Restless (Element Preservers, #4) (21 page)

“No.” He chuckled. “I’d follow you to the end of the world, Ria Milanez. Don’t even think about knocking me unconscious or something like that.”

“Shit.” I pouted. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

“I always know what you’re thinking.” His soft lips brushed the tip of my nose. “And even if I die tonight, at least I’ll die protecting you.”

“Stop it!” I let go of him and smacked him in the shoulder. “You’re not going to die.”

“Nah, you’re right. I won’t.” He grinned, but his face was serious again only a second later, his voice low. “But if I do, kill them all.”

“Of course,” I whispered. Luck better be on our side tonight or I’d be seriously pissed off.

Chapter 27

I wrinkled my nose at the horrible smell that came from the trash cans behind which Adrian and I were hiding. The government’s lab was surrounded by a high fence, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly nauseous because we were so close to it.

“Five guards. All armed,” Adrian said, taking another peek around the corner. “I can’t feel their elements.”

“Are they carriers or are their elements blocked?” I’d love to laugh in the president’s face if he had hired carriers to protect him.

“Probably blocked by their suits or bracelets. The president doesn’t seem like a man who’d trust magic disease carriers.”

“Ria, can you hear me?” Michael said.

“Yeah.” I pressed the tiny microphone on my shirt so he could hear me too.

“Great. The truck with supplies should be here in three minutes. It will stop at the entrance for the checkup, so you should get inside somehow and the truck will take you to the garage.”

“Ok, but how are we supposed to reach the truck? There are cameras everywhere.” I rose to my feet and glanced at the building, counting at least five cameras that were pointed directly at the entrance.

“I can override the computer at the nearby substation. The electricity will go off in the whole block.”

“You can do that?” My eyebrows shot upward. I’d never guessed Michael was so interested in computers.

“Yeah, I picked up a couple of new skills while working with Lily and her team.” There was a hint of pride in his voice.

“Cool. But doesn’t the lab have its own power supply?” It would be dumb not to have a backup, especially when labs pretty much depended on technology.

“Yeah, it does, but you’ll have 20 seconds until their generator starts working.”

“What about the guards?” I was sure they wouldn’t disappear if the power went off.

“We’ll have to distract them,” Adrian said.

I tilted my head at him. “I can do that.”

Adrian flashed me a quick smile. The truck came a couple of minutes later than Michael had predicted, but Adrian and I could see it clearly when it stopped in front of the entrance. I found air inside of me and pushed it out, focusing my attention on the alley on the other side of the lab. The twirling air grew larger and larger as I unleashed it, crashing into various objects in its way. The sound of the rolling trash cans pierced through the silence like a thunder, attracting the guards’ attention. Only one guard remained at the entrance, and he was talking to the driver.

Darkness swallowed the street as the lights went off, but the truck’s red lights were still visible.

“Now.” Adrian touched my shoulder and we started running toward the truck as fast as we could. My mini-tornado was still producing enough noise, so Adrian managed to slide open the door without alerting the driver and the guard. We climbed inside and hid behind some large boxes. I could hear my heart pumping like crazy and I huddled closer to the box, afraid the guard would see us.

The door opened and the beam of a flashlight swept across the truck, just above my head. I held my breath as I heard the guard’s footsteps coming closer.

“It’s clear,” the guard said, sounding bored. “Even if someone is in there, they won’t get far.” The driver laughed, and I heard the door closing. I slumped against the box, my throat feeling as if I swallowed a potato. My breath came out as a little gasp.

“That was close,” Adrian said, hitting one of the boxes as the truck lurched forward. The device in my ear popped, and all I could hear was the white noise. Michael had been right. Any foreign devices wouldn’t work as soon as we reached the lab’s protected area. I had no idea what they did to keep their technology untouched, but I wasn’t about to go ask them. Taking the device out of my ear, I flung it to the ground. I didn’t know if they had special detectors inside, and the device was useless anyway, so it was better for me not to carry it around.

The truck came to a stop and I strained my ears to hear what was going on outside. We had to get out the truck before someone tried to unload it. We heard footsteps near the door and coldness filled the truck. The door shook, but it wouldn’t open because Adrian had frozen it with his element. The man swore and trudged off, probably to find something to use on the door. It was our moment to move.

Adrian pulled his ice back without melting it and we slipped outside. We ran toward the nearest pile of boxes and hid behind it.

“When did you learn how to do that?” I whispered. It took a great deal of energy to stay in contact with your element and pull it back completely like nothing had happened. In fact, I’d never seen someone do it before. It was nearly impossible to do it with fire, though, because things that got burned couldn’t get whole again no matter what you did with your element. If I survived this night, I’d have to try that particular skill with my water or air.

Adrian only grinned at me, and we focused on our new surroundings. He nudged my shoulder and pointed at the door on the other end of the garage. I pulled out my gun and prepared myself for the run. We had no idea what waited for us behind that door, but we had to be ready. Just as I was about to start for the door, Adrian grabbed my wrist and bobbed his head toward one of the boxes that was open.

“What?” I looked at him in confusion.

“White coats,” he said. “If we dress up like scientists, maybe we’ll have better chances once we get inside.”

“Oh.” That wasn’t a bad idea, considering that our original plan was to run inside, shooting at anyone who got in our way, and try to get to Paula before anyone noticed the cameras were frozen. Adrian tore the box and took out two nearly identical coats. I shrugged one over my shoulders and hid my gun underneath it, in a place where I could easily reach it.

It was unusual to see Adrian wearing a white coat, but I didn’t have time to comment on that. We strode across the garage and opened the door. The cameras were everywhere, so we kept our heads down and pretend to check something on the large notepads we had found with the coats. My throat constricted as we moved down the hall and I was afraid I’d throw up.

Adrian looked unnerved too, his face pale, his eyes darting from one white wall to another. This lab wasn’t any different from any other lab with its white walls and white floors, so I could understand why Adrian didn’t like it in here. A man and a woman in white coats approached us from the other end of the hall, but they didn’t even glance at us as we passed them by. The woman was saying something about a new experiment and the man next to her was nodding enthusiastically.

We found ourselves in a big room with an elevator. Guards with rifles stood right across from the elevator, monitoring it for any suspicious activity. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from flinching and staring at them. As we neared the elevator, I realized it was closed and right next to it was a fingerprint and eye scanner. Oh, crap. What now? I searched Adrian’s eyes, but he focused on the elevator, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

We slowed our pace a little, but if we stopped here or turned around, the guards would become suspicious. I could already feel their eyes on my back and had to fight the urge to just turn around and run for the exit.

“Are you going up?” A masculine voice said behind our backs and I nearly jumped. A dark-haired guy in his twenties came into view, clutching a pile of papers to his chest. He flashed me a smile and stood in front of the scanner, pressing his finger to it.

“Yes,” I said, my voice quivering, so I coughed to cover it up. The elevator opened and the three of us walked inside. I noticed a camera in the corner and quickly looked away. The guy pressed the button for the second floor and I pressed the third, hoping the guy wouldn’t ask us anything. I’d be utterly lost if he tried to discuss his experiments with me.

It seemed like an eternity until the elevator finally reached the second floor. The guy winked at me as he walked out, whistling to himself. I hoped Paula wasn’t on that floor because we couldn’t go after that guy. Sooner or later, he’d start a conversation with us or tried to see where we were going. Adrian took a quick peek outside, right before the door closed again, and shook his head.

“I can’t feel any elements,” I whispered, barely moving my lips.

“I have a feeling there’s something in these coats that blocks them,” he whispered back, keeping his head turned away from the camera. If bracelets could block elements, I didn’t see why some part of a coat couldn’t. It was expensive to make such a material, but if someone had that kind of money, it was the government. Why they thought they needed such protection in here was a completely another question.

“It’s a big lab,” I said. “Many people work here.” And that was a good thing, or that guy would have called the security as soon as he had set eyes on us. I couldn’t feel Paula’s element anywhere in the building, so if she was really here, she had to be in a well-protected room. Adrian only nodded, playing with his notepad.

“How are we going to get back to the elevator if they ask for the authorization on every floor?” We were lucky to get in it at all, but I doubted our luck would hold. Someone would notice that we were always waiting for someone to get in first. And we couldn’t exactly stand in the middle of the room without a thing to do and wait for someone to use the elevator. What if we got stuck on one floor for hours because no one had to go anywhere? That was a scary thought.

Adrian patted his coat right above the spot where he’d stored his gun. So he planned to force someone to open it, but that would mean everyone would know we were intruders. We’d have only minutes to find Paula, and I wasn’t sure how we’d get out, especially if the guards didn’t care about the lives of the scientists who worked here.

The elevator opened again and we were greeted by a row guards, their rifles trained on us. I swore, throwing myself sideways to avoid the gunfire. Adrian did the same and pressed the button for the next floor.

“How the fuck did they figure it out?” I said, my heart in my throat. Our time was up and we didn’t even know where we were going. Had they caught our faces on the cameras and ran the images through the face recognition? Had the guy noticed we didn’t belong here? I didn’t have time to ponder on that. We needed to find Paula.

“No idea,” Adrian said, throwing his notepad to the floor. “But we need to hurry.”

I couldn’t agree more with that, but the armed men would definitely slow our progress. The elevator opened and we peered outside, relieved when we realized no one was waiting for us. Adrian pressed all the buttons on the elevator and we ran out. I hadn’t seen any doors that indicated there was a stairway, so the elevator was probably the only way to go up in this building. Obviously they didn’t care who died and who survived in case of an emergency. How nice. The paycheck had to be outrageously high or so many people would have never agreed to work here.

We got rid of our coats and pulled out our guns, ready to fight with all we had. Maybe our elements were more dangerous than guns, but guns were faster and easier to use. As we ran down the empty hall, Adrian froze the cameras that were trying to turn in our direction. I opened a couple of doors, but they all led to empty rooms or offices. What if we were wasting time on the wrong floor?

Pushing the troubling thoughts away, I followed the hall until I reached the last door on the left. I kicked it open and found myself in front of another door, but that door was locked and a scanner was attached to the wall next to it. Calling to my fire, I used it on the door and the scanner, but nothing happened. I didn’t even leave a scratch.

“This one’s locked,” I said, turning my head to face Adrian. Just as the words left my mouth, someone came out of the room at the opposite side of the hall. A middle-aged blond man stared at us, and Adrian grabbed him before he could run away.

“Open the door.” Adrian pointed his gun at the man’s head, shoving him toward the door with the scanner.

“I’m afraid I can’t...” the man started to say and Adrian dug the barrel of his gun into the man’s temple.

“Yes, you can,” he said coldly. “Or I’ll blow your head off.”

The man stepped in front of the scanner, glancing at me, and pressed his hand against the glassy surface. The door beeped and opened. Pushing the man out of my way, I ran into the room. The sight in front of my eyes made my heart skip a beat. The world stopped spinning around me and my every movement was in slow motion.

Paula was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, her clothes torn and bloody. Someone screamed and I had a bad feeling the thunderous sound had come out of my throat.

Chapter 28