Dangerous (Element Preservers Series, Book 1) Read online

  “Umm, yeah,” I said. He spun me around, putting his both arms tightly around my waist. I couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but I realized I had my hands pressed to his chest. And damn, I could feel some nice muscles under the shirt, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that I could actually move my hands.

  “Will you kiss me?” I said, trying to sound at least a bit sensual, but I failed. There was simply too much fear in my voice. I only managed to raise my hand and touch his face.

  At that moment I realized that the cold thing was no longer pressed against my neck and that it probably hadn’t been a knife at all. I had no time to think what the hell it could have been, so I ran my fingers through his soft hair and suddenly pulled with all force.

  He cursed, and his grip on me loosened. I pushed him aside with all my strength and ran for the door. I didn’t stop running until I reached the lab.

  Paula looked at me with wide eyes, and I, still breathless from running, showed her the lock I had managed to pull out of Adrian’s hair.

  “What did you do?” She gaped at me.

  “I got his DNA.” I smiled stupidly. “And now he’s probably going to kill me.”

  She just ran her fingers through her hair, not knowing what to say. I simply took a seat in one of the chairs and started telling her everything that had happened. Damn, I was in some serious trouble and I had no idea how to handle it.

  Chapter 04

  I was still sitting in the lab, watching Paula work. I might be scared of Adrian coming after me, but I didn’t want Paula to miss her chance to do experiments. And according to the time on my mobile phone, we had only two hours till the time when we were supposed to return the key to the lab to Alan.

  “Damn,” she said, breaking the silence. I looked up at her in surprise.

  “What?”

  “I can’t find anything unusual!” she said, clearly frustrated. I just shrugged, because this was totally not my thing. I probably couldn’t even tell what she was looking at.

  “Umm, and there is supposed to be something unusual?” I said, half-expecting that she wouldn’t answer.

  “Yes!” she said. “He isn’t supposed to have an element, right? So, why the hell I can’t see that damn gene missing?”

  “Because it’s not missing?” I said, and she actually looked up from the microscope and rolled her eyes at me.

  “But that’s not possible. It says in the book…” She stopped in the middle of the sentence and frowned. “Unless every disease case is different… or maybe because Adrian hasn’t shown the signs of the disease yet. But I’m sure he doesn’t have an element, so…”

  “That’s not true,” I said. “Adrian showed signs of the disease. He could actually feel my element. And we can’t do that.”

  “Oh, right,” she said. “But the problem is that I can’t find a book which contains a comparison of the DNA of one of us, those who don’t have an element at all and living magic disease carriers.”

  “Well, someone has probably done it in some part of the world,” I said. “But it’s not like they are planning to share that knowledge with us. You know that this thing is still kind of a taboo. And maybe there’s nothing to be compared since every case is different.”

  “Huh, maybe.” She sighed. “But there has to be a reason why people who decided not use their element simply gave up on it without consequences and people with the magic disease are different from that.”

  “Don’t you think they would have discovered it already if it were simple?” I said.

  “Yeah, but…” She sat down, looking disappointed. Crap, I didn’t want to make her feel miserable again.

  “Look, I’m sure you’re going to figure out something,” I said. “Just keep his DNA, because I don’t feel like getting it again.”

  “Yeah, my first idea was wrong, but it’s just the beginning.” She smiled.

  “Great!” I smiled. “Now that we’ve solved that, can we go for my last coffee?”

  “Last coffee?” She looked at me, completely puzzled.

  “Yeah, did you forget that Adrian is going to kill me?” I said. “I sent my dad a message to get me out of here if he can’t get Adrian to leave.”

  “What? Are you insane?” Paula yelled at me. “You can’t leave! And neither can Adrian! Besides, he’s not going to kill you! I thought you were joking when you said it the first time.”

  “You thought I was joking?” I glared at her. “I pulled some of his hair out! And if you add that to the fact that he is a murderer…”

  “Ria, are you listening to yourself?” She walked over to me, looking at me with her big eyes that looked completely blue under this light.

  “Yeah, I am. But are you listening to me?”

  “He’s not a murderer! You can’t blame him for having the disease!” She was upset.

  “Fine, he hasn’t killed anyone yet… as far as we know,” I said. “You know what his parents had done. For all I know, Alan could be covering up the killings for him. Hell, maybe it would even explain why you can’t find the difference in the DNA.”

  She was taken aback for a moment, considering everything I had said.

  “Sometimes I think you have a heart made of stone,” she said.

  “Yeah, heard it already and, oh sorry, I forgot. Poor little innocent boy tragically lost his parents thirteen years ago and he has the disease he totally didn’t deserve! Let’s all cry for him, kiss him and make it all better,” I said cynically. “Maybe even help him kill someone or spread the disease to get through all that suffering easier. Damn it, Paula, I have already told you he has and does anything he wants. There’s no need to feel sorry for him!”

  She pressed her lips together, turned her back on me and walked out of the lab. Great, just fucking great.

  My phone rang just as I was going out of the lab. It was my dad. Oh, goodie.

  “Hey, dad,” I said, walking to the end of the hall because it was less likely for someone to hear me there.

  “Ria, honey! I got your message. What happened?” he said, worried. “I’d have called Alan immediately, but I had to know the details first. Tell me. Are you hurt?”

  “Umm no, I’m fine,” I said, hesitating. Damn, I hadn’t thought about what I was going to say when I sent that message. So dumb and so typical for me. Could I tell to my father that I'd gone into a boy’s room? Adrian Liandre’s room of all? And pulled out a bit of his hair for my best friend’s illegal experiment? Yeah… right.

  “Honey, are you sure?” he said.

  “Yeah, actually… about this whole thing…” I said. “I kind of invented it because I miss you and mom.”

  I could deal with Adrian Liandre by myself. Let him intimidate me had probably been a big mistake and yeah, I simply felt brave when he wasn’t around. Just the usual.

  “Oh, Ria.” My father sighed on the phone. “I know you miss us and we miss you too. But we can’t come to see you this weekend. Maybe your brother could…”

  “No!” I nearly yelled. I didn’t want to see my brother. Hell, I didn’t even want to hear about him. He was twelve years older than me and we never got along. Besides, he was always away from home for school or something.

  “Ok, ok,” he said. “Do you need anything? I can send you whatever you want.”

  “No,” I said, “I don’t need anything. Sorry I bothered you.”

  “Are you sure you don’t need anything?” he persisted. Ok, when he wanted to talk, maybe I could ask something smart for a change.

  “Umm, do you think someone will find a cure for the magic disease?” I said, wondering why I had never discussed this with him.

  “Why do you ask such a silly question?” he said. “Those people don’t deserve to live! The last thing we need is that someone spends money and time on finding a cure when we can simply wipe them all out. Too bad the government changed the law! Everyone who doesn’t have an element doesn’t deserve to live.”

  He actually had a point. And even tho
ugh I didn’t really mind people who didn’t care about their element, they were still putting us all in danger. I didn’t want to die because some morons had decided to mix their elements and created a murderer in the process. But still, I supported Paula because she was my best friend, and if she wanted to find the cure, then why not? I didn’t really care that both her and my parents were against it.

  “Just wondering,” I said. “Because of Adrian being here and everything.”

  “Don’t worry, honey. If that bastard shows any sign of the disease, no matter how small, you call me, and he’s gone,” he said, and I believed him.

  “Sure, but I don’t think it will be that easy to get rid of Adrian…” I turned around and nearly dropped my phone. Adrian was standing just a few inches away from me, looking grim. Oh, come on! My life was turning into some stupid horror movie!

  “I have to go. Call you later.” I ended the call and put the mobile phone into my jeans pocket.

  “Ah, so that’s your plan.” He smiled bitterly, taking a step forward, so he ended up almost touching me. I didn’t back away or try to run. I didn’t even feel scared because I was still angry that he'd appeared here and overheard my conversation, which had seemed practically impossible to happen.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I said, putting all of my anger into that sentence.

  “Don’t tell me you’re mad at me for discovering your dirty little plan?” he said, and I made a mistake of looking into his gray-blue eyes. At that moment all of my anger disappeared, and I backed away from him, my back hitting the wall. I was suddenly feeling cold like I had walked out into the coldest winter day.

  “Stay away from me,” I whispered shakily. He smiled and leaned on the wall next to me.

  “Really? And what about your plan to get rid of me?” He reached for me, and I closed my eyes. “Do you think I can just go over it?”

  When I opened my eyes again, I saw him playing with a lock of my hair. My heart was thudding loudly in my chest, but I refused to simply run away from him or make everything worse by setting some part of him on fire. I had to get over the fear somehow.

  “What? Did the cat eat your tongue?”

  “Fuck off,” I said.

  “Listen, bitch, I’m going to get your element one day,” he whispered into my ear.

  “Get away from her!” someone yelled, and I recognized Michael’s voice.

  Adrian rolled his eyes and stepped away from me. I looked up at Michael and suddenly felt much better. And damn, he looked really hot when he was angry. His soft, brown hair was flying around his face and his green eyes were blazing. For a second I thought he might be an angel of revenge, ready to jump on Adrian and make him pay for what he had done to me.

  “Aaah, here comes the Prince Charming,” Adrian said sarcastically.

  “Ria, are you ok?” Michael gave me a concerned look, and I felt warmth well up inside of me. Adrian looked at me nervously. Wait, was the warmth I felt inside connected to my element too?

  “Well, I’ll leave you two lovers alone,” Adrian said, walking away, but then he stopped and looked back at us. “Be careful, Michael. She’s dangerous.”

  “Don’t you ever come near her again!” Michael yelled after him.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Adrian said dismissively and left. Michael rushed to my side, taking my hands and looking at me carefully.

  “Did he hurt you?” he said, his voice full of worry.

  “No, he just… he was just being an asshole,” I said.

  “Typical.” Michael rolled his eyes. “But if he ever comes near you again…”

  “Don’t,” I said, smiling at him. I didn’t want to talk about Adrian. Michael looked at me in surprise, but then he realized what I meant and smiled back at me.

  “Would you like to go for a coffee? And maybe explain to me how did you get into this?” he said.

  “Sure, why not?” I said, and we went down the hall.

  Michael and I were sitting as far away from the other tables as we could. This café wasn’t really one of my favorites, but it was the nearest one to the university; we hadn’t wanted to go to one of the university’s cafés because they were usually overcrowded and there you couldn’t have any privacy.

  “So, what did Adrian want from you?” Michael asked, and I noticed certain hostility in his voice.

  “Let’s just say I pissed him off,” I said. “But I don’t want to talk about him. Don’t tell me you’re obsessed with him too.”

  “No.” Michael frowned, disgusted. “How could you even say such a thing?”

  “Fine then.” I smiled. “Now tell me, can you do something fun with your element?”

  “Sure,” he said.

  “Show me.”

  “We aren’t supposed to…” he said.

  “I know,” I said, “and I don’t care. Show me something.”

  He looked at me skeptically, then, after making sure no one was watching us, he concentrated on the glass of water in front of him. I felt that strange tingling sensation around me even stronger than before because Michael was sitting so close to me.

  Suddenly, the water slowly rose until it was floating above the glass, still preserving its shape. The water was perfectly still for a moment, and then it parted and formed the shape of a heart.

  “Wow,” I whispered, afraid that any movement would destroy the beauty in front of me. Then the water moved again and formed the shape of a rose. I stared at it, wondering why we weren’t allowed to do this all the time. The rose was as perfect as if it had been made out of ice, but since it was still water, it had a feeling of life and warmth to it which ice could never have. I felt compelled to touch it; to feel the power in it.

  Michael was smiling at me, and then the rose dissolved into hundreds of shiny drops and fell back into the glass. I kept staring at the place where it had been, but there was nothing but air.

  “Do you like it?” he said.

  “Yes, it’s… it’s amazing,” I said. “When did you learn that?”

  “Last week actually.”

  “You learned all that in one week?” I said in disbelief.

  “Of course not.” He smiled. “It took more than that. But they just decided to teach us the final steps last week.”

  “Damn! That means I have to wait one more year to learn the cool stuff!” I said.

  “Yes, but it is worth waiting it,” he said.

  “True.”

  “Are you going to the party this weekend?” Michael asked.

  “Umm, what party?” I actually couldn’t believe I didn’t know about a party! It seemed completely impossible.

  “Great!” Michael smiled, and I looked at him in surprise. “Would you like to go with me?”

  “What?” Yeah, it was extremely stupid to say that when I should have totally screamed yes to him. But I couldn’t just accept anything just because he was hot. Or maybe I could?

  “It’s a secret party for sophomores, and since you don’t know about it… it means no one has asked you to come… So, would you like to go with me?” He smiled so sweetly that my heart melted.

  “Sure,” I said. “But why is it secret?”

  “I don’t know… Probably to make it seem more special,” he said. “Anyway, it’s different from other parties because you can get in only if you’re a sophomore or accompanied by someone who is.”

  “Ah, ok then,” I said. “So, it’s this weekend?”

  “Yeah, on Saturday,” he said.

  “Is that like… a date?” I looked at him hopefully.

  “Umm, I guess it is.”

  “Does it bother you… you know… the fact that we have different elements?” I said. He hesitated for a moment, and then his green eyes met mine.

  “No,” he said and meant it. “And you?”

  “No, not really,” I said. I knew I was risking it, but I really, really liked him. Besides, it was just dating, not getting married or planning a family. But why in hell it felt like this was an im
portant decision in my life?

  After my coffee with Michael, I went straight to Paula's room. I didn't care if she was still mad at me for what I had said about Adrian; we were best friends and that was more important than any stupid quarrel. I knocked on the door and didn’t have to wait long for her to open it.

  “Oh, great! You’re here!” She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me inside. I looked at her in surprise because I had at least expected her to be a bit angry.

  “Am I… missing something?” I said, and she smiled coyly.

  “Yes! Some guy approached me in the hall,” she said. “He kind of asked me to go to a party with him.”

  “Wow.” I smiled. “Who?”

  “Oh, you probably don’t know him,” she said. “He’s some weird geek. Not attractive at all… But I was so impressed that he dared to ask me that I actually told him I was going to think about it! Can you believe it?”

  “Umm, actually no. So, what kind of a party is it?”

  “I’m not sure I can tell you… Well, it’s a secret party for sophomores,” she said.

  “You have to go to that party!” I said, excited that she could come with me.

  “Why?”

  “Because Michael invited me! And I can’t go without you!” I said.

  “Michael invited you? Oh, that’s so awesome!” She came closer to hug me.

  “Well, you can wait until someone better invites you. I know they would all like to go with you,” I said. She suddenly stopped smiling.

  “It doesn’t matter who invites me. The only one I would like to invite me already has a date.” She sighed.

  “Tell me you’re not talking about that bastard,” I said, and she rolled her eyes at me.

  “I like him. And I believe everyone deserves a chance to show who they really are. You can’t judge people without knowing what’s inside them,” she said, and I frowned.

  “Oh, I think I know very well who he is,” I said. “You keep thinking you’ll find an angel inside of the devil’s body, but trust me, there can’t be anything good about that guy. Who is his date anyway? Probably some slutty blonde.”