Raven stormed into the room, her face red, her nostrils flaring. Behind her were Dee and Ulry, two tainted elementals from our group. Blake had saved the two of them from getting caught a couple of years ago.
“What’s wrong?” Blake got to his feet and faced them, his eyes hard.
“We checked everyone on the list. None of them are the Strong,” Raven said.
“Are you sure?” Blake asked, running a hand through his hair. “Maybe they were pretending to be weak.”
Raven shook her head. “I know because I successfully mind-controlled all of them. And...” Her gaze flitted to me, and then to Blake. “We might have to consider the possibility that the ones we crossed off the list could be...”
I rose from the couch and came to stand next to Blake. “What do you mean? You said that you were sure the ones you’d met...”
“It’s not them,” Blake said quickly. “Our Strong was probably too smart to be caught. That’s all. We’ll need to find another way.”
Raven looked at Blake. “You and I can go on a patrol. See if we spot someone.” There was something in her gaze, as if she were pleading him to agree with her, but I didn’t understand why. Was it possible that Raven had found something but didn’t want me to know?
“You do that,” I said before Blake could say anything. “I’ll stay here and see if there’s something I can come up with.”
“Okay,” Blake said, planting a quick kiss on my cheek. “See you later, baby.”
I gave him my widest smile, but as Blake and the others exited the room, my smile faded. Was Raven trying to take my place? Judging by the angry looks she kept giving me all the time, she didn’t like me one little bit. But being the Murderer was my destiny, not hers. She could only mind control people, not kill them with her mind. Maybe it wasn’t about me. Maybe I was just imagining things.
I went back to the couch and opened my laptop. There had to be another way to find more tainted elementals. If we just looked for them around the city or asked the others, we might never find the Strong, or it would take ages. By then, the world would be consumed by chaos. I couldn’t let that happen.
As I opened the list of names we’d stolen from Lily, I couldn’t help but wonder if Blake had made a mistake. Deleting the names before being a hundred percent certain they weren’t the Strong seemed like a stupid thing to do. I tried to find a way to see if I could restore the names he’d deleted. They had to be on the original flash drive, but I had no idea where Blake had put it.
I circled around the room, checking shelves, drawers, and closets, but I couldn’t find it. Did he get rid of it? But why? It didn’t make sense. I chewed on my nails. I couldn’t just sit here and wait for Blake and Raven to come back. I had to do something. Turning into air, I flew out of the room. Maybe I could take a look around the city by myself... and maybe, just maybe, I’d run into Blake and see what he and Raven were really up to.
I couldn’t even explain why I doubted them. I never doubted Blake before, but now... Now I couldn’t get rid of that nagging feeling at the back of my mind. As I flew through the air, rushing around the buildings and hoping none of my enemies would spot me, I noticed two shimmering clouds not far from me. Slowing down, I did my best to follow them while flying low enough to stay out of their sight.
A moment later, the clouds landed on top of one building, and I turned visible in the alley behind it, pressing myself against the wall. The building was old and dilapidated, probably infested by rats and who knew what else, but there were shaky fire escape stairs that led all the way to the roof. Turning my feet invisible so I almost floated above the stairs, I climbed up, hoping to catch the elementals on the roof unaware. Just as I was about to reach the top, I recognized Raven’s and Blake’s voices.
“We can’t let her see them,” Raven said. “What if it triggers something?”
“It won’t. I made sure of it yesterday. She won’t know a thing. She’s completely mine now.”
“I hope you’re right,” Raven said. “But what if someone says something and she...?”
“No,” Blake said. “If that happens, we’ll follow the plan.”
“What if Noah is the Strong? He does have three elements.”
“We’ll see. I’ll mind control him to get him to touch the book. It’s the only way to know for sure,” Blake said, and I frowned. Why would he let this Noah guy or whoever he was to touch the book if Blake could mind control him? Didn’t that mean that Noah wasn’t strong enough to be the chosen one? Neither Blake nor I could be mind-controlled by anyone, which meant the Strong should be mind control resistant, too. Blake would never let just anyone touch the book, or would he? But why was he lying to me then?
“What about you know who?” Raven’s voice was so low I could barely hear it. “He’s coming dangerously close to us and he could trigger her. We should get rid of him.”
Who were they talking about? I considered coming out and confronting them, but I wasn’t sure that was the best idea.
“We can’t. He’s our replacement for the Murderer if anything happens to Moira. I know he’s not a perfect choice, but he’ll do,” Blake said. I clamped my hand over my mouth, my whole body shaking. What the hell was Blake talking about? Another Murderer? Why would he want to replace me?
“We have to go!” Blake’s voice was urgent. “I’m sensing something.”
Could he see the shimmering raising from me because I was upset enough to lose control of my elements? Holding my breath, I waited until I could no longer hear them.
They wanted to replace me. I couldn’t believe it! My boyfriend. My own boyfriend who I loved and cared about so much. No, I’d never forgive him for this.
No matter how much I wanted to confront Blake for his betrayal, I had to play this smart. Blake was the Hero and the one I needed for the ritual. And no matter what he thought, he needed me to be the Murderer. The goal was to find the Strong. My revenge on Blake could wait. For now, I had to find a way to get to the Strong. As I sat on the bed and wondered what to do next, the door opened and Blake came in, his shoulders slumped.
“How did it go?” I forced myself to smile.
“Terrible.” He slipped out of his jacket and threw himself on the bed next to me. “Can you believe that bitch Lily found a way for her agents to block me out of their minds?”
“Really?” My eyebrows shot up. At this point, I didn’t know if it were true or not.
“You know that time I went with the others to create a diversion so you could get inside the building?” he asked.
“Yeah.” How could I ever forget that? “What about it?”
“I was stupid enough not to use mind control on anyone. I figured it wasn’t necessary to come so close to them, so we only fought with other elements, but... Lily’s techs must have found a way to scan my elemental energy and create something that blocks me from entering other tainted elementals’ minds.”
I tilted my head. “That was really stupid. You knew Lily had managed to block you out, so why did you think she wouldn’t protect her agents as well?”
“Because I wasn’t using mind control on them! So I thought it was safe.” He swore, covering his eyes with his arm. “We have to find the Strong before they find a way to catch us all. We need more power.”
“Do you think there could be more than one Strong?” I asked, and he moved his arm away to look at me.
“Why do you ask that?”
“Well, it would be easier to find one of them if there were more, you know.” I shrugged. “I used to think I was the only tainted elemental and look how many of us are out there.”
“This is different. There’s only one elemental who can fill the role of the Strong.”
“I know.” I gave him a smile, tracing my finger over his hand. “So where do we look now?”
“I don’t know. We should probably storm some labs and find a couple of scientists who might know something.”
“Labs, huh?” An idea sprung into my mind, but I wasn’t sure if it would be of any help. “Do you know of any labs that were trying to catch tainted elementals?”
“I destroyed all of them. But maybe some of the labs that are researching other kinds of elementals came across tainted elementals, too. I don’t know.” He sighed.
“Would a lab of scientists who researched enhanced elements help?” I asked, the corners of my lips tilting up.
Blake lifted himself up on his elbows. “What do you mean?”
“I’m the heiress of all Marlau’s companies, remember? My grandpa was researching enhanced elements.”
Blake eyed me carefully. “But the cops confiscated and destroyed everything when he was arrested for conducting illegal experiments.”
“Yes, he was arrested, and a bunch of people who worked with him were arrested, too, but his companies that weren’t involved in the whole thing remain active.”
“I still don’t see how that could help us.”
“Do you really think my grandpa would have only one lab? Just because there was no proof of illegal activity in any of the other companies doesn’t mean someone somewhere didn’t do it. Besides, maybe there were people who worked at the first lab but were transferred and never got involved with bad things. I mean, hundreds of people worked for my grandpa. And maybe some worked for him secretly and there was absolutely no evidence to connect them with the case.”
“So what are you suggesting?” Blake’s eyebrows shot up.
“We could pay a visit to some of these companies and see if anyone knows anything.” I smiled. “Maybe we can get the names of people who were experimented on. Maybe some of them survived and went on to have a family.”
Blake gave me a blank look, and I knew he wasn’t getting it.
“My father had an enhanced element and I turned out to be a tainted elemental,” I said. “There’s a chance that a child of someone who had their element enhanced turned out to be a tainted elemental.”
“It seems like a long shot, but it’s worth a try.” Blake didn’t sound too convinced. “I doubt many of those lab rats survived and got out to have a normal family, and even decided to manipulate their child’s genetic code.”
“True, but they could still help us find a secret lab. Maybe my grandpa worked with someone. I doubt he came up with all those ideas on his own. Besides, not many scientists were arrested with him, and most of them that were arrested appeared to be clueless.”
“Well, the prosecution didn’t have mind control to check if they were telling the truth.” The corners of Blake’s lips quirked up.
I laughed. “We could help people so much and they shun us.”
“Soon they’ll see their mistake.” Blake’s eyes hardened, and I leaned down to give him a kiss.
“Yes, they will.” My eyes met his. He’d see his mistake soon too, but then it would be too late. “You should get some rest. You had a long day.”
“Will you stay here with me?” he asked in his sweetest voice.
“Of course.” I snuggled next to him, caressing his hair. What were the chances that there was another Hero out there? Maybe there was or maybe there wasn’t. I didn’t know, and I didn’t have time to look for him. Blake would have to do. When he was fast asleep, I extracted myself from his embrace and reached for his jacket that was lying discarded on the floor.
Glancing at Blake to make sure he was still asleep, I took the book out of his pocket. The energy immediately started to pulse through me, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation. All the power could be mine. I just had to take it. Tucking the book into my small black purse, I got to my feet. As I was about to walk out of the room, I looked back at Blake. He’d be furious when he found out what I’d done, but I had to make sure he didn’t replace me. I had to find the Strong on my own. Well, with some help.