Created (Talented Saga) (37 page)

“So that was your big plan?” I asked.
“You wanted to make everyone talented? Why?”

“Not everyone, dear.
Just those who deserve it. Like my son. Donavon deserved to be talented. His lineage was excellent for it. Yet somehow, he was born ordinary. But, you, you with two ordinary parents won the genetic lottery, and were born the strongest Mind Manipulator since the first generation of talented. It’s not fair. Well, the creation drug takes genetics out of it. Now all the worthy can be talented. As to the why? Given the choice, wouldn’t you rather be talented than not? I would. So would many of the ordinary.”

Of course I would, I thought, but stopped the words before they slipped passed my lips.
I wasn’t willing to give Gretchen the satisfaction of agreeing with her. She knew I loved being talented, that I craved the power my gifts brought with them. She’d been the first person to warn me against abusing my talents, about taking advantage of others using them. I laughed humorlessly. Ironic, I thought.

I rubbed my temples.
The headache had spread from the base of my skull, around the sides of my head, to settle above my eyes. I squinted, the dim light in the pod seemed to exacerbate the pain inside my head.

“Did you ask me here to prove you’re the stronger Talent now?” I snapped.
She was pounding on my mental walls, doing everything in her considerable power to break them down. It took everything I had to keep her out. She was more powerful than I remembered.

“No, dear.”
Gretchen’s smile was somehow both sickeningly sweet and bitterly cold. “I asked you here because you are the strong Talent.”

My heart skipped a beat.
What the hell was she talking about?

The ache in my head reached a breaking point.
It felt like my brain was fracturing. I closed my eyes, and tried to block the pain. A sound, like ice shattering, filled my ears. The air in the pod seemed to become thinner, making it harder to breathe. I started gasping for breath, but got a mouthful of water instead.

That was when I realized that shattering ice noise wasn’t in my head, and it wasn’t ice.
The dome top of the pod had splintered, allowing streams of ocean water in.

Ten seconds.

Ten seconds, that was how long Mashburn said it would take for the guards to open the pod door.

The cracks in the dome ceiling became larger.
Ten seconds might be too long.

Streams of water turned to raging rivers.
Water was filling to bottom of the pod. Cold and wet, it swirled around my ankles, soaking through my suit pants.

“What are you doing?
Trying to drown us?” I screamed to be heard over the rushing water.

I started backing towards the solitary door.
As soon as the guards had it open, I was out of here.

Gretchen said nothing.
Her eyes started rolling around in their sockets, one blue orb going clockwise, the other going counterclockwise. Then, a huge chunk in the center of the ceiling fell inward, flooding the pod.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The idea to morph into one of the brightly-colored fish swimming nearby did occur to me.
But before I had the opportunity, the door to the pod opened, sucking me towards it like a gigantic vacuum. The water and I rushed into the tube, knocking over Mashburn and the other guards trying to close the door behind me. I was tossed head over heels through the tube before finally being slammed into a wall, shoulder first.

I swore when my head followed my shoulder into the wall, and I received a mouthful of saltwater for my troubles.
Splashing and the sound of my name followed. Then, pounding from the other side of the wall caught my attention.

Disoriented, I tried to put my feet down – at least the direction I thought was down.
Immense relief filled me when my flats found the metal walkway of the tube. With my feet firmly underneath me, I stood, and was surprised the water was only waist high.

Mashburn was wading through the seawater from the opposite end of the tube.

“Talia? Are you okay? We had to seal this part of the tube to prevent contamination in the other areas. We’ll get it open as soon as we drain this tube.” She was out of breath by the time she reached me.

“I’m good,” I said, shrugging out of suit jacket since it was weighing me down.
“Did, did, Gretchen get away?” I asked through chattering teeth. The water was freezing.

I pushed past Mashburn, frantic to go after Gretchen.
Mashburn grabbed me by the wrist. I whirled to face her, my dripping wet ponytail smacking my cheek.

“She’s dead, Ms. Lyons.
It’s over two hundred miles to the surface. No one can hold their breath that long.”

“What about the other pods?” I asked.
“What if she got to one of them? Could she be running loose around The Oceania?”

“The pods only have one door.
None of them have been breached. She’s gone.”

I stopped struggling.
Gretchen was dead. I felt numb, and not just because my clothes were soaked through. Mac’s death I’d envisioned. Hers, not so much. I’d thought watching Mac die would provide me with closure. I still didn’t know for sure whether it would. But Gretchen’s did not.

Slowly the water level in the tube started to go down.

“Mac?” I asked Mashburn. “Is he …?”

“Like I said, none of the other pods have been breached.
He’s still in custody. At least we still have the mastermind of this whole fiasco.”

The water had retreated almost completely.
Only the small space beneath the walkway still held standing water.

Mashburn smiled, her lips thin and blue from cold.
The other guards were walking towards us. “I’ll get this door open,” Mashburn said.

She tapped on the divider that had come down to section this tube from the others to prevent contamination.
It looked like she was just hitting random spots on the divider, but I had a feeling it was interactive. As if to confirm this, the divider shot upwards a moment later, and Erik rushed into the tube.

He wrapped his arms around me, unperturbed by my wet clothes.
He rubbed his palms furiously up and down my back to warm my skin. I buried my face in his jacket, pressing my cheek to his chest to siphon his body heat.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
“I’m so sorry.”

“You couldn’t have known this would happen,” Erik muttered back.

“There are towels and dry clothes in the sick bay you can borrow,” Mashburn said.

Erik and I followed Mashburn through the tubes, the other soldiers who’d gone for an impromptu swim bringing up the rear.
Erik kept his arm around me, lending me his warmth, while we walked.

“I can’t believe she’s dead
,”
I sent.
“I mean, why’d she do it?”

“I don’t know, Tals,”
Erik replied.
“She was a very sick woman.”

“Right.
But suicide? Seems extreme. And did she want me to die with her?”

“She’d been given the creation drug.
Maybe a lot of it. Her brain might have already deteriorated beyond repair. Crazy people do crazy things.”

“I guess,”
I agreed.

After what happened with Gretchen, my request to visit Mac was denied.
Honestly, I was sort of relieved. I had no idea what I wanted to talk to him about. He’d said all I needed to hear in that hotel room at The Hamilton. Gretchen had reiterated and expanded on their vision for a talented world. I hated that whatever Mac’s punishment, it wasn’t going to be sufficient. But there was also nothing I could do about it now.

In the days following my visit to The Oceania, the area surrounding the island was searched for Gretchen’s body.
It wasn’t found. The currents were unpredictable, and the ocean too vast to search all of it. I understood the difficulty with searching the entire Atlantic Ocean, but until her body was found, a part of me wouldn’t be convinced she was dead.

Erik and I returned to Councilman Tanaka’s Virginia home to a hero’s welcome.
Evan, Alex, Marin, and Edmond were all at the estate when we arrived. We soon learned the welcome wasn’t for us. Mr. Kelley had been found. He was in bad shape. There was talk of amputating his injured leg. But he was alive. And that was all that mattered. Dr. Patel had made the trip east along with Erik’s father, Alex, and Marin, and would be caring for Mr. Kelley at the Councilman’s home. The preferential treatment was authorized by Victoria since Erik and I were the ones who, technically, captured Mac and Gretchen.

For the first time since his father had gone missing, Erik cried.
He sat beside Mr. Kelley’s bed and wept. When I tried to leave him alone to cry in peace, he insisted I stay. Mr. Kelley was my family now, too, Erik said.

Penny and Brand stayed the night at the Councilman’s estate.
Penny insisted it was because she was tired of flying. I knew the truth. She wanted to make sure I was okay after the emotional day with Gretchen and the return of Mr. Kelley. We even had a sleepover in my bedroom and pretended like we were back in our pledge days at Elite Headquarters. We painted our nails with polish we found in Joy’s giant closet, and ate cake that Councilman Tanaka’s chef had prepared.

Erik and his brothers and Alex spent the night in Mr. Kelley’s room.
Alex had put up a fight when Marin tried to take him away from Erik’s father, so it was agreed he could stay. With no family left, we’d all made an agreement to share in Alex’s care. Once Erik and I figured out where we were going to go after we left the Councilman’s, I planned on taking Alex with us. I wasn’t ready to be a parent, but I’d promised Donavon and Kandice.

Brand spent the night talking to Crane and Victoria – one party you couldn’t have paid me enough to attend.
Yet, when Penny and I went down to the kitchen to get more cake and got lost on the way, we heard them laughing hysterically in the Councilman’s study. A quick peek –mental on my part, through the crack in the door for Penny – told us they were drunk. The three of them and the Councilman were sitting on plush leather sofas, drinking scotch and smoking cigars.

I smiled.
They all deserve it, I thought. I considered recanting my previous statement about not wanting to attend their party. I was honestly curious whether Brand was less uptight when he was drunk. I wondered whether Victoria said funny British words and dropped the whole regal act. Instead of crashing their festivities, Penny and I agreed that overconsumption of decadent confections was the better option.

Penny and Brand left two days after our trip to The Oceania.
Gretchen’s body was still missing. Erik and I fell into a domestic routine. It was easy to pretend the Councilman’s house was ours. We ate breakfast with Erik’s brothers and Alex every morning, then I’d take Alex to play outside while Erik, Edmond, and Evan visited with their father. Mr. Kelley was awake but bedbound until further notice from Dr. Patel. Normally we ate dinner with Mr. Kelley in his room, one big strange family affair.

I waited up most nights to talk to Crane and Victoria about what, if anything, they’d learned from the day’s interrogation sessions.
Usually they had little to report. We still had no idea how many people had been infected with the creation drug. There still wasn’t a cure.

Nearly a week after our visit to The Oceania, I woke well after midnight to someone with sharp nails shaking my shoulder.

I blinked sleep from my eyes to find Victoria’s golden irises staring down at me. I sat up. I’d fallen asleep in the study, waiting for Crane and Victoria to return home.

“We need to talk, Ms. Lyons,” Victoria said.
She had a crystal tumbler of scotch in one hand and was swirling the ice cubes around so that they made a clinking noise against the glass.

“Sure.
What’s up?” I asked, yawning.

“Some of the created have begun to show themselves, make nuisances of themselves,” she said.
She selected an armchair across from the sofa I was sitting on and settled in. Crossing one long leg over the other, she sipped her scotch.

“What’s that mean?”

“They are causing problems. Displaying their new talents for the world. Some are harmless, using their gifts like magic tricks to amuse crowds. Others, well, others are terrorizing people. They must be stopped. UNITED still does not have names of all those infected, but the ones stupid enough to openly abuse their power will be easy to track down. I am assembling a taskforce of highly skilled Talents to do just that. I would like for you to be a part of that taskforce.”

“Me?” I asked, a little surprised.

“Yes. You have experience as a Hunter. You are a trained fighter. And you know what to expect from them.”

“Do I have a choice?” I asked, my surprise turning to suspicion.

Victoria had been friendly since I’d saved her life, but I didn’t think she was so grateful she’d conveniently overlook the fact I’d been infected.

Victoria smiled coolly.
“There is always a choice, Ms. Lyons.”

“Right.
But my options are what exactly? I join your taskforce or you contain me?”

Victoria sipped her drink.
She set the tumbler down on the coffee table between us. “No. You join because you want to. While UNITED’s policy is to contain all the created, I have to say I am very impressed by your ability to control yourself. If you agree to monthly checkups with one of our doctors, I do not believe containment is necessary.”

“What about Erik?” I asked.
There had to be a catch.

“I’ve made him the same offer.”

“Did he agree?” I asked, starting to get uneasy that he hadn’t discussed it with me beforehand.

“No, not yet.
He felt this was a decision the two of you needed to make together.” She rolled her eyes. “Very noble that one.”

I smiled.
“Then that’s my answer, too. I need to discuss the matter with Erik.”

Victoria sighed.
“I figured you’d say that. Take the next day or so to think it over. Watch the news feeds from around the world. I am sure you will you agree with UNITED. The created must be contained.”

I did agree with her.
At least, I agreed that something needed to be done about them. Containment wasn’t the preferable option, but if we found a cure soon, then the drug could be reversed.

I stood and started for the doorway, to go in search of Erik.
This was a decision we needed to make together. Our future wasn’t the one to consider. Alex. I needed to make sure Alex would be taken care of.

“Oh, and Ms. Lyons?” Victoria called after me.

“Yeah?”

“Gretchen McDonough was spotted in Florence last night.
If that makes your decision any easier for you.”