Captive (Tainted Elements, Book 4)

by Linwood, Alycia

  “We won’t hurt anyone if you work with us,” Blake said, his lips spreading into a smile.

  “We just need to check something, okay?” I crouched in front of her and took out the book. She flinched away from me, but I wrapped my fingers around her shoulder. “Touch this.” I placed the book behind her back so it brushed the bare skin of her arm. The power shot up from the book and coursed through her and then through me, making us both gasp.

  “What is that?” she breathed, her wide eyes searching mine. I pulled the book away and tucked it safely in its sheath.

  “You’re special, Hayley. Just like the two of us,” Blake said, a wide grin breaking out on his face. “Together we’ll change this world.”

  I got to my feet and placed my hand on Blake’s shoulder. “I need to talk to you for a second.”

  He eyed me impatiently, but he finally followed me outside. “What?” he snapped. “She’s the Strong. She has four elements.”

  “We don’t know that. She could be another Murderer or a Hero.”

  “That’s nonsense,” Blake said. “There’s only one Murderer and a Hero.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I raised an eyebrow at him. I knew there was another Murderer in the city, and I knew Blake was aware of that, too. What I didn’t know was why he would be lying about it.

  He was silent for a moment, a guarded expression on his face. “I’m not, but I know she’s too young to be a Hero, and she didn’t save anyone. And I know she didn’t kill anyone. Look at her elements. She’s the Strong. It’s obvious.”

  I sighed. “I guess we should test our theory.”

  “Yeah. We have to find the Sacred Place immediately,” Blake said. “We don’t have any more time to waste. It’s only a matter of time before Lily finds out we’d taken a tainted elemental with us.”

  “She doesn’t believe in prophecies. I don’t think she’ll piece it together.” Lily didn’t seem like someone who would believe in such a thing, and honestly, I hadn’t believed in it either until I’d seen the book and what it could do.

  “We don’t have any reason to wait.”

  “Do you think she’ll cooperate? We aren’t really her favorite people right now.”

  “Then we’ll convince her we are.” Blake’s eyes flashed dangerously. I watched him for a moment, and I was sure he’d only frighten the girl even more.

  “Blake, let me talk to her first. If my way doesn’t work, we’ll do it your way.” I didn’t want to know what methods of intimidation and persuasion Blake would use, because he was relentless until he got what he wanted. And I hoped we could solve this peacefully, because I didn’t want Hayley to turn on us before the ritual was completed, but I was also ready to do whatever was necessary to fulfill the prophecy.

  “Fine. You have five minutes.” Blake leaned on the wall, smirking. I went back inside, strolling toward the girl.

  “What kind of a book was that?” she asked. “Who are you?”

  “We’re tainted elementals, just like you are. The book you touched is called the Sacred Book. Only very special people can feel the power coming from it,” I said, keeping my distance so I wouldn’t’ scare her further.

  “Why are we special?” She frowned, and I noticed her tears had already dried.

  “There’s a story about three tainted elementals: the Strong, the Hero, and the Murderer. All three of them are destined to do great things and help people. They’re supposed to unite and take incredible amounts of power into them to save the world from chaos.”

  “And you think I’m one of those...?”

  “Yes, I’m sure you are. And I can prove it to you.”

  “How?” Her eyes met mine.

  “There’s an empty page at the end of the book, which is supposed to reveal the location of the Sacred Place so we can do the ritual. And the location will show itself to us only when the three of us touch the page at the same time.”

  She just eyed me suspiciously.

  “Your family isn’t safe. There are people who’ll be coming for your brother and sister.” If she didn’t really want power or didn’t see a reason for having it, maybe she’d understand this. “They’ll figure out you’re a tainted elemental, and they’ll take everyone you love and...”

  “You shouldn’t have come for me! It’s your fault people will find out about me!” The bracelets on her arm seemed to crackle, and I couldn’t believe she could still use her element despite all the protection in the room.

  “No, it’s not. We just didn’t know how to reach you, but that doesn’t mean the bad people weren’t after you already. We came to stop them, but we knew you wouldn’t trust us. I’m sorry we hurt you...”

  “You destroyed my home!”

  “And you’re going to rebuild it once we complete the ritual and everyone is safe. No one will be able to hurt you after that.” There was a fair chance she’d try to get revenge against Blake and me, but we’d deal with that later. “I promise you. When the ritual is over, you’ll go find your family and you’ll be able to protect them. We’re not your enemies.” I crouched next to her and untied her wrists, bracing myself for an attack, but she just rubbed her swollen skin and glared at me.

  “Okay,” she said, and I tilted my head at her. I hadn’t expected her to agree with me so easily, which meant she probably had a plan. I’d have to be careful around her, just like with Blake. God, was it impossible to find someone trustworthy these days? Apparently, yes, considering I still had memory gaps and might have been mind-controlled by someone whose motives I didn’t know. Too bad I couldn’t just ask Blake about it, but I couldn’t tell if he’d been the one to mess with my mind or if he was a victim, too, and I didn’t want to lose even more memories.

  “Good. Let’s do this.” I got to my feet and went to open the door, waving at Blake to come inside. He gave me a quizzical look.

  “Hayley agreed to help us,” I said.

  Blake’s lips pulled into a smile. “Then I guess she’s aware we have other people in our group who’ll hunt down her family if something happens to us.” He looked at Hayley, who glared at him. I shook my head at Blake, and we settled on the floor in front of the girl. After I placed the book on the floor in between us, I rested my hand on the blank page, and Blake and Hayley joined in.

  A current of power rushed up my arm, immobilizing me. My vision went blurry, and I felt power trickle into me and spread through Blake and Hayley as well. When I could see again, Blake was gasping for breath and Hayley was pale, her hand clamped over her mouth. I looked down at the book and saw letters forming on it. A couple of moments later, a map appeared in the middle of the page, and we all pulled back.

  Blake burst into laughter, and I used the opportunity to snatch the book back before he could take it. Maybe the book didn’t seem important anymore, but I still wanted it at my side in case it was needed for a part of the ritual.

  “What does that mean?” Hayley asked.

  “It’s a map that will lead us to the Sacred Place I told you about.” I smiled. “And this proves the three of us have been chosen for the ritual.” The power was still trickling through me, and it was beautiful. I almost wanted to turn into air and dance around the room. The door opened behind us and Raven poked her head in.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, we did it! We know where we need to go!” Blake got to his feet and ran toward her, lifting her up in the air and twirling her around. A frown creased my brow. She gave him a wide-eyed look and slapped him on the shoulder. When he put her down, he looked back at me, a sheepish smile on his face.

  “That’s... great. Should I gather everyone?” Raven asked, avoiding my gaze. I could swear she was blushing slightly.

  “Yeah, tell everyone to wait for us outside, but you won’t come with us to the Sacred Place immediately. We don’t want to attract unwanted attention,” Blake said. “Once all is done, we’ll share the power with you and have our own little ritual.”

  Raven gave
him a brief nod and left. Blake came over to me, placing his arms around me, and lowered his head until his lips nearly brushed mine. I moved my head away.

  Annoyance flashed across his features. “Come on, baby. We’ve come so far and victory is almost ours. Don’t tell me you’re still mad at me for losing control. I told you I was sorry. It won’t happen again.” He tried to kiss me again, and I shoved him away from me.

  “We’ll talk about that after the ritual,” I said. “Until then, you can share your joy with Raven.”

  “Moira! Damn it! I was just really happy, and all that rush of power... Babe, you can’t be mad at me for that! Raven is my best friend... There’s nothing...”

  I raised my hand in the air to shush him. The truth was, I didn’t want to be anywhere near him, and Raven was just an excuse. I knew I loved him, but for some reason, I couldn’t figure out why. What was it about him that I loved so much? Hell, I didn’t even know if he had been the one who mind-controlled me, no matter how unlikely that seemed, or if he’d gotten someone else to do it for him, which again, didn’t make much sense. But first, I needed more power if I wanted to get to the bottom of this. “Look, Blake, the only thing I can think about now is the ritual. You know how important that is to me.”

  “Yeah, of course.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “What now?” Hayley asked, pushing herself up to her feet. I noticed the bracelets had fallen off her arm, probably when we touched the book. Maybe it was a good thing we were in an element-proof room, because God knows how much power could have spilled through us if we had been somewhere outside.

  “We’re going on a little trip. Do you know how to turn into air completely?” I asked.

  She looked at her feet, her cheeks reddening. “No, not really.”

  “Doesn’t matter. We can take you,” Blake said.

  Hayley had so much power, and she wasn’t even aware of it. No one had trained her, so her elements were mostly uncontrolled. I was sure she knew basic control from school, but even if she had some special abilities, such as mind control, then she didn’t know about it yet. While Hayley’s eyes sparkled with excitement, probably because of the rush of power she’d just experienced, Blake narrowed his eyes at her.

  He must have been thinking the same thing about her as I did. She was the Strong, and if she took any more power into herself, what would she become? Blake and I had similar strengths and weaknesses, but she... We knew nothing about the full extent of her abilities. When Blake and I looked at each other, some sort of an understanding crossed between us. We would have to stop Hayley.

  Chapter 13

  The map led us thirty miles away from the city, toward the mountains. As we flew through the air, leaving the city behind us, I wondered what would happen once we completed the ritual. The people in the city knew nothing about the prophecy or what we were about to do. Would they try to stop us if they knew? Would they accept their fate, whatever it was? I couldn’t imagine losing my elements, and I didn’t want to think how people would feel when they lost theirs. Maybe it would be as if their elements had never existed. Maybe our world would change completely.

  “I can feel it calling to us,” Blake said.

  “What?” I had no idea what he was talking about. The sky was the deepest blue I’d ever seen, and the only sound I could hear was the chirping of birds as we flew above the trees.

  “The Sacred Place. I can feel it in every part of me.” Blake plunged toward the ground, and I followed him. We landed in a small meadow full of colorful flowers. I looked around and only saw endless trees.

  Hayley frowned, but the expression on Blake’s face was one of complete bliss. Could he feel something that I couldn’t?

  “Do you see anything?” I asked, trying to spot any marks or symbols that would indicate this place was indeed special.

  “No, but that means we’re not looking close enough. Reach out with your element.” A shimmering thread rose from Blake and started to spread over the meadow.

  Calling to my air, I let it seep out and just roam around. Something brushed against my element; a spark of energy. I started toward one of the trees. Blake was going in the opposite direction, and Hayley was just standing in the middle of the meadow and squinting her eyes at the trees. I realized my energy was going right for one of the trees, so I pressed my hand against its trunk, feeding it with my element. Something popped, and I went around the tree. There was a hole in the trunk, and a scroll with a black ribbon was protruding from it. I picked it up, sliding off the ribbon.

  Welcome, Hero, Strong, and Murderer. Welcome to the Sacred Place. Your journey ends and starts here anew. This meadow is where you must complete the ritual. No one can interfere. To prove your strength to God of Magic, the Murderer must take the life of the Strong, the most powerful elemental on this plane of existence, and the Hero must bring the Strong back to life. Only if they all succeed will they acquire the power of all elements.

  The note slipped out of my fingers, and I looked across the meadow, meeting Blake’s gaze. His face was pale, and I knew he’d read the note, too. How were we supposed to do this? Blake didn’t know how to bring someone back to life. It didn’t make sense... or maybe it did. He focused on Hayley, who was crouching in the grass and digging through the dirt. Blake was very powerful with mind control, so maybe if I used my element to end Hayley’s life, he could somehow bring her back. Maybe there was a way to reverse the damage.

  “I found something. It looks like a door!” Hayley yelled, and I strolled toward her. A box of steel with lines etched on it that resembled a door was protruding from the ground, but there didn’t seem to be any way to open it. Hayley dug around it, her fingers caked in dirt, but the box seemed to be bigger than we’d thought.

  “It’ll open once we complete the ritual,” Blake said, his eyes never leaving mine as he strode toward Hayley. “We have to do this.”

  I gave him a brief nod. I’d been waiting my whole life for this. It was my destiny. I had to do what needed to be done, no matter how uncomfortable it made me. That was the whole point of the test; to prove that we were the ones who were chosen for this. We could do it. Just as I steeled myself, something whizzed next to my head and sent Blake flying to the ground. I couldn’t see anything, and I reached out with my element. Finally, a shimmering cloud appeared in front of me, turning into a guy.

  “What are you doing here?” I hissed, letting my fire coat my fingers.

  “I could ask you the same,” Jaiden said, his dark eyes boring into mine.

  “You can’t stop us from completing the ritual.”

  “I can try,” he said through his teeth, and before I could move, he sent a fireball in Blake’s direction. I pulled Hayley to her feet and pushed her toward the trees, so she’d be safe until Blake and I got rid of Jaiden. I didn’t know if Jaiden had come here to steal my spot or just wanted to stop us, but I couldn’t let any of that happen. As I sent a blast of air at him, I heard a noise that reminded me a lot of a helicopter. Shit!

  Blake looked up at the sky, and Jaiden used the opportunity to punch Blake in the jaw. I noticed shimmering clouds coming our way. Jaiden must have told them where we were or they’d follow him here. Either way, we had to start the ritual before they arrived. Blake had managed to throw Jaiden off him, and I strode toward Hayley, who looked at me with her big eyes full of fear. My element shot out of me and went for her head. I could do this. I could.

  “Moira, don’t! Please!” a voice behind my back said, and I turned to face a dark-haired boy with blue eyes. He was the one I’d taken hostage during that fight with Lily’s agents. “Please listen to me. You can’t...”

  I blasted him across the meadow with my air.

  “Do it!” Blake yelled.

  Hayley cried out as I slipped inside her head, and she tried to push me out, but she had never done or experienced this before. She couldn’t know what exactly to do; she could only push and shove against me, or try to cut me off, but that
didn’t work. Maybe if I hadn’t touched the energy that was in that tree, I wouldn’t have all this power.

  “Moira! Now!” The desperation in Blake’s voice was palpable, and I could hear the helicopter coming closer. Lily’s team or whoever would be on us at any moment. And yet, as I cradled Hayley’s brain signals in my shimmering air, I hesitated. A waterball flew toward me, but I caught it in the net of my air.

  “Moira, listen to me! You won’t achieve anything if you do this. It’s just some silly story! You can’t get the power of all elements, and even if you could, do you really want to destroy the world? I know you, Moira,” the blue-eyed guy pleaded. “I know you’re not this person. You would never let anyone get hurt. Your parents are waiting for you.”

  I turned toward him, curling my fingers into fists. How dare he tell me that what I’d believed in my whole life was just a silly story? I created a wall of fire, guiding it closer toward the guy, the grass around it catching fire.

  “Moira!” Jaiden yelled, and I turned my head toward him.

  “What? Are you going to tell me how this is all a mistake?” I growled, preparing myself to attack him.

  “No, I won’t.” His eyes softened. “I know what it’s like to want something so badly that you can’t focus on anything else. I know what it’s like to feel alone in this world and not be able to trust anyone. If you think having all the power of the world will change that, you’re wrong. It will only make things worse.” His gaze flitted to Blake, and I used the opportunity to push him away with my air.

  I grabbed Hayley in my arms as she struggled against me, and I shoved my air inside her head again. Jaiden rushed us, and I lost my grip on Hayley, but my element was still in place.

  “Damn it, Moira! Hurry!” Blake yelled, fighting with two more elementals. Shouting could be heard not far from us. Someone was coming. Jaiden stepped in between Hayley and me, and my connection to her was severed. I charged him, bringing us both to the ground. As I raised my fist to punch him, I realized his body was limp under mine, his eyes boring into mine. He wasn’t fighting me; he was just looking at me.