By the time we reached the laboratory, I think I carried more water weight than at prime PMS season. At the doorway, Rome jerked wires from a metal box with one hand and withdrew a card from his pocket with the other. He twisted a blue and a red wire together and flashed the card in front of a scanner. Obviously he’d done this type of thing before.

The doors slid open.

He entered. I followed close behind him, Tanner on my heels. The entryway was plain and unremarkable. I’d kind of expected computers, maybe a robot. Definitely armed guards.

“Dr. Roberts’s office is this way.” Rome grabbed my hand, I grabbed Tanner’s, and like a train, we started moving through a winding corridor. Rome stopped along the way and jerked cameras out of the walls. At the last camera we could see, he froze, sniffed. “Someone’s coming.”

“Yep, and he’s got a gun!” Tanner shouted. “Duck.”

In unison, Rome and I dived for the floor. During our fall, he jerked me underneath him. The guy fired at us and missed. Tanner had already aimed his gun and squeezed the trigger. A muffled whiz and crack rang out, barely audible over the roar of blood in my ears. The bullet slammed into the uniformed guard, and his big body crumbled to the ground, just to the right of the Rome-Belle huddle.

“Come on.” Rome stood, grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet. Maybe I was about to pass out, because I saw sparks shoot from an outlet, lights flashing, crackling… and then Cody was there, standing just in front of me. I blinked, shook my head. My heart had yet to calm from everything that had already happened, and seeing him suddenly appear didn’t help.

“Well?” Rome said to him.

“I did damn good,” Tanner exclaimed.

Rome replied, “Not you, little boy. How many guards, Cody?”

“I counted only three. I disposed of two… ” Cody’s silver gaze flicked to the blood-soaked tile and to the gun in Tanner’s hand. “Looks like the kid took care of the third, so we’re good to go. The building has been emptied out. Maybe Vincent feared discovery and ran. The whole place is under surveillance, though.”

“I took care of the cameras,” Rome said, “but this seems easy. Too easy.”

“We’ll look at the office and get out fast.” Before Cody finished his sentence, he was moving down the hall.

The rest of us followed, flying along abandoned hallways. We soon entered a large room, where the sound of our breathing echoed. The walls were covered in chalk marks. Some were symbols I didn’t recognize, other were clearly depictions of the four elements. There was a periodic table, as well. Several floorboards had been ripped up. Vincent and his men had been searching for something here. Had they found what they were looking for? I turned full circle, wondering what to do, where to look when there was nothing to look through.

“There’s nothing here,” I said, disappointed.

Rome ’s face scrunched as he studied the walls. He appeared curious, disbelieving and shocked at the same time. “No, there’s something. I thought it’d be easy to find him since he’s only one man, and old at that, but he’s a wily thing. The present is hidden. Belle. Use your powers.”

“What? Why?”

“Use your powers, baby. Please.”

“Uh, sure. Okay.” I didn’t understand, but there wasn’t time to argue. Tanner reached out and linked our fingers, offering comfort. “Which one? Rain? Fire? Ice?”

“Someone please explain what’s going on,” Cody said, tossing up his arms. “ Rome knows something I don’t, and I don’t like it.”

Holding out his arms toward the walls, Rome spun around. “The formula is here, in this room, waiting for Belle.” He stopped, facing us dead-on. “If ordinary people can’t see it, it must need some sort of catalyst to become visible.”

“And you think changing the weather is going to be that catalyst?” Skepticism tinged Cody’s voice. “That would mean Roberts wanted Belle to find the formula.”

“That’s right.” Rome nodded. “He does.”

“Why would he want to help her?” Cody asked.

“To make amends.” Rome ’s blue gaze pierced me. “Try. For me.”

Anything for him. I closed my own eyes. Concentrate, Belle. Okay. What element would Dr. Roberts have been most likely to utilize? Not fire, surely. That would torch the place. Rain? Maybe. It was worth a try. I’d start with that.

Once again, I did not summon sadness. I summoned the power behind the emotion, remaining distant from it, simply drawing from my deepest reservoir and projecting out of my body. A clap of thunder echoed in the room, blending with the sound of the continuing storm outside. My lips curled in a proud grin. Having succeeded for a second time, I knew without a doubt that I’d been right.

“Ease up a little,” Tanner said. “It’s becoming very strong.”

Rome mentally reached out and captured some of its edge. Physically, he clasped my free hand in his. I immediately relaxed.

“Good, good,” Tanner said.

A trickle of rain began to fall inside the room. Fat droplets splashed my face and my already wet clothes.

“Shit,” Cody said, scrambling to the doorway, away from the rain. “Who would have thought?” he breathed, awed by his first viewing of my abilities. He shook his head in surprise. “With this power, she’d be able to kick my ass in a heartbeat. Water fries the hell out of me.”

Holding on to my optimism, I looked around the room. The rain continued to fall, but nothing became visible, no clue, no object.

“Rain isn’t the answer. Fine. But what next? He wouldn’t have wanted me to use fire,” I said, voicing my earlier thought. “Nothing could survive that.” I paused, frowning. “Or maybe that’s exactly what he wanted people to think.”

“We’ll save that for last.” Rome kissed the back of my hand. “What about wind? An increase in dust circulation or simple air pressure might work.”

Wind, I mentally called, not changing the focus of my emotions. As before, I pulled from my reservoir. The wind answered immediately, chasing away the rain. Strong gusts swirled and churned, whipping my wet clothes around me. I shivered from the chill. The precarious floorboards shook and danced. Paint peeled from the walls.

Still nothing.

“Try snow,” Tanner shouted over the roar.

I shut off the wind and pictured a snowstorm. “Don’t filter,” I told Rome, pushing his presence from my mind. “Not yet. Let it rage for a bit.” The air chilled, and I shivered again, this one reverberating through my entire body. Huge white flakes fell from the ceiling. The wet floor froze into a sheet of ice. I’m pretty sure icicles dripped from my nose.

Several seconds ticked by. Wet as I was, the cold seemed unbearable. Shivers continued to rack me. My blood crystallized. The air began to solidify.

Rome cursed under his breath. “You’re going to have to set the place on fire, Belle. Don’t be afraid. We’ll get you out before the smoke hurts you.”

I was just about to summon the flames when the walls changed color, going from white to blue. As if by magic, words began to appear on them. Giddiness thrummed through me. “ Rome, look. Look!”

“My God,” he breathed, his hot breath creating a mist. “He must have used some sort of chemical that reacts to cold.”

At least I wouldn’t have to burn the building down. “What does it say?” I asked, doing my best to maintain the level of chill.

“It says, ‘You’re being watched, and I’m sorry for that. Maybe the wood will make up for it.’” Tanner’s brow puckered. “We know we’re being watched, but what does he mean, the wood will make up for it?”

“Could there be a secret ingredient in the wood that will make me normal again?” I asked.

With the water frozen and no longer able to harm him, Cody stepped back into the room. He laughed and bent down. “Smart bastard. Look at this.” The chill had changed the wood panels, as well. Words covered them.

We all crowded around him. “It’s the formula,” Rome said, something unreadable in his tone. Happiness? Resignation? A combination of both? “Maybe we can make our own batch and find an antidote for Belle.”