Hunted (Tainted Elements, #5)

by Linwood, Alycia

  “Can you carry him inside?” Jack opened the door and got out of the car.

  “Why don’t you get one of your men to do that?” I cocked my head at him, pushing at the door.

  “I would, but they’re not here.”

  Wonderful. He wanted me inside, and there wasn’t really anything I could do about it. Besides, I wasn’t about to leave Jaiden alone with his father. Biting down on my lip, I turned Jaiden and myself into air and hovered in front of the entrance.

  “Follow me.” Jack started toward the door and pressed his hand against the keypad. After a whole set of protective measures, he stepped back and the door opened. I flew inside and nearly crashed into a wall. Everything seemed so much like Elemontera... metal walls, no windows, pristinely clean floor... No, this wasn’t Elemontera, even if Jack was planning to rebuild it in this place.

  “In here.” Jack nodded toward an open door and we ended up in what looked like a real lab, complete with tables, instruments, computers, and shelves full of various liquids. One of the tables was big enough for a person to lie down on, so I directed Jaiden’s shimmering cloud toward it. Or was that my cloud since I was the one turning him into air? Oh God. We both materialized, and Jaiden pried his eyes open.

  “Moira...” he whispered, but then his eyes closed again, and I grabbed his hand.

  “Jaiden? I’m here.” I looked at Jack, who was putting on a pair of white latex gloves and busying himself with something. “Hurry! He’s not...”

  “He’ll be fine.” Jack turned his back to me. “You can leave if you want. You brought my son to me and that’s all I wanted.”

  “No, I’ll stay.”

  “Suit yourself.” Jack approached the table, his gaze falling on Jaiden. He picked up a knife and I stepped in front of him.

  “What are you doing with that?”

  “Relax. I need to cut his shirt open. Now get out of my way before it’s too late. And don’t bother me again,” he said coldly.

  Crossing my arms, I stepped away and took a seat in one of the chairs, not close enough to get in Jack’s way, but not too far either so I could jump at him if he made a wrong move. Jack ripped Jaiden’s shirt with the help of the knife and placed some kind of a rectangular, bluish metallic device on Jaiden’s chest.

  Something started to beep, and I noticed that one of the screens at the end of the room had come to life and was showing Jaiden’s vitals, which were dangerously low. His elements were almost nonexistent, just a tiny dot of light. There was some data and stats I didn’t even understand, but I thought they had to do something with Jaiden’s DNA.

  Jack dashed across the room and picked up a syringe. “Stay with me, Jaiden. Come on.”

  But as he brought the syringe toward Jaiden’s neck, I noticed the liquid in it wasn’t its usual color; this one was silver. I jumped to my feet in an instant.

  “What are you giving him?” I yelled, but before I could reach him, Jack already released the liquid into Jaiden’s system.

  I let out a blast of air and sent Jack flying. His back hit the wall, his breath leaving his chest in a whoosh, and I pinned him with my element. Stalking toward him, I narrowed my eyes.

  “What was in that syringe? Tell me!”

  “The serum he needs to survive.” He glared at me. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “That’s not the serum. I’ve seen it!”

  A loud beeping sound pierced the air, and I turned my attention to the computer, letting go of Jack, who slumped to the ground. Jaiden’s elemental energy seemed to be increasing really fast, so I ran toward the table.

  “Jaiden?”

  His eyes flew open, a gasp escaping his lips. “Moira?” He sat up, looking around in confusion. Then his whole body started to shake, and I had to catch him so he wouldn’t fall. His arms went invisible, and the shimmering spread until he was completely turned into air. His cloud rose up into the air and whizzed past me and toward Jack.

  “What did you do to me?” Jaiden yelled.

  Jack leaned against the wall, the corners of his lips tilting up. “Saved you, son. I saved you.”

  Chapter 12

  Jaiden materialized right in front of his father. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here and now.”

  “Ah, but if I die, you won’t find out anything about Sophia and won’t get another dose of the improved serum I just gave you.” Jack looked as smug as the cat who just ate the canary.

  “Improved serum? What’s it going to do?” I asked, coming to stand next to Jaiden.

  “Give him permanent elements,” Jack said proudly.

  “What?” Jaiden gaped at him.

  “You need five more doses of this stronger serum and your elements should be permanent.”

  “Should be?” I raised my voice. “Don’t tell me you just experimented on...”

  “Yes, yes.” He gave me a deadpan look. “It isn’t as if I could test this on rats or anyone else. We’ll see if it works, but it should.” He faced Jaiden. “You can feel it inside of you, can’t you?”

  “It’s like my elements are... bigger than they used to be.” Jaiden frowned. “I don’t...”

  “Don’t worry. The feeling should wear off as you get used to it.”

  “Where are the rest of the doses?” I asked, my hands curling into fists.

  “Oh, as if I’m going to tell you that.” Jack grinned, and Jaiden’s air slammed into him so hard that he coughed.

  “You’ll tell us everything.” Jaiden’s air went toward Jack’s head, but it bounced off.

  “Oh please. Just because your elements are little bit stronger now doesn’t mean you can get past my protection.” Jack tapped the back of his head.

  Calling to my own air, I pushed with all my strength toward Jack’s mind, but my air was stopped by the barrier too. How the hell was he doing that? He couldn’t have protection against me, or could he?

  “Now, now Moira. I managed to replicate your elemental energy and enhance it, then tweak the device to block you out too, and any other elementals.”

  Jaiden swore, running a hand through his hair. I was glad the color was returning to his face, but I wasn’t sure about the new serum.

  “Why did you do it?” Jaiden finally asked, his eyes desperate. “Why did you give me that serum? Just to see how it would work out or because you want me to do something for you?”

  “I wanted you to live,” Jack said. “But yeah, there’s one little thing I want you to take care of for me, and then I’ll give you another dose of the serum.”

  “Is it a kill job?” Jaiden pressed his lips into a tight line.

  “Perhaps.” Jack’s lips twisted into a cruel smile. “But you’ll be glad when I tell you who the target is.”

  “Really?” I ground my teeth together. “You’re going to ask for something in return? Wow. Just wow.”

  “It’s Sophia Mornell,” Jack said. “Or whatever she calls herself these days. I want you to catch her and get her out of my way.”

  “Why?” I asked. “What do you know about her?”

  “She’s after me, and I’m not really inclined to part with this life just yet.” Jack’s face grew serious.

  “Why is she after you? We know she was in Elemontera’s system. Who is she?” I asked.

  “Her name used to be Anne Harnett,” Jack said. “She was one of my experiments.”

  “Your experiments? How?” I wasn’t surprised that Sophia used to have another name, but she must have taken the new name a long time ago or else there wouldn’t be any records of her... unless, she planted them there for us to find. But why would she do that? To make it harder for us to track her down? Perhaps.

  “She was very interested in tainted elementals and wanted to be one of them, so I granted her wish.”

  “You couldn’t have,” Jaiden said. “All your experiments on adults were failures. They all died within a week or so.”

  “Well, yes, that’s what we all thought.” Jack’s fa
ce turned sour.

  “What do you mean?” I searched his eyes. “Are you telling us Sophia is one of us?”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.” He grimaced. “I gave her a testing batch of my new, improved serum to turn adults into tainted elementals, but... she was dead in two days. I checked her vitals and I was sure she was dead, just like another experiment... but somehow both she and Terry came back to life.”

  “What?” I gaped at him. “But how?”

  “I don’t know. I assume the body couldn’t withstand the elements, but instead of dying completely, the elements flared back up after a day or two, and the energy was enough to revive the body. She came to me, and I did some tests, but I couldn’t determine what exactly happened. Maybe she didn’t die at all, but it seemed so because her elemental energy confused our detectors that were unable to check her vitals properly.” Jack sighed. “It doesn’t really matter. I tried it again with others, but it didn’t work.”

  “When did that happen?” Jaiden asked, tipping his head to the side.

  “While you were hiding on Roivenna.” Jack gave his son such a judging look that I wanted to punch him. “I tried to train her in utmost secrecy, but when she saw the extent of tainteds’ abilities... she found an opportunity to run away. I haven’t seen or heard about her until she appeared on the TV, and then sent me a threatening message. I’ve been looking for her everywhere, but without luck. I don’t think she can be controlled, so it’s better if we get rid of her.”

  “She threatened you?” I asked. “How?”

  “She said she’d take everything from me and make sure I never help create another killer.”

  “What kind of abilities does she have? What are her elements?” Jaiden asked.

  “Air and earth,” Jack said. “While I was training her, she could only turn into air, but she might be able to control minds and kill too.”

  “Great.” I threw my hands up in despair. We weren’t just dealing with a person who didn’t like tainted elementals. We were against one of our own... one who might be able to control the minds of who knows how many people and come after us. Oh God.

  “What about the other person?” Jaiden met his father’s gaze.

  “He’s unstable...” Jack shook his head. “Terry Garrly, an air and water elemental. He disappeared with Sophia, but he might have been more affected by his transformation. My men have spotted him in the city, but weren’t able to catch him. He didn’t cause me trouble or resurface after that, so he might be dead or gone by now.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me any of this?” Jaiden groaned. “I could’ve found them before this shit happened.”

  “I intended to, actually,” Jack said. “But for some reason I didn’t...”

  “Terry mind-controlled you, didn’t he? Or Sophia? Are you sure your men really saw him or do you just think they did?” I doubted Jack had set up his protection so fast, because he didn’t usually go through such a complicated process until he was sure there was serious danger. And if he thought Sophia and Terry were successful experiments, he’d have never let them walk away. He would’ve sent all of Elemontera after them.

  Jack’s brow furrowed and he was quiet for a moment. “Maybe. That would explain why I remember some things about them, and some seem almost like a dream.” He groaned. “But now they’re a threat and Sophia left me with this...” He started toward the computer and pressed a couple of buttons on the keyboard. A moment later, a video of Sophia appeared on the screen.

  “I wonder if you still remember me,” she said, a grin on her face. “But I’m coming back for you. Your pet killers will be brought down and there will be nothing left of Elemontera or of you after I’m done. I thought tainted elementals would be using their elements for good, but you’re turning them into weapons, and I won’t let that happen.” Her smile twisted and the screen went black.

  “So you see, I’d love if you could catch her for me, but even if you have to kill her, it doesn’t matter. I already have all I need from the last tests, so I’ll have to get back to studying it.” He scratched his head. “I remember I was supposed to do it, but somehow... something prevented me from doing it or focusing entirely on it. Well, at least my new protection should be good enough to prevent situations like this.”

  “This is insane.” I leaned on the table. “If Sophia is one of us and doesn’t want us to be killers, then what is she trying to achieve by doing all of this? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Maybe her plan is to raise tainteds against regulars, and then somehow use their forces against Elemontera or what’s left of it.” Jaiden looked around the lab for the first time, then faced his father. “You’re not restarting Elemontera here, are you? I can’t let you do that.”

  “You can’t stop me either, or your precious serum will go down the drain.”

  “Don’t worry.” I placed my hand on Jaiden’s shoulder. “He’ll need years before he can start Elemontera again, and by then... there won’t be a need for such an organization.”

  “Keep telling yourself that, darling,” Jack said. “People will always want power, and if I can give them what they want without consequences, Elemontera will be stronger than ever.”

  What had Jack said? That Jaiden needed five doses of the serum? Surely we could get all the serum from him and still have enough time to stop Elemontera from being formed again. For now, we couldn’t touch Jack, no matter how infuriating he was, but at least we knew more about Sophia, and finding out who she really was could help us immensely against her.

  “What exactly did you show to Sophia that made her dislike tainteds so much?”

  “I showed her what Jaiden could do,” Jack said. “I expected her to be in awe and try it out, but she... wasn’t thrilled about it.”

  “You wanted to replace me,” Jaiden said softy.

  “No, of course not,” Jack said, but we could all see the lie on his face. That was exactly what he’d been doing, and if he hadn’t been mind-controlled by either Terry or Sophia, he would’ve gone after them and maybe managed to capture them so he could get them to work for him instead of Jaiden.

  “Who helped you escape from Jaiden? We know it was a mind controller,” I said. “Who else is working with you?”

  “I don’t... I don’t remember that.” Jack looked sincere for a change. “All I know is that I was suddenly out and it didn’t matter how. Now that I think of it... everything was so fuzzy. You mind controllers really are a special bunch.”

  “Yeah, you don’t like our abilities when they’re used on you, but it’s totally fine when they’re used on someone else for your benefit.”

  “Of course.” Jack clapped his hands.

  “So you have no idea who mind-controlled me and helped you get out?” Jaiden asked.

  “No;” Jack said. “But you should be able to figure that one out. That’s really none of my concern.” His eyes narrowed at Jaiden. “I’m a bit peeved that you intended to hold me prisoner, but get Sophia for me and I’ll forgive you.”

  “Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing else he can tell us,” I said to Jaiden.

  “Yeah.” He looked at his father. “You’re lucky Sophia is a threat to us too, otherwise...”

  “You’d do what I say anyway.” Jack offered us both a wide smile. “Oh, and if you need help tracking her down, I can offer you some interesting devices.”

  I seized Jaiden’s arm and led him out of there before we both decided to forget everything and just go for Jack’s throat instead.

  Chapter 13

  When we got back to the lab, everyone was there: my parents, Noah, Marissa, Ashley, and Sam. Their faces instantly brightened when they saw us, and my parents sprinted toward me, pulling me into a big hug.

  “I was already getting worried Maiers captured you. Please tell me you got rid of him, or that you at least wiped his mind or something,” Noah said.

  “No.” I sighed. “We couldn’t touch him because he has something we ne
ed, and... he told us something interesting about Sophia.”

  “Yeah,” Jaiden said. “And we have a plan.”

  “Oh good. Please tell me it’s something easy,” Noah said, grimacing. “I’m really tired of dealing with people who want to hunt us down.”

  “Sophia is one of us,” I said, and everyone gaped at me.

  “She what?” Noah said.

  “Impossible.” Marissa shook her head. “She’s older than us. She can’t be!”

  “Are you sure Maiers didn’t lie to you?” Sam asked. “It wouldn’t be a surprise. Did you use mind control on him to know for sure?”

  “He’s protected against us, so no, but... he showed us a video that Sophia sent to him and she’s definitely after him too. Apparently she’s one of the adults who were experimented on so they would turn into tainted elementals.”

  “But didn’t all those experiments fail?” my mom asked in confusion.

  “Yeah, most of them, but something happened to two of them that made them seem dead, but I guess they weren’t, so they’re now tainted elementals. Jack said he couldn’t recreate the process, but I’m not sure we should believe him.” I was getting tired of the whole thing. “But we’ll deal with him later. First we have to stop Sophia and then find that other person. Jack says his name’s Terry. We should track him down too to make sure he’s not a threat to anyone. Jack called him unstable, but Jack is not perfectly sane either, so we can’t trust his judgement.”

  “Whoa, slow down. When did that experiment happen? Jack would’ve...”

  “Not recently. He’s been mind-controlled so those two could escape, I guess... I can’t heal Jack’s mind to check.”

  “What if he thinks that’s what happened but it actually didn’t? What if none of what he says is true?” Ashley said.

  “Well, someone still had to mind-control him, and even if Sophia isn’t one of us, she’s working with one or more tainteds, which means our best shot at discrediting her in front of everyone is to film her using her abilities or working with tainteds,” I said. If we showed a video exposing Sophia’s secret, she’d lose people’s support.