Captive (Tainted Elements, Book 4)

by Linwood, Alycia

  Before Lily could recover, I kicked her hard into the stomach again, and she cried out, doubling over. Jim and Rosalie stared at me open-mouthed, their eyes flying from me to Lily. They were scientists, not trained fighters. Too bad Lily didn’t have a gun with her, but she must have assumed it was a risk to bring one around me.

  I quickly scanned my surroundings, trying to find a knife or anything useful. Lily was already trying to get to her feet, so I had to act fast. Snatching one of the wires that had disconnected from the computer, I jumped behind Lily and wound the thin red wire tightly around her neck. Her hands flew up as she sputtered, trying to kick me off her, but I only tightened my hold. Making sure I had the three scientists in sight, I inched closer to the door.

  “Don’t you even dare think about it,” I said to Harper, who was eyeing a bottle with green liquid in it. “All three of you, go stand near that table and don’t move, or she dies.” Lily’s knees wobbled, and I had to use all of my strength to keep her up. Rosalie, Jim, and Harper scooted over to the table, and Rosalie’s face was so pale that I thought she’d faint.

  “Please stop! You’re killing her!” Harper pleaded. “We don’t mean you any harm. We just...”

  “Shut the fuck up. Tell me the code for the door,” I said, struggling with Lily, who was still letting out choking noises.

  Harper immediately blurted out the code, and I made sure to memorize it. Lily fell to her knees, and I eased up the wire that had already cut into her neck a bit. “The code for your office. Now!”

  “No...” Lily heaved. In the corner of my eye, I could see Jim moving forward. I didn’t have much time. I shoved Lily to the ground and ran for the door, punching in the code. The green light flashed, and the door opened. Jim was coming toward me, and I grabbed the first thing I found on the shelf next to me and threw it at him.

  Picking up a heavy object that looked like a dumbbell, I ran through the door and slammed it shut behind me. The light on the door turned red again, and I smashed the keypad with the dumbbell, leaving only tiny wires hanging out. I didn’t know if Lily and the others could sound an alarm from inside the lab, but they probably could, which meant I needed to hurry.

  Chapter 4

  I ran down the hallway, opening a couple of doors to find the secret stairwell I knew had to be somewhere around here. As I opened another door, an alarm pierced the air, and I swore. Luckily for me, the next door I tried was leading to the stairwell, and I sprinted through it, hoping the guards would be focused on the elevators and not the stairs.

  The constant buzzing of the alarm filled my ears and made it hard to focus on anything else. Too bad I couldn’t have cut the power, because then the list on Lily’s computer would be unreachable for me, too. Not to mention I didn’t really know how to do that, and I would’ve had to bring in someone else here with me because the building had its own power source.

  The stairwell was illuminated only by white glowing floor number indicators. When I reached the right floor, I cracked the door open and peered through it. Having made sure there were no guards to see me, I slipped into the hallway. But as I rounded the corner, I saw at least five guards in front of the office. Fuck.

  Lily must have told them where I’d be going. Maybe it was time to test Blake’s theory that Lily wouldn’t allow anyone to harm me. Another peek at the guards revealed they were armed and ready to shoot. Nope, I wasn’t about to go out there, but what else could I do? I glanced at the dumbbell that I was still holding in my hand, chewing on my lip. Hmm.

  Just how could I use this? I could hit people in the head and knock them out with it, but to do that, I had to get close to them and risk getting shot or overpowered. As I leaned on the wall and sighed, I promised myself I’d never go anywhere again with such a poorly thought out plan... if I survived this.

  I had to lure out the guards somehow. They all seemed to be clustered in front of the office and protecting Lily’s most valuable room. But there would’ve been even more guards if most of them hadn’t gone after Blake and the others, and I was sure the guards who stayed here weren’t the best or most powerful ones.

  There were at least five doors down the hallway, and my lips spread into a smile. Maybe there was a way to do this after all. I padded as quietly as possible to each one of the doors and opened them all. As I burst into one of the rooms, I saw a lighter on the desk. I immediately grabbed it, along with a stack of papers, and headed out toward the guards.

  Stopping just around the corner from the office, I used the lighter to set the papers on fire and waited until wisps of smoke rose into the air. They must have noticed it, because I could hear their hushed voices. The fire sprinkler system turned on and cold water started spraying down on me. I huddled on the floor, my back pressed to the wall. The now drenched ashes were opposite from me and a bit farther away so they’d be the first thing the guards saw if they came around the corner.

  “Someone’s here!” I heard footsteps coming closer, and I held my breath. But the guard wasn’t as distracted as I’d hoped he’d be, and he spotted me immediately. “Over here!” he yelled.

  I jumped to my feet as he reached for his weapon, and I darted down the hallway toward the stairway. The guard ran after me and fired, the bullet almost grazing my leg. Maybe Blake was right. Maybe the guards wouldn’t be aiming to kill, but I didn’t want to stick around and find out. I slipped through the open door and stopped in the dark, pressing myself as close as possible to the wall.

  As the guard slowed down and came through the door, I heard his labored breathing right in front of me, so I pushed myself off the wall and shoved him with all my strength. He yelped, and he must have tripped because it sounded as if he’d rolled down the stairs. I could hear the commotion in the hallway, but no one came closer. They were probably inspecting the other rooms because they weren’t sure where I’d gone.

  A moan could be heard somewhere in the darkness, and as my eyes finally adjusted to it, I saw a silhouette on the half landing. I tiptoed toward him and pried the gun from his fingers. His body jerked, his arm reaching out, but I backhanded him and he just fell limp to the floor. I was certain the other guards must have realized by now that I wasn’t in any of the other rooms, so I climbed up and crouched near the door where I could see who was coming my way.

  I shot the first guard in the leg, and he fell facedown to the ground, crying out. More shots rang out, and I was momentarily blinded by the bright light coming from the hallway because someone had opened the door wide open. Another guard came in, gun pointed at me, and fired. I rolled over, barely dodging the bullet, my knee scraping against the floor. But I was close enough to grab another gun, which the guy I’d shot must have dropped.

  As my vision adjusted, I could see him covering his leg, trying to stop the bleeding, but I didn’t have time to worry about him. Raising both guns, I fired at the two guards, not caring whether I injured or killed them. They both fell to the ground, but a hot shock on my arm made me hiss in pain. A bullet had grazed my arm, and I was bleeding, but it didn’t look serious.

  Stepping over the bodies, I peered out at the hallway. It was empty, so I moved forward. There had to be one more guard, but I didn’t know where he was. Going from door to door with my guns raised, I searched for him, but I couldn’t see anything. I had to get to the office sooner rather than later. By now, reinforcements might be on their way, and I didn’t have time to waste. As I rounded the corner, I found myself eye to eye with the barrel of a gun.

  “Don’t move!” the guard yelled, his face flushed, his nostrils flaring. “Drop your weapons!”

  I raised my hands in the air and winced as the pain laced my arm. “Okay.” Letting the guns drop to the ground, I watched the guard carefully. A sheen of sweat coated his forehead, and his grip on the gun faltered a little. I ducked and kicked out with my foot, sending him sprawling to the floor. Picking up my guns, I fired and hit him in the chest. He slumped down, his blue eyes losing their shine. After switching one of my g
uns for his, I headed toward Lily’s office.

  Next to the door was a keypad and a light that flashed red. Still, if what Blake and I knew about this building was correct, it shouldn’t be too hard to break in. While still pretty well protected, the security in here wasn’t top-notch, since this building didn’t keep anything too important or particularly dangerous, such as a bioweapon. I wished I’d had a chance to get the code, because now I’d have to try getting inside the old-fashioned way.

  Aiming the guns at the keypad, I fired until I no longer had any bullets. As smoke rose from the keypad, the light above it turned off, and most of the keys were destroyed or filled with holes. I pushed at the door and it easily slid open. I strode toward the desk, surprised by how simple Lily’s office was. It was a small room with mostly black furniture, and most of the space was occupied by a desk and three chairs.

  I sat in front of the computer and immediately turned it on. As I dug around in my boot to find the flash drive, I kept my eyes on the door. Someone could come in here the same way I had, and I didn’t have anything to bolt or block the door with. Not to mention there was no time. I grabbed the flash drive, inserted it into one of the slots, and waited for it to do its magic.

  Blake had mind-controlled some poor soul into creating a special virus that would copy the files we needed, and destroy or corrupt any other data on the computer. Slowing down Lily in her evil plan to track down all tainted elementals didn’t seem like a bad idea. Seriously, we were doing everyone a huge favor. Hopefully the elementals who’d gotten on the list would be more careful next time and avoid getting caught again.

  The flash drive marked the transfer as complete, and as I pulled it out, a warning flashed across the computer screen and disappeared too fast for me to read it. Another alarm sounded in the building, and this time I could see the words on the screen. Protocol 18 starting. Complete lock-down. Then it simply shut down, and the power went off, too. What the hell was going on?

  Tucking the flash drive back into my boot, I stood up and slowly inched closer to the door. It was completely dark outside, and there weren’t even any emergency lights. My heart thudded in my chest as I stepped into the darkness. The sound of the alarm had died down, and I strained my ears to hear if the guards were coming with help or reinforcements, but I couldn’t hear anything.

  Tracing my hand over the wall, I made my way toward a sliver of light. My foot collided with something solid, and I knew it was the body of the guard I’d shot. Steeling myself, I rounded the corner. Dim light was coming through the open doors of the rooms that actually had windows, although I didn’t remember seeing much through those when I’d been in the rooms.

  The whole building was like a tower of glass and steel, and I didn’t know if any of those windows could be opened. As I made my way down the hallway and toward the first of the rooms, I was glad that there weren’t any cameras anywhere. I couldn’t understand why Lily didn’t have any, but maybe she just hadn’t had time to install them, or she didn’t want anyone to see what she was doing here.

  Even though I could actually see things around me now, I kept tracing my hand over the wall, and I felt something pulsing underneath its rough surface; something like a strange warmth. I stopped, feeling the wall for any hidden switches but didn’t find anything. As I neared the door that led to the stairway, I expected to find the guards there, dead or alive, but all I could see were blood trails on the floor. Someone had moved the bodies and taken away the survivors. But where were they?

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat. There were no weapons or any sign of anyone around. Something strange was going on. I slipped into one of the rooms and rushed toward the window through which I could see the building across the street. Pushing on the glass, I tried to open the damn window, but nothing budged. While I looked around for something I could use to smash the window, I noticed a yellow glow was starting to spread on the outside of the window. What the hell was that?

  I backed away, nearly bumping into the desk. There was a computer on it, a couple of pens, and a notepad. Absolutely nothing useful. Unless... I turned on the computer as I rummaged through the drawer. My hands were shaking, and everything was so damn awfully quiet. Something was wrong. I just didn’t know what. As soon as the screen loaded, I saw a warning flash across the screen. It was about Protocol 18, and it said I should leave the building immediately.

  I clicked on a couple of links, trying to figure out what this thing was. A few clicks later, I noticed only four words: “toxic cloud” and “elemental suppressor”. Oh shit. I jumped up from the chair. I needed to get out of here. The yellowish glow I’d seen outside had to be the elemental suppressor, which would make it impossible for anyone outside, like a tainted elemental who could fly, to come close enough to the building to rescue me.

  I didn’t even want to imagine what the toxic cloud was, but I had a pretty good idea. The guards and everyone else must have gone out or they were waiting near the door. They’d release the toxic cloud through the hallways, and I’d be either dead or incapacitated. Shit. There were only two exits, but I was sure they’d be well guarded. I needed an alternative.

  How old was this building? Surely, Lily couldn’t have changed everything before she moved here. I closed my eyes and tried to remember the blueprint I’d seen before coming here. The roof! I had to get to the roof. At this point, the only thing I had to do was avoid the toxic cloud, so I ran for the stairwell, not even bothering to check if someone was still there.

  But I knew no one wanted to get caught up in a toxic cloud. I rushed upstairs, my lungs feeling as if they were going to burst, my blood racing. A strange sickeningly sweet smell reached my nose, and I slammed my whole body into the door at the end of the stairs. Cold wind rushed around me as I burst through the door, gasping for breath.

  The roof was completely empty and surrounded by a yellowish glow, which looked like a fence that was protecting the building from the outside and the inside. I looked up, bracing myself for an attack from Lily’s tainted elemental agents, but all I could see were yellow lines crisscrossing the sky. Whatever was protecting the building was active at least ten feet above the roof too, which was both good and bad.

  The good thing was that no one could drop on me out of the sky unless they wanted to break their necks, but that also meant I couldn’t turn into air and escape. Once the toxic cloud was cleared out of the building, I was sure Lily’s men would come find me. They’d draw me out like a rat. I paced up and down the roof, wondering what I could do. Through the yellow glow, I could see slight mismatches in the air, which indicated there were at least two invisible tainted elementals flying at a safe distance from the glow and observing the building.

  They’d probably report my location to Lily as soon as they laid their eyes on me. Or maybe they’d already done it. I went closer to the glow and ran my hand through it. It was slightly warm, but it didn’t hurt me. The only thing it was doing was blocking my elements. I wondered if maybe I had enough energy to break through it. I’d done such things before... broken through blocking devices. I frowned. Had I done that or had it been a dream?

  I shook my head; there was no time to think about that. If I used up all of my energy to bring down the protection, then what would I do next? Drop from exhaustion? No, that wasn’t an option. I glanced at the street below, where people had started to gather and were watching the glowing building in confusion or maybe even awe. I took a deep breath, stretching my legs and arms. There was only one way to get off the building. I just didn’t know if I could do it.

  Chapter 5

  I treaded back until I was in the middle of the roof. Shouts could be heard from the door that led to the stairwell, which meant the guards were already coming for me. A knot twisted in my stomach. It was now or never. I started to run as fast as I could toward the edge of the roof, my long hair whipping around me and getting in my eyes. As I reached the edge, I leapt into the air, closing my eyes for a moment.

  I br
oke through the yellowish barrier, and then I was falling, my insides turning upside down. I called to my air, hoping I was far enough from the building for this to work. The ground was getting closer and closer, and just before I hit the asphalt, I felt my whole body turn light as a feather. People screamed and yelled, and I used all of my strength to rise up. As I surged up, I thanked God for the shimmering cloud he’d given me.

  Trying to calm myself down, I floated above the ground until I could think clearly again. Two shimmering clouds were rushing toward me, and I slipped into an alley, slipping through cracks and sliding under cars. I almost laughed out loud when I could no longer see any shimmering anywhere around me. Yes! I’d done it! I’d actually done it.

  When I was sure I wasn’t being followed, I found my way to the rendezvous point where Blake was supposed to be waiting for me. As I entered the room, turning visible, Blake’s lips pulled into a wide smile, and one of the worst headaches ever hit me, nearly sending me to the ground. I was so glad I hadn’t had any back at the building. I squinted at Blake and Raven through my blurry eyes, and saw them look at each other. Raven’s arms were crossed, her wide eyes trained on me, and Blake smirked.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, and a moment later, the headache disappeared.

  “Yeah,” I said, reaching for the flash drive in my boot,” and I’ve come back with this.”

  “I can’t believe you actually did it.” Blake snatched the drive out of my grasp and pulled me in for a kiss, his lips crushing mine. “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you, too,” I said, and Raven shot me a cold glare, as if she wanted to kill me. Blake immediately went to his laptop and turned it on. I loved how happy he looked.

  “I hope what we need is here, because I almost died out there,” I said.