“You tried to kill me, you son of a bitch,” I yelled at him. “You don’t get to judge me for this.” Or did this mean I was still blaming myself for what had happened? “Go away! All of you! Go!”
They didn’t move, and I felt tears forming in my eyes.
“Stop yourself before it’s too late,” a voice said, but I couldn’t see who had spoken. The familiar and unfamiliar faces stared at me, but their mouths weren’t moving anymore.
“You are the Murderer. There’s no going back now,” another voice said, low and sinister. “You have been chosen.”
“Moira! Hey!” Jaiden’s voice broke through my nightmare, and I opened my eyes, seeing his worried face above me. I let him pull me into his arms, and I realized my cheeks were wet with tears. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “It was just a stupid nightmare.”
“Do you have those often?” He rocked me in his arms, kissing the top of my head.
“Um, not really, but I think my share of bad dreams has increased in the last few months.” I squirmed out of Jaiden’s arms and sat up, looking around the room. Rays of sunshine were streaming through the window and falling on the pale cream walls decorated with golden patterns. A fancy golden chair stood in front of a dresser with a mirror. To my right was a nightstand on which stood an alarm clock. I gasped when I saw the time.
“Shit. It’s 7 a.m. already. My parents are going to freak out,” I said, trying to get out of the bed, but Jaiden grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Not that I had any intention of fighting him. I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with him for hours. Maybe days. Oh, God.
“Why? Did they need you to do something for them?” he asked, and I shook my head at him. He was the only person who would assume my parents wanted something from me rather than that they were worried about me.
“No, but I’ve been kidnapped before and they’ll freak out when they see I’m not home. I haven’t left them a message or anything, so they’ll assume the worst, of course. I don’t want a search party looking for me. Where’s my phone?” I spotted a heap of clothes on the floor at the other end of the room, but I didn’t want to get up. My phone, which must have slipped out of my pants, was nestled in my shirt. “Shit.” I let my element surge out of me, and I filled it with energy until it was strong enough to lift up the phone and toss it onto the bed.
“Nice.” An amused look crossed Jaiden’s face.
I quickly typed a message to my parents saying that I had some things to do and that I’d be seeing them for lunch.
“Are you going to tell them where you were?” he asked.
I tilted my head. “No, but I don’t even know where we are. Last night everything was kind of blurry. You were flying too fast.” I pulled the blanket over me and looked at him. “Whose room is this? If someone barges in on us, I swear I...”
“It’s my room, so no one will be bothering us.” He leaned forward and kissed my shoulder.
“You live in a hotel now? That’s a terrible idea. They’ll find you here.”
“They will, but they won’t catch me. Unless you help them.” His dark eyes met mine, his face serious. I couldn’t believe he was still thinking I’d do something like that.
“Jaiden, I’m not going to help them. I agreed to work for them just so I could stop them from finding you, but I still wish there was a way to get that warrant against you removed. I mean, I want to be able to go out with you without having to look over my shoulder and wonder if someone is going to see us and alert Lily.”
“You still want me to betray my father,” he said. “But even if I make a deal with Lily, I doubt she’ll honor it. She’ll just find another way to get rid of me. They all see me as a threat, and they’re right.” He looked away, biting his lip. “And your parents wouldn’t want you to date someone like me anyway.”
“Hey.” I put my finger under his chin, forcing him to look up at me. “We’ll find a way. Maybe there’s someone my mom can consult so we can figure out what’s in that serum and how to make it. I’ll tell her it’s for something else. I don’t care if she and Dad don’t want me to be with you. It’s my choice and I do want to be with you, so they don’t have a say in it.” I smiled at him and pressed my lips against his. “And I know my parents. If I’m happy, then they’ll be happy for me. But I can’t tell them for now, okay? They could make things complicated. I’ll need to find a way to explain it all to them first.”
“I’m going to get you into trouble, aren’t I?” He gave me a sad smile.
“You’re not going to get me into trouble.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, even if you do, it won’t be anything I can’t handle.”
“Lily could be tracking your phone. Maybe she sent a team for us already,” he said, but didn’t look too concerned as he twirled a curl of my hair around his finger.
“She’s trying to show that she trusts me, so she didn’t put a chip in me or anything like that yet. But yeah, if she suspected I hadn’t been at home all night, she could get the phone data, I guess.” I groaned. “We should always find a different place to meet. That way they won’t have it so easy when it comes to tracking us down. And I’ll have to warn you about any patrols, although I think you’ve been good at avoiding them so far.”
Jaiden’s face was pensive for a moment. “I could get you one of those pagers that can’t be traced. We could meet at a different bar each time.”
A slow smile spread over my lips. “I like that idea. So where will our first real date be?”
“Wherever you want.”
“How about that club near my university? Zero? Do you know it?”
“I do, but your university is like five minutes from your home. Why not some other place?” He eyed me suspiciously.
“No, it’s perfect. The club is always full of students, whom by the way, we can totally mind-control, and Lily won’t suspect anything if I’m so close to home. If she’s not watching me or the location of my phone too carefully, she might not even notice that small distance between my home and the club. I can convince her I’m at home and even get there in time if I have to prove it.”
Jaiden laughed. “She’d never dare attack us in a club. We could mind-control the people to shield us or even attack her back. She’s not stupid enough to try that. That’s why she did everything to convince you to go after me. She knows you’re the only one who stands a chance against me.”
“Yep, I can kick your ass anytime I want.” I grinned, hitting him lightly on the arm. “But I really have to go now.”
“One more minute. Please.” Jaiden’s arm snaked around me, and I leaned back into his embrace.
“You’re going to say that every minute, aren’t you?” I said. “And I won’t be strong enough to tell you no.”
“Okay, five more minutes and then I’m letting you go.” He planted the gentlest of kisses on my neck. If I ever managed to walk out of this room, I’d call it an achievement.
Chapter 27
I turned into air and flew out of the hotel, keeping myself close enough to the ground so I wouldn’t be spotted by any tainted elementals that could be nearby. But as I got into an alley, a shimmering cloud caught my eye. Materializing behind a trash container, I watched the cloud as it floated above the roof of one of the houses, not really going anywhere. Was it waiting for someone or simply observing?
I glanced behind me just in time to see another shimmering cloud heading straight for me. Turning invisible again, I flew up, hoping to avoid both of the clouds. But the cloud that was behind me caught up pretty quickly, and I rushed back down, hoping to lose it as I wove through the trees, houses and small openings. When I looked around me again, I couldn’t see anyone, so I lowered myself to the ground in the backyard of one of the houses and dug out my phone.
“Hey,” I said as soon as Lily answered. “I saw two tainted elementals, and I think they saw me too. One looked like it was about to attack me, but I’m not sure. Maybe they were just surprised to see m
e.”
“Did they say anything?” Lily’s voice was laced with concern.
“No,” I said. “I’ll text you the address so you can send someone to investigate. Or I could go after them myself. Maybe they’re just some kids trying this out.”
“No, don’t go anywhere near them until we’re sure they’re not a threat,” she said. “I’ll send the team right away. You stay around in case your help is needed.”
“Okay.” I ended the call and texted the address. The elementals might not be dangerous, but there were two of them and I didn’t know anything about them, so it was better that I didn’t engage them. Slipping the phone back into my pocket, I turned on my heel and found myself face to face with Raven.
“Hello,” she said, her blue eyes glistening, her long black hair flying around her. I reached for my elements, ready for a fight, but she raised her hands in the air. “I’m here to talk, not to fight.”
“Was that you earlier? Following me?” I asked, but didn’t for even a second think about relaxing around this girl.
“Yeah, it was me,” she said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me,” I said coldly. “So what did you want to talk about?”
“Elemontera is gone, and I heard you had a role in taking it down, so I wanted to thank you. In the name of my whole group,” she said, and I glared at her.
“Was that why you were trying to sneak up on me? To thank me?” I raised a questioning eyebrow.
“I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t sure it was you. I only recognized you when you turned visible again.”
“Okay. Um, so does that mean you no longer want to kill me or anyone who used to work for Elemontera?”
“No, I don’t want to kill anyone.” She shook her head. “I’m just glad Elemontera is gone.”
“Me too,” I said. “I’m curious about one thing, though. Why was your little group stealing all those old books about prophecies? Elemontera thought it was some kind of a message, but unfortunately no one ever got it.” I chuckled. “Do you believe in any of that or was it all just a part of some plan?”
She tilted her head at me. “It wasn’t really a message. But prophecies are interesting, don’t you think? They sounds very unrealistic and unlikely to happen, but don’t you wonder sometimes what would happen if it were all true?”
“Honestly, I don’t really care much about those things.”
“Maybe you should,” she said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I wondered if she’d be able to fight me off if I tried to get inside of her head, because as far as I could remember she did have the ability to use mind control. But I definitely didn’t want to piss her off. If there was even a slight chance she had the ability to kill and believed in crazy prophecies, I had to make sure Lily could track her down.
“You don’t have to get upset.” She smirked. “I’m just saying... sometimes incredible things happen.”
“Look, now that Elemontera is gone and no one is hunting those like us, we have this center for people like us... a safe place. The woman who’s in charge, Lily, is a good person, and she’s making sure that everyone can live in peace,” I said. “You could come in sometime. Find out more about those like us. If you’re interested in prophecies, maybe you’d like to know more about our own kind first.”
“Oh. You mean new Elemontera? You want me to go there and talk to your boss so she can... do what, exactly, with me?” She arched an eyebrow at me.
I licked my dry lips. “We’re all trying to start over, so whatever you’ve done when you attacked Elemontera, we know you were fighting for your life and your safety, so no one will prosecute you for that. But if we all truly want to live in peace, we have to make sure everyone follows some rules.”
She gave me a skeptical look. “Rules? What rules?”
“None of us should harm any other human being or use their abilities for illegal purposes.”
“And how exactly do you plan to ensure that? With the help of a special police force?” Her eyes sparkled with amusement.
“I’m sure Lily can explain all of this to you if you would just come to meet her,” I said, trying to sound friendly, though I was still ready to attack if Raven made a single wrong step. “If you’re afraid, you can meet her in a public place somewhere. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
“Okay, I might think about that. Who is this Lily anyway? One of us?” Her gaze briefly flickered to something behind my back, and I immediately turned around but couldn’t see anything.
“She’s not one of us...” I started to say and noticed Raven was trying her best to give me a fake curious look, the corners of her lips slightly upturned. She didn’t really seem interested in anything I had to say, so why the hell was she asking? Was she trying to be polite or thought I’d attack her if she tried to leave? But she didn’t look distressed. It was almost as if she was happy... as if she had me exactly where she wanted me.
“Yes?” she said, and I shoved her away from me, sending her sprawling to the ground. She was stalling. I didn’t know why, and I didn’t want to stick around and wait to find out. Calling to my element, I started to turn into air, but pain shot through my head like lightning, and I fell to my knees. I tried to fight off the element that was weaseling its way into my head, but no matter how hard I pushed, it wouldn’t get out. Footsteps echoed behind my back, getting closer and closer.
“Get up,” a deep male voice said, and I rose to my feet without even having to think about it. “Turn around.”
I came face to face with a guy my age, with spiky black hair and piercing light blue eyes. Raven stood at his side, a smug smile spreading over her lips. The pain in my head intensified, and I tried to spot the shimmering thread, but I couldn’t see it. Gathering all of my strength, I attempted to shove the intruder out of my mind once again, but it didn’t work.
I couldn’t even move or take a step in the guy’s direction. My heartbeat racing, I called to my elements in hopes of reaching out with my own element and maybe getting Raven to at least break the guy’s concentration, but my elements didn’t even stir inside of me.
“We think you’re going to be a great addition to our little group,” the guy said, his gaze traveling my body. “I must say I was pleased that you passed the test. You killed those four men with your element, without hesitation. That was absolutely exquisite. We need someone exactly like you.”
Shit. So the whole thing had indeed been a set-up; some kind of a test so the elementals could see if I truly had the ability to kill.
“I know you have a lot of questions,” the guy said. “But we’ll explain everything to you eventually. You don’t need to fight me. You’re safe with us. Don’t be afraid.”
And just like that, the tension left my shoulders, and I just stared at him, the throbbing in my head growing distant.
The guy looked at Raven. “Maybe we should find a safer place to chat. Someone could see us here.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, giving him a smile, but there was something else in her eyes that I couldn’t quite identify.
The guy’s eyes met mine. “We’ll deal with your memories later. For now, there’s only one thing you need to know about yourself. You’ve been in an accident and your memories are a bit hazy, but you do know this. My name is Blake. You’re my girlfriend. You love me and you’d do anything for me.”
I blinked, rubbing the spot on my head that seemed to hurt the most.
“What’s wrong, love? Are you feeling all right?” my boyfriend asked, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.
“Yeah, I’m just... a bit confused,” I admitted. That stupid accident had probably left me with a nasty bump on my head. Blake put his arm around me and we started walking down the street. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“Home.”
###
Thank you for reading!
Want more? The fourth book in the series is called Captive and it continues Moira’s story. For more
information go to: http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/tainted-elements-series.html
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More books (prequel series) set in the same world as the Tainted Elements:
The Element Preservers series:
DANGEROUS (Book 1)
RUNAWAY (Book 2)
DIVIDED (Book 3)
NO ONE (Book 3.5)
RESTLESS (Book 4)
INDESTRUCTIBLE (Book 5)
http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/element-preservers-series.html
If you like to read young adult books about demons and angels with a bit of romance, you can check out my book, Human. It follows a 17-year-old girl who tries to figure out who she is, and who would do anything for her loved ones. The book doesn't have any mature content.
More info: http://alycialinwood.weebly.com/
Monster (Tainted Elements Book 3) Page 16