Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (58 page)

“
Right. Of course it is,” I
answered my own question, feeling stupid.

“
I’ve been thinking of
contacting her, but I don’t really know what to say. I mean,
‘You’re in danger’ sounds a might dramatic and ominous,” Kenly
said.

“
The girl’s paranoid as it
is,” James interjected. “Warning her probably won’t hurt, but she
already watches her back pretty closely.”

“
Yeah, we only found her
originally through luck,” Kenly added.

James scoffed. “No, you found her through a
lot of hard work,” he told his girlfriend.

“
It was brilliant,” Riley
agreed. “The only picture on file anywhere for Winter is from when
she was very small—six, if I remember correctly. So Kenly used age
progression to alter the image so we could figure out what Winter
might look like now. Bloody brilliant.”

Kenly blushed scarlet. “I mean, anyone could
have thought of it,” she mumbled.

“
Nightshade clearly
hasn’t,” I said. “Otherwise, Winter wouldn’t be riding a bus right
now.”

“
That’s sort of where the
luck comes in,” James admitted. “Kenly’s age progression was spot
on. Unfortunately, Winter rarely takes that form. Her birth form,
for lack of a better term, is not one of her go-to ones. Which is
smart if you ask me. It just so happened she was in that birth form
briefly while traveling around Budapest. We weren’t even looking
for her at the time. We were tracking my parents. Winter and my mum
and dad literally crossed paths while Kenly and I were watching
them. Kenly recognized Winter. A close-up scan of her showed the
tattoo, and the rest is history.”

Impressed was an understatement. Kenly was a
one woman Crypto Bank.

I rubbed my temples, not realizing how badly
my head was throbbing until that moment. Glancing over at Kip and
Emma, I saw they were both as exhausted as I was. We’d already had
an extremely long day, and Emma and I hadn’t even slept the night
before. All three of us needed rest. Particularly Kip, since he
needed to teleport himself and Emma back to Pelia. Though I wasn’t
certain that was the smartest idea anymore. I didn’t believe Jeb
would turn Kip over to Nightshade. But if the mercenaries did brave
the storms and travel to Pelia looking for me, they would find
Kip.

“
Oh, crap,” Kenly
interrupted my musings.

Both she and James were staring at the
center screen, which no longer showed Alex playing with his blocks.
Riley was trying to help Kip soothe Emma, suggesting a sedative to
help her rest. But for the first time since meeting Emma, I was
barely aware of her presence.

Erik, beautiful turquoise eyes sparkling in
the sunlight, was staring out of the wallscreen at me. Fresh tears
sprang to my eyes. The ache in my chest born of longing intensified
exponentially. How was it possible to miss another human being so
much? To love another person so completely?

Without realizing it, I’d gotten to my feet
and crossed the room to stand directly beneath the monitor. I stood
on tiptoes and reached up to stroke Erik’s cheek on screen.

“
Is this in real time?
Where is he?” I asked without turning around.

Kenly took a long time to answer, and my
gaze never wavered from the image of Erik.

“
Here, in London,” my
mentee said finally.

It was a long moment before her words
registered. Erik was in London? We were in the same city? So close.
He was so close. I had to see him.

“
Don’t do it, Talia,” Kenly
said softly, pleadingly.

“
It’s not safe,” James
added for good measure.

On screen, the scene changed. A
twenty-something male reporter was sitting behind a news desk in a
studio, reading from a teleprompter. Inset in the corner of the
screen was footage from one of Erik’s previous peace rallies. It
showed him speaking from behind a podium while numerous bodyguards,
including Miles, looked on from the wings.

“
UNITED’s goodwill
ambassador, Erikson Kelley, arrived today in London in preparation
for his last appearance, which is scheduled to take place just
hours before the Joint Nations convenes to vote on the
controversial Coexistence Treaty. The Created will give one last
speech, urging the public for tolerance in these trying times.
After the incident at his last rally, many pundits believed UNITED
would cancel this final outing. However, according to UNITED
councilwoman Victoria Walburton, the organization feels it would be
a disservice. ‘We will not be silenced by intolerants,’ she is
quoted as saying. ‘Agent Kelley is not afraid, and neither is
UNITED. We have every confidence that the Joint Nations will come
to the proper conclusion.’

“
Kelley isn’t the only
Created to arrive in London thus far. Numerous reports suggest an
influx of gifted, natural and created, individuals have already
descended upon us. We have even had sightings of famed assassin
Natalia Lyons, whose whereabouts have been a mystery since she led
a group of UNITED agents in a raid at the country estate of Lord
Nigel Monroe, Duke of Shrewsbury and London Isle.”

My face flashed across the screen. I had no
idea when the picture was taken, but I looked fierce, determined,
and worst of all, lethal.

“
Bias much?” I
muttered.

James laughed. “WOF isn’t known for fair and
just reporting. They are no friends to Chromes.” He hesitated. “But
this isn’t good news, Talia. We knew you’d been seen. We thought
UNITED would quash the rumors, though. They don’t want your
abilities falling into the wrong hands.”

I felt a wall of dread slam into my back,
knocking the wind out of me. Would the twists ever stop coming? I
wondered. Kenly and James had yet another secret to tell me, but
neither wanted to be the bearer of bad news.

“
Don’t keep me in
suspense,” I said through clenched teeth.

Behind me, Kenly let out a long, shaky
breath. “Have you heard of proposition 2690?” she asked, almost
hopeful. That was when I realized that she was hopeful—hopeful that
I already knew whatever she wanted to tell me so that she wouldn’t
be forced to say the words aloud.

“
No, why?” This time, I did
turn around. On screen, the reporter was still jabbering away, but
I tuned him out. “Kenly,” I warned when she wasn’t
forthcoming.

“
So, you know how there
isn’t enough room on the islands for all of the
refugees?”

I nodded.

“
UNITED is doing a lottery.
Sort of. They’ve already selected the names, but the process wasn’t
entirely random. Nearly half of the individuals were chosen based
on certain factors that UNITED finds important. Scientists,
teachers, exceptionally strong Talents, sports stars,
celebrities—you get the picture. The rest were, to a degree,
random.”

“
Okay,” I said slowly. This
was not a surprise. In a closed society, people with certain skills
were imperative. It was unfortunate but true. I didn’t understand
why Kenly and James were so bothered by it. Maybe I was just too
cynical.

“
Yesterday morning,
twenty-eight hundred names were added to the lottery list,” Kenly
continued.

“
Hmmm, that is odd,” I
hedged, still unclear as to the significance.

“
I found it odd, too. So, I
cross-referenced that number with the populations of the individual
islands, the number of Created in containment, and so on. Well, I
got a hit. There are exactly twenty-eight hundred Level Four and
Five inmates on Vault.”

I didn’t need her to connect the dots this
time. Realization dawned with the subtlety of a frying pan to the
back of my skull. UNITED was planning to execute prisoners to make
room for refugees. In a weird, twisted way, it made sense.

And in an even weirder and more twisted way,
the news made me feel better. It wasn’t personal. Victoria hadn’t
voted to kill me specifically. She’d made a tough call that made
logical sense. I mean, I was still pissed at the councilwoman, but
I no longer felt the deep stab of betrayal. I would have preferred
to hear the truth from Victoria herself, instead of Konterra’s
warped version of the truth. But I wasn’t blind to my own faults.
Victoria had kept the possibly of my execution a secret to prevent
me doing exactly what I’d done—escaping Vault. And she probably
wouldn’t have cared about me escaping if Nightshade weren’t in the
picture.

You really screwed up this
time,
I thought.

Of course, had Victoria been frank and
honest about all of the issues—well, I liked to think that I would
have been rational instead of rash. Then again, I may have attacked
her. It was really a tossup.

“
You don’t seem nearly as
shocked as I thought you might,” Kenly said, pulling me from my
musings.

“
I knew about the
executions; it’s why I ran. But I thought it was just me. I didn’t
know the council is planning to kill all Level Four and Five
prisoners. Sort of changes my perspective.”

“
Are you saying you
would’ve stayed and prayed the treaty passes?” Riley
asked.

I looked over and found Emma and Kip had
disappeared while I was caught up in my own head. I really was
crappy at this whole protection thing. Emma and Kip were my
responsibility. I’d persuaded Emma to persuade Kip to teleport me
to London, and then, after Emma fell apart upon learning that a
ruthless mercenary group was hunting her boyfriend, I got so
enmeshed in my own issues that I forgot to watch out for the
foreigners. It was Alex all over again.

“
I gave Emma a sedative.
She and Kip are resting,” Riley explained, correctly guessing where
my thoughts had wandered. “They’re fine, Talia. Kip is tough. Emma
is, too. She just needs time to digest it all.”

I sighed. “I hope you’re right, Riley. They
need to be tough or they won’t survive. And no, smartass, I
probably wouldn’t have stayed and prayed the treaty was going to
pass.” I grinned impishly. “Wouldn’t have wanted to show the
council that a little quality time in a cell to think about what
I’d done worked. I would have still fled, if only to show them I
couldn’t be beaten.”

“
Scary part is, I don’t
think you’re joking,” Riley replied.

Yeah, I wasn’t joking. And that was sort of
scary. I was every bit as stubborn and impetuous as the council
accused me of being.

“
This is why you can’t
contact Erik,” Kenly interjected. “I don’t believe he’d betray
you.” Her fingers flew to her throat subconsciously. She forced a
weak smile. “We both know he’d kill anyone trying to hurt you
without a second thought, and he’d sleep just fine that night. But
Talia, he might not know what UNITED is planning. If he believes
that bringing you back to the islands is best for you, he will.
Particularly if he knows about Nightshade. And I’m pretty sure that
he does. Earlier I intercepted a communication Victoria sent to the
rest of the council. In it, she says that several targets have been
notified of the existence of Nightshade and that they will need
extra security at Erik’s final rally. I think it’s safe to assume
those targets are Penny and Erik.”

“
I understand. And you have
a point, but—”

“
Hear her out,” James cut
me off.

“
I do think he deserves to
know you’re safe,” Kenly continued. I felt how much the concession
cost her. She was not Erik’s biggest fan. I couldn’t blame her
much; my boyfriend had tried to strangle her. “Which,” Kenly began
again, “is why I will go see him. He’s staying at The Palace. I can
get in and out invisibly. Please, don’t argue.”

“
I really appreciate your
offer,” I said, offering my mentee a genuine smile of affection.
“But I can just talk to him mentally. That is safe. I can explain
the situation.”

It wasn’t ideal. I wanted to see Erik. We
were so close—closer than we’d been in a month. The need to hold
him in my arms was stronger than my desire to breathe. Still, I
wasn’t stupid. And I had no desire to add yet another screw up to
my ever growing list.

Victoria may have been able to get me an
exemption from the blanket execution order prior to my escape,
which was exactly what she’d been hoping for with the research
project she gave me. I now understand what she’d meant about
proving my worth as a team player and asset. But after this latest
transgression, yeah, even Victoria Walburton didn’t have enough to
pull to save my criminal butt.

Going to Erik would be walking into a trap.
For someone who was so impulsive, I was extremely predictable when
it came to him. The council was counting on me throwing caution out
the window and running straight for my boyfriend. Agents were
definitely waiting in the shadows for me to do just that.

“
No, luv, you can’t,” Riley
said sadly. “Emma is an exceptional Interceptor. And I do believe
she has a pretty good handle on her abilities normally. But right
now?” He shook his head. “That is one egg on the verge of cracking.
You know stress makes a Chrome’s gifts hard to control. Until she’s
had time to process all this nonsense with Nightshade, and her
father’s involvement with them, I’d be shocked if you’ll even
manage the bursts of conversation you were before with Kenly. If
you want him to know you are safe and in London, one of us has to
go to The Palace.”

I half-expected Riley to offer to go in
Kenly’s place, but he didn’t. So I turned to James, hoping to find
an ally. “You don’t really think Kenly is the best choice, do
you?”