Restless (Element Preservers, #4) (24 page)

I gave him a long look. The corners of his lips were up and his dark eyes were shining. What was he up to now? “Sure.” I glanced at Lily, who looked surprised, and I walked out in the hall with my brother.

“What’s up?” I crossed my arms, eyeing him suspiciously.

“You have a chance to change things for us, sis. The president wants you on the stage. You could use that opportunity to speak up against him.” His eyes gleamed. “Lily said there would be thousands of people at the square. Do you know what that means? We could rise against the government. Right now.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “Yeah, I don’t think that would work.”

“Then give me the presidency and I’ll go instead of you. The president won’t be able to argue that. I know he’s not very fond of you, especially when you damaged the reputation of the government’s lab. He could as well send someone to kill you, and I’m much better at protecting myself than you are.” He grinned. “Besides, the presidency is a huge problem for you. You can’t even finish university and live your life as you wish. If you resign in my favor, all of your problems will be gone.”

Ah, didn’t that sound amazing? The perfect solution for all of my problems: handing over the presidency to my bloodthirsty, psychotic brother. “No. I can deal with this.”

The smile faded from his face and his eyes darkened. “I’m offering you a chance of your life, sis. Don’t be stupid. Can’t you see what the government is doing? We need to act and we need to do it now!” He raised his voice. “And I have the means to do it. I could ignite the crowd with a couple of words, but you’re too stubborn to let go.” The vein in his neck pulsed and he took a deep breath.

“I guess I am.” I shrugged.

“I’ll get what I want sooner or later, but you might not be there to see it.” With those words, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. I stared after him, wondering should I ask him to clarify his last sentence, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me anything.

Lily came out of Paula’s room, closing the door behind her. “Paula’s asleep. We should let her rest.”

“Yeah, but send someone to guard her. We can’t leave her unprotected.” I rubbed my arms, trying to block the buzzing elements out of my mind. Kayla had been with me the whole time while I was sleeping, but the elements around me kept intensifying or dulling at the strangest moments.

“What did Oli tell you?” Lily’s brow creased in concern.

“Just the usual.”

“He’s been gathering the carriers who have the same views and opinions as him,” she said. “He even talked to Ethan’s father.”

My eyebrows shot upward. “What?”

“Yeah, he told me yesterday. I was as shocked as you are.” Lily shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe Oliver hadn’t told her earlier. Or maybe she didn’t believe he’d look for other carriers when he was already a part of her group.

“So Ethan’s father is a carrier?”

“Yes. Apparently, he got the disease from a lover after Ethan was born. That explains it how Ethan’s element can be so strong.”

I chewed on the insides of my mouth. One tiny part of me was hoping that Ethan had the disease in his genes and could still develop it at some point of his life. That would certainly make him easier to defeat since his element wouldn’t be pure. “Does Oliver know more about Ethan then?”

“No, but Ethan’s father gave Oliver the financial support to buy weapons.” Lily sighed. “So far, I’ve managed to stop Oli from going to a war and attacking the government, but I’m not sure for how long he’ll listen to me.”

Great. My brother really did want to go to a war and there were idiots who agreed with him. What did he promise them? Free elements for everyone? “If he already has his own little group, why is he still asking me to give him the presidency? It isn’t like he couldn’t jump on the stage and take the word from me.”

“I don’t know. Maybe the presidency of the Element Preservers isn’t completely worthless to him, especially if he promised to his supporters that he’d get it. Maybe it’s some kind of a test for him so everyone can see he can be a leader.” Lily’s tone was full of disapproval. I wondered whether she still loved my brother or she doubted her feelings for him.

“My brother is weird sometimes.” A crazy theory came to my mind. What if the government had hired Oliver to kill me? Ethan was working for the government, and Oliver had an agreement with Ethan’s father. The government wouldn’t have accepted to work with someone who had a carrier in the family, but maybe they made an exception for Ethan because they needed him.

Ethan’s father could only be an intermediary between the government and my brother. I knew Ethan’s father was rich, but would he really have enough money to pay for the weapons or had that money come from the government? Of course, the government would never give money to someone who planned to destroy them, but maybe Ethan’s father never told them he had another secret agreement with Oliver. Nah, Oliver would never accept to work for the government, even if the agreement was fake, and I believed he wouldn’t really kill me. So yeah, I was back to being clueless what the government and my brother planned to do.

I spotted Adrian coming toward us, his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans. The doctor had insisted to check on him, but Adrian refused. I was grateful the bullet had only grazed him.

“You shouldn’t go to the protest,” he said, his gray-blue eyes unyielding. “Paula is safe and the government doesn’t hold any of us as hostages, so you could hide somewhere until it’s all over.”

I cocked my head. “What about you? Do you plan to go? As one of the protesters?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

I threw my hands up in frustration. “Then I have to go too. Besides, I want to have a nice little chat with Ethan. The president will send him to pick me up.”

“I’ll kill him if he even looks at you.” Adrian’s tone was icier than his element.

“Aww, that’s sweet.” My lips spread into a smile.

“Do you intend to hold that speech?”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe I should listen to my brother and tell people everything about the president and the government.” I played with the strand of my hair, twirling it around my finger.

“The police will shoot you as soon as you mention the president’s name.” Adrian bit his lip. “Why don’t you just come to the protest with me? Don’t hold a speech or anything, ok?” He looked at me through his eyelashes. “For me? Please?”

“I’ll think about it. But first we need to figure out what’s going on.” I couldn’t promise him something if I wasn’t sure about it. “I know I don’t want to die. That’s for sure.”

“Then don’t go anywhere with Ethan. You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to. Go with your guards until we find out what’s going on.” His smile was more of a grimace.

“But I told you I want to talk to Ethan. Alone.” I met his eyes.

His eyebrows shot upward. “You can find him during the protest. Tell him to meet you at the square. There will be a lot of unknown people around you, but no one will be able to tell who did what, if you know what I mean.”

A slow smile quirked my lips. “Give me your phone. I need to call Ethan and tell him the plan has changed.” The government and Ethan wouldn’t fuck me over this time.

Chapter 30

In my wildest dreams, I’d have never imagined so many people at the main square, especially at the protest against the government. It was strange to be surrounded by people who didn’t have elements or whose elements were merely a weak pulse inside of them. I had my fake element-blocking bracelet on my wrist, just in case some of the carriers around me started asking questions.

Lily’s team was ready and waiting, but I couldn’t see them. I
could
hear them if they had something to tell me because of the fancy device on my ear that resembled an earring. A familiar element called my attention and I was surprised Ethan wasn’t blocking his element. He’d have to be extremely brave or stupid to parade around with a pure element in a place full of carriers.

The police was monitoring the whole event, so maybe Ethan hoped he’d provoke someone. It would be bad press for carriers if one of them attacked a person with an element because it would prove we couldn’t live together in peace. No one would even consider the possibility that the carrier might have been provoked.

The satisfied expression on Ethan’s face didn’t change when he spotted me in the crowd. “Ah, there you are. I was wondering how I was supposed to find you, but you didn’t give me a chance to ask earlier when you called. It’s nice to see you.”

“I can’t say the same.” My face twisted into a sneer. How could he stand in front of me and pretend everything was fine between us? How could he look me in the eye and not feel anything for what he had done to Paula?

“I must admit I’d prefer if you were dead.” The corners of his lips quirked up as if we were exchanging pleasantries. “But at least Paula was there to alleviate my frustration.”

My blood boiled and I wrapped my fingers around his arm. “You’re sick. You disgust me.”

He pulled his arm out of my grip, curling his lip at me. “I never liked you, but Paula... She’s so sweet.”

I was barely containing myself from jumping at his throat. “Never? Not even in the beginning?”

“No, never.” He breathed the last word into my face.

“So it was all a pretense.” He’d never been only a guy who was interested me and a victim of the government.

“Of course. The government sent me to feign interest in you.” He scoffed. “I’d never like someone who works with carriers. You did piss me off, though, when you refused my advances.”

“Your father works with carriers.” Oliver had pretty much confirmed it, so there was no way Ethan could deny his father was a carrier, and since he supported my brother, he was working with carriers too.

Ethan paled and his eyes widened. “Careful what you’re saying, bitch.” He grabbed me by the shoulder, his fingers digging into my skin.

“I know your father is a carrier. Don’t try to deny it.” I pried his fingers off my shoulder and shivered. His element was a wonderful and powerful pretty little thing. One part of me wanted it, but the other part was horrified by such thoughts. I didn’t want anything of Ethan’s, especially not his element... if it was even possible for me to take it.

“I won’t, but if you tell someone, I will kill you.” His dark brown eyes were like shiny daggers.

“How can you hate carriers if your father is one of them?” He’d never been chatty before, but now that all the cards were on the table, maybe he’d be more forthcoming.

“My father is not a real carrier,” Ethan hissed. “He got the disease because he fucked a sweet little painter.”

Interesting. So, according to Ethan, only the carriers who inherited the disease were real carriers and everyone else was fake or something. God. His mind was a dark, twisted place. No wonder his family didn’t like painting. I supposed Ethan’s paintings were the only real thing about him in the whole charade.

“Do you know how many times he almost killed me when I was a child?” Ethan continued, working himself into rage. “But I’ll get my revenge and destroy all carriers for ruining my life! You don’t know how happy and angry at the same time I was when I overheard a carrier talking to my father about your involvement with carriers. You were supposed to protect our elements, not work with the monsters!”

The carrier Ethan had overheard must have been my brother. I should have asked Lily whether Oliver had mentioned me to his supporters, but he must have convinced them he’d gotten the disease from someone rather than admitted he’d inherited it. Even my family believed in that misconception. If Oliver had revealed our family’s secret, someone would have already exposed me.

“And how do you plan to get your glorious revenge?” I laughed, aware that I’d only piss him off more.

Ethan’s eyes darkened, but he looked away from me. “It’s time. You have to get on the stage.” He took a step forward, but I didn’t move. “Are you deaf?”

“I don’t feel like going on the stage right now.”

Ethan grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me in the direction of the stage, ignoring the curious looks of the passersby.

“Ria! Can you hear me?” A panicked voice pierced through my mind and it took me a second to realize it was coming from my special earring. “The whole square is surrounded by bombs! The government didn’t plan to kill you. They planned to kill everyone! Someone probably has a trigger for the bombs. Our satellite images show the army forces gathering in the suburb. They’ll be here soon. It’s a war!” I pressed the earring closer to my ear, barely comprehending what was going on as the voice continued. “Get rid of Ethan and run! We’re about to use all of our megaphones to tell people to disperse.”

I looked at Ethan, my mouth hanging open, my legs rooted to the spot. It had never been about me. I was dumb enough to think that I was the government’s sole concern when they... They wanted to get rid of all carriers and their supporters. How would they ever explain such a massacre? I didn’t have time to think about that now.

Ethan eyed me with mistrust. “Why’d you stop? Let’s go!”

“You,” I said, facing him. “You have the trigger!” I threw myself at him and tackled him to the ground before he had time to react. The megaphones sounded in the distance and people around us started shouting and running, bumping into each other, but I didn’t have time to look where they were going or what they were doing. Patting the pockets of his black jacket, I tried to find the trigger. He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me off of him.