Created (Talented Saga) (20 page)

I felt the vibration in the air before I heard the hum of the hovercraft.
I looked up, searching the clear. It was close, and approaching fast.

“Ian, three o’clock,”
I sent, pointing towards the approaching plane. He followed my finger and nodded. Crane tapped his ear again, and spoke to Brand.

“It’s ours, Seattle team,”
he sent back to me.

We started moving again, and moments later parachutes dotted the sky, coming to aid our efforts.
I relaxed slightly, before realizing that they were going to draw attention to our position. I picked up my pace, trying to put as much distance between us and them as possible. Too late.

Operatives poured around the sides of the houses.
Between the house behind us and the operatives on our right and left, we were surrounded on three sides. The only option left was the woods in front of us.

“Run,” Crane screamed, not bothering to communicate the command mentally.
There was no point. We’d been spotted.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I took off.
My legs burned as I pushed the muscles harder. The sound of my racing heartbeat drowned out the shouts of Mac’s people. My ears registered a dozen or so soft clicks as fingers pulled triggers, and I braced myself for the pain that would accompany their bullets piercing my skin. Mentally, I deflected the ones the ones I could identify. One managed to evade my powers and skimmed my right shoulder. The suit took the brunt of the blow, and the smell of singed fabric assaulted my nostrils. I ran harder. Another burst of gunfire erupted behind me. A second bullet struck square between my shoulder blades. Pain blossomed from the point of impact, and I stumbled forward from the force. My knees struck the grass.

Get up, get up, get up, I ordered myself.
The woods were less than five feet away. If I could make it there, I still had a chance.

“Hold your fire, it’s her,” someone screamed behind me.

Run, run, run, must keep going, I thought.

I willed myself to stand, blocking the pain shooting down my spine.
Terror propelled me into the woods. I could feel my pursuers closing in, and I started to weave between trees, hoping to throw them off course. I wasn’t sure how many of them there were. Too many minds to count. My legs ached and my lungs burned and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to run forever. I used the best weapon I had: my mind. I sent misdirecting thoughts over my shoulder, praying at least some of the operatives would be led astray.

It worked.
The footsteps veered to the right. I collapsed behind an ancient oak. Gulping fresh air, I assessed my situation. I was alone, wounded, and had no way to communicate with anyone. Panic set in, coming on hard and fast, and nearly crippling me.

You’re better than this, I chastised myself.
Think, plan, stay alive.

First things first, I needed to see how badly I was injured.
The pain in my back had dimmed to a dull throbbing sensation. I twisted my arm behind my back and fumbled for the wound. Instead of a bloody hole, my fingers closed around a warm, misshapen lump midway between my shoulder blades. The bullet hadn’t penetrated the suit; the fabric was thicker back there and had snared the metal before it could do any permanent damage. The first flicker of hope broke through. I yanked the bullet remains free and threw it to the ground. Next, I assessed my shoulder. The material was singed, the skin underneath red and tender. I touched the sensitive spot gingerly with one finger. It stung, but the injury wasn’t incapacitating.

Now confident that I was going to live, I needed to devise a plan.
I needed to get back to Crane and his men. Crane. He was out here somewhere, he had to be. I opened my mind, searching for his. My heart sank when my mental feelers returned no results. They’ve captured him, I thought.

“Not good, not good, not good,” I muttered under my breath.
Crane’s life was more important than mine. Without his leadership, the Coalition would fall apart. Without him, who knew what Victoria and the Council would do with me, Penny, and Erik.

The crack of a branch turned the sweat covering my face to ice.
I went rigid, molding my body against the tree trunk. I tried to latch onto the person’s mind. My attempt was met with a brick wall of resistance. Stubborn pride made me try again. The second attempt was as unproductive as the first.

“I don’t think she could’ve gotten this far,” a man called.
Every fine hair on my body rose; I knew that voice.

“The ground is trampled, she definitely came this way,” a woman called back.
She was panting, and her voice came from a much farther distance.

Heavy footsteps, no longer trying to be discrete, came next.
I tried not to breath, not to so much as twitch a muscle. Maybe they will leave, I thought. No such luck. More branches breaking, more people talking, more operatives coming to join the search.

Think, Talia, I ordered myself.
They want you alive. They will take you to where they are holding the other prisoners, probably where they are holding Crane.

I tried to put myself in Mac’s shoes.
Mac was logical, calculated. He would’ve ordered his men to take Ian alive, too. He’d want to be the one to end Crane’s life to send a message to UNITED. By now, he’d know Crane was collaborating with them. The blow would send a message: Mac wasn’t going down without a fight.

Surrendering was contrary to my nature, to every ideal TOXIC had drilled into me.
Death was better than capitulation, Mac had taught me that. Death was also selfish. Too many people were counting on me.

I inhaled, long and even, then, before I lost my nerve, stepped around the tree.

“Hello, Captain,” I said, my voice steel.

“Lyons,” Captain Alvarez replied, not looking nearly as pleased to see me as I’d anticipated.

Guns clicked behind him, but I kept my eyes trained on Captain Alvarez. I might crack if I thought too much about the barrels pointed in my direction.

“Never thought we’d be on opposite sides,” the Captain continued.

“I never thought you’d break the oath you took to protect the people of the United States,” I shot back, letting too much emotion creep into my voice. I bit my lip to quell the desire to attack.

“Yes, it does seem that
one
of us chose the wrong side,” he responded. Something about the way he said it, gave me pause. Had he intentionally used “one” instead of “you?” Or was that just wishful thinking?

The operatives behind him became antsy, shifting uncomfortably in their heavy boots.
I worried someone might get an itchy trigger finger and shoot me despite their orders to the contrary. My eyes shifted, almost involuntarily, to the guns. As if sensing my discomfort, Captain Alvarez gestured for them to lower their weapons. Most did, but a few held out.

“She’s not going anywhere,” he snapped.
“Talia knows it would be pointless to run
now
.” He emphasized the now, and I again wondered if it was intentional. I tried to reach out to his mind again, but just like before, I couldn’t get past the barricades. Were my talents fading? No, Victoria’s assessment would’ve picked up on that.

I shifted my focus to a woman standing slightly behind Captain Alvarez, forced her to her knees, and then ordered her to place the barrel of her gun to her temple.
No trace of fear showed on her face, and I knew that her will was mine. Why couldn’t I control the Captain?

“Lyons,” Captain Alvarez snapped, and I released my hold on the operative’s mind.
I wasn’t really going to make her shoot herself, I was just putting on a show. I wanted the operatives to remember who and what they were dealing with.

I forced out a laugh, like I thought making someone commit suicide was funny.
I didn’t, it reminded me too much of what I’d done the night my parents were killed.

“Toss me the gun, Lyons,” the Captain ordered me.
“And the knife belt, too; it’s not like you need them.” It’s not like you need them? Didn’t he mean it’s not like you’ll be able to use them? Or it’s not like you’ll be able to get a shot off before one of my men shoots you in the head?

“Now!” he barked.

Apparently I was taking too long pondering his words.

Glaring, I slid the gun across the forest floor.
The knife belt followed shortly thereafter. Captain Alvarez gestured for the woman I’d forced to the ground to pick up my weapons.

“What now?
You hand me over to Mac?” I sneered, surprised at my ability to affect flippancy while being captured. No, I reminded myself, not captured. I surrendered. This was my choice, my terms. Of course, if this backfired, I’d have no one to blame but me. I’d worry about that later.

Captain Alvarez’s hard, appraising eyes softened, and a wave of regret hit me.
“In time,” he muttered. I swallowed hard, my pulse raced on a current of fear. What were they going to do to me before Mac arrived?

“Wilkes, Nichols, take her,” the Captain pointed to someone behind him and the woman who’d taken my weapons, the woman I’d so easily controlled.

Odd choice, I thought.

A man with cold blue eyes, Wilkes I assumed, cut through the crowd of operatives and grabbed my injured arm with one beefy paw of a hand.
I ground my back teeth to keep from wincing. Nichols didn’t move. She appeared to be both mystified and terrified by me, like I was some dark fairytale beast come to life.

“That’s an order, Nichols,” Captain Alvarez snapped.

Hesitantly she walked towards me, taking hold of my free arm. Nichols' grip was slack, like touching me physically pained her. Wilkes pulled me forward with too much force. I focused on my feet so that I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of falling. He halted next to Captain Alvarez.

“Sir, do you want her with the others?” Wilkes asked.

“No, keep her separate from the general populace. Put her in a room alone, the one next to the Kelleys,” the Captain replied. He shifted his attention to me, holding my gaze as he spoke his next words. “Be careful, she’s extremely powerful, and not all of us are immune to her talents.”

He knew I’d tried, and failed, to take control of his mind.
Something had been done to him, something that allowed him to block me. I boldly stared back, willing him to say more even though I knew my gifts wouldn’t affect him. Captain Alvarez’s stare became more intense; he was trying to pass a message, I realized.

I let my mental barriers fall, completely opening my mind to the Captain.

“The Director’s on his way from D.C. You should have an hour before he arrives. Our orders are to keep all the prisoners contained until he arrives,”
Captain Alvarez sent.

Relief was overshadowed by dread.
I wasn’t reading his mind. He was projecting his thoughts into mine, using gifts similar to mine. He’d been infected with the creation drug. The worst case scenario had just been confirmed. Mac had made his army of super-Talents.

“What then?
What does he plan on doing with the prisoners?”
I sent back.

“Those he thinks he can control will be injected.
The others killed.”

No one expletive accurately summed up just how terrifying that prospect was.

“Yes, sir.” Wilkes nodded his head in a show of respect. “We can handle her.”

The Captain didn’t spare the operative a second glance.
He tapped his pointer finger once against his temple and nodded, at me. I thrust my chin in the air, defiant and proud.

“The beauty of being human, Captain, is that we were
created
with free will, the ability to choose. One of us has an hour to exercise that liberty. Maybe it’s not too late … for one of us. The next time we see each other, one of us won’t be so lenient. Tell Mac I look forward to talking to him,” I said, hoping that he caught all the double meanings.

The Captain’s chuckle held no mirth.
“Unfortunately, Talia, it is too late for one of us.”

This time, I was positive the “one” of us he was talking about was him.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Captain,” I told him.

He closed his eyes, his chest shook when he inhaled.

“Get her out of here,” he ordered my guards.

Wilkes gripped the back of my neck, his fingers digging painfully into the tense muscles.
His other hand twisted my arm behind my back as he pushed me forward. Nichols released me, drew her gun, and thrust it between my shoulder blades, in the same spot the bullet had struck me. While there was no visible wound, the impact had left a monster-sized bruise, and the added pressure sent jolts of pain spider-webbing out from the source.

All the force was unnecessary.
I was ready to go with them. Here, in the woods and surrounded by TOXIC operatives, I was unable to do any real damage. Alone, just the three of us in a room, now that was a different story.

“You might as well ditch the gun.
We both know it’s an empty threat,” I said to Nichols as our trio tromped over fallen branches and trampled earth. “Capture, don’t kill – those are your orders, right?” I continued when she didn’t respond.