Captive (Tainted Elements, Book 4)

by Linwood, Alycia

  “What? Did you think I was being followed?” I asked as I approached them, trying to appear as calm as possible.

  “Honestly, we weren’t even sure you’d be coming,” Raven said. “How did you escape?”

  “Oh, I found a way. Sorry I couldn’t come sooner. The agents were tracking me through the whole city. I barely managed to escape them.” I crossed my arms. “I’m glad you two are okay. I didn’t know if some of the agents had gone after you.”

  “They were after us,” Blake said. “But we shook them off in the crowd of people who were for some reason fighting with their elements.”

  “We have to be more careful,” Raven said. “Lily’s team is using more advanced technology and has different ways to track us, and our higher elemental energy levels give us away if we’re in low energy areas.”

  “Maybe we should team up with magic disease carriers.” I chuckled. “At least they’d be able to tell us how strong elements were in a particular area.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Blake said, eyeing me suspiciously. “We need to find the Strong and end this once and for all. I hope you didn’t lose the book.”

  “Nope.” I grinned at him. “It’s still with me.”

  “Did any of Lily’s men try to talk to you?” Raven asked.

  “Why?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

  Blake sighed. “Ulry was almost attacked by two of Lily’s agents today, and they were trying to convince him that they were his friends, like real friends. As if they’d known each other forever. They even told him they’d reunite him with his sister. He isn’t sure what they were trying to achieve, but he escaped them and called his sister just in case, and she’s still safe miles away from here.”

  “What?” I frowned.

  “Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on. I guess they’re trying to manipulate us with their stories and turn us against each other. They know there are powerful elementals in our group, so they’re probably trying to find a way to divide us,” Blake said. “They haven’t told you anything like that, have they? You at least know you’re strong enough not to get mind-controlled, but the others like Ulry... Raven and I assured him it’s all fine, and he understands, but... I’m afraid for the others.”

  I bit down on my lip, remembering that blonde woman who had been trying to convince me she was my mother. “That’s strange. No one spoke to me, so I really don’t know what Lily’s plan is. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she’s trying to divide our group. It would make it easier for her to take us out.”

  “Yeah, we made sure to tell everyone about this new tactic. I hope no one will fall for it,” Blake said, taking a step toward me, but I backed away. His eyebrows drew together. “Are you still mad at me?”

  “Yes, yes I am,” I said. “But let’s focus on the important thing here, and that’s finding the Strong.”

  “We actually mind-controlled some people into helping us with that while you were gone.” A smug smile appeared on Raven’s face. “One of those elementals that Zavina told us about has a family. Two daughters and a son. They’re all old enough to be able to use their elements. The records say they all have one element, but of course, that might be a lie.”

  “Great.” I was glad there was some progress in our search. “Are we going to pay them a visit?”

  “Of course we are, but we have to be careful. We should use our elements less so that Lily’s team can’t detect us,” Blake said.

  “I have a better idea.” I grinned. “Raven, you should find some random elementals in various parts of the city and mind control them to use their elements. Get them to fight each other or whatever. Just make enough distraction for the cops and Lily’s energy level detectors. Oh, and make sure the people never realize they were mind-controlled.”

  “Why not? Imagine how crazy things would get if people found out any of them could be mind-controlled to do whatever we want them to?” Blake smirked.

  “We haven’t found the Strong yet. We can’t risk starting a war before we have enough power,” I said. “And we’d caused enough rumors already.”

  “You’re right.” Blake’s body started to shimmer. “Let’s find the Strong.”

  I nodded and turned into air. As we rose into the air, I prayed the Strong was close. Things were falling apart around me, and I wanted to complete the ritual so I could see who exactly had been lying to me. If it were someone powerful enough to mind control me, and maybe Blake and the others too, then I’d need all the power I could get to fight him.

  “What exactly did you tell them to do?” I asked Raven as I saw a strong burst of water rising above the buildings at the other end of the city. Police sirens could be heard from everywhere.

  “I arranged a little competition.” Raven’s voice was filled with amusement. “No one will know it was us.”

  “Good,” I said, and we landed in the backyard of the house where Tori Rivas lived with her family. Everything around the house was quiet, and the windows were dark.

  “Do you think they’re inside? Sleeping, maybe?” Raven asked.

  “No idea. Let’s go check.” Blake turned into air again and surged toward the house. I followed him, but as we circled around, we realized there wasn’t even a tiny hole for us to go through. The house seemed to be completely sealed off.

  “I have a feeling she knows about tainted elementals,” I whispered.

  “Then what do we do? Break down the door?” Raven asked.

  “No.” I turned visible and pointed at the tiny red light that was blinking high above the door. “We’d trigger an alarm.”

  “So what?” Blake materialized next to me. “By the time the cops get here, we can find our Strong.”

  “We could try, but what if they have a bunker or panic room inside? If the woman is paranoid, she could lock everything down and we wouldn’t be able to get inside. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if all or some of the rooms in the house were element-proof.”

  “I brought a gun,” Blake said.

  I shook my head. “I doubt it would help us much. And we don’t want to accidentally shoot the Strong.”

  A tick started in Blake’s jaw. “Now what? We just wait here until someone opens the door or comes out?”

  Waiting seemed like the best option, but we were all impatient, and we didn’t want to be in one place for too long because Lily’s patrols could spot us. “No, we can’t wait. We have to draw them out.”

  “Are we going to ring the bell or what?” Raven asked.

  I looked around the yard. The white fence was pretty high, which meant the neighbors would have trouble seeing what was going on, and the tall pine trees were shielding most of the house. Maybe that was why Tori had chosen this house. Privacy would mean a lot to her if she had special kids. “No, they’d never come out for no good reason or open the door to unknown people, unless...”

  “Unless what?” Blake asked.

  “We ring the bell and start using our elements in front of the house, pretending it’s for that challenge Raven started. You know, we pretend to be some drunk teens,” I said.

  Blake gave me a skeptical look. “They’re going to call the cops on us.”

  “No, they won’t. I don’t think they like to draw attention to themselves. Someone will come out to try to send us away or even open a window to yell at us. That’s all we need.”

  “Lily’s team will detect energy levels here, too, and send someone for us.” Raven crossed her arms, chewing on her lower lip.

  “True, they could do that, but do they really have that many agents to check on every single spike of energy? And we don’t have to use much energy, just a little. We can yell and sing or something.” I lightly punched Blake on the shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sing.”

  “I don’t like to sing.” He pressed his lips into a tight line.

  “Really?” I arched an eyebrow at him.

  “Really. But I can kick things around and make a racket.” His eyes fell on the wooden chairs
and a table.

  “Good. Let’s do this,” I said. “And remember, we’re looking for even the smallest opportunity. Just turn into air and slip inside. Even if it turns out we can’t use our elements inside, we’ll figure something out.”

  I called to my fire and threw a small fireball into the air, letting out a loud shriek.

  Raven rang the bell. “Anybody home?” she yelled and started giggling. “Hope not!”

  Blake had broken the chair into pieces and was stomping over the wood. A dim light started to glow inside, and I carefully watched the house. Blake threw a sharp piece of wood at the window and I caught it with my air before it could hit the glass. I gave him a warning look. I didn’t know if we could break any windows without triggering an alarm, and I was afraid that if Tori thought she couldn’t deal with us herself, she’d call the cops, privacy be damned. So it was better she just thought we were a bunch of drunk kids.

  I toyed with another fireball in my hand as the attic window slid open a bit.

  “Get off my property! Now!” someone yelled. A rifle was pointed through the opening, and a shot was fired. I had no idea where the bullet had gone, because I immediately turned myself into air and rushed toward the window. Someone gasped, pulling back the rifle, but I had already slipped inside.

  Chapter 12

  “Show yourself or I’ll shoot!” a woman with shoulder-length light brown hair yelled, her eyes flitting through the room, her rifle up and ready, but not quite pointing anywhere. She couldn’t see me, just like she couldn’t see that Blake had managed to sneak inside with me, too. Raven must have been too slow.

  “Relax. We’re not here to hurt you,” Blake said, materializing behind the woman’s back and grabbing her into a tight grip. She tried to hit him with the back of the rifle, but her arms suddenly went limp, her eyes glazed. A shimmering thread was wrapped around her head, and Blake’s brows were drawn in concentration.

  “Honey? Is everything okay?” a male voice yelled from downstairs. “Do you need me to come up?”

  Blake quickly whispered something into the woman’s ear.

  “I’m okay, sweetie. Some drunk teens were outside. They’re gone now. Go back to sleep. I’ll be right down,” she said. Blake let go of her, and she trudged off. We waited until the woman was gone, and then we quietly descended the stairs. A soft noise of the TV could be heard from behind one of the doors, and I nodded at Blake, who was about to open the door next to it. We were both invisible, but to any tainted elementals, we wouldn’t be.

  I slowly pushed the door open, and it squeaked. A girl with long light brown hair turned her head toward me, her blue eyes wide. She opened her mouth to scream, but I was faster. Rushing inside the room, I clamped my hand over her mouth. She thrashed against me, but I held her tightly to myself.

  “Shh, it’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you,” I said. “It’s going to be all right.”

  But instead of calming down, she bit my hand, hard, and I swore, my grip loosening. She jumped to her feet, her whole body shaking as she sent hundreds of waterballs toward me. I rolled over the bed and fell to the floor. A plant in the corner shot out its branches toward me, wrapping around my wrists and ankles. One of the vines wound around my neck, and I called to my fire, which turned blue as it burned through my bindings.

  “What do you want from me?” the girl asked, her arms going in and out of visibility. She couldn’t be more than fourteen, but even untrained, she was strong. I could see it.

  “Mom! Dad!” she yelled, just as I managed to shake off the last bits of the plant. As I got to my feet, a fireball flew toward me, hitting the curtain and setting it on fire. Noise could be heard from the hallway, and I hoped Blake could handle it.

  “Please. Calm down,” I said, inching closer to the girl, my hands raised. She threw a fireball at me, and I caught it with my own fire, which turned blue. The girl’s eyes were wide, and suddenly various things flew off the shelves, and I had to use my own air to block them. Four elements. The girl seemed to have all four elements. Oh God.

  “I just want to talk,” I said, building a shield of air around me.

  “Hayley!” a boy’s voice could be heard from the other room, and the girl rushed out of the room. I immediately ran after her. Blake was in a room with light blue walls, and he was holding up a boy of maybe twelve with his element. The boy grabbed through the air that was wrapped around his neck, unable to touch it, his face going blue. Hayley let out a loud shriek and a wave of water hit Blake so hard that he fell to the floor, his grip on the boy loosening. The dark-haired boy fell to his knees, coughing. Hayley was at his side in a moment, cradling him in her arms. Blake was getting to his feet, baring his teeth.

  “She’s the one,” I said with all the certainty in the world, and Blake looked at me, a moment before a blast of air sent him flying. A fireball went toward me, and I turned into air, whizzing toward the girl and dodging her attacks. I managed to snatch the boy out of her arms, and push him toward Blake, whose arms tightly wrapped around the boy’s neck.

  “Hayley, listen to me. You have to come with us,” I said. “Your family won’t be harmed.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she said through her teeth, her fists clenched at her sides. I smelled fire and saw smoke coming from the other room, and a moment later, something burst and an alarm pierced the air. The fire must have spread through the room.

  “Just grab her and let’s go!” Blake yelled to me.

  “No!” Hayley yelled. “Let my brother go!”

  “The house is going to burn down before the firefighters come,” I said. “And we won’t let you leave this room unless you come with us. Do you want your parents to die?”

  Hayley just watched me, her eyes pooling with tears. A second later, a fireball came out of nowhere at me, and Blake managed to hit it with his ice shards. If we stayed here any longer, someone would come. Surely, everyone was alerted about this incident by now. I pushed my hand under my shirt to touch the book.

  As soon as I grazed its pages, I felt warmth overcoming me and giving me power. I let my air out and sent it straight at the girl. Her hands flew to her neck, but she couldn’t fight me off. I squeezed her neck until her eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped to the floor.

  “Get her!” I yelled to Blake, who immediately let go of the boy and grabbed the girl, turning them both into air. The boy was crying, but he didn’t seem to have developed his elements or he didn’t know how to use them. He was probably too young. I coughed as my lungs filled with smoke. The house would burn down very soon. I had to get out of here.

  As I started to turn into air, I looked back at the boy who didn’t move from his spot on the floor. Shit. I grabbed him by the shoulder, and he flinched. After I turned us both into air, I whizzed through the smoke and flew out of the house, dropping the boy to the ground outside. I could hear the sirens nearby, which meant help was coming. Blake was standing with Raven near one of the trees and waving at me.

  “Let’s go!” he yelled. The house looked like it was about to collapse, and more and more of it was caught by fire. Hayley’s parents were still inside.

  “I’ll be right after you! Go!” I yelled at Blake. He frowned and flew away with Hayley. I went back into the house, but everything was on fire. A burning piece of wood caught me as it fell, and I lost control over my element, my arm becoming visible. Letting my own fire consume me, I plodded through the heat and got into the room where two figures were sleeping on the bed.

  I’d no idea if Blake had mind-controlled them so they’d stay asleep or if they’d fainted because of all the smoke, but the fire still hadn’t reach that room, so I called back my element. I picked up a vase and threw it at the window, which shattered into a billion pieces. Briefly placing my hand on the book, I called to my air. I climbed onto the bed and placed my hands on both the woman and the man, changing us all into air. When I was safely out, I dropped them to the ground next to their son.

  “Where’s your
other sister?” I asked the boy who was whimpering. Someone was trying to climb over the fence, and I knew I had to go before they spotted me.

  “At my grandma’s,” the boy said, and I immediately turned into air, relieved. As I flew away from there, I couldn’t help but think that we’d done something terribly wrong.

  When I arrived back at our base, Blake was waiting for me at the door. His lips were pressed into a white slash, his arms folded across his chest.

  “We had to put two element-blocking bracelets on Hayley, and I don’t know if that’s going to stop her,” he said.

  “I guess she’s the one we’re looking for.” I wondered why he wasn’t more satisfied.

  “Maybe. Why don’t we check it out? Where’s the book?” He extended his hand toward me, and I realized he wasn’t worried that he wouldn’t get Hayley to cooperate; he was worried I wouldn’t hand over the book. And I wouldn’t, because I didn’t quite trust him, but I was willing to use it to check if Hayley was the Strong.

  “Where is she?” I brushed past him and went inside.

  “In the basement.”

  We had a basement that was specifically made for keeping people in or out. It was supposed to element-proof, but we didn’t have time to try out if it would stop someone like us, too. It didn’t have any windows or openings, and we sometimes used it as a storage room. It could be unlocked only with specific elements, and if the lock were destroyed, only someone very strong would be able to open the door.

  Raven was standing at the door and opened it for me, her face grim. Hayley was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, her knees drawn to her chest, her hands tied behind her back. She looked up at Blake and me, and I saw pure rage in her teary eyes.

  “What do you want from me?” she yelled.

  “Your family is safe,” I said, and Blake shot me a glare. “For now.”

  “If you hurt my family, I swear I’ll...” she started to say.