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

me regret not killing Ethan when I had the chance."
    "His death would be even a bigger problem, so be careful." A smile quirked Lily's lips and she walked out. I was glad that someone found my romantic life amusing, but I was getting tired of everyone using me for their projects and agendas. I wished no one would care who I dated.
    "I think I'll have to contact some scientists who work for the government and try to find out if they discovered something," Paula said, her phone in her hand. I raised my finger to shush her because I could sense a fire element approaching. We didn't want to be overheard, no matter how irrelevant our conversation might be. Paula gave me a wide-eyed look, slipping her phone back into her bag. We stood in silence, not moving a muscle. The element was familiar, but there were too many elements in the building, so I was afraid to let myself feel the fire completely. Whoever it was, he or she probably came to see me since my room was the only occupied one in the hall. Many students lived at home rather than at the university, so the dean allowed me to have a whole hall for myself.
    A firm knock sounded on the door and I opened it, finding myself face to face with Ethan. I almost slammed the door shut, but that would be rude.
    "Can I come in?" he asked, a few strands of his dark brown hair falling into his eyes. "I need to talk to you. In private."
    I opened the door wider so he could see Paula behind my back.
    "I can come later if you wish," he quickly added.
    "Actually, I need to go." Paula squeezed past me, giving me a wink, and rushed out of the door. Ugh. If I talked to Ethan, I wouldn't have time to go see Adrian before class.
    "Sorry, now's not the time," I said, blocking the door so Ethan wouldn't get an idea to get inside.
    "Fine, maybe another time." Annoyance flashed across his face, but he quickly masked it, his element spiking a bit. I guessed I pissed him off. Great. I waited until I could no longer feel his element in the hall and slipped outside. My guards stood at each side of the door, ready to follow me.
    "You stay here. Don't let anyone into my room. If someone comes, tell them I'm busy. No one can know I'm not in my room, understood?"
    The guards nodded in unison, and I hurried down the hall, relying on my disease to tell me where everyone was. I hoped Adrian was awake.

Chapter 12
     
    I was lucky enough to find Adrian's hall empty. All the elements I could feel were at least a couple of feet away from the door, probably belonging to students who were still asleep. The only problem was that I didn't have the tiniest idea if Adrian was in his room. Making sure no one was around to see me, I tried the knob and realized Adrian's door was unlocked. I quickly stepped inside, closing the door behind me and turning the key.
    Adrian looked up at me, his shoulders tense, his eyes wide, but he relaxed when he saw it was only me. As usual, he was sitting on the windowsill, one leg dangling over the edge. His black hair was tousled, but he looked fine, without even a sign of a hangover. His eyes looked more gray than blue and I could tell that something was bothering him.
    I awkwardly stood in the middle of the room, unsure what to do with myself. In normal circumstances I would have gone to him, but we couldn't touch, so that was out of the question.
    Adrian turned his head toward the window, gazing into the distance. "I should have waited for you yesterday and talked to you before I went to that club. Someone could have seen us. I was stupid. I'm sorry."
    "I'm sorry too." I came closer so I could see the cars and people hurrying down the street, trying to get to work, school or wherever they had to be this early in the morning. "I shouldn't have let the president manipulate me. If I had refused to continue with the show..."
    "If you had done that, we'd be dealing with even a bigger scandal," he said, meeting my eyes.
    I sighed. "I know this whole thing with Ethan is difficult for you. Trust