Restless (Element Preservers, #4) by Alycia Linwood
Authors: Alycia Linwood
Tags: Romance, Magic, Young Adult, new adult, teen, Contemporary Fantasy, elemental magic, elemental
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commercials!"
I breathed out a sigh of relief when the commercials started. Hurrying across the stage, I found my way out of the studio. My bodyguards were at my side almost immediately, but I waved them off. If they touched me now, God knew what would happen. I was glad that I'd managed to break out of the disease-induced fantasy in time all by myself, but I didn't like not knowing what had happened between Ethan and me.
"Are you alright?" one of my bodyguards asked.
"Yeah." Elements were buzzing in my head like bees, but I didn't want to cling to my bodyguards like a broken doll. I couldn't show any weaknesses until I was far from everyone's sight. "Please someone tell me what the fuck I did with Ethan."
"You don't remember?" The guard frowned at me in surprise. "Your fire melted with his and it disappeared when you kissed him."
"I what?" I gaped at him. "Are you completely sure?"
"Yeah." He nodded, his lips twitching. "It was all very romantic. You reached for him and he held your hands in his in between you. Then you stood up on your toes and kissed him."
"Fuck!" This couldn't be happening! I'd been trying to kill Ethan and take his element, not kiss him. How was I supposed to explain the whole thing to Adrian? Oh, God.
"Ria! Wait," Ethan yelled behind my back, and I froze. Did he think I'd gotten carried away because I liked him or did he know I'd wanted to suck his element into me? No matter how much I wanted to escape from Ethan and never see him again, I couldn't exactly run away without finding out what he thought. I turned around to face him, raising an eyebrow.
"That was amazing." He grinned.
"Uh huh." I couldn't really agree with him.
"You were amazing." He took a step forward, reaching out for me. I backed away and he let his hand drop, a perplexed look on his face.
"Who gave you the right to introduce yourself as my boyfriend?" I said, putting all of my anger and frustration into that one sentence. "What were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry." He lowered his eyes, licking his lips. "The president himself called me and said he knew about our relationship. I told him we had just been on one date, but he insisted. He told me you knew about this and that you wanted me to appear on the show as your boyfriend. Did he lie to me?"
I frowned, observing Ethan's dark brown eyes. If he was lying, he was good at hiding it. Or maybe I was bad at spotting a liar. Had the government played us both? There was no way for me to tell whether Ethan was in the league with the president or only an innocent victim. "I... There must have been a misunderstanding because I never agreed to such a thing."
"Oh God, Ria. I'm so sorry. I didn't know you'd be upset. I thought..." Ethan went pale, his eyes wide. "But you kissed me..."
"It's ok." I twirled a strand of my dark brown hair around my finger, trying hard not to take a step forward and squeeze my hands around Ethan's throat. One of my bodyguards stepped forward, brushing his shoulder against mine. The world of elements disappeared for a moment and I relaxed.
"What do we do now? Everyone thinks you're my girlfriend." The color started to return to Ethan's cheeks now that he saw I wasn't mad at him. "We did go on a date, and I really like you, so... Would you like to go on another date? A real one this time?"
"I... " The last thing I wanted was to go on another date with him, but the press and other students at the university would be suspicious if I didn't hang out with my boyfriend. The government had forced me to make such big news out of it that I couldn't go back like nothing had happened without stirring even more rumors. "We'll talk at the university." I gave him a brief nod and strode toward the exit.
Chapter 09
I was sitting alone in my office, trying to regain as much strength and energy as I could before going back to the university. It was strange to be at work this late at night, especially because everything was so quiet and dark. My regular guards were
I breathed out a sigh of relief when the commercials started. Hurrying across the stage, I found my way out of the studio. My bodyguards were at my side almost immediately, but I waved them off. If they touched me now, God knew what would happen. I was glad that I'd managed to break out of the disease-induced fantasy in time all by myself, but I didn't like not knowing what had happened between Ethan and me.
"Are you alright?" one of my bodyguards asked.
"Yeah." Elements were buzzing in my head like bees, but I didn't want to cling to my bodyguards like a broken doll. I couldn't show any weaknesses until I was far from everyone's sight. "Please someone tell me what the fuck I did with Ethan."
"You don't remember?" The guard frowned at me in surprise. "Your fire melted with his and it disappeared when you kissed him."
"I what?" I gaped at him. "Are you completely sure?"
"Yeah." He nodded, his lips twitching. "It was all very romantic. You reached for him and he held your hands in his in between you. Then you stood up on your toes and kissed him."
"Fuck!" This couldn't be happening! I'd been trying to kill Ethan and take his element, not kiss him. How was I supposed to explain the whole thing to Adrian? Oh, God.
"Ria! Wait," Ethan yelled behind my back, and I froze. Did he think I'd gotten carried away because I liked him or did he know I'd wanted to suck his element into me? No matter how much I wanted to escape from Ethan and never see him again, I couldn't exactly run away without finding out what he thought. I turned around to face him, raising an eyebrow.
"That was amazing." He grinned.
"Uh huh." I couldn't really agree with him.
"You were amazing." He took a step forward, reaching out for me. I backed away and he let his hand drop, a perplexed look on his face.
"Who gave you the right to introduce yourself as my boyfriend?" I said, putting all of my anger and frustration into that one sentence. "What were you thinking?"
"I'm sorry." He lowered his eyes, licking his lips. "The president himself called me and said he knew about our relationship. I told him we had just been on one date, but he insisted. He told me you knew about this and that you wanted me to appear on the show as your boyfriend. Did he lie to me?"
I frowned, observing Ethan's dark brown eyes. If he was lying, he was good at hiding it. Or maybe I was bad at spotting a liar. Had the government played us both? There was no way for me to tell whether Ethan was in the league with the president or only an innocent victim. "I... There must have been a misunderstanding because I never agreed to such a thing."
"Oh God, Ria. I'm so sorry. I didn't know you'd be upset. I thought..." Ethan went pale, his eyes wide. "But you kissed me..."
"It's ok." I twirled a strand of my dark brown hair around my finger, trying hard not to take a step forward and squeeze my hands around Ethan's throat. One of my bodyguards stepped forward, brushing his shoulder against mine. The world of elements disappeared for a moment and I relaxed.
"What do we do now? Everyone thinks you're my girlfriend." The color started to return to Ethan's cheeks now that he saw I wasn't mad at him. "We did go on a date, and I really like you, so... Would you like to go on another date? A real one this time?"
"I... " The last thing I wanted was to go on another date with him, but the press and other students at the university would be suspicious if I didn't hang out with my boyfriend. The government had forced me to make such big news out of it that I couldn't go back like nothing had happened without stirring even more rumors. "We'll talk at the university." I gave him a brief nod and strode toward the exit.
Chapter 09
I was sitting alone in my office, trying to regain as much strength and energy as I could before going back to the university. It was strange to be at work this late at night, especially because everything was so quiet and dark. My regular guards were
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