Created (Talented Saga) (32 page)

“He’s a tough little kid.
Have some faith,”
Erik sent.

“Not you, too,”
I grumbled.

Chapter Eighteen

That evening, over the oddest family dinner ever, I did tell Crane about Cadence.
All the usual suspects were present, Crane, Marin, Penny, Brand, Edmond, Evan, Henri, Erik, Alex, and me. Even Frederick, looking disheveled and exhausted and like he wanted to hit someone, made an appearance. This meant there were a lot of opinions on the effects of the amplification drug on top of the creation drug. After awhile, I sat back and just watched the shit storm I’d started.

We were sitting on the large back deck that jutted off the main level of the cottage.
The breeze coming off of the ocean made the heat bearable but wasn’t so strong we had to yell to hear one another. Seaweed-scented air reminded me of my childhood and my parents and stirred unpleasant thoughts about my father in my head. I pushed them aside; tonight wasn’t the time to deal with them. There was probably never going to be a good time to deal with them, but the eve of an epic battle – one for the history books – was too dangerous. I needed to concentrate, focus on what we were about to do. Come to terms with my potential death.

This wasn’t the first time, and hopefully wouldn’t be the last, that I’d faced death.
Maybe I was prone to drama or unlucky, but I found myself in life-threatening situations fairly frequently. This one felt different. When it was over, I’d be different. We’d all be different.

Speaking of different, Alex was distant, spaced out, over dinner, but not nearly so agitated.
Now I understood why. Whether he was able to view in his dreams, I still didn’t know, but he was viewing while awake. He was following Mr. Kelley to D.C. Through Alex, I was able to watch the journey in real time. It was fascinating, like watching TV but better.

I let Erik in on the secret so he, too, could watch and know that his father was safe.
The group had just reached Virginia when I tuned in during dinner. After taking a roundabout flight pattern, they’d landed in a rural area approximately one hundred miles south of D.C., on the water. There they boarded a tiny submarine that was only spacious enough for the three of them to sit in. Three back-to-back-to-back chairs were positioned in the very middle of a round, clear bubble. I felt my chest tighten as I watched them lower themselves down through a hatch on top. It was suffocating to watch from a distance, being there in reality must’ve sucked.

“I was thinking I would take Alex for the evening, so you and Erik can be alone.”
Marin’s voice snapped me out of Alex’s head.

“No,” Erik and I shouted in unison.

“Sorry,” I smiled. “It’s just, we’d really like to spend time with him tonight.”

The lie made me feel icky all over.
Obviously I did want to be near Alex, but more because I wanted to watch the scouting mission play out in his head. I was pretty sure Erik could’ve viewed his father, had he been willing to try. Viewing was too weird for Erik; he was reluctant to use it, which was odd since he had no issue with his other new gifts. I thought it might be because Mac had given him the ability to view solely to find me. That was when they’d beaten him the worst, when he’d refused to use the gift.

For the next two hours, the three of us tracked Mr. Kelley underwater, to an entrance to the old metro system in Alexandria, Virginia, and into the tunnels.
Cat Eyes, the same man who’d helped Frederick, Alex, and me escape D.C. was the one who smuggled the scouting party through the padlocked gate. The trek through the underground tunnels wasn’t terribly exciting, save the creepy-crawlies and enormous rats that called it home. One section of the tracks was surrounded by dank, slick walls that had large fissures running along the concrete.

“It’s the section that runs under the river,” Erik murmured.
“Riskiest part. Structurally unsound.”

I nodded and leaned back on the pillows decorating the sofa bed.
Erik and I were lying in the bed with Alex between us. The little boy seemed anxious, but showed no signs of letting go of his link to Mr. Kelley. I wasn’t sure this was healthy for him. In fact, I felt like we were using him. But when I voiced my concern to Erik, he said that Alex was going to watch whether we did or not. If the scenes turned ugly, one of us would attempt to pull Alex back.

At one point, Mr. Kelley and his team reached an impasse where a section of the tunnel roof had caved in.
This slowed the group’s progress as they took the time to clear a pathway through the rubble. I was glad they’d done so, now we wouldn’t have to contend with the same obstacle tomorrow.

Finally, the threesome reached a familiar door, and I nearly wept with relief.
They’d made it. Alex seemed relieved, too, and once Mr. Kelley limped into Adam’s outstretched arms, he passed out from exhaustion.

When I blinked my eyes open and surveyed the bedroom, I found I was exhausted, too.
Living through the journey vicariously had been draining.

I heard Erik exhale.
“They’re safe for tonight,” he said, sounding just as tired as I felt.

“Yeah,” I agreed.
“For tonight.”

“Let’s go for a walk,” Erik whispered into the dark room.

“What? Seriously? Aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to be able to sleep.
I want to stretch my legs.”

“What about Alex?
I don’t want to leave him alone,” I said.

“I’m sure one of my brothers will stay with him.
Edmond seems fond of him. I’ll ask.”

Erik was out of bed and off in search of his younger brother faster than I’d have thought possible with his knee.
The injury had healed mostly, but he’d been favoring his good leg after dinner. I stroked Alex’s silky hair and let myself think about how much he looked like his father. Tears started to pool in the corners of my eyes, and I didn’t hold them back. No more had been said about a possible memorial service, but I intended on forcing Crane to make good on his promise. Donavon deserved that much. Alex deserved better.

Erik and Edmond returned a couple of minutes later, and the younger Kelley was all too happy to sit with Alex, even if he pretended like it was an inconvenience.
I thanked him.

“Yeah, whatever,” he replied.

After our first encounter, Edmond had gone out of his way to either avoid me or be nasty to me. He and Brand had a lot in common, I realized. Since the rescue in Kentucky, he’d been worlds more pleasant. I still wasn’t his favorite person, but that was okay. Blaming me for Erik’s capture was fair and not unwarranted. And, for Edmond, it meant he didn’t have to blame himself. He tried to hide the part of his mind that carried that guilt. I saw it every time he was close. I wondered if Erik saw it, too.

This was Erik’s first foray to the beach.
He’d never seen the Pacific Ocean, and I loved how excited the sound of the surf and the smell of fresh salty air made him. Even his limp was less noticeable as he hurried down the winding path to reach the sand.

Erik and I strolled hand-in-hand on the stretch of beach at the base of the cliffs, and it was easy to forget the chaos that tomorrow would bring.
We’d both left our flip-flops at the end of the path, and the sand was warm and soft beneath my feet and between my toes. The moon was full, a round white orb casting a soft glow over the black ocean. I hated that my first thought was about how much light that would cast on D.C. the following evening. We wouldn’t have the cover of darkness. Neither would they, I tried to reason.

In my prior trips to the beach, I’d kept close to the cottage except when in bird form.
In the first days after my arrival, I’d been too keyed up to sleep, and had taken to midnight flights to burn off the excess energy. Tonight Erik led me far enough that the cottage was little more than a pinprick of light in the distance. Down here the beach was more rock than sand, and Erik gallantly offered to give me a piggyback ride to save my feet from the sharp edges. He was playful, tickling the backs of my knees to make me squirm and giggle. I kissed the back of his neck and blew in his ear, causing his pulse to quicken. He waded into the water up to his knees before attempting to throw me in. I clung to his back like a spider monkey, dragging him into the gentle waves with me.

With a fantastic splash, we landed in the surf in a tangle of limbs.
Salt stung my eyes when I tried to wipe tangled curls from my eyes. Erik managed to twist his body around while still keeping my legs securely around his waist. He locked his arms around me as he moved deeper into the ocean.

“You’re in a good mood,” I said, smiling up at him.

Erik’s turquoise eyes sparkled with what I’d come to understand was desire. The scar in his bottom lip was illuminated by the white moonlight. Instead of making him appear disfigured or deformed, the scar made him seem stronger, tougher somehow. I kissed his mouth gently, and he leaned me backwards until water lapped over my ears. The soft noises he emitted when I worked my hands beneath the navy tee that clung to him like a second skin were all I heard beneath the waves.

I stared up at him.
Water droplets clung to my lashes, creating a prism effect and causing a rainbow of light to dance across his handsome face. He radiated vitality and longing, and all I wanted was to be with him. Tonight might be our last chance to be together, and even if we did both survive tomorrow, the future was uncertain. Once we’d lost our usefulness to Victoria, there was no telling what she’d do with us. Maybe we’d be neighbors with Harris in Bern. I’d been to Switzerland; at least I thought I had. So many of my childhood memories were fuzzy, sometimes it was hard to know if they were even memories at all.

“We can’t control the future, Tals.
Tonight I need you, and I don’t care how selfish that makes me. I want all of you. I want your head here with me. I want to be the only thing on your mind.”

“You are,” I assured him, and gazing up at Erik, I meant the words.
He deserved my undivided attention. He was the center of my universe, and I wanted him to know that. “I promise.”

Maneuvering in the water was difficult at first.
The waves provided a natural rhythm like nature was conforming and aiding in our escapades. When Erik or I shifted, the water swirled around us to accommodate our new position. Clouds appeared out of nowhere to block the moonlight the instant I worried we’d been seen. A tiny part of me knew that I was responsible, and maybe Erik, too. Between the two of us, our talents were controlling the world around us to create the perfect atmosphere.

There was no cuddling afterwards.
Instead of exhausted from the exercise, I felt invigorated and alive. Already devoid of our clothes – no clue where they’d floated off to – we morphed. In bird form, we played tag high above the forest floor. Chasing one another through the trees, we took back a small bit of the childhood TOXIC had stolen from us. We were carefree and silly, and I knew that this was how I wanted Alex to grow up. In his short life all he’d known was violence. That was about to change, I vowed. I couldn’t bring back his parents any more than I could bring back my own, but I’d give him the life every child deserved. I’d never be his mother, but I would be the best caregiver possible.

Chapter Nineteen

The atmosphere on the hovercraft was charged.
The air so heavy with anxiety it felt like a boulder on my chest. I fidgeted in my seat and tried to block the others’ emotions. It was a lost cause. Adrenaline was pumping too fast, sounding like white rapids to my oversensitive ears. Hearts were beating too loud. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. The stench of fear, sweet and pungent, made me gag.

“Calm,”
Erik soothed from beside me. He placed a hand over mine, the other gripping the armrest with white knuckles.
“You’re stronger than this, Tals. Block them out.”

Erik was wound nearly as tight as the other passengers, but he was making an effort for my benefit.
We both knew that this might be it – the end. Mac and his cohorts would fight to the death; they’d already made that clear. And Mac no longer cared whether I lived or died; he’d made that obvious in Kentucky. Tonight Donavon would not be there to save me. And I wouldn’t let another person die on my account. The blood spilled on my behalf was so much, at times, I felt like I’d drown in it. Even if my body survived the night, my psyche was already irreparably damaged.

“Talia, it’s time,”
Crane sent from the front of the craft.

I sighed.
No amount of time was ever going to adequately prepare me for this fight.

“Coming,”
I sent back.

I turned and met Erik’s turquoise gaze.
His smile was thin, but reassuring all the same.

“Ready?” I asked out loud.

He squeezed my hand by way of reply.

My fingers were numb as I unfastened the safety harness.
I needed to get control of myself, and fast. Otherwise, I might as well spread my arms and declare that I was throwing in the towel now.

Erik slid his hand into mine as we walked between the rows of soldiers lining the back of the craft.
Their eyes followed our every step, but no one said a word.

In the front of the craft, Crane sat at a glass tabletop depicting a map of the country, Victoria beside him.
I’d been unable to hide my surprise when she boarded the hoverplane. She wasn’t exactly the fighting type. She was more of the talk-you-to-death-with-big-confusing- words type. Seeing her dressed in a uniform identical to those worn by the rest of UNITED’s guard – jumpsuits that instantly blended into the surrounding area – gave me a new respect for her.

“What?” she asked when I’d gaped at her as she walked onto the
hoverplane. “You think I would miss this?”

Brand was standing to Crane’s left, peering over his shoulder.
Penny sat on Victoria’s right, nervously twisting a loose strand of red hair around one pale finger. She was still so thin, so fragile-looking. Of all the people going into battle tonight, she was the one I feared for the most. But when she turned and met my gaze, the confidence in her limey green eyes told me she was ready to end this once and for all. She was one of the many who had suffered because of Mac, and was clearly itching to repay the favor.

I wedged myself in the small space between Crane and Victoria’s chairs to look at the map.
Erik rounded the table to stand beside Brand.

“We’re a thousand miles out,” Crane said, never taking his eyes off the glowing red dot that marked our flight pattern from California to Virginia.
We’d be landing in the same spot Mr. Kelley and his team had the night before. Then, we’d be using the same underwater approach, not something I was looking forward to. The other teams, those not entering the city through the tunnels, would take up positions surrounding it from above. It was vital that the tunnel teams go unnoticed as long as possible. Mac was anticipating the attack. But once he saw the twenty hovercrafts ringing the city on radar, he’d be less likely to consider we’d use the tunnels, as well. “We’ll be within their radar range shortly. Brand, Penny, and I will do our best to mask the crafts until we are on the ground in Virginia.”

As Perception Manipulators, Crane and Brand were going to hide our hoverplane, disguise it as a fast-moving cloud.
Penny, and her new talent for Light Manipulation, was going to add an extra layer of protection and try to keep our craft invisible for as long as possible. This, of course, was not news to me. We’d been over the plan so many times I felt like the details were carved into my frontal lobe.

I still didn’t like it.
The hoverplane was massive. It was one of UNITED’s, and held several hundred people. The amount of energy it would cost all three of them would hamper their abilities once on the ground. Penny was the most vulnerable since she wasn’t used to using so much talent. There was no telling how her mind and body would react.

“Showtime,” Crane said and stood.
He towered over me, and I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. “No matter what happens, I’m proud of you, Talia,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “Your parents would be proud of you.”

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I blinked them back.

“Thank you, Ian,” I whispered. “For everything.”

Without another word, Crane walked to stand directly behind the pilot – Donna again.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

Brand nodded to me, clapped Erik on the back, and then joined his mentor and leader.
Penny stood next, throwing her arms around my neck. “We’ve totally got this,” she whispered in my ear.

I laughed.
Leave it to Penny to sum it up so eloquently.

“I love you, Penny,” I told her.

“If I don’t see you down there, I’ll be waiting by the bar at the victory celebration,” she replied. She released me, and turned to Erik. The look that passed between the two people I loved most in this world spoke volumes. They shared so much pain and understanding that I would never fully appreciate. If we all survived, I’d be thankful they would have each other to lean on.

“I’ll take care of her,” Erik promised in response to Penny’s unspoken question.
“And him, too.” By him, we all knew Erik meant Mac. What Mac had done to my parents, to me, was inexcusable. What he’d done to Penny and Erik was unforgivable.

I sat in the chair Penny vacated, and Erik took Crane’s seat.

“Touching,” Victoria mused.

I’d almost forgotten she was there.

“Mr. Kelley, you are ready for this, are you not?”

“I am, ma’am.”

I hated that he called her ma’am.

“Good, because I will be on your team.”

“Excuse me?” I interjected.

“Close your mouth, Ms. Lyons.
It is unbecoming on a lady.”

Erik snorted and I glared at him.
Neither of us had ever heard me called a lady.

“Aren’t you afraid we’re too dangerous to be stuck underground with?” I shot back.

“Precisely the opposite, dear. You two are the closest we have to TOXIC’s Created. You are the strongest, fastest, and most powerful Talents on our side, which makes you the most likely to survive.”

I eyed her suspiciously.
Was that little speech supposed to make me feel better? Inspire me? Because it didn’t. I kept quiet. Antagonizing her took energy I wasn’t willing to waste.

The rest of the voyage took place in almost complete silence.
No one in the pilot’s cabin spoke unless absolutely necessary. It seemed as though we all shared the same fear that any noise would distract Crane, Brand, and Penny and break their concentration. I felt the power they were using, it was impossible not to. The air crackled and hissed with it. Their energies were live entities and even smelled like them. Crane’s was rustic and reminded me of the cottage. Brand’s was like dewy grass, just like his eyes. Penny’s was sweet and syrupy, same as her.

Donna updated us on our progress every two hundred miles, which seemed unnecessary since we had a map in front of us.
She was nervous, I supposed. At two hundred miles out, Victoria ordered Frederick to the cabin. He’d been resting in one of the broom closets that were allegedly sleeping quarters, since Victoria had kept him up viewing Mac for the last ninety-six hours straight.

“You are looking much better, darling,” she told him when he and Henri entered several minutes later.

I disagreed with her assessment. Frederick looked like death warmed over. The bags under his warm brown eyes had bags of their own. His cheekbones were jutting out, giving him a skeletal appearance, and his skin was sallow like he was recovering from a terrible illness.

“Do you have a lock on Director McDonough?” she asked him.

“Yes, ma’am. He’s still in his suite at The Hamilton. He’s running operations from there.”

“Is he alone?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. Same people as before are still with him. No one has gone in or out of that suite in twenty-four hours.”

“That will be our team’s initiative,” Victoria announced.
“Once we are through the tunnels, we will storm the hotel. Leave the operatives to the others. That is not a problem for any of you, is it?”

I smiled.
“No, it isn’t.”

“I thought you would feel that way, Ms. Lyons.
As you are aware, the Council wants Director McDonough alive for interrogation. But this is war. And war is unpredictable. Sometimes we need to adapt in order to survive. Should you find yourselves in a kill or be killed situation, you are authorized to kill him.”

“Understood,” I said, like I needed permission.

“Beginning initial descent,” Donna informed us from the front of the hoverplane. “Get ready to move. Once they drop the manipulation, I don’t know how long before we’re spotted.”

Crane, Penny, and Brand would be the last to leave.
They’d stay onboard until the rest of the teams were in the water, and then their team, led by Edmond, would board the last submarine. The plan was for them to hold the manipulation until they were in the water. Then, Donna would head north to rendezvous with the other hoverplanes.

The whole process went off without a hitch.
It was almost too easy, in fact. So when we made it off of the hoverplane, and into ten-person glass bubbles that were barely larger than the three-person glass bubble I’d seen the night before without even a stray bullet in our direction, I began to worry.

TOXIC had jammed all frequencies within a hundred mile radius of the city, so we hadn’t had communication with the other hoverplanes in
awhile. Had the fight started early? According to the clock on the circular dash in our bubble, we still had two hours until Mac’s deadline expired.

“He’s probably focused on the more immediate threat,”
Erik sent as our submarine started north. At least, that was the direction the compass in front of me was saying. It was really hard to tell, since it looked like we were swimming through mud the water was so thick with soil.
“There are a bunch of UNITED hovercrafts with torpedoes locked on the city, you know.”

“Yeah, I guess.
Just feels wrong, like we’re walking into a trap.”

The uneasy feeling spread through me like a virus, multiplying in each of my cells until I was completely infected.
We’d managed to surface on the riverbanks in Alexandria, troop the hundred yards to the metro entrance, and descend into the station without a peep from TOXIC. I’d seen the lights from our hoverplanes as I sprinted through the gates that were usually kept locked. I tried to tell myself Erik was right, that Mac had more pressing concerns than whether we’d pop out of the ground like moles.

Erik led our team – me, Victoria, Henri, Frederick, Janelle, and four UNITED guards – down a rusty escalator to the main level of the station.
Earbuds were out of the question since the wireless signals weren’t transmitting. We relied on hand signals and mine and Erik’s mental communication abilities. This only allowed us to talk to each other, Frederick, and Henri, but it was better than nothing. I probably could’ve communicated with Victoria, but I wasn’t eager to forge that bond. For her part, the Councilwoman appeared capable. She knew her way around an assault rifle, was agile, and followed orders surprisingly well for someone so used to giving them.

The ten of us had lowered ourselves over the edge of the platform and were already jogging towards the mouth of the tunnel when I heard the second team coming down the escalator behind us.
This part of the journey was straightforward, literally. There were no offshoots or branches from the main tunnel, which made our trek boring and quick. I stayed in the front of the group with Erik, who despite the pain in his knee was setting a fast pace.

“I don’t suppose you can talk to your father?
Ask him if they’ve seen any signs of trouble up their way?”
I sent.

“Never tried the mental thing with Dad,”
Erik sent back. He glanced down at me.
“You’re paranoid, Tals. The trouble’s above ground.”

“TOXIC uses the old metro system to move people around,”
I said.
“What if they’re using it to get Mac out of the city?”

I could tell this possibility hadn’t occurred to Erik, and my idea worried him.
The tracks we were on now were still in use. The area where Adam’s station was located had been abandoned decades ago, as had many of the side tunnels on the D.C. side of the maze.