“I have to go get him.” She started for the door, but then stopped, her lips curling. “Damn it!” Grabbing my shoulders, she looked into my eyes. “I know you don’t have reasons to help me, but please convince Jaiden to let me go.”
I licked my lips, dropping my gaze.
“Moira...” Her whole body tensed.
“There’s one thing you need to know about your brother. Elemontera messed with his mind somehow and he... He might be forced to hurt you if he sees you.”
“My brother would never do that. He loves me.” Her eyes sparkled with determination. “I don’t care what Jaiden thinks. My brother is not a danger to me.”
“That’s not what your brother thinks.”
“No, you’re wrong.” She shook her head. “You don’t know my brother at all.”
“That’s true. I don’t know him, but I can see what mind control can do.” I gave her a long look.
“Did Jaiden have something to do with this?” Her voice quivered. “Did that psychotic son of a bitch do something to my brother?”
“Look, it doesn’t matter who did it. I’m sure Elemontera has many ways to manipulate someone’s mind. Jaiden can’t be the only one with such an ability.” I highly doubted he was so special. If he could have developed that ability, then someone else could do it too. Just because we hadn’t met anyone like that yet didn’t mean that person wasn’t out there somewhere.
Kenna turned into air and whizzed past me and into the hall. I swore under my breath and followed the shimmering cloud, which disappeared around the corner. I’d expected the cloud to go for the exit, but it rushed in the opposite direction. Where was she going? I stopped in front of Jaiden’s room, wondering if it was a good idea to go inside after Kenna. Whatever she had to tell him probably wasn’t for everyone’s ears, but she was upset, and Jaiden still had his dangerous ability. I could at least make sure they were okay and weren’t about to do something they’d regret, especially after Jaiden told me that the consequences of mind control couldn’t always be fixed.
I knocked on the doorframe and peeked inside. Jaiden’s back was pressed against the wall as Kenna advanced on him.
“You sick freak! I want you out of my mind and out of my life. Forever!” She outstretched her hand and something flew right into her palm. “What have you done to my brother?” In one swift movement, she pressed her arm against Jaiden’s neck, a knife glistening in her fist.
“Kenna,” I said, slowly approaching her. “There’s no need for this. We can talk.”
“You stay back. This is between Jaiden and me.” She gritted her teeth. I considered trying to get the knife away from her, but I risked hurting Jaiden if my air missed its target. His face was expressionless, his hands limp at his sides. Why wasn’t he defending himself? I was sure he could send that knife flying or push her away in a second, so why wasn’t he doing anything?
“Do it. I know you want to,” he said, a cold smile spreading his lips.
“You’re a monster.” She flexed her arm and pointed the knife at the center of his neck. “I’d do the world a favor by killing you.”
“You would.” An emotion flashed through his eyes, but I couldn’t identify it. What was he doing? Trying to make her even angrier? “But if you kill me, you’ll never see your brother again.”
“I’ll find a way.”
He chuckled. “Good luck with that.” Blood trickled down his neck as the blade nicked his skin.
“Undo what you did to me. Now!”
“I won’t.”
“I will kill you! Don’t think I won’t!” Kenna yelled. Before I could say anything, a blast of air hit Kenna and sent her sprawling to the floor, the knife clattering to the ground. Jaiden pushed himself off the wall and strode over to her. Kenna’s body shimmered and turned into air. She was about to fly away when Jaiden caught her in a web of his air.
“Let go of her,” I said, and Jaiden looked at me as if he were seeing me for the first time. His air pulled back and Kenna stormed out of the room.
Jaiden sighed, picking up the knife from the floor and tossing it on his desk. “Do you need something?” He glanced over his shoulder at me.
“How did you escape Elemontera? If Kenna’s brother could do the same...”
“He can’t.”
“Why not?” I was sure Elemontera had done everything in their power to keep Jaiden with them, so how had he escaped? They must have upped their security later, but usually every system had a fault in it that could be exploited.
“Because he can’t do what I did, okay?” Jaiden snapped. “Can you leave me alone now?”
“What if there is a way to save Kenna’s brother? Wouldn’t you want to help him?”
“So that he can come after Kenna?” His dark eyes met mine. “It’s safer for both of them to be exactly where they are now.”
“If it’s so safe in Elemontera, why did you run?”
“I didn’t say it was perfectly safe, but Nick doesn’t have my abilities. He’s only one of many Elemontera’s agents. If he does what they want him to, he’ll be fine.”
“They’re using him to track others like us!” I took a step toward him. “Are you telling me that you don’t care that elementals like us are forced to hunt us? To hurt our families?”
“I don’t know what you want from me. Should I take all of you to the city so we can attack Elemontera and get ourselves killed?”
“No. What I want you to do is tell us everything you know about Elemontera. You might think there’s nothing we can do except get ourselves killed, but I’m not so sure. One person might not be able to think of a plan good enough or find the fault in the system, but if we all worked together... We might find a way to get rid of Elemontera forever.”
“You’re delusional.” He pressed a hand to his neck.
“Then tell me what you’re so afraid of.”
He scoffed. “I’m not having this conversation with you. Get out.”
“Alright.” I shrugged. “I’m leaving. But I’ll be back and one day you will tell me everything.” With a smile, I turned on my heel and headed for the door. If I had to, I’d come to Jaiden every day until he relented. Why would telling me some details about Elemontera be a problem for him? In the meantime, I could ask Noah and the others for help, maybe even Kenna. Jaiden wouldn’t be able to stop us all.
Chapter 29
I was in the island’s only bookstore, hoping to find some interesting reads, when my phone vibrated. Noah had told me it was safe to go to the store, but that he’d alert me if something happened. We didn’t have to worry about magic disease carriers, but we never knew when an Elemontera agent could pop up.
Making sure no one was watching me, I dug the phone out of my pocket and checked the message. It was Noah and he wanted me to come meet him in the woods not far from here. He said it was urgent. Frowning at the phone, I wondered what could have happened. What could be so important? And why would he want to meet me in the woods? I typed him a message, asking him to explain.
An elderly woman gave me strange looks, so I headed out of the store. My phone vibrated again. Apparently, Noah wanted to show me something. I rolled my eyes and texted him that I didn’t like surprises. If he wanted me to see something in the woods, he could as well come here himself and show me the right way. I didn’t know the woods as well as he did, especially the one that was far from our hideout and Ria’s house.
His next text sent my heart into my throat. He said he wanted to show me a blue bird. Blue bird was his secret code for Elemontera. He’d explained that to me when he gave me the phone. What the hell was going on? As I hurried toward the woods, I tried to call Jaiden, Marissa, or anyone in the hideout who could help me figure out what was happening. No one picked up. My stomach did a nervous flip. I shot another text to Noah, but he didn’t answer. What did that mean? God, please let everyone be safe.
Noah had used his phone, so he’d had to have time to contact me, but his lack of response to my last
text worried me. What if he needed my help because he was fighting Elemontera? Was it only one agent or more of them? Would he engage them or fly away? I considered taking a different path to the place he’d indicated, but what if that took me too much time and I came too late? I was slow already because I had to wade through the bushes and shrubs.
Squinting at the trees, I tried to spot anything suspicious, but nothing resembled a human being or a shimmering cloud. I was almost at the spot Noah wanted me to find, but I couldn’t see him. Treading carefully through the grass, I mentally braced myself for a fight. Noah had to be somewhere near here. Maybe he’d gone after Elemontera.
I stopped dead in my tracks when a shadow caught my eye. A dark-haired man was standing between two trees, his back turned to me. I recognized the leather jacket he was wearing. It was Jaiden. What was he doing here? He turned around and ran a hand through his hair, his dark eyes lifting to me.
“Where’s Noah?” I slowly walked over to him, looking right and left, but I couldn’t see anyone else. “I thought he’d be here.”
“He’s not,” Jaiden said.
“Okay. Do you know where he is?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, leaning forward.
“What are you...?” Something sharp embedded itself into my shoulder. A needle was stuck in my skin and it was big enough to pierce through my shirt. I looked up at Jaiden, my lips parting. The world spun around me and I fell to the ground, my eyelids getting heavy. Armed men in black seemed to appear out of nowhere, getting closer to us. Jaiden didn’t move, his face serious. I tried to reach my elements, but my mind was too fuzzy. My eyes closed and the darkness swallowed me.
###
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review at the site where you purchased it. Reviews not only help others discover new reads but also make me write faster. :) Want more? The second book in the series is called Invisible and it continues Moira’s story with more action and romance. For more information go to: http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/tainted-elements-series.html
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More books (prequel series) set in the same world as the Tainted Elements:
The Element Preservers series:
DANGEROUS (Book 1)
RUNAWAY (Book 2)
DIVIDED (Book 3)
NO ONE (Book 3.5)
RESTLESS (Book 4)
INDESTRUCTIBLE (Book 5)
http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/element-preservers-series.html
If you like to read young adult books about demons and angels with a bit of romance, you can check out my book, Human. It follows a 17-year-old girl who tries to figure out who she is, and who would do anything for her loved ones. The book doesn't have any mature content.
More info: http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/
Different (Tainted Elements Book 1) Page 18