Restless (Element Preservers, #4)

by Linwood, Alycia

  Harry didn’t say anything, only pressed his lips together. We had to get out of here before the president decided I wasn’t worth the trouble.

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” I looked at Adrian as we neared the now empty elevator.

  “No,” Adrian said and got hold of the gun that was holstered in Peter’s belt. “Take this.” He handed me the gun, unfreezing my left hand. My skin was pinkish and a bit tender, but nothing hurt.

  “I’m not left-handed, you know.” I awkwardly squeezed my fingers around the handle. What were the chances that I’d miss if I tried to shoot someone? Maybe Adrian should be the one carrying the gun. His right hand was free and his body wasn’t half covered in ice.

  “You’ll be fine.” He winked at me. “At least you’ll be able to follow through with your threat.”

  “Oh.” Right. Killing myself would be much easier with a weapon. Not that I was planning to do it, but I had to fool the idiots. Adrian glanced up at the camera as we entered the elevator, and a thick layer of ice formed over the lens.

  Peter stared at him, his mouth slightly open. “You’re showing off now, boy. The cameras aren’t a threat to you. Harry and his men will stand down. You don’t have to risk your friend’s death. I know you think you can control your sub-element, but...”

  “Shut up!” Adrian cut him off, giving him a murderous stare.

  “Fine.” Peter licked his lips. He really did think we were some silly kids who came to save our friend. And maybe we were, but we still had to get out of here alive. Paula moaned, her long eyelashes fluttering.

  “It’s going to be ok. We’ll be out of here soon,” I said, trying to soothe her. She went still, and I wanted to touch her and rip off the bracelet on her wrist so I could at least feel her element and know that it was strong. But if I did that, I’d have to let go of Adrian, which was impossible right now. Besides, who knew what all the stress, element-using and touching Adrian had done to me by now? I could as well fall apart as soon as Adrian let go of me. My disease was highly unpredictable and I could never tell which turn it would take.

  The elevator stopped with a ding and the door opened. A bullet whizzed past Adrian’s arm, grazing his skin and leaving a bloody trail.

  He pressed the button to close the door, his eyes wide. “Those trigger-happy sons of bitches!”

  I wanted to tell Adrian that maybe the president had changed his mind about me, but I didn’t want Peter to hear that. If my assumption was wrong, he could tell the others that I wasn’t so indispensable to the president and then we’d be dead. A couple of more bullets embedded themselves in the door. Some idiots must have seen only Adrian since he was the closest to the door and decided it was a perfect opportunity to take him down. Maybe they had assumed Adrian would stop using his element on me once we were safe in the elevator.

  “Hold your fire,” Peter said, and I noticed a tiny device attached to his shirt. Yeah, it was better to keep quiet around him.

  “Now what?” Adrian asked, looking at me. There was no guarantee the guards wouldn’t start shooting again the moment the door opened.

  “Get behind me,” I said, raising the gun and positioning myself right in front of the door. It was awkward to keep my right hand behind my back, but I couldn’t break the contact with Adrian. Not yet. I was ready when the door opened again, but no one dared to fire at me.

  “Go on.” I looked at Peter and he slowly walked out. The guards watched us like hungry wolves, but it seemed the president hadn’t ordered them to shoot me. That was good. I still held the gun in my hand, waiting for someone to make a wrong move. A couple of agonizing moments later, we reached the hall, which was surprisingly empty.

  “Stay where you are!” I yelled as one guard attempted to follow us. He glanced at his colleague, who only put his hand on the guard’s shoulder. They didn’t move, but I still kept my gun trained on them until we rounded the corner.

  “Hey, where are you going?” I said when we went past the door Adrian and I had used to get in.

  “The main exit,” Peter said. “The others will be waiting for you in the garage and you’ll never get a chance to leave.”

  I raised an eyebrow at Adrian, but he only nodded. Should we trust Peter? I didn’t know, but he was right about the difficulty of getting out of the garage. It was a well-protected, closed area with lots of flammable materials. I didn’t want to fire a gun or use my element anywhere near that place.

  The main door was made out of glass, and we could see guards lined on each side of the well-lit path that led to the street where the ambulance was waiting for us. It was a surprise the guards hadn’t sent the ambulance away or that the ambulance hadn’t decided to leave because they couldn’t get inside.

  “Do you think we should send Paula first? They wouldn’t shoot one of their own, would they?” Adrian whispered.

  “I don’t trust him.” I heard footsteps in the hall behind us and knew we didn’t have much time. “Can you feel their elements?” I nodded my head toward the guards outside.

  “No, but how can we be sure it’s not the building that’s blocking us from feeling them?” He frowned. “They do wear the same suits...”

  “Their guns are different!” I gasped. “They have tranq guns! If they manage to hit me...” Panic overcame me, spreading through me faster than fire. If they took me down with that, they’d slow us down and maybe figure out how to force Adrian to pull ice back. Would he be able to keep it on me even if I was no longer conscious? Fuck! “Pull your ice back. Now!”

  Confusion filled Adrian’s eyes, but he did as I asked. I kept the gun aimed at Peter’s head and let go of Adrian’s hand. “I’ll set the whole path on fire and we’ll run to the ambulance. Got it?” Adrian and Peter nodded.

  “Great.” I took a deep breath and rushed the door. Fire erupted from me with ease and I created two walls, right in front of the guards’ noses. Someone screamed, probably because he was too close to the fire. We ran outside, toward the ambulance, and I somehow managed to keep the gun in my hand. Peter was faster than us, even though he was carrying Paula in his arms. We were about to reach the vehicle when my fire disappeared and was replaced by water.

  I glanced back and saw guards taking off their protective suits. A fireball flew in Paula’s direction, but I caught it at the last moment. “Drive!” I yelled as we jumped into the back with Peter and Paula. The driver didn’t waste a second and stepped on the gas so hard that we all lurched forward. The nurse who was with us at the back stared at us with huge round hazel eyes, her light brown hair disheveled.

  “Help her!” I said, and the nurse’s eyes widened even more. I realized I was waving the gun in her face and quickly lowered it. “Please.”

  She immediately took Paula’s hand, searching for her pulse. Why did everyone assume Paula was nearly dead? I looked away, breathing out a sigh of relief. We were out. We saved Paula and we were alive. Adrian gave me a small smile, tying a bandage around his arm.

  No matter how much I wanted to lie down, go to sleep and forget this ever happened, I had to call Lily and tell her we needed protection. “Do you have a phone?” I asked and the nurse blinked at me, then handed me the phone.

  “Lily, we need help! Adrian and I rescued Paula, but now we’re going to the hospital and we need protection,” I said as soon as she answered. “And when I say protection, I mean at least a dozen of your men. The president won’t be pleased about this.” I read her the name of the hospital from one of the bags with supplies.

  I could hear Lily barking orders at someone, then her voice filled the line again. “Don’t worry. We’ll be there, but I have to say this. Were Adrian and you out of your damn minds? How can you go to that lab without telling me and risk your lives like that?”

  “And why didn’t you tell me you knew where Paula was? She’s my friend. I couldn’t leave her there. You should see what they’ve done...” Peter shifted and I pointed my gun at him, suddenly aware that he was still with us. Fuck.
I’d been so relieved we were alive that I’d forgotten all about him. “Just be there,” I said to Lily and hung up.

  “Don’t move. Put your hands behind your back.” I held the gun in both of my hands, but I was still slightly trembling. Adrian found the binds and tied them around Peter’s wrists. The look in Peter’s eyes was calm, but there was something else that unnerved me.

  “Do you know why the president needs me at the protest?” I didn’t really have anything to lose by asking.

  “Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.”

  My mouth went dry and I realized the nurse’s element was water. As soon as she was done with Paula, her fear and her element spiked. Shit. I handed the gun to Adrian, who pointed it at Peter. All the guards must have been well-trained, so Peter could use even the slightest chance to try to overpower us. But either he didn’t care or he thought one of us would kill him, so he didn’t try anything.

  We reached the hospital without a problem and Lily waited for us right in front of the entrance. I swayed on my feet and Adrian caught me. Disapproval flashed across Lily’s face and I nearly laughed out loud. She’d go green if we told her what we’d had to do to get out of the lab. I looked forward to that moment. Maybe I could even prepare a camera. Maybe. But right now I needed some sleep.

  Chapter 29

  Paula blinked, her blue-green eyes meeting mine. Her left eye was still swollen and bruised, but it looked a little bit better. Her lips spread into a weak smile when she recognized me.

  “Hey,” I said, fighting back tears.

  “You saved me,” she rasped.

  “We did.” I smiled, getting up from my chair so I could get her a glass of water from her nightstand. She caught my hand, squeezing it lightly for a moment. I offered the glass to her and she winced as she tried to sit up.

  “You should take it easy. The doctor said you were drugged.” I put my arm under her neck and pressed the glass to her dry lips. She took a sip and settled back on her pillow. I pulled back and returned the glass to the nightstand.

  “Thanks,” she said, looking down at her bruised arms.

  “Who did that to you?” The words came out harsher than I intended them to, and Paula flinched.

  “Please, tell me,” I persisted. “Was it Ethan?” If Paula confirmed it was Ethan who’d done this to her, there was no place on this planet where he could hide from me.

  Paula nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

  “Shh, it’s ok.” I planted a kiss on her forehead. “He’ll pay for what he did to you.” A tear slid down Paula’s cheek and I wiped it off.

  “Miss Milanez!” A man came into the room without knocking, his eyes wide, his chest rising and falling with effort. He looked like one of Lily’s men, and a phone lay in his outstretched hand. “For you.”

  I frowned and took the phone.

  “Did you think you can play with me, little bitch?” the president yelled, making me wince.

  “I’m not playing with you.” I gritted my teeth. “What you did to Paula is unforgivable.” I was sure the president had given the permission to Ethan to do with Paula whatever he wanted.

  “Listen to me carefully,” he growled. “You will go to the protest in two hours with Ethan and hold that speech, or everyone you care about will be killed! And don’t try to run and hide. There won’t be a rock in the world under which I wouldn’t find you.”

  He’d find me? Yeah, right. He didn’t move his fat ass from fancy hotels and offices, and I was supposed to believe he’d find me. At least he could admit he’d send someone after me. But he’d told me I’d have to go with Ethan, so that meant Ethan would be at the protest too. Huh. That was an interesting piece of information because I wanted to find Ethan. “Fine! I still don’t understand what’s so special about that protest.

  “You’ll see,” the president said. “And I expect you to resign from your position of the president of the Element Preservers or I’ll hunt you down. If you do as I say, you can still save the family name.”

  “Alright, I’ll do that, but only if you promise not to go after my friends.” My father would have a cardiac arrest if he could hear the president threatening to tarnish our family name. I didn’t care much about our reputation, so the president could do whatever he wished, but I wanted to please him for the time being just to see if I could find out what the government was planning.

  “Agreed.”

  “Then we have a deal,” I said. If I was right in my assumption that the president would send an assassin to kill me during the protest, then he was lying about this whole thing, so I could lie to him too. “Oh, and does Ethan have to go with me because you still want him to pretend he’s my boyfriend or what?

  “No, we’re done with pretenses. I want him with you because I trust him,” he said. “And I don’t trust you.” He hung up and I threw the phone on the chair. Couldn't he have threatened me earlier with my family's reputation? It would have saved us a lot of work, but he must have wanted proof that I was working with carriers and that the scientists were researching the disease.

  Lily came in, her face flushed. “The protesters are already gathering on the streets. There are carriers, weak elements, even sympathizers. Fred thinks thousands of people will come.” She paused to catch her breath. “Ria, this has to be something major. We’re missing something important, but I don’t know what. They built a stage on the main square, but the majority of people didn’t get there yet.”

  “Well, they would have killed me already if they didn’t need me, so something must be going on.” We’d been too preoccupied with saving the scientists and Paula, so it wouldn’t be strange if we’d missed something.

  “I heard people in the lab talk about the big event,” Paula said. “But they were careful not to say anything important in front of me.”

  “I sent a team to investigate.” Lily ran her hand through her hair and looked at me. “Could it be that the president has some incriminating proof about you? Something that could change everyone’s opinion about you and carriers?”

  “He did mention that my family’s reputation could be in danger if I don’t comply, but I think he said it because he didn’t have a better thing to say.” It was unlikely the president knew about my condition or that he’d found out about my brother. Besides, how would he embarrass me in front of other carriers if he outed me as one of them? It didn’t make sense.

  As if he could sense I was thinking about our family, Oliver knocked on the door and entered the room. “Can I talk to you, sis? In private?”

  I gave him a long look. The corners of his lips were up and his dark eyes were shining. What was he up to now? “Sure.” I glanced at Lily, who looked surprised, and I walked out in the hall with my brother.

  “What’s up?” I crossed my arms, eyeing him suspiciously.

  “You have a chance to change things for us, sis. The president wants you on the stage. You could use that opportunity to speak up against him.” His eyes gleamed. “Lily said there would be thousands of people at the square. Do you know what that means? We could rise against the government. Right now.”

  I gave him a skeptical look. “Yeah, I don’t think that would work.”

  “Then give me the presidency and I’ll go instead of you. The president won’t be able to argue that. I know he’s not very fond of you, especially when you damaged the reputation of the government’s lab. He could as well send someone to kill you, and I’m much better at protecting myself than you are.” He grinned. “Besides, the presidency is a huge problem for you. You can’t even finish university and live your life as you wish. If you resign in my favor, all of your problems will be gone.”

  Ah, didn’t that sound amazing? The perfect solution for all of my problems: handing over the presidency to my bloodthirsty, psychotic brother. “No. I can deal with this.”

  The smile faded from his face and his eyes darkened. “I’m offering you a chance of your life, sis. Don’t be stupid. Can’t you see what the government is
doing? We need to act and we need to do it now!” He raised his voice. “And I have the means to do it. I could ignite the crowd with a couple of words, but you’re too stubborn to let go.” The vein in his neck pulsed and he took a deep breath.

  “I guess I am.” I shrugged.

  “I’ll get what I want sooner or later, but you might not be there to see it.” With those words, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. I stared after him, wondering should I ask him to clarify his last sentence, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me anything.

  Lily came out of Paula’s room, closing the door behind her. “Paula’s asleep. We should let her rest.”

  “Yeah, but send someone to guard her. We can’t leave her unprotected.” I rubbed my arms, trying to block the buzzing elements out of my mind. Kayla had been with me the whole time while I was sleeping, but the elements around me kept intensifying or dulling at the strangest moments.

  “What did Oli tell you?” Lily’s brow creased in concern.

  “Just the usual.”

  “He’s been gathering the carriers who have the same views and opinions as him,” she said. “He even talked to Ethan’s father.”

  My eyebrows shot upward. “What?”

  “Yeah, he told me yesterday. I was as shocked as you are.” Lily shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe Oliver hadn’t told her earlier. Or maybe she didn’t believe he’d look for other carriers when he was already a part of her group.

  “So Ethan’s father is a carrier?”

  “Yes. Apparently, he got the disease from a lover after Ethan was born. That explains it how Ethan’s element can be so strong.”

  I chewed on the insides of my mouth. One tiny part of me was hoping that Ethan had the disease in his genes and could still develop it at some point of his life. That would certainly make him easier to defeat since his element wouldn’t be pure. “Does Oliver know more about Ethan then?”

  “No, but Ethan’s father gave Oliver the financial support to buy weapons.” Lily sighed. “So far, I’ve managed to stop Oli from going to a war and attacking the government, but I’m not sure for how long he’ll listen to me.”