Dangerous (Element Preservers Series, Book 1) Read online

  “Adrian Liandre,” he said.

  “Liandre?” I frowned. “The Liandre?”

  “Yes,” he said quietly, “the son of the most famous magic disease carriers.”

  “But it can’t be!” I said. “Wasn’t he supposed to be… I don’t know… dead?”

  “Only his parents were killed, not him,” Michael said.

  “But it’s a hundred percent sure he has the disease! Why is he here? He’s dangerous!” I tried really hard to keep my voice as quiet as possible, even though I wanted to yell.

  “He hasn't done anything yet, and he’s here because they believe they can keep an eye on him easier. Besides, his guardian works here,” Michael said.

  “Huh, so they are basically waiting for him to kill someone here?” I rolled my eyes. “That’s so awesome. Really.”

  “It’s strange you haven’t seen him before. He should be in your Magic Studies class,” Michael said. “He’s the first year again because he failed everything.”

  “Oh come on! That’s not fair!” I was getting really angry and starting to think about calling my father and telling him about this. But I didn’t want to do it. Especially because it was my father who had told me I would learn here that I couldn’t always get and do whatever I wanted. Besides, he had probably known it all along.

  “Yeah, it’s stupid that he has to take the theoretical part of Magic Studies… It’s useless because he doesn’t have an element.” Michael was actually clenching his fists.

  I realized that Paula wasn’t saying anything, so I looked in her direction. She was still looking at Adrian with an almost fascinated expression on her face. Ok, I could admit that the guy wasn’t bad-looking at all… but he was still creepy as hell.

  “Paula,” I said, but she didn’t hear me. “Paula!”

  “What?” She looked at me like she saw me for the first time. I waved my hands in front of her face.

  “Who’s absent-minded now?” I smiled at her.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking how I could use him for my research…”

  “Paula!” I said. “Are you insane? Even if he would help you, which I doubt, no one here would let you do the research.”

  “I know,” she said, a look of disappointment on her face. I felt compelled to tell her she could do her research or whatever she wanted, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I looked back at Adrian. He wasn’t looking in our direction because a man who looked like a professor was approaching him.

  “That’s Alan,” Michael said, pointing at the man. “I forgot his surname because he wants us all to call him by his name. You go to him if you have problems or you do something wrong. Oh, and he was there when Adrian’s parents were killed, and he’s actually Adrian’s guardian.”

  “Aaah, so if Adrian kills me, I go haunt that man… Cool,” I said. We all laughed.

  When I looked back at Adrian, he was rolling his eyes at something that Alan was saying to him and then got up, took his things, and they walked out of the room together. I noticed some girls were watching Adrian with adoring eyes – something I completely couldn’t understand – and when he was out, they were giggling about something.

  “Why are they acting like that?” I said, looking at the girls. “I have a feeling like I’m stuck in high school again.”

  “Yeah well, this is not a normal university.” Michael smiled, then his face became serious again. “You’ll have to get used to the fact that Adrian is quite a celebrity here. Girls obviously love danger.”

  “Yeah, they can’t wait to get killed or get the disease.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, let them try. Maybe we get rid of him sooner.”

  Michael just smiled at me, and Paula didn’t look very approving of my comment. I just shrugged and continued eating my already cold pizza.

  Chapter 02

  I was sitting on the bed in Paula's room, waiting for her to collect all her books and notebooks that she needed for class. Mine were already in my black leather bag, which I had thrown on the orange round carpet as soon as I had come in. I was a bit disappointed that we were having Magic Studies again, but at least I got to go with Paula.

  Last week had been really crazy, even without the big revelation about the magic disease carrier at the university. I hadn’t seen him since that day and I was glad, but something was telling me that he’d be in today’s class. I simply wasn’t feeling lucky.

  “Have you talked to someone about changing your room?” Paula said, putting the books in her blue backpack.

  “No,” I said, “I wasn’t sure who to ask. Besides, I don’t feel like doing anything today.”

  I still hadn’t gotten used to living at the university. It was kind of weird not to be in my old room in my parents’ house. We had our own rooms here, and they were pretty big and nice, but the one I got was on the completely opposite part of the building from Paula’s and, umm, Michael’s too.

  “Talk to Alan, he’ll help you,” she said.

  “Alan? Adrian’s guardian?” I said in surprise.

  “Sure! Don’t look at him as Adrian’s guardian, because he’s not just that. I’ve already spoken to him. He’s quite nice.” She smiled.

  “You actually spoke to him?”

  “Yes, this morning. I wanted to ask him something about my research,” she said.

  “And?” I wondered had she really asked Alan about something as delicate as the magic disease research. But I guessed she couldn’t have asked him that directly anyway.

  “Well, I asked him if I could use the laboratory sometimes for some homework tasks,” she said. “I said I might want to test some theories and things that we’d be learning about too.”

  “Wow, you never fail to impress me! And he believed you?” I laughed.

  “Sure. He said he would ask my professor about it and maybe if I proved to be a great student and really interested in learning more… they might allow me to use the laboratory outside class.” She couldn’t help but smile.

  “That’s awesome!” I went to hug her.

  “Oh, we’re going to be late! Come on!” she said after a few moments. I let go of her and went to pick up my bag, thinking about Alan. Maybe I should go talk to him… or maybe not.

  Paula and I made it to the class just in time. My favorite professor still wasn’t there, and I felt relieved a bit because at least I wouldn’t be getting any of his lovely comments about coming late. I didn’t know why I'd assumed he would do such a thing.

  But I didn’t even need the annoying professor to make my day worse… My nightmare was here. Adrian Liandre was sitting on one of the desks near the window and obviously flirting with some blond girl.

  She was smiling so sweetly and innocently at him that it was making me sick. Seriously, what was wrong with this girl? Wasn’t she afraid the disease could choose this very moment to show and she would be the first in danger? I found an empty seat as far away from him as I could, and just then the professor stormed in. Oh yeah, this was going to be a loooong day.

  Adrian jumped off the table and casually slid into his chair. Of course, he didn’t miss the chance to smile at the blonde, who was sitting two desks away from him. Damn, I felt like I was in some kind of a twisted soap opera.

  The class was boring… again. I didn’t care what Michael had said about the professor not being so bad because he was wrong. But every time I thought about Michael… Well, that was another story. I still thought he was insanely hot even though he couldn’t really be my romantic interest. And despite everything, I still hoped to see him again and find out more about him.

  “Miss Milanez?” I heard the professor’s voice. I think I cursed everyone and everything in my mind at that moment. This so couldn’t be happening again.

  “Yes?” I said, bracing myself for another catastrophe.

  “Could you set the paper in this bowl on fire, please?” he said.

  “What?” I was completely taken aback.

  “If I remember correctly, your element i
s fire. So, could you, please, set the paper on fire for the demonstration?” he said, placing the bowl with the paper on my desk.

  “Umm, okay,” I said, concentrating on that part inside of me which contained my element. It was hard to explain how I was doing it, but I felt warmth all over me and focused on the bowl with the paper. A few seconds later, reddish flames were coming out of the bowl, and it made me smile.

  Everyone in the class was looking at me curiously. I guess I would have been looking at someone else using their element too, because there was simply something special about an element being used around you. I had felt this strange tingling sensation before when Paula had been demonstrating her powers in front of me.

  I looked up from the flames I had made, and the professor continued talking about something connected with fire. I was still slightly smiling, proud that I hadn’t embarrassed myself again. But my smile faded as I saw Adrian staring at the flames from across the room. There was some awkward grimace on his face, like he was barely containing himself… and then his eyes met mine.

  I was completely sure at that moment that the look in his eyes made me feel colder than I would have felt if someone had thrown icy water over me. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. He didn’t smile at me this time; he just angrily pressed his lips together.

  I didn’t know what to do, and I guess I panicked. It must have shown on my face because the professor was addressing Adrian next.

  “Mister Liandre, is there a problem?”

  “No,” Adrian said through his teeth and finally looked away from me. A huge wave of relief washed over me, and I could finally relax in my chair. But I was still feeling like some icy cold fingers were pinching my skin. I wanted to get out of the class as soon as I could, and that was what I did when the professor told us we could go. I didn’t even wait for Paula.

  “Ria!” Paula was calling my name, but I didn’t want to stop walking… At least not until I was safe in my room and out of Adrian’s sight.

  “Ria!!! What is wrong with you?” Paula yelled as she was closing the door of my room. Good. I was feeling much better here, sitting on my bed. Paula was looking at me for a long moment, expecting an answer or maybe even an apology.

  “That was… scary,” I finally said, and she sat on the bed next to me, putting her hand on mine. I looked at her, and some kind of a realization flashed through her eyes.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she suddenly said. “Adrian scared you, didn’t he?”

  “A bit,” I said. “He was looking at me like I had taken something valuable from him… and he would kill me for that.”

  “You’re overreacting.” She smiled. “But I’m starting to see your point about that professor being an asshole.”

  “What?” I said, surprised. Was I really overreacting? And why was she talking about the professor now? It didn’t make sense to me.

  “Yup, I can see it now. What he did to Adrian was simply mean,” she said. I glared at her. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about.

  “Mean to Adrian?”

  “Yeah. Everyone knows that people with the magic disease have it much harder to control themselves around elements that are being used. And they let Adrian take the theoretical part of Magic Studies simply because elements aren’t supposed to be used during it. Don’t you get it what the professor has done?” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. “Besides, he chose to demonstrate only fire, aware of the fact that Adrian hates it.”

  “So, you’re saying that the professor tried to provoke Adrian to make him… What? Attack someone?” I said. Or maybe he’d wanted to provoke Adrian to kill me. But I didn’t want to say that in front of Paula because it sounded very silly and egoistic.

  “Yes, well… I believe he was trying to get him out of control. Maybe he doesn’t want him in his class or something,” she said.

  “How do you know Adrian hates fire?” I watched her carefully, wondering was there something more than just her research that made her so interested in that monster.

  “They burned his house… and his parents in front of him!” she said, tears forming in her eyes.

  “So? They totally deserved it,” I said. “Besides, they didn’t put them on fire to kill them. They were already dead, right?”

  “Yes, but…” She took a deep breath. “It was still cruel! And Adrian had to watch that. How can you be so cold-hearted?”

  “I’m not cold-hearted! I just can’t feel pity for someone who is going to turn into a killer soon. And he inherited all of his parents’ money and has a nice life. I wonder if he gets girls into his bed with that story,” I said. “Don’t tell me you’re falling under his charm too.”

  “I’m not!” she said almost defensively. I just smiled.

  “I’m not!!” she repeated. “But I’m going to ask him to help me with the research.”

  “You’re crazy,” I said. “He is not going to help you.”

  “Why not? I might find the cure for the disease,” she argued. “He’ll want to help me.”

  “Alright, maybe he will. But not for free,” I said.

  “What does that mean?” She frowned.

  “It means that he might help you if you sleep with him,” I said. Her face paled and she looked disgusted.

  “I would never do that,” she said.

  “I know,” I said. “That’s why I’m sure you won’t get him to help you.”

  “You really think some girls slept with him?” she asked after a moment of silence.

  “Yes, I do,” I said. And yes, I did think that. Girls seemed to be very fascinated with him, and since everyone kept saying you could get the disease only during unprotected sex, they had probably figured they weren’t in danger if they used a condom. Yeah, they were really smart.

  “I’m still going to ask him,” she said quietly. “Maybe he’s not what you think he is.”

  What I think? So she had a different opinion about him, but I didn’t want to push it. Soon enough she’d see what kind of a bastard he was. I was sure of it.

  “Will you come to the library with me?” I wanted to change the subject really badly. “I need some books for my homework.”

  “Umm, I can’t. Sorry. I need to do something,” she said. “But I’m sure Michael would go with you if you asked him nicely.”

  “Whoa, whoa, slow down,” I said. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you are trying to set me up with him.”

  “Come on! I know you like him.” She laughed.

  “But I can’t be with him!” I said.

  “Why not? You can’t have a good time because of the element thing?” She smiled. “You could still date him, you know. It’s not like you have to marry him or anything.”

  “I don’t see the point of it then.” I sighed.

  “Oh, come on! You dated like five guys already and you didn’t get married to any of them, so where was the point in that?” she said.

  “But their element was fire actually, and I believed at some point that we were going to be forever,” I said. “This would be… I don’t know… useless.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. But I still think you should go with him to the library… even just as friends. He’s really awesome,” she said.

  “Why don’t you date him then if he’s so awesome?” I teased.

  “Because he’s totally not my type.” She laughed.

  “Oh, and black-haired dangerous guys are exactly your type?”

  “No!”

  “I wouldn’t agree with you.”

  “Hey, it’s not funny!”

  “Nope, it isn’t funny at all,” I said, jumping off the bed and grabbing my pillow. Paula realized what I was doing and she was on her feet in an instant, grabbing another pillow. It was time for a really awesome pillow fight!

  “Someone is going to kill us!” Paula laughed as we sat down on the bed again, completely breathless. There were feathers all over the room and, of course, my pillows were completely unusable.
r />   “No one is going to find out,” I said, taking a feather out of Paula’s hair. “Of course, if we don’t go outside looking like we were on a chicken farm.”

  We both laughed, and I was wondering why the hell we still had feather pillows here when there were better materials. But then we wouldn’t be able to have so much fun with them.

  “Oh, come on! You need new pillows and you’ll have to explain what happened to your old ones,” she said.

  “I’m not going to tell anything to anyone!” I said. “I know where they keep the pillows. I’ll just throw this somewhere and steal the new ones from that room.”

  “Wow, the perfect crime.” Paula laughed. “But I have to go now.”

  “Heey! Don’t tell me you’re going to leave me with all this mess.” I grabbed her arm as she was getting up from the bed, but she just grinned at me.

  “Fine! I’m going to find someone else to help me.” I crossed my arms in fake indignation. She waved at me from the door and left. I looked around the room once again and sighed. I had soooo many things to do and, no, I wasn’t brave enough to go ask someone to help me with this mess, especially not Michael.

  It took me almost one hour to clean up all the feathers, and I was sure there were still some left under the bed. Yeah, running all over a huge room with half-ripped pillows hadn’t been such a good idea after all.

  But cleaning up wasn’t the worst part; stealing the new pillows was. When I finally found courage to leave my room and go on a ‘pillow hunt’, I almost bumped into Michael. I think my heart got stuck somewhere in my throat at the moment I looked up into his green eyes. Damn, he was just beyond gorgeous.

  “Going somewhere?” He smiled at me.

  “Umm, yeah,” I said, trying to look casual and failed.

  “You’re blushing,” he teased. “Will you tell me what you’re up to? Because I’m sure you’re up to something.”

  “Hey!” I smiled. “Well… if I tell you, you’ll have to help me.”

  “Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “Is it dangerous?”