Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (15 page)

Naturally, I grabbed the glass of water
sitting on my tray and rocketed it across the hospital room.
Erratic beeping instantly blared from the speakers on my heart
monitor, only to be outdone by the shattering of the glass against
the wall.

“
Erik, calm down,”
Penny coaxed inside my head.

“
Come on, kid. Stay in
control,” Miles said.

Nurses, doctors, and several of my security
detail rushed the door, causing a slight traffic jam as they all
tried to shove inside the room at once. It was kind of hilarious to
watch. I laughed, making the concerned expression on Miles’s face
turn to panic.

In a flurry of activity, the doctors and
nurses crowded around my bed, restraints and syringes of sedatives
at the ready. It was my turn to panic. I didn’t want them pumping
me full of drugs. I didn’t want them knocking me out. I wanted to
return to Eden. I wanted to return to Talia. Our planned visit was
still eighteen hours away, but maybe, just maybe, if I played the
sympathy card, Victoria would find it in her heart to let me see
Tals sooner.

If not, well, at least I’d be able to go to
our apartment, sleep in the bed Talia and I had shared, and shower
in the bathroom where her soap, shampoo, and toothbrush remained
untouched.

Thoughts of snuggling beneath the same
sheets I’d laid in with her, where I’d held Talia in my arms,
nearly caused my heart monitor to explode.

“
Out!” Penny bellowed. The
one word carried so much authority that everyone in the room froze.
It was like time itself had been paused. At a much more normal
volume, though no less powerful, she repeated, “Out. All of you. I
will handle this.”

Without a single word of protest, the
medical staff and UNITED guards, including Miles, plodded from the
room. Penny strode over to the bed, gave the beeping machine a
once-over, and then placed her palm on top of the electronic
monitor. Faint blue-white light burst from her hand, sparks
shooting between her splayed fingers as audible cracks and pops
added to the cacophony of sounds from the monitor. Then, a
shockwave of pure, raw electricity surged from Penny and into the
machine.

With that, the room fell blissfully
silent.

Squeezing my eyelids shut, I counted to ten,
a trick I’d picked up from Talia. When I was fully in command of my
emotions again, I opened my eyes and met Penny’s gaze.

“
Better?” she asked, the
question perfunctory since she was still inside my head.

“
Yeah, thanks, Penny.
Really.” I rubbed my forehead wearily. “I’m sorry, it’s just…I
don’t know what it is exactly. I can’t seem to….” I trailed off,
hating to admit weakness, even to someone who understood and
appreciated my inner turmoil.

“
Control yourself?” Penny
guessed. She reached behind her for a chair, pulled it beside the
bed, and sat.

I nodded, not wanting to say the words
aloud.

“
I feel the same way,” she
said, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s getting harder to
fight the urge to lash out. Or, sometimes, to simply breakdown and
cry. The other day Brand was telling me about this new pizza place
he’d found, and I lost it.” Laughing bitterly, Penny shook her
head, clearly embarrassed by the memory. “I screamed at him, told
him not to bother calling again if all he wanted to talk about was
what he’d eaten for dinner. Then….” Penny paused, looking
mortified. “Then I crushed my communicator between my
hands.”

I smiled, though the situation wasn’t funny
in the least. “I’m sure he deserved the yelling, whether for pizza
or for something else. Brand’s a good guy and all, but he does have
a tendency to say asinine shit.”

This made Penny chuckle. “Yeah, but he
usually reserves those comments for people who aren’t me.” She took
a deep breath, her expression and thoughts once again turning
serious. “Sometimes I feel like the power is consuming me from the
inside. Using my new talents makes it worse, I think. But not using
them is physically painful. The pressure inside of me builds, and
it feels like claws are scraping the underneath of my skin, trying
to rip it open and find release. The only way to relieve the
pressure and lessen the pain is to use my talents. Which, of
course, makes me feel like I’m barely hanging on to my sanity by a
thread. It’s a vicious cycle.”

When our gazes met, Penny’s lime green eyes
were moist with unshed tears. She began to chew her bottom lip and
fidget with her shirt cuffs, as if needing to keep her fingers
occupied. I never knew what to do when girls cried, so I just
reached over and awkwardly patted Penny’s shoulder.

In the month we’d been traveling the world
together, we rarely spoke about the toll the creation drug was
taking on us both. Sure, we joked about losing our minds whenever
one of us did something particularly irrational or ridiculous. But,
with no cure in sight, joking seemed the only way to cope with the
uncertainty of our futures. Well, that and Talia.

Until that moment, I hadn’t thought it
possible for me to miss Talia any more than I already did.
Everything Penny had just said, Talia understood firsthand, and had
dealt with it her entire life. She would’ve been a much better
person to have this discussion with.

Talia knew how to reign in her overabundance
of power, how to control it. The fact that she frequently lost
control had more to due with her impulsive nature than an inability
to temper the demons inside. Of course, the ability to channel her
power effectively hadn’t come overnight; Talia learned how over the
course of years, under the tutelage of instructors trained to deal
with inexperienced people possessing strong talents. Penny and I
didn’t have anything like that.

Penny wiped her eyes with the back of her
hand and gave me a watery smile.

“
Sorry. I usually talk to
Brand about all of this stuff. Well, when I’m not screaming at him
for no reason,” she rambled. “He’s just been so busy helping my
uncle, and I hate dragging him down with my problems when we only
have like five minutes to talk each night. I know the work he’s
doing, trying to repair the U.S. and get support for the vote, is
super important. Really, I get that. I just miss him.”

Brand Meadows, Penny’s boyfriend, was
currently serving as Ian Crane’s second-in-command over in the
United States. I could relate to what she was feeling, though I
would’ve given anything for even five minutes on the phone with
Tals every night. Still, what were you supposed to do when the
person you relied on was gone?

Again, I patted Penny’s shoulder awkwardly.
I debated hugging her, but I’d barely touched another girl since
losing my heart to Talia, even a close friend like Penny. In the
end, I simply squeezed her forearm. Anything more would’ve been
weird.

“
You can always talk to
me,” I told her. “I mean, I’m not gonna lie and tell you that I
have some great wisdom to impart, because I don’t. Really, all I
know is that this sucks. The entire situation is completely messed
up, and it sucks hard. All that stuff you just said? I feel it,
too. And I really hate not being able to talk to Talia about it.
She’s the only person I’ve ever really opened up to. Regardless of
that, and regardless of the fact I’m not Brand and don’t really
know anything about anything, I’m always here to
listen.”

“
Talia’s lucky to have
you,” Penny said, and I could tell she meant it. With one last
sniffle, she stood. “Now, I’m going to find someone with an ounce
of authority to inform them it’s time we went home.”

I chuckled. “If that display earlier is any
indication, I’m guessing we’ll be on a hover within the hour,” I
teased.

Penny paused in the doorway and winked. “Bet
on it.”

True to her word, Penny returned ten minutes
later with Miles, Agent Dan, and a dazed man in scrubs.

“
Agent Kelley, I am Dr.
Bollinger,” the scrub-wearing man greeted me, extending a hand to
shake. “Victoria Walburton sent me to examine you for neural damage
that might have been inflicted just before the explosion. Let me
get up to speed, then we can talk about any findings.”

The doctor turned his attention from me to
the screen with the scans of my brain. Rather, where the scans of
my brain had been, until Penny fried the entire system. The doctor
did a double take when he saw the blank displays.

“
What happened here?” he
asked.

“
It was the weirdest
thing,” Penny began, her expression all doe-eyed innocence. “It
just stopped working. Maybe there was a power surge or
something?”

Miles snorted. Agent Dan kept his expression
neutral, only the quick flit of humor in his light eyes betraying
his amusement.

“
A power surge?” Dr.
Bollinger repeated, skepticism oozing from his words. “What is your
talent again, Agent Crane?”

I had to hand it to Penny. When faced with
the level of scrutiny she was receiving, most people would have at
least blushed. Then again, most people weren’t international spies
with “successfully infiltrated a top-secret government
organization” listed under the accomplishments in their personnel
files. Subterfuge and complex covert operations were Penny’s
specialty, so lying to a doctor—even a UNITED doctor—was
nothing.

Penny smiled placidly at the doctor. “At
last count, I had twelve talents, Dr. Bollinger.”

If the man was surprised to learn that she
was Created, he didn’t let on.

“
I’d wager that one of
them is electrical manipulation,” he said dryly.

“
Maybe even two,” Penny
agreed.

“
Look,” I interjected,
trying to yank the conversation back on track. “My vitals are good,
you don’t need those damned monitors to tell you that. More
importantly, I feel fine. The worst physical injury is a small
flesh wound, which was stitched up. My brain is no more damaged
than it was six hours ago. There’s no reason I can’t fly home
now.”

Miles inched forward to stand between the
doctor and me. Uncrossing his arms, he held up a hand to silence
Dr. Bollinger before the man even opened his mouth. I glared at the
older agent. He’d purposely inserted himself into the proverbial
line of fire, under the mistaken belief that this would thwart my
efforts to bend the doctor’s will to match my own. Even after
spending a month in close quarters with Penny and me, Miles didn’t
seem to understand that eye contact, while helpful, was not
necessary for manipulation.

“
You need to rest, kid.
Let the doc examine your head, just to be safe,”
Miles said firmly. “Another few hours here, hell,
even a day or two, won’t kill you. You’ll finally have a day
off—enjoy it.”

Weeks ago, at the start of
this charade with the rallies, I’d sworn under penalty of a major
ass-kicking never to compel Miles. With the exception of several
minor
suggestions
, I’d kept my promise. Penny, however, wasn’t under the same
obligation.

“
I got this,”
she told me mentally.

“
Erik is fine, Agent
DeSanto,” Penny said aloud. “I can personally attest to the fact
that his brain has suffered no additional damage. I spend a lot of
time in Erik’s head, reading his thoughts and emotions, so I’m
uniquely qualified to make such an assessment. There has been no
change in his brain patterns or activity since the attack.” Done
with Miles, she turned a dazzling smile on Dr. Bollinger.
“Returning to the Isle will speed his recovery, wouldn’t you
agree?”

Penny’s powers of manipulation were so
refined that both men capitulated without hesitation.

“
Thank you, Agent Crane. I
appreciate your assistance in this matter,” the doctor said,
without a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “And I quite agree that
familiar surroundings will aid Agent Kelley’s recovery. I will go
request the medi-hover be readied for takeoff.”

“
It’ll do you good to be
back near that girlfriend of yours,” Miles agreed
readily.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak as
thoughts of Talia once again filled my head. Since that fateful day
she’d been sedated, restrained, and hauled off to Vault, all I’d
wanted was to hold her in my arms again. The events at Walburton
Manor and my inability to save Talia from prison were things I’d
never forgive myself for. Talia had needed me, and I’d been
powerless to help her. Her punishment should have been mine. Or, at
the very least, one we shared.

Would she be able to forgive me?

“
She made a choice. And I
can assure you that, given the chance, she would make that same
choice all over again,”
Penny sent. It was
her turn to pat me awkwardly on the arm.

Aloud, she declared, “It’s time to go
home.”