Dangerous (Element Preservers Series, Book 1) Read online

  “Very,” I said.

  “Oh, then I’m in,” he said.

  “Great!” I smiled. “Oh, and don’t laugh when I tell you what we are going to do.”

  He just eyed me suspiciously and, for a moment, I was thinking about inventing something more interesting to do, but I couldn’t come up with anything.

  “We need to steal some pillows from the storeroom,” I said, immediately feeling stupid.

  “Steal some pillows?” I thought he was going to start laughing like crazy, but he didn’t.

  “Yes,” I said. “I need new ones.”

  “And what happened to your old ones?” he said. “Something so bad that you can’t simply ask for the new ones?”

  “Umm yeah, something like that,” I said, “but not really bad. It was more like… childish.”

  “Aaah,” he said, “then it must have been so much fun that people here wouldn’t understand.”

  “Pillow fight with Paula,” I whispered into his ear. He immediately started to laugh.

  “Yeah, Alan and the others so wouldn’t understand that,” he said, still smiling.

  “Great, let’s go get some pillows!” I said and we went down the hall.

  Actually, it turned out to be really easy to get the new pillows because there was no one really ‘guarding’ the storeroom, and there was no one in the hall since at this time most of the people were in class, the library or outside.

  But we still grabbed the pillows and ran like crazy down the hall, afraid that someone might show up. We were breathless when we reached my room, and still high on adrenaline. It was funny how such a trivial thing had brought the hottest guy ever into my room.

  For a moment, the irrational part of my brain was telling me to get closer to him, maybe even kiss him and then blame the moment. And I would have done it… if I were in a movie or something. In a movie, Michael would have kissed me back and we would realize how we loved each other forever. Unfortunately for me, this wasn’t a movie.

  While I was busy thinking, Michael had moved away from the door and was now sitting on my bed.

  “I see you were careful enough to keep the pillow covers safe.” He laughed.

  “Yeah.” I smiled. “Didn’t want to rip that too.”

  “Well, this was fun,” he said. “Anything else you need?”

  “Umm,” I said, “there is this one thing… but I don’t want to bother you.”

  “I’d say it wouldn’t bother me, but I can’t since I don’t know what it is,” he said, his green eyes shining like two emeralds.

  “It’s my History homework, actually,” I said and immediately felt bad. What could he be thinking about me? Probably that I was just using him.

  “Oh, sure. I can help you with that.”

  “Umm, forget it. It doesn’t matter. I can do it alone,” I said. He got up, looking simply devastating in his blue jeans and a light blue shirt, and came closer to me.

  “It’s ok,” he said. “I was heading to the library when you showed up anyway, so we could just go there now and I can show you where to find the right books. I know my way around here better than you do, ok?”

  “Alright.” His kindness brought a smile to my face, and as we were leaving the room, I wondered was he really so perfect or some sick part of my mind made him look like that to me so I would fall in impossible love. Oh well, I had all the time in the world or more like four years to find out.

  Chapter 03

  I was sitting in the library, chatting with Michael and checking out some of the books, when I saw Paula standing at the door. She looked… horrible. There were tears streaming freely down her face, and I immediately got up, glancing at Michel. He just nodded at me in understanding, and I hurried over to Paula before anyone else saw her.

  I was glad that people were mostly busy looking at their books; we so didn’t need others to bother us. I just took Paula’s shaking hand and led her to my room since it was closer than hers.

  “What happened?” I asked when we were sitting on the bed.

  “I… I asked him…” she whispered, “and he… he…”

  Suddenly I had a moment of realization; she had asked Adrian to help her with her research. He had probably refused just like I had expected.

  “Oh, Paula,” I said, hugging her, “Adrian is an asshole and we all know it. But why are you crying? You can do your research without him. It’s not the end of the world.”

  “He… he said I was stupid.” She hiccuped. “…and that he didn’t care about my research anyway, but that he would help… if I… gave him what he wanted…”

  “That son of a bitch! I’m going to kill him!” I said, trying to get up, but Paula wouldn’t let go of me. I was simply beyond pissed. No one made my friends cry. No one.

  “No,” she cried. “No, leave it! I was stupid to think he would just…”

  “No! This is not about you! It’s him!” I was yelling and I didn’t care if someone could hear it outside.

  “No, it was wrong to go to him just like that and ask him for such a huge favor…”, she said, and I was glad that she had at least stopped crying, but her weird way of thinking completely puzzled me.

  “Oh, that’s it! You stay here and I’m going to deal with…” I was saying as someone knocked on the door and opened it before I said it was okay. Huh, that was so not nice.

  “Is everything alright?” Alan asked. Oh, perfect, Adrian’s guardian was here. I opened my mouth to say what Adrian had done to Paula, but she was faster.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” he said, looking concerned. “Have you been crying?”

  “Umm, I’m fine, really. It’s just… I had an argument with my boyfriend.” She actually smiled a little.

  “Since when is…” I started saying, but Paula actually put her hand over my mouth and removed it a moment later, but it was enough to stop me from speaking. Alan frowned, but probably decided we were just crazy girls.

  “Well, if you need to talk, you know where to find me.” Alan smiled. I glared at him because that was just plain weird. I mean, I knew he was supposed to be like some kind of a counselor, but to discuss students' relationships… Damn, that was just too weird.

  Paula just nodded and thanked him. I hoped he would leave, because I was prepared to go out and hunt down Adrian… Even set him on fire. Yeah, I wasn’t really rational when I was mad.

  “Oh, Miss Milanez?” Alan said. “I need you to come down to my office so we can talk about something.”

  “Umm, alright,” I said, even though I had no idea what the hell he wanted to talk about. Maybe he wanted to talk about Paula, or maybe that asshole of a professor had said something about me. The first one was much more likely, because the professor had seemed just fine with me today.

  “Now,” he added, and I frowned. Oh, come on! I had better things to do! But I couldn’t use ‘I have to kill someone first’ as an excuse, so I just got up.

  “Are you going to be ok?” I asked Paula. She gave me a small smile, and then I had no other choice than to follow Alan.

  Alan’s office was very small, almost claustrophobic. There was just a table, which was taking most of the space, Alan’s black leather chair behind it and two red ones in front of it. The walls were completely white and plain, and I was surprised there wasn’t even the university’s crest on the wall. Damn, this room was creepy.

  “So, Miss Milanez,... May I call you Ria?” He smiled.

  “Umm, sure,” I said, not really happy about it, but I guess it would be awkward for me to call him by his first name if he couldn’t call me by mine.

  “Great! Ria, I want to talk to you about something that happened during the Magic Studies class,” he said. Ah, I had so known that! He was eyeing me carefully, probably expecting me to start talking, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I decided to look at him more carefully too.

  I noticed that his hair was mostly dark brown, with a few strikes of gray hair showing. H
is brown eyes looked warm and kind, but there was also something else in them that I couldn’t identify. And he definitely didn’t fit in with the other professors and university staff because he was dressed in dark jeans and a light blue shirt, which was just too casual.

  “I would like to know is it true that your professor asked you to use your element in the class,” he said when he realized I wasn’t going to say anything. I was surprised for a second that he wanted to know that and not something else, or maybe that was just what he had thought of as a good beginning.

  “Yes, I was asked to demonstrate my element in the class,” I said.

  “So it’s true.” He sighed, disappointed a bit. I didn’t know what to think. Had someone tried to accuse me of using my element without permission?

  “And I thought he was lying to me,” Alan said, and I knew he was thinking of Adrian. It was about Adrian, not me. Phew.

  “Well, that’s all I wanted to know actually.” He smiled again. “Maybe you have something to ask me.”

  No matter how much I wanted to get out of this tiny space and go back to check on Paula, I decided I did have questions.

  “Could you, please, help me with something?” I said.

  “Maybe,” he said. “What is it?”

  “Umm, Paula is really depressed right now after everything that happened with her boyfriend… So I’m trying to find something to cheer her up,” I said. “And since she really loves biology and doing research, I was thinking you could maybe give her permission to use the lab today or tomorrow.”

  Alan just looked at me for a moment, and I was wondering had he somehow realized Paula didn’t have a boyfriend. But it was her story anyway, and getting the lab for herself would certainly make her forget that idiot. Maybe Adrian’s guardian could fix the damage Adrian had done.

  “That is a good idea,” he said. “She already asked me to give her access to the lab outside class and that will have to wait… but few hours there today couldn’t hurt, I suppose.”

  “That would be awesome!” I said excitedly.

  “Ok,” he said, reaching for something into the pocket of his jeans. “No one uses the lab today, so I can give you the key. But you have to return it to me before eight this evening and make sure I don’t regret it, alright?”

  “Yes, thank you,” I said, taking the key from him. Damn, this was good.

  “Paula! You’ll never guess what I got!” I said when I was back in my room and found her still sitting on my bed. She looked up at me in surprise, and I waved the key in front of her.

  “What is it?” she said.

  “Lab key!” I smiled. Her face lit up immediately, but a moment later she was eyeing me suspiciously.

  “What? I thought you’d be happy,” I said.

  “I am. But how did you get it?”

  “Well, I didn’t steal it,” I said proudly, “Alan gave it to me for you. You can have the lab until 8 p.m. as long as you’re not doing anything dangerous…”

  “Really?” She was almost jumping up and down in childlike delight. “How did you do that?”

  “Well, sweetie, he was worried about the depression you are suffering because of your boyfriend.” I laughed. “Even though I’m still not sure how Adrian came to be your boyfriend…”

  “Shit! Tell me you didn’t say Adrian was my…” She panicked.

  “No! Of course not!” I said. “I’m just kidding. I know you invented that just because you didn’t have anything else to say. No one can find out what kind of research you are planning to do. I’m not stupid.”

  “Right,” she said and hugged me. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

  “Hey, that’s what friends are for.” I smiled, giving her the key. “Enjoy your time in the lab!”

  “Thanks, but the problem is that I don’t know where to start now.” She sighed. “I planned to start by looking into Adrian’s DNA, which I don’t have.”

  “Oh, I’ll get you his DNA… on my hand when I punch him in the face,” I said.

  “Ria!” she said disapprovingly.

  “What?” I said. “I’m still mad at him for making you cry.”

  “Just let it go,” she said, looking at her watch. “Oh, I have to go! The lab is waiting, but I guess I’ll have to try to sneak into Adrian’s room first.”

  “What?” I said, shocked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I need his DNA and there’s plenty of it in his room. I just need to make sure he’s away and get some…” she said.

  “Oh no, you’re so not doing that!” I said. It was a bad idea because I knew how nervous she would be, and if someone saw her, or he returned… I didn’t even want to imagine that.

  “But I have to!” she insisted.

  “Ah, what the hell,” I said. “You go to the lab and I’ll go to Adrian’s room.”

  “No, you’ve already done enough. I can’t ask this of you,” she said.

  “I’m doing it,” I said. “It would be pointless if you got in trouble, and then they wouldn’t let you use the lab at all.”

  “Alright,” she said after considering it for a few moments. “I’m going to the lab, but if you can’t get the DNA, it’s fine. I’ll find another way to start, ok?”

  “Ok.”

  She smiled and went for the door. Damn, what had I gotten myself into?

  “Wait!” I said and she turned around, looking at me. “How am I supposed to get into his room without the key?”

  “Oh, he never locks his room,” she said. I wanted to ask her how the hell she knew that, but I figured I probably didn’t want to know.

  “Umm, ok,” I said, and then she was gone.

  Fifteen minutes had passed before I finally decided to leave my room and go near Adrian’s room. I have to admit that I was shaking a bit and my heart was thudding very loudly. I might have felt brave when I'd been angry, but that had passed out of my system already. Besides, thinking and talking about something was much different from actually doing it.

  I was standing in front of the door, wondering was Adrian inside. I had no other way to check but knock on it. I figured that if he opened it, I’d just attack him because of what he had done to Paula. That was a completely reasonable thing to do, at least for me.

  I took a deep breath and knocked really hard. It was a miracle that the door didn’t open by itself. After a few moments of waiting, I realized he probably wasn’t there. I looked around, and when I was sure no one was in the hall to see me, I slowly turned the knob.

  It was dark in the room, and I felt like I was going into a dark forest with monsters inside. I wondered what had happened to the windows… if he actually had them. Somehow it wouldn’t surprise me if he was living in a room turned into a cave. There were high possibilities that there was a light switch somewhere on the wall on my left, but I didn’t dare to turn the lights on. Instead, I just kept going forward, leaving the door a bit open so I could find it when it was the time to leave.

  Now when I was sure Adrian wasn’t there, I finally relaxed, thinking hard how to find something with his DNA. I walked farther and bumped into something. The slight pain in my leg was telling me that it was probably a desk or a bed post. I felt around for something, but there was only a flat wooden surface. Great, he wasn’t keeping anything on his desk. Not even books or notebooks. Oh, I'd almost forgotten; he didn’t care about studying.

  I was trying to move away from the desk and reach the bed when I felt movement behind my back. I gasped, looking in the direction of the door and saw that it looked just like I had left it. I waited for a moment, completely still, not even breathing. I had probably imagined it all.

  Just as I turned around, I had a strong feeling someone was observing me from the darkness. I felt like a trapped animal in a predator’s lair. But I was sure it was just my mind playing with me. Surely no one could have been so quiet to…

  Someone grabbed me from behind into a tight embrace. A scream got stuck in my throat, and I shivered. It took
me a moment to start thinking clearly again through all the fear I felt. Adrian must have returned.

  “I know who you are,” he whispered, sniffing my hair. Oh, shit. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t move. He was too strong. And if I tried to set him on fire, I’d probably get burned too. My feeling of a trapped animal returned, just this time I pictured a wolf as the predator.

  What I didn’t understand, however, was how he knew who I was in this darkness. Maybe he thought I was some girl he was supposed to meet. I thought his confusion might be my chance to escape, so I tried to squirm out of his embrace.

  “Don’t… do that… Ria,” he said, and I froze. How the fuck did he know? I was suddenly sure I had to escape as soon as possible, so I tried to kick him with my leg. But he was too close; close enough that I could smell his cologne, which was a mix of pine, musk and some other tree scents that I couldn’t quite identify.

  “I know it’s you… I got a good taste of your element in the class,” he purred into my ear, and I felt something cold pressing against my neck. Oh, shit! He had a knife! I didn’t even have the time to think how interesting was the fact that he could not only tell which element someone had, but also make a difference between them. People with elements couldn’t do either of that.

  “Let go of me,” I finally found my voice.

  “But why would I do such a thing?” he said. “You came to me.”

  No, I hadn’t. But I didn’t know what to say.

  “I know this game very well,” he said. “There are always a few girls who accept the bet.”

  “The bet?” I said, surprised. What was he talking about? I didn’t really care, but if he kept talking, maybe I could use his distraction and get free.

  “Yes, don’t try to deny it. They dared you to come here and try to kiss me,” he said, “and you accepted.”

  Huh? Girls really did that? They were sooooo dumb. Oh, wait… did he expect me to… kiss him? Ewww! Now I really had to get away. But the only way to get out seemed to be by playing his game. Besides, I didn’t have a better excuse to explain why I had come to his room.