Divided

by Alycia Linwood

  We stared at the TV in utter silence. According to the newsbar, nine people had died in the attack. The factory belonged to one of my father's associates who had promised to financially help the Element Preservers.

  "He said we had a fucking week!" Adrian said in frustration, gritting his teeth.

  "Alan didn't do that," I said. "He wouldn't risk exposing me to everyone before he got the position of the vice president. It's someone who knows I have the disease and that I'm the president. It's my father."

  "Are you sure?" Paula asked.

  "Yeah. He said he was planning an attack to make the carriers look like the bad guys, but now he modified it to get back at me." I wasn't sure who those carriers were or how they would benefit from blowing up a factory, but my father had clearly found something to satisfy them. "He wants the world to know I'm the president."

  "I can't believe they call us all terrorists now!" Adrian was beyond angry, and I had to use my element to warm the air because he was turning the room into a fridge. I could understand his fury because now everyone would have a new reason to hate all magic disease carriers. People would get worried magic disease carriers were forming groups, and if they found out about Lily's group, they'd assume we were all planning to kill them.

  "I guess I'll have to tell everyone about my new job." I could only imagine how many pissed off people there would be. Hell, even I was aware that I wasn't the right person for the position.

  "But that is big news," Paula said. "If the attack hadn't happened, most of the people wouldn't care, but now everyone will want to know why the carriers went through all the trouble just to expose you. Other carriers could come too and realize you're one of them. And if even one person in the crowd exclaims you're a carrier... Of course, they'd expose themselves too, but they could spread the rumor later."

  "We could announce the scientists came up with element-blocking bracelets," Adrian said hopefully. "You could wear one and show it to the people. Any carriers in the crowd would be fooled and we could sell those bracelets to everyone. People wouldn't have to be afraid of magic disease carriers ever again."

  "We can't do that," I said.

  "Why not?" Adrian's eyes were like silver daggers. "It's our best shot, Ria. If every single person wore the bracelet, magic disease carriers wouldn't crave elements and everyone could live together in peace."

  "Yeah, except no one would be able to use their element then," I said, not willing to back down on this. "Many people aren't using their elements anymore, and if they found out about this, even less people would use them and soon elements could disappear. Without elements our world wouldn't be the same."

  "Maybe our world would be better," Adrian said, clearly ready to give up on elements if that meant magic disease carriers would be treated like normal human beings. I didn't want our only awesome tradition to disappear, especially now that I knew we needed elements or we risked staying without energy. We could live without elements as long as we had the technology, but if we lost the energy to fuel the technology, where would we be then? No, I couldn't let Adrian tell the world about the bracelets.

  "Those bracelets are still in testing and they're expensive to make," Paula said. "We'd never have enough for the whole world in a short time."

  "Fuck." Adrian ran his hand through his hair, pacing up and down the room. "So what are we going to do?"

  "I'm going to tell everyone I'm the president," I said. "But not on a press conference. We'll make a video, condone the attack and offer the carriers to negotiate with us."

  "Negotiate with terrorists who are also magic disease carriers?" Michael snorted. "Good luck with that. Your associates will want your head for that. You don't negotiate with killers."

  "Then it's good that I don't care what those morons think." My father probably believed I didn't care about element collectors and that my main goal was to fight for the rights of carriers, so he tried everything he could to destabilize me and expose me. His project was clearly more important to him than anything, and he didn't want me to mess it up. And while my father wanted money, he also wanted his project to succeed.

  "Wow, you guys have some serious issues." Ryan whistled. "Why don't you simply tell the world you can keep elements? That would start the apocalypse."

  "We could do that," Paula said, looking from me to Adrian. "People would be less afraid if they knew there are carriers who can control themselves."

  "True, but we'd have to mention that only happens if the carrier kept his original element. Otherwise the rest of magic disease carriers would go on a killing spree just to see if they could keep an element for a longer time too," Michael said thoughtfully.

  "Damn." Paula furrowed her brow. "Then those who still have their element could kill a few people to complete all four in hopes they'll stop craving elements. Did Oliver ever tell the craving stops or not?"

  "Oliver doesn't want to reveal anything. He said it was much more peaceful in his head, but I'm not even sure what that means." The biggest problem was that my brother wouldn't cooperate until he got what he wanted, and I couldn't give him that.

  "We'll have to make him tell us," Paula mused. "I need to research this or find someone who has done it."

  Adrian glared at Paula and Michael. "You two are talking like every magic disease carrier can't wait to kill someone! Most of us would never kill someone simply to see whether we could keep an element."

  "But some would, and that's enough for me," Paula said, meeting Adrian's eyes with all the confidence in the world.

  "Umm, guys?" Ryan said, an innocent smile on his face. "I was joking about that. If you told people that you could keep elements, the rest of us who couldn't do that would get killed. I'm sure the government just waits for an excuse to kill us off. Hell, maybe they'd put two and two together, and get five, so they'd see all of us as a danger and kill us."

  I sat back and closed my eyes. If I wanted to make sure we didn't run out of energy and water, I had to place element collectors everywhere, but I needed the support of my father's associates and business partners to do that. The second thing I needed to do was persuade people not to abandon their elements altogether and incite them to maintain pure and strong elements in their families.

  On the other hand, we had to find a way to integrate magic disease carriers into the society. Those problems seemed to go together because magic disease could disappear if people planned carefully which element their child had, but it would take years for that to happen and it wouldn't solve the problems carriers faced these days. Maybe we should really reveal the truth - or some of it - about magic disease carriers to the world before someone declared me unfit for the president or figured it out that I was involved with the carriers.

  Once people found out my secret, no one would believe me or they would censor everything I tried to do. It was better to act while no one suspected anything. Some people in the government would be pissed off, but the Element Preservers was the highest authority dealing with elements and the disease. If everyone believed the Element Preservers changed their viewpoints, maybe they'd do it too. We'd tried to be cautious and think carefully how to proceed, but with Alan and others after us, we didn't have much time left. Hell, maybe people's reactions wouldn't be as bad as we predicted.

  "And what if your father isn't behind the attack? You said he made a deal with the carriers, so maybe they want to get your attention to negotiate with you. Your father could have told them their deal was off because he wasn't the president anymore, so they have to find out who is the new president, and they can do that only if you show up in public or make an announcement," Paula said. "They might want to make the same deal with you."

  I considered her idea for a moment. "That's a possibility, yeah."

  "Will you transfer the presidency to your brother?" Michael asked. "Everyone will pressure you to resign now."

  "No, I can't do that." Oliver would start a war or destroy every chance we had of collecting elemental energy. However, if I handed
over the presidency to my mother, magic disease carriers would be pissed off since they'd lose a chance to fight for their rights. If I remained on the position of the president, I'd be divided between the two forces; people with elements on one side and carriers on the other side.

  "What about Alan?" Paula said. "He doesn't know your father gave you the presidency for the rest of his mandate, does he?"

  "No, he thinks I'm a temporary president." I looked up at her, leaning forward. "But if he doesn't know the truth, then he doesn't have eavesdropping devices somewhere here nor close friends among the Element Preservers members. I bet one of us has a tracker on us or in our stuff."

  Ryan couldn't have appeared in the right neighborhood if Alan hadn't sent him, and if there were moles in Lily's team, they only had limited knowledge since only a couple of us knew our location. Too bad Oliver hadn't given me one of those fancy devices that blocked any signal just in case someone truly was eavesdropping, but apparently those devices were too rare and expensive.

  "We can check that theory," Ryan said. "I can meet with Alan, tell him I didn't see any of you and ask him for your location. The four of you should disperse around the city, so when he points out the direction, we'll know which one of you he's tracking."

  I laughed. "In which alternate universe do you think we trust you?"

  "I give you my word I won't betray you. Alan controls me and I hate that." Ryan scoffed. "If you can promise me safety in one of your carriers' clubs or whatever you call it, I'll do whatever you want."

  "Can we trust him?" I looked at Adrian because he was the only one who actually knew Ryan for more than an hour.

  "Sure we can," Adrian said, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "If Lily lends us one of the bombs that can be activated if he tries to run."

  Ryan gulped. "Umm, that's not what I had in mind. I don't want to be scrubbed off the sidewalk."

  "You want to join us, right?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Did you think we'd let you in just like that? You need to prove yourself first."

  "Alright," Ryan grumbled. "If that's what it takes. But give the detonator to her." He indicated Paula with a shake of his head. "She doesn't look as bloodthirsty as the two of you."

  "Deal," Adrian said, and Amaya chose that very moment to wake up. She looked around her in shock, her green eyes wide and glazed. Michael was at her side in a second, trying to calm her. A wave of water appeared in the middle of the room, going for Adrian. Before I knew what I was doing, my fire crashed into the wave, sending tiny drops of water everywhere.

  "Amaya, stop it!" Michael said, gently shaking her shoulders. She blinked, her eyes slowly focusing on him.

  "Michael?"

  "It's ok. You passed out," he said. "How are you feeling?"

  "Like my head is going to explode. I thought I saw..." Her eyes narrowed when she saw Adrian. "He's not a figment of my imagination." Then she looked around the room. "Oh, the bitch is here too, along with the crazy scientist girl and... Who is the guy? I don't know him."

  "I didn't have where to take you," Michael said apologetically. "But now that you are awake..."

  "We could find a place with less idiots in one spot," Amaya said, getting up.

  "You're not going anywhere," I said. "Not after what you've heard while pretending to be asleep."

  "I wasn't pretending," she protested. "You can't keep me as a hostage here."

  "Sure you weren't." I didn't believe her for even a second. She wouldn't look so fresh and ready to go if she had truly just woken up. Hell, she didn't even stumble. The only thing that needed fixing was her long black hair, which looked like a bird's nest.

  "Nobody is going anywhere," Adrian said, a block of ice forming around the knob and making it impossible to open the door. Oh joy. We were now trapped together.

  "You're really asking for trouble, aren't you?" Amaya rushed Adrian, and she would have knocked him to the floor if he hadn't caught her. She thrashed in his arms, trying to throw a punch, but Adrian held her in place. I was ready to use my fire if she tried something with her element again, but she was probably too angry to concentrate.

  "Calm down, please," Adrian said. Michael placed his hands on Amaya's shoulders, trying to get her to let go of Adrian. She finally stopped fighting, and slumped back in Michael's arms as if she suddenly remembered she'd been unconscious not so long ago.

  "Michael, you totally fell for her act. She faked the whole thing so she could see where you'd take her." Amaya was on a secret mission again, but I didn't know who she was working for. Maybe this time she really was on her own, but there was no way for me to tell.

  "No, she's been drinking..." Michael said, helping Amaya to sit down.

  "Stop talking like I'm not here," Amaya mumbled.

  I glared at her. "Yeah, now you remembered you were supposed to be drunk. You might have drank a couple of cocktails, but you weren't drunk enough to faint. I highly doubt it you'd be going for my boyfriend's throat like that."

  "Ah, so he's your boyfriend now?" She didn't look a bit surprised. "Your father tried to cover things up, but I always knew you were the one who came to save him."

  "We don't have time for chitchat. I hope you don't have an eavesdropping device on you." Could she be hiding something in the black jacket draped over her shoulders or under that thin, dark blue dress she was wearing? Why hadn't anyone searched her when Michael brought her? Of course, Michael would have probably roared at us like a lion fighting for his young if we had tried to touch her.

  "Why are you here, Amaya?" Adrian's gray-blue eyes softened as he approached her. "I mean, in the city."

  "I don't have to tell you anything," she spat, her big green eyes meeting his. "Are you going to torture me? Kill me?"

  "Whoa, why is everyone talking about death?" Ryan said, clapping his hands together. "It's Elemenitas! Can't you guys chill a little? Do you have something to drink?"

  "I'm going to call Lily and ask her for advice," Paula said, jumping to her feet.

  "Good idea." We totally needed help because we were going nowhere with this mess. Paula nodded and headed for the room. Amaya kept glaring at Adrian, most likely picturing effective ways to end his life. I truly needed a drink.

  Chapter 20

  "Lily is sending one of her teams to help us," Paula said cheerfully when she came back, still holding her phone in her hand. "They'll take Amaya and Ryan somewhere safe and check them for bugs."

  "Hey, I don't have any bugs," Ryan said defensively. "I'm not a dog, you know. Can't catch fleas or anything."

  "You're thinking of the wrong kind of bugs," I pointed out, even though I was aware he knew exactly what Paula was talking about. "Great news, anyway. You two don't get to stay here with us the whole night."

  "And thank God for that," Ryan said, lifting his eyes up toward the ceiling as if God was above his head.

  "Don't get excited too early," Amaya said wearily. "We could still end up dead."

  "No one's going to die, ok?" I wished Lily's team would hurry. If anyone was listening in to us, they'd be here already because we were totally easy to capture. We could always change our plans if either Amaya or Ryan had eavesdropping devices on them. I was more worried that Alan could follow us around without breaking a sweat.

  "We need to talk," Adrian said, looking at me.

  "Sure."

  "Don't let anyone move a muscle," Adrian said to Paula as we went down the hall. Surprisingly enough, the ice on the knob hadn't started melting yet. Adrian and I slipped into our room, shutting the door firmly behind us.

  "We can't let Alan become the vice president of the Element Preservers," Adrian whispered. "He's too influential and has too many connections. No one will be able to stop him."

  "I know." Alan always found a way to surprise us because we kept underestimating him. It was time to put a stop to that. "But if I don't give him what he wants, you'll get blamed for killing Azzurro."

  "So what?"

  "It looks like he wins no matter what
we do. If I give in, he gets to be the vice president. If you get blamed for a murdered, we'll all be too caught up in trying to get you out of the mess, so we won't even notice when Alan pulls his next move. We should be one step ahead of him, not trudge behind."

  "Lily's team could kidnap him when he meets with Ryan." Adrian reached out for me, but dropped his hand at the last moment. We couldn't afford to lose the feel of elements and not know if Amaya or Michael tried to leave the apartment. Ryan was a bit tricky since he was a carrier too, but the strength of others' elements would warn us if something was going on.

  "I doubt it Alan walks around without security. Besides, Lily won't risk revealing her new location in case Alan has a tracker or manages to contact his guards." A beginning of a headache started to slowly pulsate through my head.

  "Ok, so we're back to the original plan. We try to find out how he's tracking us and sever his sources." Adrian pressed his lips together, not happy that we were so impotent.

  "Yes, and while we're doing that, we could come up with something to frame him for the murder." Planning Adrian's defense in case he got blamed for what Oliver had done was pointless, since no one would want to have a trial for a magic disease carrier. I couldn't exactly tell everyone my brother was the murderer because that would cause problems for all of us, and I didn't want my brother to die.

  "Do you think we can do that with all the spies he has around?" Adrian cocked his head at me.

  "We have to try." I planned to text Lily and ask her tech team to help us. We'd have to lie about our intentions because a mole could report our suspicious behavior to Alan, which would be a huge problem. "I can't go to the office before we discover who Alan is tracking. Someone could see me there and report it to him."

  "But your father's associates will want to meet you first thing in the morning. I doubt it hangover will stop them."