Monster (Tainted Elements Book 3)

by Alycia Linwood

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat. What if there was a way for them to see that I now had the same ability as Jaiden? Or had that ability already existed before, without my knowledge? I couldn’t be sure, but I hoped the bracelet couldn’t block all of my elemental energy completely.

  “There. All done.” He tossed the device on the desk and returned to his seat. “Do you think you’re ready for work?”

  “Of course,” I said, fighting the urge to rub my wrist.

  “There’s something from Sheridan’s office I want you to retrieve for me before the investigators come.” He eyed me, as if trying to decide if I was up to the job.

  “Um, okay. What should I look for?”

  “Do you remember that device Jaiden and you acquired during your...” He frowned. “What was it? First or second mission? Well, doesn’t matter anyway. The device should have been delivered to a certain person a long time ago, but Sheridan failed to complete the task. I want you to get that device and take it to a lab.”

  My pulse sped up. Was he talking about the lab I needed to get to? But that would be ridiculous. Why would he need an agent for that? If he just wanted the device transferred, almost anyone could have carried it from one floor to the other. “I can do that.”

  “Good. Do you have your tablet?” He raised an eyebrow at me, and I nodded. “I’ll send you the directions. You’ll find Victor Rice and you’ll give the device to him and only to him. No one else can touch that thing. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” Of course it was another lab, but maybe I’d get the opportunity to get into Elemontera’s too. The boss obviously trusted me, or at least he was taking a risk with me, which made me wonder where Jaiden was.

  “The device should be treated with care,” he added.

  “Of course. Biochemical weapons are as dangerous as they are fascinating.” I managed a small smile.

  The boss’s eyebrows went up. “Don’t make me regret my decision. You’re a field agent, not a scientist.”

  I bit down on my lip. Okay, my attempt to try to convince him I could join his scientists and work with them had failed. “Is there anything else I need to do?”

  “No, just that. You may go now, and be quick about it.”

  I just gave him a curt nod, got to my feet and rushed outside. A smile quirked the corners of my lips. I’d just gotten an excuse to go through Sheridan’s stuff. Maybe I’d find something useful. My only fear was that someone would be supervising me, but when I got to the door of Sheridan’s office, no one was waiting for me.

  The door opened as soon as I stepped closer, and I went inside before anyone could see me. Closing the door, I looked around the small office. The camera was in the corner to my left, so I turned my back to it and went over to the empty desk. I couldn’t exactly look for the device in the drawers because I suspected it was too big, although I’d never really seen it out of the bag.

  Turning to the closet, I opened it and found numerous black bags. The device had to be somewhere in here, but a bag with Sheridan’s lion symbol caught my eye. Carefully hiding myself from the camera, I opened the bag and realized it was full of papers. I quickly flipped through them, but didn’t see anything remotely interesting.

  Actually, the content of almost all of the bags was completely useless. Sheridan hadn’t been stupid enough to leave evidence about her involvement with Marlau somewhere where anyone could find it. I grabbed the bag that was hidden at the back of the closet and pulled it out. Unzipping it, I saw the edge of the device inside. Gently grasping the round surface of the device, I took it out of the bag.

  It was mostly black and its middle part looked like an hourglass, with two round globes that were filled with some sort of liquid. I immediately tucked the device safely back into the bag. Who knew what that thing contained? The last thing I needed was to break it and get myself killed. Although, infecting the whole of Elemontera with a deadly virus didn’t sound like a terrible idea, but they’d probably stop the spread of the virus before it reached anyone important.

  I was about to shut the closet door when a small paper caught my eye. I picked it up and realized it was an address. Making sure the cameras couldn’t see a thing, I slipped the paper into my pocket. Maybe it was Sheridan’s address. I didn’t know if she’d lived in Elemontera or somewhere else.

  When I grabbed my tablet, the map was already flashing on the screen, and I needed a moment to figure out the building I needed to go to was only a couple of blocks away. As I walked down the hallway, I wondered if I should simply contact Noah and hand the device over, then claim I’d been attacked. But failing this mission wasn’t an option.

  The boss would never trust me after that, and I’d never get to the floor where the lab was, let alone get into the lab itself. I hoped I wasn’t making the wrong decision, because if this weapon got into the hands of a psycho, it could probably destroy thousands of lives. Or maybe not.

  As I walked down the busy streets, I loosened the iron control I had over my elements, letting my fire warm the air around me. All too soon, I found myself in front of what looked like a store. Double-checking the address, I pushed the red-and-white door and peeked inside. It actually was a real store, its space filled with dozens of shelves with groceries and various products.

  I stopped dead in my tracks. Surely this couldn’t be it. But as I was about to turn around and walk away, I noticed a metal door at the back of the store that didn’t quite fit with the white and red tones the whole store seemed to favor. Glancing over my shoulder, I padded around the shelves and stepped in front of the door, which cracked open all on its own.

  I followed the dark hallway until I reached a white room. A tall, thin man with short silver hair was leaning over a table that was full of various glasses and containers filled with strange liquids. To my right, there was another door, but it was closed.

  “Um, hello?” I said, and the man jumped, nearly knocking over one of the containers.

  “For the love of God of Magic!” he yelped, facing me, his blue eyes wary. “Who are you?”

  “I’m looking for Victor Rice.”

  The man ran his hands over his long white coat. “You found him. How can I help you?”

  “I came to deliver this to you. From Elemontera,” I said cheerfully, placing the bag on an empty stool.

  “Oh.” The old man didn’t seem too surprised, and he slowly opened the bag. As he took a quick look at the contents, the wrinkles on his forehead became more prominent.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yes. You may go, girl.” He waved his hand at me, as if shooing me away.

  Too bad he wasn’t one of those chatty people. Knowing a little more about what was in the damn device would be helpful. But I had no choice other than to leave since I was unwilling to risk using mind control on him. If Lily and the others had already seen where I was on nearby cameras, I hoped they wouldn’t break into this place too soon. We need to get that device, but not before Elemontera was gone and no one could blame me for leading Lily and her team straight to one of Elemontera’s secret labs.

  I really hoped the old guy wouldn’t use the device or do something with it in the near future, because that would be really unfortunate—although there were probably plenty of even more dangerous devices out in the world that we didn’t know about. This one couldn’t be so important if the boss had let me walk out with it as if I were delivering flowers. Unless he’d sent me because he knew no one would ever suspect I had something valuable with me. Damn it. The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt. At least I wouldn’t be disappointing the boss this time.

  Chapter 8

  I paced up and down one of Elemontera’s long hallways, gnawing on my fingernails. My elements wanted to be used, and I’d spent a week already inside of this damn building. No matter how hard I strained my ears around people, I hadn’t heard a single whisper about Jaiden or where he could be. As I passed the lunchroom, a familiar face caught my eye. One of the
guards who’d escorted Jaiden out of the office on the day we’d come back to Elemontera was sitting alone at one of the tables eating some kind of a soup.

  I headed toward him, grabbing a plate and some bread off the counter. Making sure no one was observing me too closely, I sat across from the guard, who lifted his eyes toward me and gave me a slightly surprised look.

  “Hey,” I said with a smile. Luckily for me, there were no elemental energy detectors in here, so I let my air slip out under the table and go toward the guy, just so other elementals like me couldn’t see the shimmering thread.

  “Cheer up, dude,” I said, tilting my head. “What’s your name?”

  “Tommy,” he said, and his lips pulled into a slow smile. Better. Now whoever saw us wouldn’t assume that I was harassing the guy or forcing him to talk to me.

  My element dove in between his brain signals, enjoying the rush of power. “Do you know where Jaiden is?” I said as quietly as possible.

  “Yes, he’s in Room One.”

  I took a spoonful of my soup, not breaking eye contact with the guard. He’d stopped eating. “Act normal, please.” My hair was hiding my face enough that the cameras couldn’t read my lips. I wondered if they’d find it suspicious that I was talking to a guard, but I hoped they either wouldn’t pay attention or that they’d come after I found out what I needed. “Where is that room?”

  A frown creased his brow, but I grasped his mind. “Room One,” I said. “Can you take me there?”

  “No. You don’t have permission to go there. Only Joe and I do.”

  “And why is that? Wouldn’t you take someone else there if there was a good reason?” I needed to find a way to get to Jaiden, or at least figure out what the hell was going on.

  “No. Only the boss can give you permission.”

  Which wouldn’t happen in a million years, so I wouldn’t even bother to try. Glancing to my left, I noticed one of the men at the door was watching us, and I knew I had to hurry. “Is that room on a restricted floor? Or can anyone access it, but not the room itself?”

  “Not many can go there, but yes, more people can get permission to access that floor.”

  “And why do other people go to that floor?” I asked in my sweetest voice.

  “To get new devices or replacements.”

  “What kind of devices?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Alarm clocks, magic level readers, tablets...”

  “Tablets?” The corners of my lips quirked up. “So if my tablet was broken and I needed a new one, and I came to you... Would you take me to that floor?”

  “Yes, if it’s urgent.”

  My air flashed through his mind, and I had to pull it back a little to stop it from smashing something. The guard’s eyes were glassy, his face expressionless.

  “How many cameras are there in and around Room One? What about the detectors of elemental energy?” I held up my hand, pretending to scratch my cheek while covering my mouth from prying eyes.

  “None.”

  “What?” I gaped at him. Elemontera had security in every damn corner of this place, so why weren’t there any in that room?

  “Are you sure? You didn’t by any chance forget about them?” If Jaiden had been tasked with mind-controlling the guards, then maybe the guard wouldn’t remember the cameras even if they were there. But memories couldn’t be completely erased.

  “I’m sure. No cameras.” The guard turned his head, and I had to force him to look back at me before anyone could read his lips.

  “Where will you be after you finish eating?” I asked quickly, letting go of my spoon.

  “I’ll be watching the elevators on the second floor.”

  “Okay, great. Now forget we ever had this conversation, and if someone asks you to remember, say we talked only about the best combat techniques.” I let my element slowly slip out of his head as I got to my feet. Tommy even gave me a dozy smile as I walked away. Now the only thing I had to do was break my tablet and find Tommy again.

  Once I was back in my room, I took a seat in my uncomfortable metal chair. My tablet was on the desk, but I couldn’t simply take it and smash it because the cameras would see me. Pulling my chair closer to the desk, I grabbed an empty glass and put it in front of me. Closing my eyes, I focused on my fire. I didn’t remember anyone telling me I couldn’t practice with my elements on my own.

  When I opened my eyes again, flames danced across my palm, and I brought them closer to the glass. A moment later, my fire turned blue and I created a fireball, dropping it into the glass and watching the flames dance in it briefly before I extinguished them. Leaning my elbows on the desk, I stared at the wall for a while, fire flickering in my fingers.

  I sighed, lowering my head on my arm and closing my eyes. I didn’t know for how long I’d been like that, pretending I’d fallen asleep on my desk, my arm moving ever so slightly until it rested on the tablet. Focusing on my fire, I directed it to the tablet. The damn thing was resilient, and I had to increase my fire, but at least the fire’s protective layer kept my arm unharmed.

  Wrapping my whole body in a very thin layer of fire, I hoped the tablet wouldn’t blow up and that Elemontera hadn’t added any kind of protective magic in it. A loud crack made me open my eyes, and I jumped up, shaking my hands. The tablet’s screen was slightly charred and lifted off the rest of the device. I swore, looking at my hands, praying that whoever was watching me would think I’d simply lost control of my element while I was dozing off. Such incidents were very rare, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t happen.

  Picking up what was left of my ruined tablet, I cradled it to myself and went to find Tommy. He was exactly where he’d said he’d be, and his eyes regarded me curiously as I approached.

  “Um, hey, do you know where I can get a new tablet?” I showed him the broken device with a sheepish grin on my face. “Mine is dead, I’m afraid.”

  “What happened?” Tommy’s mouth fell open.

  “It’s embarrassing, actually. I closed my eyes for like a second and thought I was in the middle of a fight, used my fire, and then I woke up and...” I looked down at the tablet. “It was like this. Do you think you can help me?”

  He waved at the other guard who was standing on the other end of the hallway. “Kevin, watch the elevator. I’ll be right back.” Then he looked back at me. “Come with me.”

  Once we were in the elevator, he pressed his bracelet against the small flashing screen instead of pressing a button. When the door finally opened, we entered into a white hallway with only three doors, which were also white. The only non-white thing was the light gray carpet. I couldn’t see any cameras, just like Tommy had told me. Strange. What was the boss hiding in here that he didn’t want anyone to see, including his security team?

  “Go there to get yourself a new tablet.” He pointed at the first white door to our left. “And don’t forget to register it and sync it with your bracelet. You don’t want to miss any important updates from the boss.”

  “Of course not.” I offered him a wide smile, letting my air shoot out and find its way into his brain. “Actually, you’ll get the tablet and wait for me here.” I dumped the old tablet into his hands. He blinked at me, but obeyed.

  I inched closer to the only door that was to the right, and noticed a keypad right next to it. “What’s the code?” I yelled before Tommy could disappear into another room, my element quickly grasping his mind. He dictated the six-digit number to me, and I punched it in. The door clicked, and I pushed it open.

  Chapter 9

  My heart jumped all the way into my throat as I stepped inside, my hands shaking. The brightness in the room made me squint. The room wasn’t bigger than my own, but the walls were padded and white. The tiles on the floor were completely white too. There wasn’t any kind of furniture that I could see. Jaiden was sitting in the middle of the room, his knees drawn to his chest, his eyes tightly shut as he shook back and forth.

  “Jaiden?” my voice was like a
whisper. His eyes flew open, and I could see his forehead was covered in sweat, his dark eyes feverish.

  “Now I’m hallucinating. Great,” he said quietly. “Of course it would be you.”

  “It is me,” I said, slowly inching closer. This room was seriously creeping me out, and suddenly I had a moment of realization. This was the room that had caused Jaiden’s panic attacks.

  “You’re not real,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Jaiden, look at me.” I crouched in front of him and placed my hand on his warm cheek. “Are you okay?”

  He looked at me in shock, his hand closing over mine. “Moira? What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I should be asking you the same thing. What is this... this room?” I glanced at the nearby wall, wrinkling my nose. Jaiden was wearing only a pair of white pants and white T-shirt, but he didn’t look like he’d been harmed in any way. Well, if you didn’t count the effect this room had on him.

  “It’s my nightmare,” he said, pulling away from me. “You should go before someone sees you.”

  My eyebrows shot upward. “What are they doing to you?”

  He tried to keep his face expressionless, but I could still see the tension in his body and the twitch of his mouth. “That’s not your concern.”

  I groaned, unsure whether I wanted to strangle him or hug him. “Damn it, Jaiden. If you don’t...” His hand suddenly shimmered and went nearly transparent. “What’s going on with you?”

  He pushed himself up, supporting himself on the wall, and turned away from me. “Just leave me, okay? You know where the lab is and you know I can’t get you in there. You don’t need me anymore,” he said quietly, then looked at me over his shoulder. “Unless they’re sending you on some mission...?”

  “No, I don’t need you. God, Jaiden! Just tell me what’s happening to you! Is that so damn hard? Maybe I can...” I got to my feet.