Free Restless (Element Preservers, #4) by Alycia Linwood Page A

said.
    "Did you know about this before I showed you the article?" Lily asked.
    "No." Paula and I shook our heads.
    Lily gave us a pointed look. "There you go. Some will be outraged, but the government will still have the support of the media and the rich. It will take time until someone gathers a group of people who don't agree with the law. Some of those who will have to pay higher taxes might even think that the law is justified since they can't contribute to the society because of their decision to abandon their element."
    "But what about those who can't afford to pay those taxes?" Paula said.
    "Same as always." Lily shrugged.
    "I have to do something. They did this without my knowledge and I'm supposed to make decisions about everything concerning the elements!" This was also a proof that the government didn't trust me and didn't want to listen to anything I had to say. It shouldn't surprise me, but I'd thought they'd at least pretend they cared.
    "There's not much you can do," Lily said. "You could tell the world about the element collectors since the government is trying to convince people they will only take elemental energy every three months with a special device and with people's permission. But if you do that, they could place the blame on your father since he was the one who strongly supported the idea of the element collectors. Your whole family would take the fall."
    "Great," I mumbled. Oliver's idea to openly go to a war with the government suddenly looked appealing.
    "I'll try to reach out to people with weak elements and the carriers who pretend they're normal people with pure elements," Lily said.
    "Wait a second." Paula's face paled. "This will allow the government to test who has a pure element and who doesn't. What if that device can expose carriers? What if they finally found a way how to do that?"
    "That's impossible." Lily shook her head, but her dark brown eyes were wary. "The government is playing a dangerous game. There could be an uprising soon. If the government sides with those who have a pure element, carriers and all the others will come together too. Besides, only one third of the population has a pure element."
    "Yeah, but we don't know how many people in our country truly have a pure element. We don't even know if there are people without a pure element in the government," I said.
    "Don't worry about them." Lily scoffed. "The government takes care of their own. They probably made a special deal for them."
    "I could still investigate and pay attention to the people's elements in the meetings. Maybe I can find those with weak elements and try to convince them to speak up against the law." I had more chances to convince a rock to join my cause than one of the government's people, but I could always try.
    "You can do that," Lily said. "But you have to be careful and keep your eyes open. We don't want any more surprises."
    "Right," I said, annoyed. We were careful, but we were still powerless to do something.
    Lily was about to leave, but then she stopped with one hand on the door handle. "I almost forgot to tell you that we didn't find anything about Ethan's father being ill. You should investigate that since you're the one closest to Ethan."
    "Yeah, about that... I'm not really sure I want to go anywhere near that guy." I didn't trust Ethan and I definitely didn't trust myself around him. What if I babbled something wrong during our conversations? If he was a spy, the government could use against me anything I say to him.
    "Look, Ria." Lily sighed. "I get it that you don't like to pretend to be in a relationship with someone you don't even know, but if you don't hang out with Ethan, someone might investigate and find a proof that you and Adrian are together. That would destroy everything we have planned and worked on. Besides, you can't touch Adrian, so it's better for you two to stay apart. I suppose Ethan is a decent distraction."
    I gritted my teeth together. "Thanks for the tip, but you make