Indestructible (17 page)

“Where do we go? To a desert?” I didn’t know how far we should go, especially since people with elements were everywhere. It was impossible to avoid them completely.

“Not exactly.” Adrian tipped his head and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. “But definitely a less populated place than this city.”

“Okay.” I let my hands run up and down his back. “And how are we going to get there? We don’t even have a car.” Lily had gotten rid of the car Adrian and I had stolen from the lab’s parking lot and she’d taken back the one we’d stolen from her. We could try stealing another one, but someone would notice. It had been easy to steal a car when we had the keys or when we had known the owner would never come after us.

“Did you forget that we have money we can use?” He grinned. “Alan no longer controls my accounts, and if he does, he’ll let me take any money I want.”

I slapped myself on the forehead. “Silly me. I guess we were stealing so much stuff that I forgot we could get something legally.”

“Well, we were kind of in a hurry. We couldn’t exactly wait until they delivered us the car.”

“Great. So we buy a car and then we go somewhere.”

“Yep. That’s the plan.” Amusement filled Adrian’s eyes.

“The only downside is that I can’t go anywhere without you.” I frowned. “Not even to the bathroom.”

“Oh, come on. Nothing I haven’t seen already,” he said and I lightly punched him in the shoulder. “Okay, okay. I won’t be looking. Promise.”

“On the bright side, you can’t go anywhere without me either.” I flashed him a wide grin. “I’ll be watching you, Adrian Liandre.”

“Aw, no.” Still holding my hand, he spun me around and pressed himself against my back. “Can’t see me now, can you?”

I tried to turn around, but his grip was too tight, so I burst out laughing. His grip on me loosened as he was laughing too.

“I swear we’re not right in the head,” I said. “Here we are laughing even though we don’t know what will happen with my disease. Even though we might have to go to another planet so I don’t kill anyone.”

Adrian snorted. “Another planet? A piece of cake. I never even liked this planet. You know I’d follow you anywhere.”

“I know.” No matter what happened, Adrian and I would have each other. We always would.

Chapter 25

I was relieved when Adrian and I finally left Alan’s apartment. It was a bit tricky to get in the car because I couldn’t let go of Adrian. People gave us strange looks, but that was the least of my problems. I stared back at some of them, though, just to unnerve them even further.

“What if the cops pull us over?” I asked, awkwardly holding my hand on Adrian’s leg. “I can’t let go of you and it’s not exactly safe to drive like this.”

“Well, if they pull us over, all you have to do is let go of me and we’ll be rid of them.” The corners of his lips went up.

“Ha ha. Not funny.” But it was kind of funny, because I knew Adrian would never let me kill innocent people, even if they were inconveniencing us. “So where are we going?”

“South,” Adrian said as if that answered everything. My phone rang and I fished it out of my pocket. It was a surprise I hadn’t accidentally let go of Adrian already. Paula’s number flashed on the screen.

“Paula, hey, is everything okay?” I asked.

“Hey. Yeah, everything’s fine. I was just wondering how you’re dealing with the disease,” she said hesitantly.

I looked at my hand that was resting on Adrian’s leg. “Not so well.”

“I can imagine. I’ve been trying to figure out what could help you, but I just… don’t know.” She sighed and I knew she wasn’t happy that she couldn’t find the cure for the disease or at least help me somehow.

“It’s okay. Adrian and I decided to go for a little trip. We’ll see what being away from elements does to me.”

“But you can’t find a place that is completely isolated. You should come here. I promise you this place doesn’t look like a lab at all. We could do some tests and you could rest without having to touch Adrian all the time,” she said. “Don’t be stupid. I know you had some bad experiences with labs, but we’re not monsters here. Do you think I’d ever hurt you?”

“Of course not. I’m aware that what I’m doing might be slightly crazy.”

“Might be? Slightly?” Paula drawled.

“Yeah, whatever. It’s totally crazy, but wouldn’t it be awesome if this worked?”

“It would, but…” Silence filled the line. “You could hurt yourself or someone else.”

“Adrian will make sure that doesn’t happen,” I said with all the certainty in the world. “Even if things go very wrong, at least I will have lived a couple of more days as a free woman. You do realize that if I go to a lab and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do for me, I’ll have to be trapped for eternity.” The eternity being the time until I died.

“Ria, no. It won’t be like that. We’re not some psychos who will force you to stay.”

“I know you won’t, but what about the others? They don’t know me. They’re not my friends. How do you think they’d react if they found out everything about me? I killed three men and took their elements like it was nothing. Even people who want to help me would hesitate after hearing that.”

“Don’t you think it will be a million times worse if you actually kill an innocent person on your trip?”

“If I do that, then you should put me in whatever lab you can find.” I needed this trip to prove to myself that I could still be me and not give in to the disease. If I just went to a lab, all the problems would be solved for me, but who knew if I’d ever manage to leave? So maybe my logic was flawed, but I didn’t want to be trapped in a windowless place if I could help it.

“Take care of yourself.” Paula’s voice sounded defeated. “I’ll see if I can do something.”

“Thanks, but don’t worry about me. You should take care of yourself.” After we said our goodbyes and ended the call, I looked at Adrian. “I’ve been thinking… If I do end up in a lab after all of this, you should go live your life. I couldn’t stand it that you have to be trapped in a lab again just because of me.”

Adrian’s eyes darkened. “Are we in this together or not? Your emotions are messed up because of the disease. You’re not thinking clearly. And if you really think I could continue my life without you, you’re wrong. You
are
my life. So if you want me to leave you in some hellish place, why don’t you let go of me right now?”

Losing my control in the car could kill us both. Was that what he was implying? Were my thoughts and emotions really affected by the disease so much? I did think Adrian and I could go through everything together, but I didn’t want him to suffer because of me. “I guess we’ll have to make this work somehow, then.”

Adrian stopped the car in the middle of the woods. “I can’t tell if there are any people with elements around here while you’re holding onto me. Do you think you can let go for a moment?”

I pulled my hand back, flexing my fingers. Holding my hand in nearly the same position for hours was tiresome. The pain in my hand was quickly replaced by squeezing in my chest. It wasn’t as horrible as in the city, but it existed. My mouth went dry, my fingers getting cold. “I’m not losing my mind, but I can still feel elements.”

Adrian gave me a bewildered look. “That’s impossible. I don’t even feel them.”

Uh oh. That wasn’t good. Adrian had always been much better at sensing elements at a distance. “Please tell me you’re joking. I can feel… at least five elements.”

“I’m not joking.” A frown line creased his forehead. “But at least you can talk to me and you’re not losing your mind.”

“True.” I swallowed, but the dryness didn’t leave my throat.

“We should go for a walk. We’ve been in this car for way too long.” Adrian stretched his arms, nearly hitting me in the face. A grin appeared on his face to indicate that he had done that on purpose.

I pushed the door open and slowly got to my feet. The fresh air did nothing to clear the mess the elements were making in my head.

“No, not in that direction,” Adrian said.

I blinked and found myself a couple of feet away from the car. “Fuck.”

“Just take it easy.” He locked the car. “I assume you can feel the elements of people living in the nearest village, so you might stop sensing them after we go a little bit farther.”

“But there isn’t a village nearby for miles!” I threw my hands up in frustration.

“Maybe you’re sensing someone else. People travel, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes and strode past him. “But these elements aren’t even moving. One of them is making me warm, so I think it’s ice. I shouldn’t be feeling sub-elements so strongly.”

“Shut up and walk. The more you complain about it, the worse it gets. Try to ignore the elements.”

“Wait.” I eyed the narrow path in the grass that led into the trees. “Are we really going to walk through there? I didn’t bring shoes for trekking.”

Adrian’s eyebrows shot upward. His eyes scanned me from head to toe and back up again. “You’re wearing sneakers. I think you’re pretty much fine.”

“Well, I know that I’m fine, but these are my favorite sneakers. They should be used for walking on concrete or, I don’t know, carpets. I don’t want grass or dirt on them.” I put a hand on my hip.

“I’ll buy you new ones.”

“Where? We’re in the middle of nowhere. The only store that sells them is in the city, or did you forget where I got them? You were there with me when I picked them.”

He blinked, his lips pressed together. “I quit.”

“What?” I looked at him in confusion.

“I thought I could do this, you know, help you distract yourself. But you went straight into a territory I can’t even begin to comprehend.” He tossed me a bottle of water and I caught it. “I’d totally carry you, but that would defeat the purpose of this, so please.” He extended his hand. “After you.”

I grudgingly took a step forward, taking a sip of the water. While I might have been overreacting a bit about my sneakers, I still didn’t want to ruin them. My concerns were totally valid, even if Adrian couldn’t understand that. The world of elements disappeared for a fraction of a second when Adrian bumped into me.

“Why did you stop?” he said. “Did you scratch your precious sneaker?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I stopped walking.” I stepped away from him and the elements swarmed me again. Squeezing my fingers around the bottle, I tried to think about something other than jumping into a pool of elemental water. My sole focus became putting one foot in front of the other and avoiding branches and stones.

A couple of minutes later, we reached a small clearing. A stream of crystal clear water was trickling in the middle of it, and to our right was a cave. The warm rays of sunshine caressed my face as I knelt in front of the stream. I scooped the water into my hands and splashed it onto my face.

“Wow,” Adrian said, crouching next to me.

“It’s breathtaking,” I said, looking around.

“Can you still feel the elements?” He waved his hand through the water.

I opened my mouth to say yes, but then I realized the elements were merely a weak pulsation at the back of my mind. “Yeah, but they’re not really bothering me.”

“Good. Then we could set up a camp here so we can rest. What do you think?” A mischievous smile spread Adrian’s lips.

“Sure, why not?” I wasn’t really a camping type of a girl, but I could survive for a night or two. Maybe. “Oh, God, is there a house somewhere? I can’t be anywhere without a bathroom!”

“You’ll live.” Adrian shook his head. “Would you rather spend a night here or at the lab?”

I chewed on the insides of my mouth. “When you put it like that… Yeah, we can stay.” But we’d be getting the hell out of here as soon as I felt better.

“Then you won’t mind if I do this.” Adrian snickered. I had no idea what he was talking about until he tackled me and we ended up rolling into the water. The stream wasn’t deep enough to drown, but it was deep enough that half of my body was in the water.

“Damn it, Adrian!” I smacked him in the chest.

“What’s the matter?” He made a crying face. “Are your shoes wet?”

Gathering all of my strength, I managed to push him off me until he fell into the water. I pinned him down, straddling him. His dark hair was wet and plastered to his forehead, his eyes incredibly blue in contrast with the water.

My shirt was completely soaked and clinging to my body, so I shivered when Adrian’s warm fingers found their way to my skin. I pushed my wet hair out of my face and bent my head to brush my lips against his. He tipped his chin up, trying to deepen the kiss, but I pulled back far enough so he couldn’t do what he wanted.

“Don’t move,” I said, lowering myself down his body. He looked at me, his mouth slightly open. I tugged at his shirt and exposed his stomach. His eyes fluttered back as I slowly licked the drops of water off his heated skin. His muscles flexed as I moved lower and lower. Oh, yeah, I had an idea or two about how to push his buttons.

Chapter 26

My eyes flew open, but I couldn’t see anything except the darkness. Startled by the rustling of leaves, I sat up and nearly banged my head on the stone. Feeling around me for something solid, I remembered that Adrian and I had set up our sleeping bags in the cave so we could get some rest and wait for the night to pass. My phone was supposed to be within reach, but I couldn’t find it.

I could hear Adrian’s slow and steady breathing. He was still asleep and, at some point, we had stopped touching. A shiver ran down my spine and I tried to cover myself with the blanket, but my fingers started to shake from the cold. More rustling broke through the silence. Someone was out there. Someone with an element.

I crawled across the ground, scraping my knees on the rough stone, but that didn’t matter. All I wanted was a little bit of warmth and light. I vaguely remembered that Adrian had placed a bunch of cans, wrappers and even small bells at the entrance of the cave so we would wake up in case an animal decided to come by. Slightly frustrated, I went back to my sleeping bag and tried to find my phone again as quietly as possible. If Adrian woke up, he’d try to stop me and I couldn’t allow him to do that.