But I’ll get you to have sex with me, you’ll see.”

  “Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes. “I wouldn’t have sex with you even if you were the last man on the planet.”

  “We’ll see what you’ll say when times passes by and you realize you can’t have sex with your dear boyfriend,” he said.

  “Maybe I’ll just drug him like you do with your girls.”

  “But you won’t,” he said. “And do you know why? Because you would worry too much.”

  I just glared at him because he was right. I wouldn’t give Michael some pill that could ruin his life, especially not after what had happened to me. It was easy for Adrian to give the pills to girls because he didn’t care about them at all after he got what he wanted.

  “Well,” I said, going for the door, “I guess I’ll see you at the party.”

  “Wait,” he said, “I want to give you my number first. If you can’t find me at the party, send me a text.”

  “Ok,” I said, taking my mobile phone and saving the number he told me. “Thanks.”

  “See you there.” He smiled. I went for the door and stopped to look back at him.

  “Do you think things could get ugly with so many people at the party?” I asked. If a few people in the mall bothered me, then who knew what would a building full of drunk and crazy students do to me?

  “We’ll see,” he said. “Last time I’d been to a party of that size Alan gave me some weird pills, and he wants to give them to me tonight too, but I think you and I can survive without that.”

  That almost made me laugh. I couldn't believe he was complaining about someone giving him unknown pills when he was doing exactly the same.

  “Wait, there are pills for us too?” I frowned, a bit angry that he hadn’t told me about it before. I wasn’t really thrilled about any kind of pills, but it would definitely be better than having to run to him every time when the disease showed its ugly face.

  “Yes, there are,” he said. “But you don’t want to try that, trust me.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you don’t lose just the feeling of other people’s elements, you lose any other feeling. You’re just perfectly calm,” he said. “If you took that pill and someone told you the room was on fire, you’d just stare. It’s like being in someone else’s body and everything that happens to it doesn’t affect you at all.”

  “Ah, creepy,” I said. I didn’t know why I’d expected there could be something good in a pill. “So how are you going to get out of taking the pill?”

  “Hey, I’m an expert in hiding pills in my mouth.” He chuckled. “I had years of practice.”

  And I didn’t want to know the details, so I just shook my head and left.

  Chapter 16

  I was already dressed and ready to meet Michael in the hall when someone knocked on my door. I opened it, slightly annoyed, but then I saw Paula smiling at me. She was wearing a tight pink cocktail dress and pink high heels, which all together seemed like she was desperately trying to get Adrian’s attention, because I could see the edge of her bra peeking out. I smiled back at her simply because what I thought about her look didn’t matter. If she was happy with it, so was I.

  “Hey, are you ready?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Where’s Adrian?”

  “Waiting in the hall.” She grabbed my hand. “Come on. Michael is there too. I don’t want them to get in a fight before we get there.”

  “Oh, then we better hurry,” I said, and we left my room. The whole idea of the four of us going together to the club seemed both crazy and dangerous. I wondered who’d come up with that idea. Probably Paula.

  “I managed to cover Adrian’s bruise with make-up,” she said, and I nearly tripped on the stupid dark blue carpet.

  “Cool,” I said cautiously. “Did he tell you how he got the bruise?”

  “No, he didn’t.” She sounded a bit worried. “I’m just glad that they allowed him to go to the party.”

  I really hoped no one would find out the truth, especially not Paula. I just didn’t feel like explaining how exactly had that happened.

  My heart skipped a beat when I saw Michael standing there and looking incredibly good. He was dressed in dark blue jeans and a black shirt, which fitted him perfectly. The way he smiled at me made me feel warm all over. I hurried over to him, and we kissed, not caring about my lip gloss.

  I was still in Michael’s arms when I glanced at Adrian and Paula. Paula had done an awesome job and covered his bruise almost completely. I was sure no one would see it at all under the dim lights in the club. Adrian was wearing blue jeans, a white shirt and a black leather jacket, and there was no doubt Paula would have to be careful of her man, or someone might steal him.

  There was a limousine waiting for us outside, and we must have been a bit late, judging by the small number of remaining cars. Some of the students were going in their own cars, which were mostly very expensive and fast. Actually almost everyone had a car, but not everyone wanted to keep their precious baby parked near the university. Besides, we rarely needed it since everything was so close.

  We reached the club in five minutes. I couldn’t see much except lots of blinding lights, a red carpet in front of the entrance and a heavy security. The building seemed huge, almost like a hotel or something. Adrian opened the door and got out first, offering me his hand. I took it, but not because I needed help getting out. His touch let me take a short break from the world of elements. Michael helped Paula out and he seemed really annoyed, so I took his hand as soon as I could to prevent him from saying something to Adrian. Not that Adrian would care.

  We were almost attacked by the press when we reached the entrance. The security did a good job of keeping them away, but the cameras still caught us. Of course, who wouldn’t want a photograph of a living magic disease carrier with his girlfriend? I wondered how much more expensive would photographs of me get if the world found out the truth about me.

  The flashes of cameras were completely forgotten when we entered the dimness of the club. The room was huge and full of people who were already dancing to the music, which was as loud as it could get. I felt like I had dived into a sea of elements and realized that the same elements were mostly gathered in small groups. We must have been a strange group since we all had different elements… oh, and two of us had the magic disease and one had a completely unknown element. We were definitely special.

  As we pushed through the crowd, I managed to see a huge bar on my left and stairs in front of me, which led to another floor. There were also another stairs not far from the first ones, but those led down. I couldn’t see the doors which led to the other rooms, but they must be somewhere.

  Michael pulled me away from Paula and Adrian, and soon we were lost in the sea of people. We passed numerous rooms with different music; some rooms even had comfortable-looking chairs, but we didn’t have time to sit around. After we had seen most of the place, we decided to pick one room and stay there. I managed to stop Michael from taking me too far away from the exits.

  We danced for some time, and I was getting more and more aware of the elements around me, especially Michael’s. Maybe I could survive a bit longer, but different kind of thirsts started to exchange in me, and I figured it was the time to take a break. I sent Michael to get us some drinks, and when he was gone, I sent a message to Adrian. He replied in a minute, telling me to come out through a side door. I followed his instructions.

  The air outside was fresh and it cleared my mind a bit, but it still wasn’t enough to help me get away from the elements. I realized I was shivering from the cold and I ran my hand through my damp hair. Great, I'd gotten outside in the cold night from a hot club in sweaty clothes. I’d be lucky if I didn’t catch a cold or pneumonia.

  The slight pain in my legs forced me to sit down on t
he low stone wall that surrounded the building. Sitting down was probably another step towards pneumonia, but my high heels were killing me. It almost felt scary to sit there alone in the dark with no one around. I let out a sigh of relief when Adrian came around the corner. He must have been in a completely different room.

  He smiled at me, taking off his jacket and putting it over my shoulders. I shivered as the warm leather touched my cold skin and I could smell his, now too well-known, scent of pine, musk and other trees. He sat down next to me and put his arm around me. I put my head on his shoulder and enjoyed in the warmth of his body and in a complete obliviousness to the elements in the building behind my back.

  “I discovered something. I feel cold when someone has fire as their element,” I said. And I desperately wanted to get closer to that fire to get warmer. “Did you feel that way around me before?”

  “Yeah,” he murmured against my hair. “Until I made you feel cold too.”

  “Oh,” I said. “And when I want earth really badly, I feel like I’m floating around and only getting down to earth can save me from falling into the abyss.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “Why does this thing make me see images in my head?” I said, not willing to sit there in silence with him.

  “Maybe because you are now an insane murderer just like I am.”

  “Whatever,” I said. “What did you tell Paula before you came here?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “She lost me.”

  I moved my head from his shoulder so I could look at him and show him my disapproval.

  “She loves you,” I said angrily. “You can’t do this to her!”

  “Sure I can,” he said. “She lets me.”

  I sighed. Fighting with him because of Paula was useless. I didn’t want him to leave her and break her heart, but I also couldn’t watch him treat her badly. I’d expected her to open her eyes earlier, but she still kept seeing him for what he wasn’t.

  “How did you get rid of Michael?” he asked.

  “I didn’t get rid of him,” I said. “I sent him for some drinks.”

  “Oh well, easy for you girls.” He laughed. “Just send a guy for a drink so you can meet with another one.”

  “Hey!” I said. “I’m not doing this for fun!”

  “Whatever,” he said. “You should go inside now.”

  “Right, Michael must be looking for me.”

  “You’re going to freeze if you stay here.” He smiled. Ah, that too. I got up and handed him back the jacket. Damn, I really was freezing, especially without the jacket and his arm around me. The elements were back, but they weren’t strong. Good.

  “See you later,” I said and went for the door. I shivered when the hot, damp air of the club hit me along with the horrible smell of alcohol, sweat and smoke. Michael found me a few minutes later, pushing through the dancing crowd just like I’d been.

  “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said, kissing me on the cheek and then moving away in surprise.

  “I danced with some guy.” I smiled before he could say something. Adrian’s cologne must have stayed on my hair somehow.

  “Really? And where is that bastard who dared to touch my girlfriend so I can punch him in the face?” Michael said, amusement showing in his green eyes. He gave me the beer bottle he was holding, and I took a big swig before responding.

  “He was drunk.” I laughed. “Told me I looked pretty.”

  “No one can resist you, my darling,” he said. “Ready for some more dancing?”

  “Of course.”

  I met with Adrian two more times outside. Damn, the night was long. When it was finally the time to go, I felt completely drained. My feet were killing me and I wasn’t sure I could even walk normally. My hair was tangled and sticky and it smelled like smoke and alcohol, just like my clothes. But it had been a good night. We’d had a lot of fun. I took a long shower and fell asleep as soon as I touched the pillows.

  The ringing of my mobile phone woke me up, and I realized I’d been asleep for 9 hours. It was Michael and he brought me breakfast to my room. That was so sweet of him, and I wondered for a second should I tell him the truth. But I decided I wanted to keep things like they were.

  “Well, last night was amazing,” Michael said as we were drinking orange juice and eating the last bits of the breakfast.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I had a great time.”

  “But now we have to prepare for the exams,” he said, and I sighed. Exams were such a fun spoiler.

  “Right. So when I’ll get to see you?” I asked.

  “Not before nine,” he said. I looked at the time on my mobile phone and frowned.

  “Wait, you’re planning to study for 6 hours?”

  “Sure, and that probably won’t be enough,” he said.

  “You’ve been studying for those exams for weeks,” I said and realized that I was even more behind with my work than I had thought.

  “Yeah, but I want to nail it.” He touched my cheek lightly. “And I really want to know all that stuff. How will I ever be good at what I do if I don’t remember anything I learned?”

  I didn’t answer on that one because it would most likely lead to an argument. I was ok with him being ambitious for both of us. Studying had never been my thing and I did it only because I had to pass the exams. History and Geography had always interested me, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed every field of it.

  “See you later then,” I said, and we kissed. “Happy studying!”

  Michael gave me another kiss that warmed me all over and then waved me goodbye. I actually opened some books and read a few pages, but then water, fire, air and, occasionally, earth filled my mind and I had a hard time concentrating. I seriously considered going out and screaming at everyone to get out of the damn building, but that wouldn’t just put me on the list as someone with the magic disease, but also as a crazy person.

  When I realized I’d done nothing for almost an hour, I texted Adrian, and he said I could come to his room if I wanted. I picked up some of the books and took them there with me. Adrian raised an eyebrow at me when he saw the books in my arms.

  “What exactly are you planning to do with that?” He pointed at the books. “Make a big fire?”

  “No,” I said. “I have an exam in two days and, if I remember correctly, so do you.”

  “And?”

  “Oh, right, you’re failing everything. Almost forgot,” I said. “But I have to study and I can’t do that with stupid elements buzzing around in my head.”

  “Well, that sounds like fun,” he said. “Not.”

  “I know.” I sighed. “But I need your help.”

  “Alright, but you owe me, Ice Queen,” he said, walking towards the bed. “And I know exactly how you’re going to make up for it.”

  I didn’t like the way he made that sound, but I hoped it wasn’t anything illegal. Maybe I should have asked, but I’d lost too much time already and didn’t want to lose any more. Adrian was already lying on the bed, and I went to join him. I felt way too comfortable lying there next to him with my head on his chest and his arm around me.

  We spent some time like that, and I managed to read and memorize a few pages, even though I was aware of the fact that I’d never get to learn it all in time. But I had two more days, so maybe I’d learn enough to pass.

  “Did you know that they had planned to introduce the law about not killing the magic disease carriers 200 years before it actually happened?” I said as I closed the book and got up so we could change our positions.

  “They were more bloodthirsty back then,” he said. “Now they want to discover more magic disease carriers so they can watch over them.”

  “Why do you say it like that law is a bad thing?” I said. “They would have killed you already if that law hasn’t been passed.”

  “True, but they didn’t pass the law because they wanted the magic diseases carriers to have a better life,” he said. “They pass
ed it in hope that people like you would come out and admit they had the disease in order to get more rights for the magic disease carriers. But it only gives the government an excuse to track you down.”

  I didn’t really get his logic. Why would it be a bad thing if both parts got what they wanted? Or was there another thing they were hiding from us? I wasn’t sure and I didn’t really want to get involved in politics.

  I sat down on the floor, leaning my back against the wall. Adrian watched me for a moment and a small smile spread across his face. Then he came to lie down on the floor and placed his head on my lap. I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Wait, don’t you hate lying on the floor?”

  “Not with such a gorgeous pillow.” He smiled, and I rolled my eyes.

  “I’m not having sex with you, so you may stop trying.”

  “I never stop until I get what I want,” he said, his gray-blue eyes flashing dangerously. I had never doubted that, but I wouldn’t give him what he wanted. He may be freaking hot, but that didn’t mean much to me, I hoped.

  My mobile phone rang at that moment, and I sighed when I saw my father’s number. My parents called me every day, but we never really talked about anything important. They would have told me already if they suspected I might have the magic disease. Or maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe my parents weren’t who I thought they were. However it was, I didn’t trust them. I couldn’t. Not after what they had told me to break me apart from Michael. I still didn’t believe it completely.

  “Yes, Dad?” I said.

  “Honey, how are you?” he asked cheerfully.

  “Any news on Oliver?”

  “I’m glad you’re asking,” he said. “He called your mother this morning.”

  “So he’s fine?” I said, letting annoyance show in my voice. My parents always made a big fuss whenever Oliver didn’t feel like talking to them, and this time he'd even gotten me worried. That son of a bitch.

  “Yeah,” my dad said, and I could hear the nervousness in his voice. Oh yeah, Oliver was perfectly fine, as usual.