Monster (Tainted Elements Book 3)

by Alycia Linwood

  “Right here.” The guard pressed his hand against the empty wall opposite from him, and I frowned. For a moment, nothing happened, but then something beeped and the wall parted, letting me into a dark, small cell.

  Jaiden was lying on his side on the floor, his hair and forehead caked in blood. I rushed to him, placing my hand on his skin that was a bit warmer than normal. The door of the cell had already closed behind me.

  “Hey, Jaiden?” I shook him a little, my heart in my throat.

  He cracked his eyes open, his lips spreading into a small smile.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, unable to keep the worry out of my voice.

  “Yeah, just tired.” He let out a loud sigh.

  Mind-controlling all those soldiers must have drained him pretty badly. I helped him sit up so he could lean his back against the cold wall. He shivered a little, his eyes never leaving mine.

  I licked my dry lips, unsure what to say. “Sheridan is dead,” I finally said.

  His eyes went wide with shock. “Did you...?”

  I bobbed my head. “I didn’t really mean to... I just...” I stared at the ground, settling myself next to him. “The first time you... used that ability... did you feel out of control? As if it at the same time was and wasn’t you doing it?”

  “What does it matter?” he said quietly. “What’s done is done. You can’t change it. You can tell yourself whatever you want, but it won’t make you feel any better about it, and it won’t change the way your friends and family look at you. People will be afraid of you, become alert whenever you’re near, or they’ll use you to get what they want.”

  I flinched, because that sounded awfully familiar. But I didn’t want to dwell on it. Not now. “So what happened in the Shellbye bank?”

  He took a deep breath. “Fourteen lives. I took fourteen lives that day.”

  “Were you on a mission?”

  His shoulders stiffened. “Yeah.”

  “You were ordered to kill all those people?” I couldn’t imagine why Elemontera would want all those people dead.

  “No.” He picked at his fingernails. “I was supposed to use my mind to influence our target to come out so we could take him out.”

  I tipped my head toward him. “So what happened?”

  “I lost control, I guess. One second I was about to guide him out, and the next thing I knew he convulsed and the whole place exploded.” He gazed at the wall far away, his shoulders sagging.

  “And after that?”

  “My father figured out I had the ability to kill without leaving any trace of my element anywhere, so he sent me on specific missions, some for Elemontera, some for the government.”

  I could barely breathe. That meant most of Jaiden’s missions were kill missions. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if Elemontera found out about my ability and forced me to be their assassin. “How many people did you have to...?”

  “Seven.”

  “Were they innocent people?” I didn’t even know why I was asking that.

  “Not really, but that doesn’t change the fact that I killed them.” His dark eyes met mine. “So what information did they send you to get out of me? I imagine you don’t want to go back to Elemontera after what happened.”

  I hesitated.

  “It’s okay. I know they wouldn’t let you in here just to find out a story they don’t have interest in hearing. I bet they’ve already decided what they’re going to do with me.” He traced lines over the dusty ground with his fingers.

  “The plan hasn’t changed. I’m going back to Elemontera,” I said, and he looked up at me with wide eyes.

  “You can’t go there. You’ll get yourself killed!”

  “That’s why I need your help.” I covered his hand with mine, and he eyed me suspiciously. “I want you to come with me.”

  “You want me to go back to Elemontera with you to save you when you fail,” he said flatly.

  He said when, not if, which meant that he didn’t believe anyone could do anything against Elemontera. I ignored his comment and nodded.

  “I don’t think Lily will let me go even if I agreed to help you.”

  “She will,” I said confidently.

  “Okay.” He perked up a bit, his eyes boring into mine. “But whatever happens, you can’t let my father know about your ability, and you mustn’t use it anywhere near devices that can measure levels of elemental energy. I don’t even know if they can somehow recognize that you could have that ability just by looking at the levels, but it’s better not to risk it.”

  “I won’t tell him. I’m not crazy. But what about the bracelets? Can they detect something like that?”

  “No. They can block your elemental energy, but they can’t really read it.”

  “Okay, that’s good. Lily says we’ll blame Sheridan’s death on those rogue elementals so your father doesn’t suspect me and has his attention elsewhere.” I twirled a strand of my hair around my finger.

  Jaiden’s whole body went rigid, his face paling. “You can’t do that!”

  “Why not?” My eyebrows shot upward. “It’s not like Elemontera isn’t already searching for them. And those elementals did try to kill us all, so...”

  “No, if Elemontera finds out there are more elementals who can do what I can, they’ll try to force every elemental to develop this ability. It’s better if they think it’s a unique ability.” He wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.

  I watched him for a moment and wondered if he was worried his father would easily find a replacement for him in Elemontera. But maybe he was right; if Elemontera thought I could somehow do the same as he could, wouldn’t they try everything to get me to use that ability? That would be a huge problem for all of us.

  “Then we should destroy the body. If he can’t find her, he’ll never know what happened to her,” I said.

  “He’ll go to the end of the world to find out, and that could put many people in danger. You don’t know him like I do. Even if Lily’s team fakes an explosion and plants bodies inside, he’ll still discover the truth and he’ll be more suspicious than ever.” Jaiden ran a shaky hand through his hair, wincing, his fingers coming away with blood.

  “But it would give us some time to...” I had no idea how else to explain Sheridan’s death. Any elemental energy could be detected and traced back to the person who used it, so it would be hard to blame someone else. Destroying the body seemed like the best option.

  “No,” he said determinedly. “If I go back with you, I’ll tell him I killed her.”

  “What?” I gaped at him. “You can’t! He’ll...”

  “He’ll be pissed off, yeah.” He pulled his knees up to his chest, as if bracing himself for his father’s wrath. “But he won’t kill me. Not if we explain everything to him.”

  I wanted to ask him how sure he was of that, but I bit down on my lip. “You said Sheridan was your father’s lover. Will he believe she betrayed him?”

  “He’ll have to.” Jaiden chewed on his lip.

  “How long has she been in Elemontera, anyway? She said that she had gone to Elemontera because she couldn’t find me, but that would mean Marlau knew about me for longer than we all thought.”

  He was pensive for a moment, his brow furrowed. “At least four years. You can’t get into Elemontera’s inner circle in a few weeks. She and Marlau must have been waiting until you were old enough, or they had something else in mind.”

  “But that doesn’t make sense. They couldn’t have known I’d have another element. And Marlau thought I was a carrier...” I rubbed my forehead in confusion. “So they couldn’t have been looking for me because of my abilities. I guess they just wanted me to take over the company or whatever. But I believe you said that before tainted elementals appeared, Elemontera was different. Were they looking for people or what? I mean, I want to understand why Sheridan went to Elemontera for help.”

  Most elementals developed their elements in adolescence, so some
four years ago, maybe a couple of tainted elementals appeared for the first time, but Elemontera couldn’t have found out about them immediately. My second element had come out pretty late, but that didn’t mean it was the same for everyone else.

  Jaiden looked away. “They were looking for people. For experiments. So yeah, she’d be able to find you sooner.”

  “But I wasn’t hiding anywhere. Anyone could have found me... unless they didn’t know my identity. If Marlau somehow found out he had a granddaughter, but he didn’t know my name or anything else about me, would Elemontera have helped?”

  Jaiden nodded. “It would be his best bet aside from going to the cops. Elemontera used various things to find elementals and magic disease carriers, and they were one of the first to have a device to detect various properties of elements. They might have tried looking for you based on your element, but they couldn’t have gotten a reading until...”

  “Until I developed fire, which was my father’s element. Of course they’d assume I inherited his element and not my mother’s.” I rolled my eyes. “I still want to know what Sheridan’s connection was to Marlau. I mean, everything they told me could be a lie, so...”

  “Don’t worry about that now.”

  “Right.” I blinked. “I still think we should just hide the body and buy us some time. Then your father won’t be able to blame anyone.”

  “You don’t want to find out how he is when he’s obsessed and paranoid about something, trust me.” He grimaced.

  I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. All of this seemed like his attempt to convince me that taking him with me would be the best option. I couldn’t really blame him for trying to do everything to save his own life, and I definitely didn’t want him to die, so if he was willing to do this, so was I. And if he took the blame for Sheridan’s death, even Lily wouldn’t have that to complain about.

  “So do you know how to get inside the main lab?” I asked.

  He wrinkled his brow, eyeing me with mistrust. “Lily wants you to get the data from researches and experiments, doesn’t she? That would be her evidence against Elemontera.”

  I kept my face expressionless. “Maybe.”

  “We can find a way to get you inside, but I won’t say anything until we’re both back in Elemontera.”

  “Okay, so we have a deal. You’ll come with me, and if you betray me, your father will hear the truth about your involvement in the whole thing and about my new ability.” A slow smile spread across my lips, but I knew it didn’t reach my eyes.

  “If you don’t trust me, you can mind-control me right now,” he said.

  I shook my head. “My elements...”

  He moved toward me and pulled me into his arms so my head rested on his shoulder, his warmth enveloping me. “Your elements will be fine. Don’t let the doubt or fear stop you. Your elements are tied to your emotions. If you feel like you can’t do something, they’re more likely to fail or act out.”

  I groaned. “I know. I just...”

  “I’d say give yourself time, but we don’t have it. I don’t know where Lily’s men brought us, but if we’re still in the city, Elemontera could find us soon.”

  “Right.” I reluctantly extracted myself from his arms and forced myself to my feet. “I’ll talk to Lily and the others, and see what they say.”

  “You do that.” He gave me an encouraging nod.

  Without another look at him, I strode to the door and banged on it. I could feel the guard’s intense gaze on me as he let me out. And just like that, I knew he was one of those rare few Lily trusted and had told about my special ability.

  “Make sure there’s one guard inside the cell at all times. If you don’t...” my voice trailed off and the guard swallowed hard, nodding. Now that Jaiden was awake, I couldn’t leave him alone in that claustrophobic cell.

  “Thanks,” I said, and strode down the hallway. Lily might not be pleased to hear that I had to take Jaiden with me, but she’d have to trust me, just like I trusted her with the safety of my parents while I was gone.

  Chapter 5

  After who knew how many hours of trying to come up with a decent plan that would be to everyone’s satisfaction, we still hadn’t reached an agreement.

  “I still think you shouldn’t go back, let alone with him. Your mind control might not even work on him,” Noah said, scratching his chin. “And who says he can’t heal his own mind like you did with Nick’s and erase all your mind control?”

  I didn’t even know if healing one’s own brain was possible. “I don’t think he knows how to do that, and if he tried, he could mess up his brain like he did with that guy whose mind he tried to fix. Besides, it wouldn’t be worth the risk for him.”

  “You don’t know how his mind works. He’s been lying to us, hiding things, putting us all in danger, and he has the ability to kill us all, so I’m sorry if you think I’m overreacting. And you’d also have to mind-control him not to tell about any of this or where we’re going, because if he exposes our location or the location of the hideout on Roivenna...” Noah paced up and down the room. “And there are so many things he could tell or show to his father that could jeopardize the whole mission and endanger your family’s lives too. I doubt you can remember or think of every possible loophole when you mind-control him.”

  I sat on the sofa, running a hand over my face. The others were just quietly observing us, which only made me more unnerved.

  “And don’t forget he murdered innocent people. Actually, never forget that,” Noah said.

  “He’s not a cold-blooded killer! His father sent him on kill missions, and what happened in Shellbye was an accident. He didn’t mean to do it!” I realized I’d raised my voice too much.

  Lily just watched, her lips pressed into a tight line. “I understand that you care about him and that you think that the two of you are similar, but forget about how you feel about him for a second, and use your brain. We can still go with our initial plan. Jaiden is weak right now. Mind-control him to tell you how to get into the main lab. I’m sure he knows something. Maybe even a secret entrance. Think about it. You wouldn’t have to work for Elemontera anymore. If he really cared about you, he’d already tell you, and the fact that he doesn’t want you to tell his father about your ability only confirms what I said before. He’ll choose his father over you anytime.”

  Noah gave me a hard look. “Lily’s right, and Jaiden’s killed other people, you know. Not only those with his mind. Remember that guy who came after you in the city and Jaiden shot him in the head? We don’t know how many people he really killed. He could be lying about everything.”

  I felt my bracelets burning on my skin, my elements lost in the whirl of emotions surging through me. “He’s not as weak as you think. He wouldn’t let me mind-control him, and if he thought I was trying to trick him, he could even lash out and hurt someone. Is that what you want? To ruin our only chance of getting inside that lab? What if there’s no other way? What if he’s the only one who can walk me inside? How many people do you know who can do that? Or you think I can just mind-control or kill my way inside?”

  Lily closed her eyes, leaning her head on the wall. My element shot through the bracelets, the burning sensation going away, and surged toward Lily. Noah gasped, and Marissa, who was the closest to me, grabbed my arm. I looked at her and my element slammed back into me.

  Lily cocked her head. “Um, what just happened?” Her eyes narrowed at me. “Did you just...?”

  I clenched my fingers into fists. “Sorry, I lost control of myself for a moment.” One part of me wondered if there was a way to make sure none of the elementals like me could see the shimmering thread. When Jaiden had been mind-controlling Kenna in that alley in the city, I couldn’t do anything to help her because I couldn’t see the damn shimmering. Maybe it all depended on how much energy was used to create the shimmering and not on how strong the observer was. Huh. I was getting tired of all of this. “Let’s end this discussion once and for all. Ja
iden is coming with me or I’m not going back.”

  Lily rolled her eyes, and Noah stared at me in disbelief. I was glad my parents weren’t around to express their disagreement.

  “I hope you realize you could be putting everyone at risk,” Lily said.

  “Let me deal with Jaiden. I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.” I hoped I wasn’t making a big mistake.

  “Fine,” Lily said through gritted teeth. “If I must agree to this, I’d rather agree knowingly than have you force me to change my mind.” She pushed herself off the wall and strolled out of the room. Well, that had been easier than I’d expected.

  “Moira...” Noah knelt in front of me, placing his hands on my knees, his blue eyes searching mine. “I know you think you have to do this and that taking Jaiden with you is the only way, but you’re still shaken after what happened. Even your elements aren’t in control. You should think about this when your head is clearer. We don’t have much time, but Elemontera still didn’t find us, so you can still...”

  “I won’t change my mind. I’m just...” I fidgeted, aware that my element wanted out. And I wouldn’t really get an opportunity to use it here, but in Elemontera... there would be plenty of opportunity.

  “Please, just think about it. Your new ability is dangerous and you might need time to be able to control it. You’ll be safer far away from Elemontera. Come with us... Come with me.” His eyes sparkled with fervor. “You can heal Kenna’s brain and we can all leave the island together, and find a new hideout. We can gather our strength, find support, and then we can face anyone we want and take Elemontera down. We can even go on that date we never went on.”

  I got to my feet, putting some distance between us. “No.” My arm briefly flickered with fire, and I had to take a deep breath to push it back. “I need a day or two, and my elements will be perfectly fine. This is our best chance to take Elemontera down. If we wait until we get stronger, they’ll get stronger too. And they’ll go after my parents, my relatives... I can’t let that happen and just sit in some dark place until we figure out what to do.”