No One (Element Preservers, #3.5) Read Online Free
Author: Alycia Linwood
wide-eyed at two tiny figures escorted by mean-looking guards.
"Come closer and take a look," Valeria said, waving toward the glass. Without thinking, I found myself in front of the glass. A blond boy around my age and a slightly older girl stood in the yard, their heads bowed and their bodies shaking. When the girl lifted her head up, I saw tears streaming down her face.
Valeria banged on the glass with her fist, startling me and bringing my attention to her. "They're both children of magic disease carriers. One showed the symptoms, the other didn't. Frankly, it doesn't matter."
"What are you going to do with them?" I tried to keep my emotions off my face, but I didn't think I was successful at masking my dismay and concern.
"I'm going to let them both go. One will have a tracker, the other won't." Valeria lowered her voice, her hazel eyes piercing through me. "I'm going to send my guards after them and kill them. Do you hear that, carrier? They will die because of you."
"No." I shook my head slowly.
"You made a mistake and now you're going to pay for it." She took a small remote control out of her pocket and turned on a TV screen right next to us. I hadn't even noticed the screen, but now I could see the girl and the boy from another angle. "We're going to film everything and you're going to watch them die."
"No, please. Don't do this." If she wanted me to beg, I'd do it. I couldn't let some innocent kids die because of me. "Please. You can do to me whatever you want. I won't try to run away. Please!"
"Of course you won't." She grinned. "If Alan notifies me you even thought about running away, I will kill more carriers. Well, maybe not exactly the carriers we need, but those who prove not to be of any use."
"You can't do this." Thousands of thoughts flashed through my mind, but none of them revealed me a way to save those kids. "How do you plan to find them and execute them in front of everyone? The police won't allow it." Even if no one cared about the carriers, the government liked to pretend from time to time that they protected the carriers' rights simply to lure them out of hiding. Public executions wouldn't help them to gather more carriers for their experiments.
"Oh, it won't be in front of anyone. My men are professionals. No one will know about this little game of ours." Valeria faced the glass, so I looked through it too. The guards were taking the cuffs off the kids' wrists and urging them to run. Shit! The girl looked disoriented at first, but then she broke into a run, glancing back to see if the guards were following her. The boy was faster and had already disappeared from view.
"Pay attention to the screen, carrier," Valeria spat, taking a seat in one of the chairs. She sighed in content and leaned back in the chair, the corners of her lips tilting up as she observed the TV screen. Her attention briefly flickered to me. "If you don't watch every second of this transmission, I'm going to find more carriers to get rid of."
I glanced at Alan's expressionless face and knew he wouldn't do anything to stop the killings. Reluctantly, I looked up at the screen and couldn't look away, even when bile rose in my throat.
Chapter 09
Now
Alan was sitting on the couch, and he smiled at me when I entered the living room. "I didn't think you'd come. It must be something important that you need from me."
"Don't get your hopes up."
Alan got up and took a step toward me. "How can I be of assistance?"
I took in my surroundings and found only two plants, one in each corner of the room, that Alan could use against me. "I need one of your experts for training magic disease carriers." There was no reason to avoid the main point. The sooner I got out of this place, the better.
"Hmm." Alan tilted his head, his brow furrowing in thought. "You have a new carrier."
It wasn't a question, but I nodded. If I played this right, Alan would give me all the information I wanted.
"Who is it? Is it someone you care about?"
"Come closer and take a look," Valeria said, waving toward the glass. Without thinking, I found myself in front of the glass. A blond boy around my age and a slightly older girl stood in the yard, their heads bowed and their bodies shaking. When the girl lifted her head up, I saw tears streaming down her face.
Valeria banged on the glass with her fist, startling me and bringing my attention to her. "They're both children of magic disease carriers. One showed the symptoms, the other didn't. Frankly, it doesn't matter."
"What are you going to do with them?" I tried to keep my emotions off my face, but I didn't think I was successful at masking my dismay and concern.
"I'm going to let them both go. One will have a tracker, the other won't." Valeria lowered her voice, her hazel eyes piercing through me. "I'm going to send my guards after them and kill them. Do you hear that, carrier? They will die because of you."
"No." I shook my head slowly.
"You made a mistake and now you're going to pay for it." She took a small remote control out of her pocket and turned on a TV screen right next to us. I hadn't even noticed the screen, but now I could see the girl and the boy from another angle. "We're going to film everything and you're going to watch them die."
"No, please. Don't do this." If she wanted me to beg, I'd do it. I couldn't let some innocent kids die because of me. "Please. You can do to me whatever you want. I won't try to run away. Please!"
"Of course you won't." She grinned. "If Alan notifies me you even thought about running away, I will kill more carriers. Well, maybe not exactly the carriers we need, but those who prove not to be of any use."
"You can't do this." Thousands of thoughts flashed through my mind, but none of them revealed me a way to save those kids. "How do you plan to find them and execute them in front of everyone? The police won't allow it." Even if no one cared about the carriers, the government liked to pretend from time to time that they protected the carriers' rights simply to lure them out of hiding. Public executions wouldn't help them to gather more carriers for their experiments.
"Oh, it won't be in front of anyone. My men are professionals. No one will know about this little game of ours." Valeria faced the glass, so I looked through it too. The guards were taking the cuffs off the kids' wrists and urging them to run. Shit! The girl looked disoriented at first, but then she broke into a run, glancing back to see if the guards were following her. The boy was faster and had already disappeared from view.
"Pay attention to the screen, carrier," Valeria spat, taking a seat in one of the chairs. She sighed in content and leaned back in the chair, the corners of her lips tilting up as she observed the TV screen. Her attention briefly flickered to me. "If you don't watch every second of this transmission, I'm going to find more carriers to get rid of."
I glanced at Alan's expressionless face and knew he wouldn't do anything to stop the killings. Reluctantly, I looked up at the screen and couldn't look away, even when bile rose in my throat.
Chapter 09
Now
Alan was sitting on the couch, and he smiled at me when I entered the living room. "I didn't think you'd come. It must be something important that you need from me."
"Don't get your hopes up."
Alan got up and took a step toward me. "How can I be of assistance?"
I took in my surroundings and found only two plants, one in each corner of the room, that Alan could use against me. "I need one of your experts for training magic disease carriers." There was no reason to avoid the main point. The sooner I got out of this place, the better.
"Hmm." Alan tilted his head, his brow furrowing in thought. "You have a new carrier."
It wasn't a question, but I nodded. If I played this right, Alan would give me all the information I wanted.
"Who is it? Is it someone you care about?"
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