Created (Talented Saga) (12 page)

Awkward.

How did I tell Crane that his niece, who was like a daughter to him, had been, um romantically involved with Harris?

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth when I thought about telling Brand.
Man, he’d be
so
jealous.

“They were … close,” I said finally.

Crane appeared confused. “She sent regular reports while on assignment, and filed a very thorough one after her return. I don’t recall seeing his name.”

“Their relationship was personal,” I said comfortably, hoping he’d take the hint so I wouldn’t have to spell it out.
“It wasn’t relevant to her mission,” I added for good measure.

“I see,” Crane said thoughtfully.
“Well, in that case, it’s probably better I don’t tell her just yet. The young man is not well.”

“Not well?” I asked.
The cinnamon buns began to churn in my stomach.

“You’ll understand when you see him.
I can’t explain it, but hopefully you’ll be able to shed some light on his current … condition.” The way that Crane said “condition” made my toes tingle. What had TOXIC done to Harris?

“The UNITED council members will be here by dinnertime.
If you’re willing, I’d like for you to see Mr. Daughtery before you meet with them. I have a feeling they’ll want to evaluate him, as well. But I’d like your take on his mental state before I let them know he’s here.”

“Okay, sure,” I said quietly.

At one time, Harris had been a good friend to me. He’d always been a good friend to Donavon and Erik, somehow managing to juggle the two guys, despite their mutual distain for one another. Someone had to determine what was wrong with him, and I preferred that someone be me.

“I’ll send Brand for you later in the day.
I have some things to attend to before the Council arrives, so he will accompany you to visit Mr. Daughtery.”

I nodded, considerably less enthusiastic – which was saying something, because I was dreading seeing Harris already – about the visit than I had been a moment before.

Penny brought lunch around noon, and the two of us ate and talked while Erik slept. She already knew most of the details of the attack on Tramblewood since she’d been tuned into the same frequency our earpieces were transmitting on. Brand had filled in the gaps for her. Apparently he was still pissed about me destroying the bridge, and had complained to Penny about it at length. But after some gentle prodding on her part, he’d grudgingly admitted the decision had been for the best. I understood him a little better when Penny informed me it was his job to tell the families of the deceased that their loved ones weren’t coming home.

“I saw Cadence,” I told Penny.

“Really? How is she?”

I shrugged and poked at the remains of my lunch, stewed vegetables.
Bright orange liquid seeped out of an overcooked tomato when I speared it with my fork.

“She’ll heal,” I said finally.

“That’s good. Uncle Ian told me you found her brother, Randy Choi.”

The subject of Randy was one I’d been hoping to avoid.
In hindsight, bringing up Cadence had been a bad idea.

Randy had helped Penny’s mother escape Tramblewood after she’d been caught trying to break into the McDonough School.
When I’d first learned about the incident, I thought it strange. Why would the Coalition want to break into the school? I’d thought. Now, well, now I was pretty sure I knew. Me. Ellen Larsen, Penny’s mother, Ian Crane’s sister, had been sent to rescue me.

She’d been caught and thrown in prison.
Randy had been one of her jailers. From the limited information I had, I knew the two developed a friendship, and Randy helped her escape. TOXIC had chased Ellen, shooting and killing her before she reached Coalition territory.

Like so many wrongs in Penny’s life, I felt responsible – if indirectly – for this one, too.

“I want to meet him,” Penny continued when I didn’t answer. “He was the last to see her, you know.”

“Penny –”

“It’s been a long time, Tal. I’m okay.”

But she wasn’t okay.
The torment was all over her face. Her eyes had a haunted, hollow quality to them. I wanted to say something helpful. I’d have settled for something intelligible. Instead, all I came up with was, “Seeing Randy will help.”

Help what, I didn’t know.
Closure. People always talked about getting closure, so maybe meeting Randy would help Penny get closure. Just like killing Mac would help me get mine.

“I’m just glad you all got out of Gatlinburg,” Penny said, switching gears.
“Uncle Ian said it was close.”

“It was,” I agreed, shifting uncomfortably in my chair as I thought about how close I’d come to surrendering because of that stupid Manipulator.
“Do you think Mac’s already started injecting people with the new form of the drug? The one with your and Erik’s blood.”

“Yeah, probably.
I mean he did use the old drug on people. I’m sure he’s using this one to bolster his army.”

That was exactly what I’d feared.

“I think I met one. One of the created.”

Voicing my theory that Mac had already succeeded in creating another Mind Manipulator who was as powerful, if not more so, as me, made it more real.
If he had one, he probably had more. Maybe he had an entire army of morphing Mind Manipulators who foretold the future. I’d handed him Bethy – an exceptionally powerful Visionary – on a silver platter weeks ago. That was plenty of time for him to have stolen enough of her blood to make more just like her.

I told Penny about my encounter with the Manipulator, sparing no detail.

“Wow. So he was as strong as you?” she asked, green eyes wide with amazement.

“Stronger, maybe,” I admitted reluctantly.
It was stupid, but I was used to being the best, the most powerful, and I hated having an equal in the talent department.

“No, not stronger.”
Penny shook her head decisively. “Not possible. A created Talent is only as strong, at best, as his creator – the blood donor. So, he can’t be stronger than you since you’re most likely his blood donor.”

I choked on my own saliva.
“Excuse me?” I stammered, sure I’d misheard.

“You are the strongest Mind Manipulator alive today –”

“That we know of,” I interjected.

“That we know of,” she conceded.
“Which means Director McDonough probably used your blood to make that guy. If he’s as strong as you say.”

I was torn between being comforted and disgusted by this.
Comforted because that meant the next time I faced off with my talent clone, I’d know I was stronger than him. Disgusted because there was a created Mind Manipulator out there abusing
my
talent.

The anger began as a small knot in the pit of my stomach, growing hotter with each breath I took, until finally I was ready to explode.
My natural gifts, my talents that were just as much a part of me as my freckles or my purple eyes, were being exploited. Until that instant I hadn’t truly appreciated how infuriating that was.

“Tal?” Penny sounded scared.
“Tal, calm down.” Her thin fingers were prying at mine.

I looked down and realized my nails had become talons, the skin of my arms leathery and black, and I was drawing deep grooves in the arm of the chair.

“Control, Talia. Remember? We need to stay in control.” Her voice was so soothing, her suggestion so reasonable. The anger began to dissipate, leaving a tranquil calm in its place.

Before my eyes, my hands became my own.
I shook my head. “Looks like you were given my blood, too,” I told Penny.

Her grave silence was answer enough.

Dr. Patel made another visit that afternoon, accompanied by Brand. At first, I was dismayed by Brand’s appearance, but it proved beneficial when he told me that Henri was asking for me. Penny said she’d sit with Erik while I was gone. Brand hurriedly offered to wait with her. I smirked at his eagerness.

Dr. Patel escorted me down the corridor to Henri’s room, since he said that he needed to check on him anyway.
On the short walk the doctor informed me that Henri had undergone minor surgery during the night, and the bullet damage had been repaired. The good news lifted my spirits.

Henri’s room was much smaller than Erik’s, more akin to a real hospital room than the posh hotel atmosphere of Erik’s.
He, too, had a window that overlooked the ocean, and Frederick was admiring the view when I entered.

“Hey, Talia,” Frederick greeted me, turning at the sound of the door opening.
“Doctor.”

“Mr. Kraft,” Dr. Patel nodded respectfully to Frederick.
“And how are you feeling, Mr. Reich?” he asked turning his attention on Henri.

“Pretty good,” Henri replied.

I waved at Henri, then moved to join Frederick by the window. I smiled at him tentatively, letting him know my anger with him had lessened. It would be a while before I forgave him completely, but harboring a grudge was exhausting and seemed petty.

Together, Frederick and I watched while Dr. Patel removed Henri’s bandages and checked his shoulder.
Fresh, precision-straight stitches held together tender pink skin. Henri’s color was much better than it had been when we arrived – no green tinge to his cheeks – and he seemed to be in a good mood.

“Your sutures look good, Mr. Reich,” Dr. Patel declared, and wrapped fresh bandages around Henri’s torso.
“I do not anticipate lasting damage, but your range of motion will be limited for some time. In a couple of days we will begin some light physical therapy. Ms. Lyons, Mr. Kraft, I will see you both later.” With that Dr. Patel left to check on his other patients.

I moved to Henri’s bedside and gave him a tentative hug.
“I’m glad to see you’re doing better,” I told him.

“Thanks to you,” he replied.

“Thanks to Dr. Patel,” I said. “He’s the reason you’ll be able to use that arm again.”

Gingerly, Henri wiggled his shoulder and grimaced.
“Hopefully.” His expression turned serious, and he averted his gaze to his lap. “I’m sorry about yesterday, Talia. I overreacted.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Frederick interjected.
“I should’ve been honest with you from the beginning. It’s my fault, really. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

I reached for Henri’s good hand, and threaded my small fingers through his long ones.
“Frederick’s right. It is a lot to take in. I’m still wrapping my head around it all, and I’ve been here for days.”

“In Gatlinburg people were talking about Crane, saying how he’s this great person.
They idolize him. I sort of always thought TOXIC was exaggerating the whole hating talents thing, so I wasn’t surprised to hear that wasn’t true. And Erik told me about the creation drug and how the Director had used it on Donavon, which is crazy,” Henri continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “It was just … I don’t know, when I saw you two with Crane, I felt like …” his voice trailed off.

“Like you’d been lied to?” I guessed.

Henri nodded miserably. I squeezed his hand affectionately. I knew the feeling all too well.

“Henri,” Frederick began, crossing the room in three long strides to join us.

“No, I get it,” Henri held up his free hand to cut off his boyfriend’s apologies, and winced when the movement irritated his shoulder. “You did what you thought was best. Not confiding in me about your involvement with the Coalition was for the best at the time. I understand that, seriously.”

Frederick and Henri exchanged smiles, both boys’ eyes glazing over with a warmth that made me feel like I should leave them alone.
I patted Henri’s hand and was about to politely excuse myself before my presence become intrusive, when Henri asked, “How’s Erik?”

“Stable.
Dr. Patel thinks he’ll make a full recovery,” I replied, trying to smile. I wanted to believe Dr. Patel. I needed to believe him. “Has Penny been by?” I asked to change the subject.

Henri laughed.
“She stopped by earlier this morning. After all that she’s been through, it’s nice to see she hasn’t changed.”

“Did she tell you what happened to her?” I asked, arching an eyebrow in surprise.
Besides me, her uncle, and Brand, I didn’t think Penny had told anyone.

“No, Frederick did.
Poor Penny.”

“I read her official report,” Frederick explained.

“She’s a survivor,” I said, thinking about her determination to go through with the evaluation, despite not knowing what that might entail.

Of the two of us, she was the stronger in many ways.
Where I was scared of the unknown, she seemed to embrace it. She’d gone undercover in TOXIC fully aware of the consequences if she were discovered. Yet, she had no way to know what she’d find once there.

Now, once again, Penny was ready to do whatever it took to bring TOXIC down.
She wasn’t concerned with the prospect of being locked away or treated like a test subject, and she had more reason to fear that than I did. After all, she’d already lived that reality. Not for the first time, I vowed to be more like Penny.