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carriers couldn't have an element. That was the whole point of the disease. But how...
    The banging on the door became louder, accompanied by threats and curses. I yelled back that I was coming and turned on the faucet. Both of my parents had the disease and I had it too, so it wasn't possible that I wasn't infected. But my disease should have blocked any element from forming. My parents would have mentioned me something about a special element if they suspected I had one. I splashed some water on my face and took a deep breath.
    I had to figure out what this element-like thing was, but I had to make sure no one found out I had it. My ice was my secret. A secret no one should ever uncover.
     

Chapter 15
    Now
    A gasp brought me back to reality and drew my attention to the blond girl in white overalls. Even after all this time, Thea's first reaction to me walking freely was to flinch. How strangely satisfying. She recovered quickly, and gazed at me with her big light blue eyes.
    "What are you doing here? Did Alan bring you back to us?" Her lips widened into a smile.
    "I thought you got transferred to a better lab." I grinned. "Apparently, your dreams to become an important scientist didn't come true."
    "Yet," she said through her teeth, her smile melting away.
    "I won't hold my breath."
    "I miss the cute, shy boy you used to be." She reached behind her and untied her ponytail, so her thick blond hair spilled around her shoulders. Four years ago that action would have rendered me speechless, but not now. Not ever again.
    "Weird. I didn't miss you at all." I turned around and started walking away, but her hand on my arm stopped me. Ice began to form all over my sleeve until she let go.
    "Don't touch me." I didn't bother to shake off the ice because I didn't feel its frosty cold as strongly as I used to back at the time when I couldn't control my element properly.
    "Sorry." It had to be the first time I heard her apologize, and it was for a completely wrong thing. "I only wanted to talk to you for a minute longer. It was brave of you to demonstrate your sub-element in front of everyone on that stage, but I do wonder what the president was thinking when she revealed so many secrets."
    "The president and the government do whatever they want." I wasn't about to let the bitch assume there was something between Ria and me. And while Alan could reveal that particular detail to anyone he wanted, he wouldn't do it because he couldn't quite prove it and he certainly wouldn't get anything out of it.
    "So, did Alan bring you here to let us test your sub-element?"
    I narrowed my eyes on her. "I'm not anyone's lab rat anymore."
    Despite looking uneasy, she didn't back down. She was always foolishly brave, or maybe she was plain crazy. "We did let Alan and you leave for an experiment and now... The experiment partly failed, but we got an important insight into your other abilities. Now we could test those abilities."
    "Then I'm sorry to tell you that your new test will fail too because I don't plan on staying here."
    "What did you come for?"
    "That's none of your business."
    "I hope Alan will enlighten me. Things usually happen without your knowledge anyway." A ghost of a smile traced her lips. That annoying, manipulative, lying bitch! I had to refrain myself from freezing her to death.
    "Fuck you." I had to walk away from her before I lost my mind.
    "You enjoyed fucking me, remember?" She batted her eyelashes at me, pressing her middle finger to her full lips.
    "And wouldn't you just love to repeat it?" I chuckled. "The only problem is that I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole right now."
    Her face twisted into an ugly grimace. "Say what you want, but what I told you four years ago was the truth."
    "You wish," I mumbled and stormed down the hall, hoping to get as far as possible from Thea and her schemes.
     

Chapter 16
    4 years ago
    Thea and I had been seeing each other for a couple of weeks. Whenever she was sure we were alone and no