One strong urge still pulses through me though, and I focus on it with all that I have. Vengeance. I can still feel the pain coursing through my body and mind, and I can barely form any thoughts, but the need within me to stop Joseph is strong. The more I focus on that, the stronger I feel and the more I seem to be able to push past the pain that runs through me and think clearly.
The others are on the floor beside me, clutching at their heads too. The three recruiters in the room surround us and I struggle to determine which one is targeting our minds. If we can take him down we’ll have a chance. We have no hope of surviving while he holds us all within his painful grasp.
I attempt to push the pain from my mind. It seems easier to do now and I wonder if the man inflicting it upon us is struggling to hold all of us at once.
‘Now, now, now, what have we here?’ I hear Joseph say. I force myself to look up, despite the agony that pounds in my head. There’s such amusement in his voice and in his eyes. It makes me hate him a little more—if that’s possible.
‘Did you really think I’d believe your little display out there son?’ he taunts Hunter. ‘I thought I taught you better than that.’
As he speaks, one of the recruiters who stands next to the desk steps forward, leaving just two men flanking Joseph. In his hands I can see the glinting black glass of several inhibitor bands. The recruiter bends down to where Hunter writhes in pain on the floor and locks one of them around his wrist.
‘I do appreciate you bringing my favourite test subject back though,’ Joseph continues. ‘Especially after all the trouble she’s caused me in the ARC.’ He starts tutting and shaking his head, turning to look at me. I glance at the recruiter who has just placed an inhibitor band on Soren’s wrist and is moving towards Thatch. Through the intense pain in my mind, I can still hear Joseph’s taunts.
‘You’ve been such a bad girl, Elle. I’m sure I can come up with an adequate punishment. And you, Michael, skipping out on your execution the way you did. I can guarantee you that won’t happen a second time.’
His words feed the already burning inferno of hate I feel for him. My body pulses with anger, and my white, hot fury feels like molten liquid running through my veins.
‘Now that I have you back where you belong Elle, it won’t be long until I am able to create more like you. I will go through every single person down in the ARCs if I have to, in order to find more test subjects. Of course, I’ll start with the ARC you so bravely liberated. It won’t be too long before I can give myself those talents and nobody will be able to stop me.’
My talent is riling within my chest and I can feel it buzzing more powerfully with each word he says. The recruiter’s control over my mind is weakening, but he still has me locked within his control. I need to get free of him now, before it’s too late.
The man with the inhibitor bands begins to approaches me, and I look around to see that Sebastian and I are the only ones still free of one. If he puts a band on me, there’ll be no escape for any of us.
‘Take her back to the lab. Kill the others,’ Joseph’s order hits me like a bolt of lightning. I won’t let things end this way.
I dip into my talent and force it to flow to every cell in my body. As it flows through me it propels the pain completely from my mind. My brain and my body flick into action, like my mind had been restricted by taut elastic bands, which have just snapped and pinged apart. One of the recruiters standing by Joseph staggers back a step, and a small smile tugs at the corner of my lips. He’s our guy.
In one swift movement I launch to my feet. I pull at the air around me and force it in the direction of the recruiter who bears down on me, inhibitor band at the ready. He flies back against the wall, hitting it so hard one of the TV screens shatters and falls to the ground next to him.
Before anyone can react, I launch myself at the man who had controlled our minds. My talent rushes to the surface of my skin and sparks of electricity flare to life all over my body. I crash into the recruiter, driving him to the floor. The sparks totally envelop us, and I can feel him writhing in pain beneath me. It’s over quickly and the life trickles from his eyes until he is still.
I roll off him and stagger to my feet, sparks still flying from my skin. I whip around and train my eyes on the last remaining recruiter. Out of nowhere, Sebastian appears behind him. He rips a lamp from Joseph’s desk and brings it down hard on the recruiter’s head. The man immediately slumps to the ground and lays completely still, his face buried in the carpet.
Joseph’s eyes are wide and his lips are hard as he watches the tables so quickly turn on him. M and the others slowly stagger to their feet, finally free from the pain of the recruiter’s mind control.
‘If you come with us quietly, if you give up control, no one else has to get hurt,’ he says to Joseph.
Joseph’s lips pull up in a sneer. ‘You truly think I will go quietly.’
‘No,’ M admits. ‘But, we have your recruiters out of the picture. You are alone here. And you are not talented. You’re not stupid Joe.’
The electric sparks singe to nothing on my skin, as I look back and forth between the two of them.
Joseph pulls a gun from the back of his pants and points it at M, the movement so fast I can barely track it, even with my enhanced sight. ‘I may not be talented yet, but I’m not without power.’
I draw on the air around me and send a burst of wind in the direction of the gun. A loud bang sounds, just before the weapon spins out of Joseph’s hand and flies across the room.
M screams out in pain, and I turn to see him clasping at his shoulder as he falls backward. Soren darts forward to try and catch him, but with his talent inhibited he moves too slowly and M hits the ground hard.
Joseph lets out a laugh as he launches himself over his desk and makes for the door. Hunter races to cut him off, a knife in hand and blind fury raging in his eyes. Hunter swings the knife at his father, but Joseph easily blocks his attack. He grips Hunter’s arm and twists the knife from Hunter’s grasp with his other hand.
Fire flickers at my fingertips, but the two of them are too close together for me to use my talent without hurting Hunter. I watch on helplessly as Joseph gains the upper hand. With the knife in one hand, Joseph throws his other fist at Hunter, hitting him square in the jaw and causing him to stagger back across the room. As he falls backwards, Hunter’s head smashes against the bookcase behind him and his arms drop limply at his sides as he hits the floor.
Joseph bolts towards the door but I rush to block his path. The cold metal edge of his knife glints in the light as he advances and my heart beats wildly. I cannot let him escape.
The flames dancing from my fingertips grow into a swirling ball of fire in one of my hands. I can hear it crackling, the flames spitting and hissing as it thirsts to be launched at this man who has caused me such grief. I hold the burning sphere out like a threat in front of me.
‘Stop,’ I shout. ‘It’s over Joseph.’
He comes to a standstill before me. I could end this all in a moment with the power I hold in my palm, but I pause, looking around the room. M squirms on the floor, clutching his shoulder as Soren and Thatch attempt to help him up. The three recruiters lie motionless around the room. Too many people have died already, some of them at my hands. I just want this all to end, but now that Joseph stands before me, I can’t bring myself to finish it with violence. I flick my gaze back to Joseph. I see no fear in his expression as he grins at me.
‘I created you Elle,’ he growls. ‘And if I can’t have you, no one will.’
He lunges at me, and thrusts the knife towards me. The action is so fast I don’t have time to react. I feel a subtle movement of air, and a touch of coldness over my skin. Sebastian appears before me and I watch in horror as Joseph buries the knife into his abdomen.
My heart stills and the flames die in my hands. ‘No,’ I whisper. ‘No!’ I scream. Sebastian staggers sideways. His arm dropping to his side as his other hand moves to clut
ch at his wound. He stumbles against the wall, sliding down it until he hits the floor.
‘No!’ I scream again. The whole world around me seems to still and becomes oddly silent. Every cell in my body quivers within me, urging me to run towards him. In this moment, all I can see is Sebastian and already his eyes are barely staying open and his face has turned so white.
‘Elle, Joseph is getting away!’ I look up to find Ryan has appeared. He’s standing in front of me, a pained look on his face, and he points at the doorway behind me. His body is flickering in and out of existence, solid one moment and gone the next, like a badly tuned television.
I look away from him, to Sebastian who lies motionless on the floor. I would give up anything and everything for him, and the urge to run to him pulses through me like a compulsion that’s impossible to fight. But, something in Ryan’s warning stops me and I am reminded of the promise I made him earlier. In this moment I know I can’t follow my heart like I so desperately want to. Instead, I stop. With one foot barely off the ground, I pause and slowly turn to face Joseph.
The movement feels wrong, like I’m wading through water or my feet are stuck in thick mud. I ignore the sensation though, gritting my teeth as I force myself to go against everything in my being that tells me to run to Sebastian’s side.
As my eyes lock onto Joseph running for the door, my anger builds within me like a violent storm of nature. I can feel it tearing through me, mixing with the raw energy that already flows in my veins. The feeling ripples down my arms and pulses through my hands. I can feel it seeping out of every pore in my body. The energy manifests as it gathers, surrounding me in a glowing orb filled with a deadly combination of electricity, ice, fire and wind.
The room begins to shake as wind whips at my hair and ice expands on the floor around my feet. The TV screens lining the walls spark and crack, and books fall from their shelves. I am the monster of my nightmares. The thing I always dreaded I would become. And, in this moment I relish in it. I hesitated before and it won’t happen again.
I throw a gust of air at the door, slamming it shut, boxing Joseph in. He whirls around to face me and this time his expression is one of stunned fear as he watches my powers manifest around me. He staggers back against the door. ‘You win,’ he croaks. ‘I give myself up.’
He puts his hands out before him in a gesture of surrender, but the monster in me only wants to see him suffer. The orb around me grows larger again as I smirk at him. He turned me into this monstrosity; it’s only fair that I should finish him with the very powers he forced on me.
‘Elle, you’re not an executioner,’ M says, choking through the pain of his injury. ‘You don’t want to do this.’
I let out a rough laugh. ‘Yes, I think I do.’
‘He’s given up. We’ll imprison him. It’s the right thing to do.’
My eyes flicker to look at M. He’s on his feet now and is slowly stepping dangerously close to me, while Soren and Thatch cower away against the wall. M’s eyes are so sincere, and the anger within me falters for a moment. I turn back to Joseph and it reignites again. No, I feel certain I want this man to feel every ounce of pain I felt in the months he held me captive. I want to see him bleed for what he’s done to Sebastian.
M takes a step closer. ‘He’s still breathing,’ he says. ‘Sebastian is still breathing.’ The words are like cold water dousing me and my hands drop to my side, the energy that engulfed me suddenly disappearing into thin air.
‘He is?’ I turn to look at Sebastian. Ryan stands next to him, still flickering in and out of existence. I hesitate. Can I safely save him now? Joseph hasn’t gotten away. He’s trapped. Is that enough to change the future Ryan is from?
‘I knew you didn’t have it in you,’ Joseph’s taunting voice sounds again from behind me. ‘I’m disappointed. I didn’t realise I had created something so weak.’
As I turn back to face him, he lunges at me again with the knife. Before I can react I hear the distinctive bang of a gunshot behind me. The sound echoes through the room, which then falls silent. I can hardly breathe as I turn in the direction of the sound, for fear of what I will see.
Hunter stands by the bookshelf, his arm outstretched and his father’s gun in his hand. There’s a thud on the ground at my feet and I look down to see Joseph has collapsed, unmoving on the floor, blood already pooling around his body. I go cold as I stand there watching. Everyone in the room is silent, the magnitude of what Hunter has done settling uncomfortably upon us.
Joseph is dead.
M is the first one to find his voice. ‘Elle, Sebastian is still alive,’ he says softly. ‘But, he’s dying. He doesn’t have much longer.’
Tears well in my eyes as I turn to look at Sebastian again. Saving him will kill me, but it’s a price I’m happy to pay if I can just see his disarming smile one last time.
M grabs hold of my arm. ‘If you do this, only one of you will live,’ he says.
‘This is the only way,’ I say, dismissing his words and shaking his arm from mine as I rush for Sebastian. I only hope I have enough time to heal him. I stumble onto the floor in my haste to get to him, and pull his head onto my lap, tears falling freely from my eyes. My heart aches at the thought of being apart from him.
I place my hands on either side of his face and look at him. His eyes are shut, but I can see he’s still breathing laboured breaths. I run a finger along his cheekbone. There’s a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead and his skin is so pale.
‘Please wake up,’ I whisper, slowly urging the talent pulsing underneath my skin to flow through my fingers and into Sebastian. I close my eyes and concentrate on the wound in his abdomen, willing it to knit itself back together. I can sense the injury within him and the threads of energy from my talent slowly weave their way through him, healing him as they go.
I suck in an agonising breath as I feel an echoing pain in my own stomach. It’s working. I try to ignore the growing sting, but it continues to get worse.
‘Elle, if you keep going, you’ll die,’ someone says, but the voice is only a distant echo. All I can focus on is Sebastian. I haven’t done enough to save him, and if I stop now he won’t survive.
I scream out as a wave of pain stabs through me and I lose all sense of focus for a minute as I grip my side, which is in agonising pain. Waves of nausea roll through me, and it’s a struggle to keep my eyes open. I refuse to let them droop though. I need to keep going if I can hope for Sebastian to live.
I look back to his face, and see his eyes slowly fluttering open. His bright blue eyes hold pain in them, but he smiles at me and it’s the most beautiful thing in the world.
‘Elle,’ he whispers.
My name on his lips is all I needed to hear. The pain is rolling unbearably through me now and I know I haven’t got long. I slowly lower my lips to kiss his. One last kiss. One last breath. One last moment that is over way too soon.
And then, I go happily into the darkness that awaits me.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Searing white light greets my blurry vision and I attempt to blink it away. I feel drowsy, but warm and my senses feel sluggish. ‘Is this heaven?’ I croak.
A head comes into view above me, and even though my sight is still blurry Sebastian’s face is unmistakable. He chuckles softly and I smile. I’m definitely in heaven. I want to reach up and touch his perfect features, but my hand feels too heavy to respond.
His hand brushes my face. ‘How are you feeling?’
I sigh. ‘Perfect.’
He laughs again, his voice low, before looking away. ‘What drugs did you give her?’ he jokes.
Another head appears over me. It’s Aiden. I frown. What’s he doing here?
‘They should be wearing off,’ Aiden says. He looks down at me. ‘Elle, you’re in the clinic, recovering. What’s the last thing you remember?’
The crease in my forehead deepens. ‘I’m not dead?’
Aiden smiles at me indulgently. ‘Not today.’
<
br /> ‘But I thought…’
I feel Sebastian take hold of my hand and give it a squeeze. ‘Hunter pulled you away from me before you could take on too much of my injury. Seriously Elle, you nearly killed yourself.’
The fog in my head lifts slightly and I look between the two men. ‘So, I’m not dead and you’re not dead,’ I say, nodding at Sebastian.
‘Maybe I did give her a little too much pain relief,’ Aiden says.
I shoot him a scowl, feeling more awake by the second.
Sebastian ignores Aiden’s comment and smiles at me. ‘You absorbed enough of my injury to save me, but not enough to kill you. We were both in a pretty bad way, but our wounds weren’t fatal thanks to you
I mull it over in my mind, trying to fit the pieces together. ‘So we both have stab wounds,’ I say, my mind slowly wrapping itself around the information.
Sebastian nods and pulls up his shirt to show a bandage around his torso. ‘And matching battle scars.’ He shoots me a mischievous grin. ‘I’d been considering getting your name tattooed across my arm, but this is way cooler.’ He winks at me.
I roll my eyes and fight the smile that pulls at my lips. A spike of fear suddenly tugs at me. ‘The others—are they all okay?’ I struggle to breathe as all the faces of my friends flicker through my mind. What will I do if something’s happened to April? How will I cope if Kelsey didn’t make it to safety? Hell, I even care if Luke made it out unscathed.
I try to push myself up in bed, but struggle to move my arms. Aiden and Sebastian jump forward to help.
‘Yes, they’re all fine,’ Aiden says. ‘I’m not sure Quinn will ever let you out of her sight again, but yes, they’re okay.’
Aiden places a pillow behind me to prop me up, and then stands back to look at me. ‘You’ve still got a lot of painkillers in your system. You’re going to be a little slow for the next few days.’
‘I can do slow. How long have I been asleep?’
‘Two days,’ Sebastian says. ‘I only woke up this morning myself.’
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