Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (66 page)

“
Make that two candidates
for the doctor,” Leslie said. Those were the last words Cressa
heard before silent darkness claimed her.

Talia

London, England

The Night Before the Vote

“
No, Erik, you can’t,” I
pleaded.

“
This isn’t up for
discussion. You are running, and I am going with you,” Erik
insisted.

Victoria hadn’t sounded all that surprised
to hear from me when I called for medical help for Bryn and Riley.
The councilwoman also didn’t ask any questions beyond the basics.
All she’d wanted to know was where to send her team. As soon as I’d
disconnected, Erik had started fighting with me.

“
I can’t let you do that,”
I protested, albeit it weakly. I did want Erik to come with me.
Being separated from him was agony. It was also necessary. UNITED
would protect him. They would keep him safe on the islands, far out
of reach of Nightshade and whoever else was hunting me. And he was
Victoria’s golden boy; she wouldn’t let the council punish him too
harshly for letting me go. Love was blind after all.

“
Besides, I won’t be alone.
Kenly will come with me, won’t you?” I glanced at my mentee
beseechingly. She’d recovered from her encounter with the fake Erik
and was focusing all of her attention on Bryn.

“
I—yeah, of course. But
Bryn…” Kenly trailed off, fresh tears welling in her
eyes.

“
I’ll stay with her,” James
said.

“
What? No. UNITED will
arrest you,” Kenly replied.

“
Not likely. I’m not
Created, Kenly. They have no reason to arrest me,” James
said.

“
He’s right,” Penny
interjected. “And, if he stays with his sister, they will both be
taken to the islands, where they will be safe. Staying with Bryn
guarantees them both spots. It’s the best plan.”

“
No!” Erik shouted. “There
has to be another option, a better option. I’m not leaving Talia.
Brand? Help me out. How fast can Crane’s people get
here?”

Brand ran his hands through his dark hair.
“I don’t know. Not before UNITED. Is there somewhere safe you guys
can hide until the medics get these two out of here?”

“
The bunker,” James
suggested.

“
They’ll search this entire
place looking for Talia,” Kenly said.

“
I can help with that,”
Brand responded gravely.

As a Perception Manipulator, Brand was able
to disguise people and places. The trouble was, he didn’t actually
alter appearances. His gift made it so that a specific person
thought they were seeing something they weren’t. He was strong
enough to manipulate large groups at once, but an entire platoon of
trained UNITED agents was stretching it.

“
He just needs to cloak the
trapdoor to the bunker,” Kenly put in, growing excited by the
prospect. “If he makes it look as though nothing is there, that
it’s just a floor, it might work.”

“
They’ll feel Talia,” Erik
interrupted. “She’s too powerful. Her essence will be a dead
giveaway. No door will prevent that.”

I smiled, finally seeing a ray of hope
through the gloom. “No, but Emma will.”

Three minutes later, Kenly, Brand, Erik, and
I were climbing through the trapdoor to the bunker. Penny and Miles
stayed behind to wait for the medics, and the strike team that
Victoria had likely sent to retrieve me. I hated Penny risking her
freedom for me, but she’d insisted that this was the only option
she’d go along with. She’d also pointed out that her uncle was a
member of the UNITED council. Even if she was arrested, there was
no way she’d serve much time.

Erik, however, wouldn’t let me out of his
sight. Only after Brand explained that Crane intended to give me
sanctuary in the States, for whatever that was worth, did I agree
to let Erik hide with me. If our plan backfired, or Brand or Emma
wasn’t strong enough to block us, at least we’d be SOL
together.

“
Okay, I’ve seen all I need
to,” Brand said, surveying the bunker with mild interest. “I’ll
make it so that no one will see the trapdoor. If they feel the
floor though, they will still feel the handle. Other than that, I
can make this space appear solid if they do an imaging scan.” He
started back up the ladder.

I put my hand on Brand’s shoulder. He
glanced down, grass green eyes full of alarm.

“
Thank you. Honestly,
Brand. I really appreciate this,” I told him sincerely.

“
I’m not doing this for
you,” he said gruffly.

“
I know. That’s fine. I
still appreciate it.”

Brand didn’t like me any better than the
last time we’d seen each other. He was helping me for Penny. That
was okay. The only reason I ever pretended to be play nice with
Brand was for Penny’s sake. For some unfathomable reason, she loved
the surly asshat. So, for her I tolerated his existence.

“
Talia? What’s going on?”
Lids still heavy with sleep, Emma emerged from one of the cubicles.
Blonde hair stuck to one of her cheeks, and the other had creases
from the pillow she’d slept on. Her eyes nearly popped out of her
head when she laid eyes on Erik. “You’re him!”

Kip popped his head out from behind the
divider. Dark circles and bloodshot eyes suggested that he hadn’t
slept, but more likely watched Emma catch some Z’s instead.

I made quick introductions, giving Emma an
overview of what I needed her to do.

“
There is another option,”
I told her after I finished explaining the plan.

“
Talia,”
Erik groaned inside my head, having read my
intentions from my mind.

I ignored him and soldiered forward. “You
and Kip can go upstairs. A woman named Victoria Walburton will be
with the medics. If you tell her who you are, who Kip is, she will
take you to the Isle of Exile.”

I understood that by sending Emma and Kip
away, I was as good as caught. Erik was right when he’d said that
UNITED’s agents would feel my essence. There was no way that
Victoria would take Penny’s word that I’d left the club. Agents
would tear this place apart looking for me. Emma was my only chance
at escape. But her safety was more important. Kip’s safety was more
important. The best place for him was in UNITED’s care.

“
No.” It was Kip who
answered. “We’re staying with you.” He held up a hand before I
could make my first protest. “Em and I already talked about it. It
sounds like our home has been compromised. I can’t go back. Not
right now, anyhow. And I don’t want to hide behind UNITED. I want
to know why those crazies want me. Maybe, I don’t know.” He shook
his head. “Maybe they’re the ones who took my dad. If so, I might
be able to learn the truth about his disappearance. If not, I still
want answers. I deserve answers.”

Erik remained silent through Kip’s speech. I
felt him sifting through my thoughts for the answers to the many
questions running through his own mind. The more he uncovered, the
angrier he became. It was hard to tell whom exactly that anger was
directed towards, but he needed to calm down before those emotions
manifested in an outpouring of power.

“
Okay. That’s settled
then,” I said to the surprise of both Emma and Kip. They expected
me to argue. I might have, had Erik not been so close to losing
control and UNITED agents not been about to bust through the club’s
front door.

“
They’re here,” Kenly said
softly.

I glanced over at her. She pointed towards
the wall of monitors with fingers covered in Bryn’s blood. Sure
enough, one of the screens showed a raiding party strong-arming
their way past the line of would be partiers, past the bouncers,
and through the front doors of Pure Bliss.

“
Emma? Can you do this? Can
you mask my essence?” I asked.

“
I already am. I can’t
control my powers that well. I’m like the island, I just mess with
that sort of thing.”

“
Good. Thank you.” I turned
back to Kenly. “Why don’t you get washed up? Where’s Willa? She can
help you.”

Kenly nodded mutely.

“
Willa’s resting. I’ll get
her,” Emma offered. She started down the maze of dividers calling
Willa’s name, Kip trailing on her heels.

I guided Kenly to one of the chairs behind
the desk by the monitors. Shaking slightly, she clasped her
blood-smeared hands in her lap and stared straight ahead at the
screens. I didn’t know how to work the controls, but figured it
couldn’t be that hard. I wanted to track the UNITED agents’
movements. Unfortunately, Kenly’s system was more complex than I’d
anticipated, and Erik scooted me out of the way with a gentle nudge
of his hip.

“
Hey, sorry. I wanted a bit
of lie down. Things have been…” Willa trailed off when she saw
Kenly. “What’s happened? Is it Riley? Is he okay?” Her hazel eyes
darted to the monitors, her hand flying to cover the gasp she let
out when she saw him curled on the lounge floor.

“
Medics are on the way,” I
promised Willa.

As if on cue, six medics entered the lounge
and headed directly for Bryn and Riley.

“
I should go to him,” Willa
said, but she didn’t move.

The four of us watched as the medics quickly
assessed the damage and began administering first aid.

“
Can you bring up the
footage from the other cameras in the club?” I asked
Erik.

He nodded and began typing away on the
desktop. Seconds later, eight of the screens showed the club from
varying angles. Downstairs, in the main bar area, the lights were
on, and UNITED agents were moving through the crowd of stunned
partygoers. More agents were filing into the kitchen, shouting
words I couldn’t hear since the sound was off. Then, I saw her,
Victoria Walburton, striding down the back hallway towards the VIP
lounge. Frederick and Henri were with her, and all three wore grim
expressions.

By the time Victoria and her entourage
reached the lounge, the medics had Bryn and Riley on hover gurneys
and were ready to transport them.

“
Turn it up,” Willa
insisted. “I want to know where they’re taking him.”

Erik obeyed. “It’ll be a UNITED base, Willa.
You won’t be able to get on without credentials.”

“
Buggar that.” This time
Willa did move. She headed straight for the trapdoor, intent on
following Riley.

“
Wait! Willa you can’t.
They might—” Kenly started to call after her.

“
Don’t Kenly. You can’t
stop me going after him. You’d do the same if it were James.” With
that Willa disappeared through the trapdoor.

From the security footage inside the storage
room, I knew the agents hadn’t reached the sub-levels yet. As long
as Willa was quick, she’d be upstairs before anyone realized where
she’d come from. Getting out of the club was a whole other issue,
since UNITED was detaining everyone inside.

“
There are several discrete
exits,” Kenly told me hollowly, as though she’d read my
mind.

This was exactly what I’d hoped for, and it
came as no surprise. The bunker had been built long before Kenly
needed a place to hide, and a lot of planning had gone into the
production and concealment.

“
Including one out of
here?” I asked.

Kenly nodded.

“
Good. We might need it,”
Erik said gravely.

For the next two hours, Erik, Kenly, and I
kept our eyes glued to the monitors. Emma and Kip joined us for
parts of the show, leaving only to pack bags of food and clothing
in case we needed to make a quick exit. While the news of a second
way out of the bunker was uplifting, Kip’s announcement that he’d
regained enough strength to teleport was even better. We had one
syringe of the booster left. I’d intended for Kip to use it to get
him and Emma home, but if things turned south, he would need it to
get all five of us out of the bunker.

Though we both wanted to say so many things
to one another, Erik and I barely spoke. Our reunion would have to
wait until we no longer had an audience.

Thanks to a very pointed conversation
between Penny and Victoria, we were able to confirm that Riley and
Bryn would be taken directly to the islands, via a fully equipped
medi-hover. James refused to go along. Personally, I didn’t believe
this was the smartest decision, but I understood. Even without
reading his thoughts, I knew that while James cared about Riley and
his sister, Kenly’s safety was most important. And, truthfully,
there was nothing he could do for Bryn or his friend. They were in
proficient hands, with the best medical team available treating
their injuries.