“It’s my life,” Nick said and we both looked at him. “I don’t want to be Elemontera’s slave forever. Moira, I think you should do it. I trust you.”
Chapter 19
Jaiden flinched, his eyes widening.
“Okay, then I guess we can try. I promise I’ll stop if I feel I can’t do it. If you sense something is wrong, please tell me to stop.” I looked at Nick, whose face was serene and composed.
“I will.” Nick ran a hand through his hair. “Any ideas on how to take off the bracelet?”
“No clue,” I said, and looked at Jaiden. “Did you participate in the creation of these bracelets, too?”
“I did, but I don’t know how they were made. They just used them on me to perfect the design.” He grimaced.
“You son of a bitch!” Bailey suddenly came up to Jaiden, his face a mask of fury.
I stepped in front of Jaiden, placing a hand on Bailey’s chest, which was rapidly rising and falling. “Whoa, wait. What’s going on?”
“Noah just told me how he and you had been captured,” Bailey said, glaring at Jaiden. “He was Elemontera all along! Why is he even here? How can you trust him after what he’s done?”
“It’s complicated,” I said.
“No, it’s not. He sold you out. The rest of us just weren’t special enough for Elemontera, so he took only the two of you.”
“Bailey, listen to me, it wasn’t like that. I was trying to save you,” Jaiden said, his voice filled with emotion. “Elemontera showed up on the island out of nowhere, and they would have searched every last bit of it if I hadn’t given them something good. I even got rid of anything that could have compromised the location of the hideout.”
“But you were their undercover agent the whole fucking time! How can we know you weren’t giving Elemontera information about elementals like us?” Bailey shook his head. “No, I don’t believe you weren’t in contact with them. Tell me, if you could leave with us right now, would you do it?”
Jaiden was rooted to the spot, his whole body rigid.
“See? He’s a traitor,” Bailey yelled, trying to push past me. Marissa and Sam ran to help me, pulling Bailey back.
“But Jaiden has always looked out for us,” Sam said. “He saved our lives. Whatever he had to do, I’m sure he had a good reason.”
“A good reason?” Bailey snorted. “Yeah, sure. If he really wants to help us, then why doesn’t he tell us how to free Moira and Noah? Or even better, why doesn’t he tell us how to bring Elemontera down?”
“As if he’d want that,” Ashley said, putting her hands on her hips. “Tell me, Jaiden, was everything you told us a lie? Because you did lie. You said you’d escaped from Elemontera, and it turned out you were undercover.” She looked around the room. “Seriously, are you going to believe that he had good intentions? If he did, he would have told us everything from the beginning.”
“Well, considering your reaction right now, I’m not surprised he didn’t tell us immediately that he worked for Elemontera. We were scared and didn’t trust anyone. We’d have run away from him and gotten ourselves in trouble,” Sam said.
“We should have run away,” Bailey muttered.
“He could have told us later, then,” Ashley said. “We’ve been together for months. He could have told us at any time, really. It could have saved our lives! Just imagine if someone else had been out there when Elemontera showed up. We’d have been killed. But Jaiden didn’t send out the code that was supposed to alert us of Elemontera’s presence.”
“Maybe he didn’t have time,” Marissa said.
“Hey, I’m right here,” Jaiden said, raising his voice, a tick in his jaw. “If you have a problem with anything I did or said, you’re free to go. Actually, you should all go back to the island or far away from the city. Then you’d get away from me, too, and wouldn’t have to worry about whether I’d betray you or not.”
“Guys, can you all please calm down?” I said, waving my hands. “We don’t have time for this, and I’m getting tired of this conversation because I heard it all already. What’s done is done and we can’t change it, okay? What we need to figure out is if there’s a way to free Nick...”
“Nick,” Ashley said, interrupting me. “You were at Elemontera for a longer time. What do you think about Jaiden?”
“I don’t want to get involved in your drama,” Nick said, holding up his hands.
“Okay, but you’re the only one who can tell us if Jaiden ever showed that he wasn’t completely loyal to Elemontera,” she said.
“Oh, come on! If he was there, of course he couldn’t openly defy them. Are you crazy?” Sam turned to Ashley.
“Everyone please shut up.” The beginning of a headache was starting to form behind my eyes. “Or I’ll make you.”
That got everyone’s attention and they just glared at me. Still, the silence was beautiful. “You came here to help us, so do any of you know someone who could find a way to disable the bracelet? The device we’re using right now might not last long. I’m thinking about something permanent,” I said.
“There might be someone,” Sam said. “I know a guy who’s very good with tech stuff. Haven’t seen him for a while, but I could try to contact him again.”
I glanced at Jaiden over my shoulder. “How long do you think the device can last?”
He cocked his head. “I don’t know. There might be another way to reestablish the connection with the bracelet or track down an agent, but I guess the device could last for a couple of days. A week at most.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if he was hiding something to protect his father. Maybe it was wrong to trust him, but I believed he wouldn’t mind too much either if that bracelet was taken off his wrist.
“Okay.” I chewed on my lip. “So what if we let Nick go with the others so they can take him to that person who might know something about getting off the bracelet? We could always tell Elemontera Nick’s been kidnapped. Do you think Elemontera would care about his life?” The only problem in my plan would be if Elemontera decided to kill off Nick so he didn’t reveal anything about the organization to the enemy. I didn’t know if the device would block the bracelet’s kill chip or whatever it was.
“They wouldn’t just kill him off. They need agents who can fly and be invisible. And Nick has been mind-controlled not to reveal any information anyway,” Jaiden said.
“Wait,” Noah said. “That would put whoever is going with Nick in danger, because Elemontera might be able to track them down.”
“I know,” I said. “But we have to try something. Maybe you should go, too. There’s nothing to keep you in Elemontera except the bracelet. Jaiden hadn’t mind-controlled you, and you know they won’t kill me, so...”
“No, I’m not leaving you,” Noah said determinedly. “You have a better chance of escape if you’re with me.”
“Noah...” I said softly. “You know I can’t leave until my family is safe. It’s not just the bracelet that keeps me there.”
“I know, but I still don’t think you should be alone in there.” His lip curled as he looked at Jaiden. “Especially not with him. If Nick and I aren’t going back, then neither should you. If Jaiden opens his mouth too much, you’re dead.”
“He won’t say anything.” I took a deep breath. “Noah, listen, I need you to do me a favor.” I wanted to get him out of Elemontera. There was no point in him staying in Elemontera because of me, especially when he couldn’t fight mind control like I could. If Elemontera captured another elemental with my abilities, I wouldn’t be able to protect Noah.
“Sure, what do you need?”
“I want you to go with Nick and figure out these damn bracelets, okay? Then I want you to find my family, get rid of the trackers, both human and technological, and take them somewhere safe. Only then will I be able to leave.” I looked deep into his eyes.
He remained silent for a moment. “Okay, I can do that. But how will I get to you?”
“I’ll be sent
on another mission, and I’m sure you can figure out when. Then you find me and we can escape together.” I gave him an encouraging smile.
“Sounds like a good plan,” Noah said. “But what if we don’t manage to take off the bracelets?”
“Then you’ll have to return to Elemontera.” That would be the least fortunate of our options, but there was nothing we could do if we failed to take off the bracelets.
“That’s it?” Ashley’s eyebrows shot up. “Nick and Noah will try to find a way to get rid of the bracelets and the rest of us should run back to the island?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Do you have a better idea?”
“I do,” she said. “Why don’t we take Elemontera down? Maybe we can get in contact with those elementals again and get them to help us fight.”
“What? No,” Marissa said. “They almost killed us!”
“From what I heard, they almost killed Elemontera’s agents. Huge difference.”
“So now you think every Elemontera agent should be killed?” Sam gaped at her. “What’s wrong with you? Did Elemontera inject you with something other than the sedative? God! Are you going to attack Moira and Noah because they’re Elemontera, too?”
“No, I’m just saying that we shouldn’t be quick to judge those elementals who attacked Elemontera. They can still help us.”
“You can’t fight Elemontera,” Jaiden said.
“Why not? Are you going to stop us?” Ashley’s mouth twisted.
“You wouldn’t even get to Elemontera’s front door,” Jaiden said coldly. “Don’t try to turn it all into a game, because that’s not what it is.”
“Maybe we should just take their most prized elemental and offer him in exchange for something,” Ashley said. “Come on, Jaiden. You owe us. We’ll pretend we kidnapped you and we’ll ask them to free the others. Then we’ll hand you over to them. Your sacrifice for everyone else’s safety. How does that sound? If you love Elemontera so much you betrayed us rather than them, then you won’t have a problem with returning there, will you?”
“You’re out of your mind,” Jaiden said, the vein in his neck twitching.
“Am I?” Ashley cocked her head.
“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” I said. “I know you’re all upset after what happened, but you almost got captured. If Jaiden hadn’t let you all out and taken off your bracelets, we wouldn’t even be here.”
Ashley actually looked away, her mouth pressed into a tight line.
“We need to think things through, and yes, we probably have to take Elemontera down, but we can’t do it like this. And we can’t trust some elementals who proved to be untrustworthy so far.”
“Are you talking about Jaiden?” Bailey asked. “Because yeah, you’re right, we absolutely can’t trust him.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, counting to ten. “Please, you have to go back to the island. When we get free, we’ll find you and then we’ll figure out what to do about Elemontera.”
“Guys, she’s right. We should go home,” Marissa said. “We tried to save everyone and we got captured ourselves. I don’t think we’re ready to take on Elemontera on our own.”
Everyone was silent. Good, maybe we could finally leave this place.
Chapter 20
“Moira?” Nick said. “Can you try now whatever you were planning to do with my mind?”
“Sure.” If I wanted to make sure Nick’s mind wouldn’t get damaged, I had to clear my head and concentrate.
“Are you ready?” I asked a couple of moments later, looking at Nick, who gave me a quick nod. Focusing on my element, I called it up and guided it into Nick’s mind. It was easy to slip in, but I waited among the brain signals until I was calm enough to do what I had to. Taking control of one of the signals, I told it to find Jaiden’s orders. A few darkened signals came into view and I slowly filled them with my element until they were bright again.
But as I tried to pull out of his mind, my element grabbed one of the signals, tugging at me, willing me to do what it wanted. For a second, I wanted to give in, to feel the power surge inside of me even more, to do exactly what... No! I couldn’t let my element control me. I urged it back and it slammed into me with so much force that I staggered.
“Hey, you okay?” Nick’s eyes were full of worry, but he didn’t look any different.
“I am if you are.” I flashed him a weak smile. I couldn’t even explain what had happened to me, or almost happened. My element had wanted me to do something and I couldn’t even remember what it was. All I knew was that it was way too dangerous and horrifying.
“I feel fine,” Nick said. “My head hurts a bit, but I don’t think that has anything to do with what you just did.”
“Great! Then we only have to test if it worked.” A weight was lifted off my chest.
Jaiden observed us carefully from the corner, and then he pushed himself off the wall, approaching me.
“How did you do that?” he asked, frowning. “I thought you’d...”
“Mess up Nick’s mind? Yeah, I was afraid of that, too, but it turned out fine. I just healed the signals back, I think.” I shook my head, my smile fading. “I hope it worked.” If I’d done something else to Nick, that was so not going to be fun.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? It didn’t take that much energy to do it.”
“That’s not what I mean.” He gave me a knowing look. “Mind control has consequences, and not just for the person you’re mind-controlling.”
“I...” I hesitated. “I felt something. I don’t know. As if my element was trying to get in control, but I didn’t let it.”
“What did your element want to do?” He leaned forward, his face only inches from mine.
“Umm, I’m not exactly sure. I don’t even think I know.” I shrugged. “Ah, well. Doesn’t really matter, does it? It all went fine.”
“Let’s hope it did,” Jaiden said. “But we should really go now.”
“Yeah.” I clapped my hands and looked around the room. “Everyone ready to go?”
“We are,” Marissa said, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “I just can’t believe you won’t be coming with us. I know you’re protecting your family, but I was hoping...” She threw herself into my arms. “I’m sorry if we were more trouble than help. I hope soon we’ll find something to really help you.”
“How are we going to leave this room?” Sam asked, his eyes darting from the walls to the window. “I can’t climb up there.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll carry you out, but then you’ll be on your own,” Jaiden said. “Moira and I will stay behind.”
“But that means the device will stop hiding you,” Noah said. “Shouldn’t we go together up to some point and then split?”
“Only you and Nick will go with us until we’re far away from here so Elemontera can’t find this place. Then Jaiden and I will stay, and you two should go find that guy to get rid of the bracelets. Elemontera will immediately come for us when the signal returns, so make sure you’re careful.” A lump formed in my throat as I thought about how close and how far at the same time freedom was for me.
Noah nodded and put his arms around Ashley and Marissa, turning them into air. Jaiden did the same with Sam and Bailey, who sneered at him. Nick and I followed them outside. When we were sure no one was around to see us, we turned visible again. But just as Sam, Bailey, Ashley, and Marissa were about to say their goodbyes, something whizzed not far from my head, and Jaiden fell against the wall, clutching his side. Blood started to gush through his fingers, and we all looked around us in panic but couldn’t see anyone. We couldn’t catch or deflect a bullet with our elements if we couldn’t tell from where it was coming.
“Get down!” Noah yelled as a bullet hit the wall next to Jaiden and bounced to the ground. Everyone ran for cover, and I grabbed Jaiden by the arm and pulled him with me behind one of the cars parked by the curb. I immediately took a knife out of my jacket and ripped a piece of
my shirt, which I handed to Jaiden. “Can you press this against the wound?”
He nodded, his face pale, but he pressed the cloth against the wound. I peeked through the car window at the building from which the bullets had probably come, and I couldn’t see anyone. Reaching out with my element, I tried to find the sniper, but I couldn’t feel anything. Was this Elemontera or was it an attack against Elemontera? God, if we had to deal with so many attackers, then Elemontera must have told everyone their best agents were going on a mission. It seemed as if every single person or group who held a grudge against the organization chose this very day to attack. Lovely.
I looked to our left and saw a shimmering cloud. One of us was trying to fly away, but as soon as the cloud was up in the air, something like an invisible net caught it. I could only see the shimmering, and then Nick fell out of the sky, visible again. Something rolled next to my foot and I picked it up. It was a tiny dart with some kind of a liquid in it.
“Marissa! No!” I heard Ashley yell and saw Marissa getting to her feet, her hand clutching her neck. An instant later, she tumbled to the ground, her eyes closed. My heart rammed in my chest. That liquid better be a sedative.
But no matter how much I strained my eyes, I couldn’t spot our attackers. Couldn’t even feel them. Couldn’t do anything to stop them. Jaiden slumped against the car, his forehead covered in sweat. I reached out for him and touched his face. He was still bleeding and the piece of my shirt was completely drenched already.
“Jaiden? Hey, it’s going to be okay,” I said softly. But I didn’t know if it would be okay. I didn’t know anything. My heart was in my throat, my hands shaky. Multiple feet stomped against the concrete and someone screamed, probably Ashley.
“Don’t be afraid. We’re the good guys. We won’t hurt you. I promise,” a female voice said. I looked at Jaiden and I had a hard time believing that.
But as our attackers approached, I tried to force my element into the mind of the person closest to me, but suddenly my bracelet started to burn, and I hissed in pain, my element locked inside of me. I pushed at my elements with all my strength, but they wouldn’t come out. They were blocked. Black spots danced in my vision, my chest heaving. Had Elemontera found us and locked our elements? But why were they trying to talk to us? Elemontera would never even bother.
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