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

"Sure, but that works for ordinary girls, not for someone for whose secrets the press would pay a fortune." I nearly choked on my soda because Ethan's fire intensified as if he were using it.

"You think I work for the press," he said incredulously.

"I don't know. You tell me." I had no other choice but to use my fire to warm the air around me to distract myself from the pull of Ethan's fire. It drove me crazy that fire could still bother me even though I had it. You'd think I'd only crave the element I didn't have. Lily said once she wasn't sure if desiring all the elements all the time was a blessing in disguise because hungering only for the element we didn’t have would tip us over the edge. This way more elements fought for a carrier's attention, so it was harder to give in only to one element. Then again, life would be easier if we craved only one element and if we could control ourselves at the same time, but the disease was never that simple. I was sure it would find a way to screw us over no matter what.

"Look, I liked you from the day I saw you on the TV. You revealed the secrets that changed our world."

"Changed our world, huh? I wouldn't agree with you on that. The world went on as if nothing happened." Many people were upset, surprised, happy, angry or shocked when I revealed the news, but nothing major changed. My theory was that most of the people believed the news didn't concern them because the stereotypes about carriers were still too strong. A decent citizen certainly couldn't be a carrier; someone so much like them.

"You're wrong." Ethan lowered his voice, glancing around like a scared rabbit. "Magic disease carriers will come out to ask for their rights."

"Why do you think that?" I frowned, unsure what to think about Ethan. Was he one of those who hated carriers or who sympathized with them?

"It's their chance to get what they want. That video you showed was very touching. People are quiet for now because they're waiting to see what the government will do next, but if carriers come out, some will side with them." His dark brown eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't identify. Why was he so interested in the topic?

"We'll see about that." I didn't want Ethan to know whose side I was on. While I was the one who had participated in exposing the tortures that carriers went through, no one could say for sure why that particular piece of info had been revealed. I could understand that some people believed the government and the EP had a hidden agenda, but I couldn't exactly reveal that the EP was mostly run by carriers now. "You still didn't answer my question. Who sent you?"

Ethan sighed and ran his hand through his short dark brown hair. "Like I said, I really liked you, and I only wanted to talk to you, but now I see that was a mistake." He started to get up, but I caught his wrist.

"Wait," I said, and he sat back down. "I'm sorry. I'm just... under a lot of pressure." I couldn't let him go without finding out the truth, so I had to take a different approach.

"I won't talk about your job anymore then." His element pulled back and he smiled at me. "I read in the newspaper that you traveled a lot. Are there any places you'd like to visit when you get a chance?"

"Sure." I wished I had read what the damn newspaper said. "Where would you like to go?"

"Paris, I guess. Sounds romantic." His hand brushed against my leg under the table, making me jump. I scooted back, but Ethan pretended like nothing had happened.

"Actually, it's not that romantic unless you go there with the right person." If Alan had sent this guy after me, then he picked the best actor of all. I was clueless about Ethan and his intentions. Maybe Adrian was right and Ethan only wanted to get me into his bed.

"True." Ethan tilted his head as if a great idea occurred to him. "Isn't your nineteenth birthday coming up?"

"Umm, yeah." My birthday was in two weeks, but I hoped it would go unnoticed.

"Do you have any plans for the celebration?"

"Maybe." The last thing I needed was to spend my birthday with this guy. I was hoping for an awesome party somewhere at one of Lily's secret compounds. Now that the whole world knew about me, I couldn't go to clubs. Besides, it wasn't safe for me to go anywhere near people with elements.

"You're very mysterious, Ria Milanez." Ethan chuckled. "I like that."

"Well, you seem to know an awful lot of things about me, but I know almost nothing about you." Why would he be the one to ask all the questions? Lily's techs had run a check on Ethan Marlau, but nothing suspicious popped up. He was one year younger than me, he was a good student, he was interested in history and anthropology, and he had two younger brothers.

"What would you like to know?" He drummed his fingers on the table.

"Do you have any hobbies?" At least that was something that wasn't written in Lily's record on him.

"I like to paint." He lowered his eyes, suddenly shy.

"Nice." I relaxed a bit. If he wanted to kill me, he'd have tried already. "I'd love to see some of your paintings."

"I don't have any here with me, unfortunately. Our rooms are too small to keep paintings."

Of course he couldn't bring his paintings with him to the university. That was exactly what I’d been hoping for. I had no desire to see any of his work.

"But I do have my colors and brushes. I could paint a portrait of you if you wish." He gave me a devilish grin which made me wonder what kind of paintings we were talking about. Oh, God.

"I don't think I'd have time to pose for hours." I hoped he wouldn't ask for a photograph of me. He could take one from the net though, but maybe his painting skills weren't good enough to make a realistic portrait from a photograph.

"Don't you sit in your office for hours? I could work on your portrait and you wouldn't even know I'm there."

Alarms went off in my head and I frowned at him. "You'd be distracting me from my work. I can't stand it that someone looks at me all the time." He wanted to get inside of my office. Sneaky. I was now more sure than ever that he had a hidden agenda.

"It's ok if you don't want to do it." Disappointment flashed through his eyes, but he quickly masked it.

"Maybe you'll have an exposition one day in a gallery and I'll come to see your work." What if I was too paranoid? It was quite possible that I was jumping to conclusions and Ethan wasn't a threat, but how the fuck was I supposed to find out the truth?

"I don't think so." His face fell, and I wasn't sure whether I'd said something wrong.

"Why not?" I wasn't an expert on paintings, but if my grandma could have put her crappy paintings in a gallery, I couldn't see a reason why Ethan couldn't. Lily's techs told me Ethan's family had more than enough money. He could always pay someone to exhibit his paintings.

"My family would never allow it." He chewed on his lip. "They don't really approve of my hobby."

"So?" I scowled. "You're eighteen. You can do whatever the hell you want. If you want to put your painting as a billboard in the middle of the city, go ahead. There's nothing to stop you."

"I know." Amusement filled his eyes. "But I don't want to upset my father. He's not been feeling well lately."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I'd have to remember to ask Lily to find out more about Ethan's father. "You could still have the exposition under a fake name. Your parents would never know."

"That's not a bad idea." Surprise flashed across his features as if he hadn't expected me to suggest such a thing.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you, but I have things to do." I got up, glad that I could use my job as an excuse to run away from Ethan.

He got up too, nearly toppling over the chair. "I hope we'll get another chance to talk. Would you mind if I joined Paula and you for lunch tomorrow?"

"I... No." I couldn't come up with a reason for him to stay away from us, aside from telling him I wasn’t in the least interested in him, but somehow I believed that would only make him more persistent and I didn't want any scandals.

As I walked down the hall, a thin layer of ice covered the sleeve of my shirt and I spotted Adrian in the far corner as he was leaning on the wall and sulking. I winked at him, shaking off the ice, and continued down the hall.

Chapter 06

"I see you like it here," Oliver said, pacing up and down my office. When my secretary had told me my brother was waiting for me, I nearly called the security, but it appeared Oliver only wanted to talk. His dark hair was messy as usual, his brown eyes cold and piercing.

"What do you want, Oliver?" I still had to email my idea for an elemental competition to the TV house that was willing to air such a show, but my brother's presence was highly distracting.

"What do I want?" He laughed bitterly. "Really, sis? Did you hit your head and get amnesia? I want your job."

I placed the pen I'd been holding on the desk and glared at him. "No, you don't. You want the power, but can't you see that it's not that simple? You want to start a war you can't win."

"And what do you know about that? We're element preservers. We're better than all of them. If we got united, no one would be able to stop us, not even the government's army." He slammed his fist on the desk and I jumped. "You're trying to play nice with them, but that won't work! The more knowledge they gain about us, the easier it will be for them to hunt us all down. I can't believe Lily and you came up with the moronic idea to tell the world about us! And you didn't even tell me about your plan!"

"Yeah, because you'd have killed us if we did." I wasn't about to let him intimidate me. "I know you, brother. Your desire for vengeance is blinding you. Even if I transferred the presidency to you right now, someone might kill you before you even formally accepted it. Don't forget that some of the scientists and ex-members of the Council know that you are a carrier. They haven’t said anything yet because our father paid them not to reveal that secret, but if they feel threatened..."

"Aren't you worried about your pretty little head? I heard a large sum of money has been offered for your assassination." His face was devoid of all emotion, so I couldn't tell whether he was lying.

"Ah, now you're hiring assassins to get rid of me, is that it?" I met his gaze, unflinching.

"Please, sis." He rolled his eyes. "If I wanted you dead, I'd kill you myself."

"Then what the fuck do you want me to do? Resign? I refuse. Do you hear me? I refuse to resign!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, anger coursing through my veins. "This is my job and I'm going to do the best I can."

"Be smart, sis. You can't stay in this position for long. The government will screw you over in a second." He ran a hand across his face, lowering his voice. "Why don't you give me the presidency before our family loses every chance to rule the Element Preservers?"

"This is not about power." I leaned back, the leather squeaking under me. "We need to do what's best for everyone."

Oliver snorted. "Don't make me laugh, sis. We need to show people who's the boss, not let them do to us whatever they want and beg them to sympathize with us."

"And where are you going to find carriers for your war? Among the murderers?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "Lily would never agree with your plan, not now. And she's the one the carriers trust and follow."

"I'm not about to spill my secrets to you." He scoffed.

"Fine. Then we're done talking." I folded my hands in my lap, hoping he'd leave. Three small balls of fire flew in my direction and I caught them with my fire. One of the papers on the desk went up in flames and I quickly spilled my glass of water over it. "Fuck you, Oliver!"

"Ah, so you don't feel safe enough to use your own water immediately after fire." He smirked.

"Get out before I call the security." I grabbed the wet paper and threw it in the trash. After being burned and doused in water, the paper became illegible. Ugh. I'd have to type the whole report again. It wasn't one of those that I had saved on my computer.

"See you, sis." Oliver walked out with a big grin on his face, slamming the door behind him. I stared at the wet spot on my desk and wondered how risky it would be to use my elements one after another in my current condition. Clearing some space on the desk, I concentrated on the wet spot. Air surged out of me, blowing lightly across the desk and scattering more papers. I tried to call my fire next to warm the spot on the desk, but only managed to intensify the wind. Crap.

Frustrated, I found a tissue in the drawer and wiped the desk with it. Would the control I had over my elements improve with the fourth element? There was only one way to find out. I picked up the phone and dialed Paula's number.

"Yeah?" She answered after the third ring.

"Are you busy? I'd like to come down to the lab and visit you. We could talk about how the element donations are going." I was very curious about the girl who also needed earth to complete all four elements. Maybe Paula would introduce us and I could see for myself how April was holding up.

"Um, sure." Paula sounded surprised. "You can come by anytime you want."

"Thanks. I'll come in an hour or two. I have some reports to finish." I ended the call and stared at the black computer screen. If April really needed the earth element more than me, I wasn't about to stand in her way just because I was risking exposure. Anyone could expose me at any time. Hell, even
I
could accidentally expose myself. As I brought my computer back to life, I prayed to God of Magic that Paula had been overreacting when she said April wasn't in the best condition. My life would be so much easier if I had the last element.