Restless (Element Preservers, #4) (16 page)

"Carriers shouldn't be allowed to enter the club at all!" Ethan yelled, looking from me to Adrian. "Get out!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Adrian must have realized using ice would only put us both in danger if Ethan decided to use his fire against us. Then again, Ethan couldn't know my fire wasn't stronger than his until he tried to stop it directly. "Ria, are you ok?"

I shook my head, backing away until I was closer to Adrian. "Ethan, go!"

"I'm not going to leave you with a carrier," Ethan huffed.

"You're more of a threat to me than he is right now," I said, glaring at Ethan. I wanted to strangle him, and I wasn't sure that was entirely because of my disease.

Ethan eyed Adrian and me, his dark eyes narrowing. "I saw you watching her. You're obsessed with her... or..." He turned to me. "You're fucking a carrier, you dumb bitch!"

Adrian rushed him, tackling him against the wall and punching him in the face. Ethan got hold of Adrian's arm, attempting to twist it. I contemplated calling my guards, but they were too far away because they thought I'd be safe in here.

"Stop it!" I yelled as they continued to punch and kick. If I threw a fireball at them, I risked hitting Adrian with it. Damn it.

"Tell me, Ria, why is a carrier better than me? What does he have?" Ethan said, panting.

"I'm not with Adrian, but I don't care what you think." Even if Ethan suspected something, there was no way he could prove it.

Adrian jumped back, avoiding Ethan's fist. They stared at each other from the distance, trying to find the best way to attack.

"Did you come because you sensed our elements?" Ethan spat out blood, his eyes trained on Adrian.

"Oh, I'd like to have an element, but yours reeks." Adrian smirked. Ethan's face went white with rage and he rushed Adrian, pinning him against the wall.

"Stop it!" I came behind Ethan and wrapped my arms around his neck. A scream brought our attention to the girls who were at the door, their eyes wide and frightened. One of the girls ran off, yelling for the security. My grip on Ethan's throat tightened as he tried to shake me off. I dug my nails into my own arms until I could control my limbs, and let go of him. It would be a disaster if I ended up killing Ethan in front of witnesses.

The first one to come to the rescue was Alan, who grabbed Ethan and pulled him away from Adrian. Ethan's hair was disheveled, his nose bloody. Adrian was trying to catch his breath, wiping off the blood from his lip, a bruise forming on his cheekbone.

"Are you two out of your mind?" Alan yelled. "You're acting like children and ruining Ria's party! Ethan, go home and get cleaned up. Now!"

Ethan shot me a glare and strode off. I rubbed my face, glad that it was all over. When Adrian had told me Alan would be coming with him because the club owner wouldn't let him in otherwise, I was frustrated, but now I appreciated Alan's presence. I wasn't too happy that Ethan was still angry and could say something incriminating to the press, but everyone knew we broke up, so anything he said could be judged as a way to get back at me. But even though no one could prove Adrian and I were together, it would be a problem if everyone started looking for a proof. We'd never be able to see each other.

Adrian's eyes were full of worry when he looked at me and I nodded at him, knowing that we shouldn't speak to each other.

"You're coming with me," Alan said authoritatively, getting hold of Adrian's arm. As soon as the two of them were out of the restroom, the girls who were watching the whole thing came running to me, asking me whether I was ok and straightening my hair. My guards rushed in a couple of seconds later.

"You're late." I found my fake element-blocking bracelet in the sink and reattached it. "Let's go outside. I don't want to go back to the party." I put on my best smile for the girls. "Everything is fine. Thank you so much. Please, go back to the party."

As soon as we walked out of the club, the blinding flashes of cameras and numerous voices flooded my vision and hearing. They kept asking me why I broke up with Ethan, but I remained quiet. My guards shoved everyone out of the way so I could get to the car. I knew I was going to be someone's entertainment tomorrow, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I was sure of one thing, though. This was the worst birthday ever.

Chapter 20

A shrill noise pierced through my consciousness, dragging me out of the world of dreams. It took me a moment to realize that the unholy sound was coming from my phone and that it was still dark outside. Who the fuck called in the middle of the night? Then again, I should have probably turned off the damn thing before I went to sleep.

The phone stopped ringing, but only for a couple of seconds. I rolled over, groaning, and snatched the phone. "What?!" I said groggily.

"Ria! Thank God," Ryan said, his voice full of panic. "Do you know where is Paula? I can't find her anywhere."

I sat up, now wide awake. "What do you mean you can't find her?"

"We were at the club, dancing and having fun. Then she went to the restroom and didn't come back. I found her bracelet and drops of blood in the back alley."

"What? No! Did you call the police? Did you try to call Paula?" I ran my hand through my hair, my fingers shaking. Maybe I was still dreaming and didn't know it. There was no way Paula would disappear. Just no.

"Yeah, I tried to call her, but no one answered. When I called the police they came to check out the blood, didn't find any witnesses and said they couldn't do anything because Paula wasn't missing for more than 48 hours. They think she went with someone else and didn't want to tell me."

"Fuck." I threw the covers off me and jumped out of the bed, looking for my clothes. "Where are you now?"

"Near the club."

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Don't go anywhere." I ended the call and put on a black hoodie, hoping that would be enough to hide my face from anyone who could recognize me. As I finished dressing, I slipped into my sneakers and hurried outside. I wanted to wake up Adrian and ask him to come with me, but I was afraid someone would see us together. I didn't want people to jump to conclusions because of what had happened in the club with Ethan.

Focusing on every element in the building, I tried to find Paula's, but I couldn't. I couldn't feel anything even when I passed next to her room. No one came to open the door when I banged on it either, so Paula definitely hadn't come back to the university during the night.

I jogged down the street, ignoring the cold air that was biting my skin. I prayed Paula was safe somewhere, even though I wasn't sure why she'd leave Ryan and go outside. Maybe that bracelet Ryan had found wasn't hers. It wouldn't surprise me if he had paid more attention to Paula than to the jewelry she was wearing, so he could have easily mistaken another bracelet for hers. But where was she?

I found Ryan in the back alley, which stank of beer and piss. Stepping over a puddle of what looked like vomit, I faced Ryan, who was huddled near the wall.

"What did you say to the police about your identity?" I asked, glancing down the alley to see whether someone was hiding in the shadows. Just because I couldn’t feel any elements didn't mean someone wasn't there.

"Nothing." Ryan rolled his eyes. "If I mentioned my real name, they'd put me behind the bars without investigation and call the case closed."

"When was the last time you saw Paula?"

"Three hours ago."

"Are you sure she went to the restroom?" If someone had called Paula for some scientific experiment, she would have gone to the lab in an instant, but I doubted she wouldn't have told Ryan about it.

He nodded. "I saw her when she opened the door, but I didn't see her come out. I wasn't staring at the door like some creep, though, so she could have gone wherever she wanted."

"Are you sure the bracelet you found is hers? Maybe she went to the lab to do something and fell asleep there, so she can't answer her phone. Maybe..." My voice hitched and cracked. Taking a deep breath, I tried to call Paula so I wouldn't think about all the terrible scenarios in which I'd never see my best friend again.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's hers." He made a couple of steps down the street, pointing at a spot on the ground. "I found it here."

Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I looked down at the drops of blood that were still visible on the pavement. Bile rose in my throat at the thought that someone had hurt Paula, so I averted my gaze and noticed Ryan was palming the bracelet.

"Can I see it?" I reached out for the bracelet and he dropped it into my hand. The bracelet looked exactly like Paula's, or any other element-blocking bracelet. I gave it back to Ryan, wondering how low were the chances that someone else had such a rare bracelet. "I just don't get it. Why would someone attack and kidnap her?"

"For many reasons." Ryan shrugged. "Someone might be interested in her work."

"Yeah, but why kidnap her then? No one is supposed to know what she is doing, and if they know, then they could have simply asked her because they are part of Lily's team anyway." I lightly bit my lip, hoping my worst fear didn't come true. "I hope it wasn't someone who only wanted juicy details about Ethan and me."

"Hey, it's not your fault." Ryan's eyes softened. "We're going to find her."

I nodded and started to walk down the street. "Maybe we should look around."

"Good idea." Ryan followed me, his phone in his hand. "I'll try her cell again."

A faint melody could be heard from one of the alleys as we walked past it. I stopped, looking back at the seemingly empty alley. The melody stopped when Ryan lowered his phone. My pulse racing, I ran toward the trash cans, my footsteps echoing in the darkness.

"It's hers," Ryan said as he called once more and the melody started again. I peered into the trash can and saw Paula's purse under a nasty-looking slice of pizza. As I covered my nose with my hand to block out the sour smell, Ryan dipped his arm into the trash can and fished out Paula's purse, shaking off bits and pieces of garbage.

"Is everything in there?" I asked as Ryan opened the purse.

"Yep, her phone, her wallet,... It doesn't seem like anything is missing."

Except
for her
. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. Paula wouldn't have thrown her purse away. This was a definite sign that someone had kidnapped her. If the police wasn't willing to help us, we'd have to find someone else. "I'm going to call Lily."

"Are you sure she'll answer? It's not even dawn yet." Ryan closed Paula's purse and clutched it to himself as if it was an object of immeasurable value.

"We can try." As I dialed Lily's number, I prayed that she would answer. Unfortunately, the call went straight to voicemail. I sighed, frustrated. "Lily, when you get this, please call me immediately. It's urgent!"

"I can't see anything around here that could point us to whoever took her," Ryan said, his eyes trained on the ground.

"Damn it!" I went through the contacts list, looking for anyone who could alert Lily or help us. "Maybe someone is awake at Lily's hiding place." The phone rang and rang, but no one picked it up. I wanted to hurl my phone against the wall, but I doubted I'd be able to find all the pieces in the dark. Another idea came to my mind and I turned to Ryan. "Can you feel around for Paula's element? Maybe whoever took her didn't go far."

"No." He grimaced. "I don't have an element, so my self-control depends on my ability to keep all elements out of my head. They taught me in the lab how to block elements from my mind for most of the time, even when my control is slipping, but consciously allowing elements into my mind would shatter my control completely."

"Could I learn that? To block elements even when I'm losing control?" I knew how to push elements out of my mind when I was in control of myself, but I was helpless when my control was slipping.

"I don't think so. Every carrier is different, so what works for one often doesn't work for another. And I wouldn't want anyone to even try the learning methods. Can you try to find her?"

I closed my eyes and focused on the elements around me, but the whole block was full of them. Opening my eyes, I shook my head at Ryan. "There are too many elements around here, so they all blend together for me. I do know someone who could help us with that." Glad that I hadn't broken my phone, I dialed Adrian's number. The call didn't immediately go to the voicemail, so I hoped he'd answer.

"Hello, Ria," a gruff male voice said. It took me a moment to recognize it.

"Alan?" I frowned. What the fuck was Alan doing with Adrian's phone?

"Yep, it's me."

"Where is Adrian?"

Alan yawned. "The police station."

I groaned. "What? But why?"

"Someone told the cops about the fight in the club, so they wanted to question the carrier. Just the usual procedure," he mumbled. "Doesn't matter that it's the middle of the night. And they didn't even let
me
leave because I'm his
guardian
."

"Great," I said dryly. I knew the police had to make sure that all normal people involved in the fight were still alive, but there was no point in questioning Adrian when Ethan was alive and well. "Is Ethan there too?"