Indestructible (14 page)

Chapter 20

My body moved. I felt my fist collide with flesh, but I had a feeling someone else was doing all of it instead of me. My fingers wrapped around someone’s throat, my leg sending another person flying to the ground. I’d never felt stronger in my whole life, and that was both scary and beautiful. The building was swarming with elements and they were all waiting for me. All I had to do was take them.

The body underneath me went limp and the exquisite taste of air brushed against my tongue. I drank in the element, binding it to me, making it mine.

“Ria!” someone yelled and I had just enough of time to duck to avoid the assault of fire. I used my new element to pin the person closest to me to the wall. Applying more pressure, I touched the person’s skin. The energy shot up my arm, pushing aside the air. Something hit my head and I fell to the floor.

“Sound the alarms,” a familiar voice said, but I couldn’t quite place it.

“But, sir, that will kill all the subjects...” another voice said.

“Doesn’t matter,” the first voice replied.

“Ria! You have to fight it! Don’t let it control you!” At least that was one voice that I recognized. Adrian. I pushed myself up on my elbows and saw the bodies of the two guards. Oh my God. I had done that, hadn’t I? Sebastian had wanted me to find my element, but I’d found something else instead. I’d found my disease and it’d hit me with full force.

“Stay away from him!” I yelled at Sebastian, who was standing way too close to Adrian for my liking. A dozen of fireballs flew in my direction and I tried to stop them with a wall of air. Half of the fireballs went right through and I barely managed to dodge them. The fire I’d taken from the other guard was nowhere near as strong as Sebastian’s. And even with two elements in my system, my body craved more.

As I looked around the room, I noticed the doctor was gone and the red lights were flashing in the hall. “Sebastian, what have you done?”

“Nothing much. Just made sure none of your kind gets out of here.” He reached for something in his pocket and before I could react, he stabbed Adrian in the neck with a syringe. Unleashing both of my elements, I sent a wave of fire at Sebastian, who managed to stop my attack with his own fire. I rushed at him, exchanging fire and air attacks. He dodged most of them, but a gust of wind hit him in the leg and sent him to the ground.

I was on top of him in a second, pinning him both with my element and my body. His hands turned into fire, but instead of burning me, I absorbed the energy and warmth. Sebastian’s eyes widened in shock.

“I’m sorry, Sebastian. I think my body still remembers Ethan’s element and yours tastes almost the same,” I purred as I dug my knee into Sebastian’s throat. He coughed and tried to push me off, but I intensified the pressure, letting the element seep into me. Warmth spread through every pore of my body, filling me with life as Sebastian’s eyes glazed over.

“Ria...” Adrian’s weak voice broke the spell I was under. Stumbling backwards, I tried to get as far as possible from Sebastian’s body. When I looked up at Adrian, I realized the syringe was still poking out of his neck. I sprang to my feet and grabbed the empty syringe.

“We have to get out of here,” Adrian said, his good eye slightly unfocused. What the fuck had that psychopath given him? I searched for the key to unlock the cuffs and found it on the body of one of the guards.

“Can you walk?” I asked as the cuffs fell off Adrian’s wrists. He slumped to the ground, so I used all of my strength to help him up. I let him lean on my shoulder and we slowly made our way to the door. I was determined to put on fire anyone who dared to stand in our way.

“You should let go of me,” Adrian said, wincing. “We can’t feel elements this way.”

“I don’t care. We’re almost out.” I could see the main door in the distance. All we had to do was follow the hall and pass a couple of more glass doors. “Is it true what Sebastian said? That all the other carriers won’t make it out?”

Adrian gave me a pained look. “Every lab has one of those protocols that if something goes wrong, they kill off all the subjects. I don’t know how they planned to do it here, but... I don’t think anyone can survive it.” It had to be something similar to the system my father’s lab had, but that one didn’t include killing the subjects. At least I thought it didn’t.

“Okay. I’ll get you out, then I can try to stop them.” I wouldn’t risk Adrian’s life for nothing.

“No,” he said. “You can’t go back.”

I didn’t say anything to that. First I needed to get him out, and then I could think about the rest. An element was right in front of us and I spotted the doctor. He was near the door, fumbling with something. I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to escape or lock us all in.

“Not so fast, doctor,” I said as we approached him. A tornado of sand rose from the ground, but it took me only a couple of seconds to swallow it into my fire.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I said, a smile forming on my lips. “My elements can eat your sub-element for breakfast. Now be a nice doctor and tell me something.”

The doctor pressed his back to the door, his eyes wide. “Tell you what?”

“Are the test subjects still alive?” I hoped he understood that his fate depended on his answer. If he helped me to save the carriers, I might be more forgiving for what he had done. Or maybe not.

He licked his lips. “No. We executed the termination protocol.”

“Open the door,” I ordered, pointing my fire-enveloped finger at him. “And step aside.”

He did what I told him, and we passed him by. Taking a breath of fresh air, I let go of Adrian and turned around. The doctor stayed near the door, probably waiting for an opportunity to escape. But there wouldn’t be such an opportunity for him. I slammed the door shut and took a couple of steps back.

“Ria, what are you doing?” Adrian asked.

“The people inside are monsters,” I whispered. “I can’t let them live.”

“Ria!” Adrian yelled, but it was too late. Calling to all of my new elements, I unleashed a fiery tornado at the building. The fire surrounded the whole lab, making it impossible for anyone to leave. Turning on my heel, I held the fire in place. There was so much power in me. I could do anything I wanted. The world couldn’t stop me. I was indestructible.

“Let’s go,” I said to Adrian. There were no other buildings near the lab, so we had to be somewhere outside of the city. But now we had to get away from a possible explosion.

“Ria, listen to me. Don’t do this,” he said, his eyes pleading.

I gave him a perplexed look. “Those people destroyed the lives of so many of our kind! And they’re not even sorry about it. They would have killed us too.”

“I know.” He limped across the street. I would have helped him, but I was afraid I’d lose control over my elements.

“Then what’s the problem? I’m sure you’d kill them yourself if you could.”

“I don’t care about them. I care about you,” he said. “I’m worried what this will do to you once you get off your magic high.”

I laughed. “Don’t worry about that. Everything is going to be fine.” As we reached the parking lot, I pulled Adrian with me behind one of the cars. An explosion rocked the ground and lit up the night’s sky. I didn’t bother to look back. The windows on a couple of cars shattered.

“Do you know how to start a car without the key?” I said, frowning at the cars around us.

“Yes,” Adrian said.

“Good.” I had no idea when and where he’d had a chance to learn that, but I didn’t care. “We need to get you to the hospital. Who knows what they injected you with.”

Adrian shook his head, the strands of his black hair falling into his eyes. “No hospitals. I know what they gave me. You need to get me to Alan.”

“What?” I wasn’t really happy about the prospect of seeing Alan again. Another explosion was so strong that it sent bits and pieces of concrete flying past us. Pain spread through my chest, leaving me breathless. The world tilted around me, and every element I could feel from miles away faded from my radar. The energy drained from me as fast as it had come, leaving me empty.

I slumped to the ground, the edge of my vision going dark. In the distance, I could hear the sound of an engine, but my eyelids were too heavy to keep them open.

Chapter 21

A thousand of bees buzzed in my head or maybe that was just the crackling of fire in the distance. My cheek was pressed to the cold, wet ground, and as I rolled over, I saw Adrian slumped behind the wheel of one of the cars. I got to my feet despite the protest of my muscles and rushed over to him.

His skin was cool to the touch, his eyes closed. “No, Adrian! Hey! Wake up!”

His right eye cracked open and he offered me a weak smile. I had to get him to Alan before it was too late. Somehow I managed to push Adrian to the other seat and settled myself behind the wheel. I didn’t know when exactly Adrian had started the car, but I was grateful he had done it. As I sped across the parking lot, avoiding holes and debris, I looked at the remains of the lab. I couldn’t remember it clearly, but I had a feeling I was responsible for its current state.

I exhaled in relief when I recognized the highway. We were only twenty or so minutes away from the part of the city where Alan lived. But as I glanced at Adrian’s face, which was so pale under the bruises and blood, I didn’t know how much time he had.

“Adrian? Talk to me, please. What was in that syringe? Do you know what it will do to you?” Maybe, just maybe it wasn’t something lethal, but knowing Sebastian, I had to be ready for the worst.

“Just drive,” he croaked out. My mind wandered back to the lab, but my memory was hazy. I didn’t feel any different from how I’d felt before I got to the lab. My disease and my elements were gone, the emptiness back. I was vaguely aware that I’d taken two or three elements more and brought down the lab, but I couldn’t remember how that felt.

I parked in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the protests of people who were walking by. Dragging Adrian out of the car proved to be a difficult task. The security guy gaped at me as Adrian and I staggered into the lobby, but one angry glare from me stopped him from whatever he was about to do.

I banged on Alan’s door and rang the bell at least five times. The door flew open and I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun.

“Ria?” Alan immediately lowered the gun and tucked it into his belt. Worry filled his eyes as he saw Adrian. “Oh, God. What happened?”

“We were imprisoned in a lab and Adrian got injected with some weird red liquid. He said you could help.” I made a mental note to ask Alan why the hell he thought he had to point a gun in my face when he opened the door.

“What liquid?” Alan helped me carry Adrian inside.

“I don’t know.” I ran a hand over my face. If only I had seen what Sebastian had put in the syringe or found the bottle.

“Adrian, can you hear me?” Alan tipped Adrian’s chin up. When Adrian didn’t respond, Alan dug his fingers into the bruises on Adrian’s jaw, making him cry out.

“Hey, don’t do that to him!” I might not have any elements or weapons, but I was ready to punch Alan in the face if he kept hurting my boyfriend. I was through with Adrian getting hurt.

“Shut up, Ria. I’m trying to save his life.” Alan shot me an annoyed glare. His grip on Adrian tightened. “Adrian? Tell me what they gave you.”

“476,” Adrian whispered.

“Shit,” Alan muttered, then turned to me. “Get out of the way.”

“Why?” I stepped into one of the rooms, leaning on the doorframe. All the plants in the hall shot up, seizing Adrian. Unsure what to do, I could only stare as the plants moved through the hall, carrying Adrian to another room. Who would have thought Alan could do that?

“You can come if you want,” Alan said as the plants withdrew. I followed his voice and found myself in a large bedroom. Adrian was lying on a big double bed, his head resting on one of the soft white pillows. Alan was going through the contents of a black duffel bag, cursing when he dropped a package of something.

“Is he going to be okay?” I sat down on the other half of the bed, placing my hand over Adrian’s.

“I hope so,” Alan said, shaking a brown bottle.

“Do you know what was in the syringe and what it does?” The number Adrian had told Alan was meaningless to me, but I hoped Alan could tell me more.

“Luckily, I do.” He unwrapped a syringe and placed it on the nightstand. “Adrian was injected with that liquid a long time ago at the lab. If he doesn’t receive an antidote, he’s going to die.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Please tell me you have the antidote.”

“I do, but not the necessary amount. It will be enough to keep him alive, but the recovery won’t be as painless as it is with a full dose of the antidote.” Alan filled the syringe and held it up, examining it in the light.

I squeezed Adrian’s hand. He’d survive this. He’d be fine. I knew he would. “Alan, can I use your phone? It’s important.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

As Alan prepared to inject Adrian with the antidote, I picked up the phone and went to the hall. I needed to know whether my mom was alright. She hadn’t been in the lab. Of that much I was certain because Sebastian would have put her in that room with Adrian. But I had no idea what had happened with Margaret.

“Hello?” my mom’s voice filled the line and I slumped against the wall, the tears of joy streaming down my face.

“Mom?” I sobbed.

“Ria? Honey!” Something clattered to the ground, probably a glass or a bottle. “Oh my God. Is that really you?”

“Yes, mom, it’s me. Are you okay? Please tell me you’re safe and that the assassin is nowhere near you.” Even if the safes and the money had been destroyed in the explosion, Margaret could still be after my family simply because she was a carrier and we’d messed up her plan.

“Yes, honey. I’m fine. But tell me, where are you? Your friends have told me they were looking for you. Did they find you?” Her voice was laced with joy.

“No, mom. I’m going to call them next.” I tapped my foot against the floor. “Listen, I don’t have much time. My boyfriend... He’s not well.”