Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (12 page)

Unable to articulate a response, I swore
loudly. The situation was becoming more bizarre with every bit of
info Yocum shared. If the investigators were correct, then Erik’s
attacker was Talented. It made no sense, particularly when Erik was
on a crusade to protect Talents from being exiled. What possible
motive could she have had for attacking one of her own, let alone
the guy who was trying to save us all?

Yocum nodded and repeated my profanity,
adding, “My thoughts precisely.”

“
How old was she?” I asked,
a thought occurring to me.

“
Sounds like she was
somewhere between six and eight, though that’s purely based on
visuals,” Yocum answered.

“
Is it possible the girl
was Created?” I asked. As far as I knew, I was the only natural
Talent capable of causing such destruction with my mind. At least,
the only one UNITED knew about. “That’s seems far too young to be
part of Mac’s experiments, but it’s the only thing that makes
sense.”

“
We won’t know that until
they test her remains. No group has claimed credit yet, which is
also really weird. Those hate groups love to boast about their
exploits, and injuring Agent Kelley would’ve been considered quite
the success,” Yocum pointed out.

“
I hope they still consider
it a success when I hunt them down,” I shot back.

“
Unless someone takes
credit, we might never know who was behind it, much less the reason
for the attack.”

Realizing he was right, I let loose another
string of obscenities. How were we supposed to fight back against a
group that we knew nothing about?

My thoughts returned to the possibility of
another Talent with mental abilities as strong as mine, natural or
manmade. Without shrapnel to prove otherwise, the only explanation
was that the girl definitely used herself as a human bomb. But it
would have taken considerable power to do so, and an impressive
amount of control. Only a strong, trained manipulator could pull
that off, and there just weren’t that many of us out there.

Had Mac really infected someone so young
with the creation drug, boosting her natural mental manipulation
abilities? Or…

I didn’t even want to consider the
alternative.

Did Mac inject her
with
my
talent
signature?

“
You said there’s footage?”
I asked suddenly. My frantic question startled Yocum, who was still
reading transmissions on his comm. Though I had absolutely zero
desire to watch someone hurt Erik, I needed to see the assailant.
Admittedly, the chances of me recognizing her were slim, even if
she’d been part of TOXIC. Still, I had to know. Instead of
answering, Yocum eyed me warily.

“
Is the footage on your
communicator?” I demanded.

“
Yeah,” he reluctantly
replied. “I’m guessing you want to see it?”

“
Please?” I asked, pasting
on a giant grin that probably looked more maniacal than
inviting.

Yocum held up his communicator and mimed
tossing it. “Only because you asked so nicely.”

Cupping my hands, I easily caught the gentle
throw.

“
You’re the best,” I said,
really meaning it. Even as I spoke, I was already scrolling through
the incoming messages, searching for a link to the footage. When I
found a confidential transmission with a video attachment, my
finger hovered over the display screen. Did I truly want to see
this?

Yes,
I decided, pressing the play button.

My breath caught when a close-up of Erik’s
face filled the small screen. For a long moment, I just stared at
his handsome features, longing to run my fingers through his silky
black hair and feel those beautiful lips on mine. I missed him so
much it hurt.

Tomorrow,
I reminded myself.
You’ll see him tomorrow.

Tomorrow seemed very far away.

When the camera panned out, I saw a
wide-angle view of a pathway cut through the crowded plaza, roped
off on either side. Erik and Penny, surrounded by UNITED
bodyguards, were making their way down the aisle. Agent Miles
DeSanto, who I recognized from my fateful mission in London, kept
whispering in Erik’s ear. The throngs were lined up against the
rope on both sides, some reaching out towards my boyfriend, some
holding signs, and many calling his name.

Being locked up on Vault, I hadn’t seen Erik
in action in his new role as UNITED’s poster boy. My heart filled
with pride at the sight. He came across as utterly in control, and
yet still accessible. Angry protestors aside, the crowd loved him.
Though I could tell Erik’s smile wasn’t whole-hearted, and he
looked tired, he was playing the diplomatic role to perfection.

Without warning, he beamed genuinely as a
curly-headed child ducked beneath the boundary rope. Erik stopped
walking and engaged in a brief discussion with the other agents.
Then, my boyfriend started towards the little girl.

My heart pounded as I studied her face
intently. The delicate features were unfamiliar, drawing a sigh of
relief even as I knew what was about to happen. Had I recognized
her from TOXIC or the McDonough School, my fears about it being my
talent signature would’ve consumed me. The thought of my abilities
being transferred to a little girl, giving her the power she needed
to become a suicidal murderess, made me sick.

I refocused on the video, rewinding and
zooming in on the little girl.

Something about her eyes raised the hairs on
the back of my neck. They were dead—completely devoid of any
emotion and without a trace of the thoughts happening behind them.
I’d seen that same blank stare on many of my fellow inmates. The
girl was drugged, most likely with a chemical strong enough to
eviscerate her thoughts and emotional connections to the world
around her.

No way was this little girl
working alone,
I thought, concentrating on
the details of the attack to distract myself from the possibility
it was my powers that had hurt Erik.

Little girl,
I repeated to myself mournfully. And yet, though
the face staring up at me from the screen did appear young, I
couldn’t help but feel as though I was looking at a mirage. There
was something off about the child, besides the vacant expression
that made me question how lucid the thoughts were beneath her mop
of curls.

On screen, Erik knelt before the child.
Every cell in my body wanted to scream at him to move away. Didn’t
Erik see that the girl wasn’t right? Couldn’t he feel the weirdness
radiating off of her? Just seeing her on a screen gave me chills,
and Erik was all but holding her hand.

From somewhere off-screen, Penny suddenly
lunged forward, reaching for Erik as though to pull him back.

She was too late.

Even though I knew what was coming, I had to
clench my jaw to keep from shrieking when the dead-eyed child
exploded.

The footage continued to roll, capturing the
aftermath of the attack. Unable to watch the carnage—a mix of blood
and felled agents, with my Erik in the middle of it all—I stopped
the playback and set the device down in my lap. For a long minute,
I stared quietly at the wall of my cell, trying to make sense of
the attack.

“
You okay?” Yocum finally
asked quietly. “I don’t even know Agent Kelley, and I had a hard
time seeing that.”

I nodded. “I’ve seen worse. I’m fine.”

I was so not fine. After finding Erik at
Tramblewood, TOXIC’s maximum-security prison, bloody and beaten to
within an inch of his life, I’d never wanted to see him hurt again.
I never wanted him to be hurt again at all. Erik’s stint in
Tramblewood had been entirely my fault. Now I couldn’t help but
wonder if this attack had been, too.

“
What’s your take on it?”
Yocum asked. “You think the kid used mental talents to cause the
explosion?”

A part of me automatically began to say
something asinine like, “Thought I lost the right to have an
opinion when that cell door hit me on the way in.” But the words
died on my lips. I was too shaken for sarcasm.

The attack wasn’t serious, but the
implications were. Someone had deliberately placed that child in
Erik’s path with the intention of killing both of them, in addition
to countless bystanders. They must have overestimated the power of
the explosion, which was the only reason Erik was still alive. That
same person also had no interest in being recognized as the source
of the attack by claiming credit, instead preserving his
anonymity.

These were all
very
bad
signs.

“
Talia? You sure you’re
okay?” Yocum’s brow furrowed into a frown. “I’m sorry, I knew it
was a bad idea to let you watch that.”

“
No, really, I’m fine,” I
assured him. “Just thinking. Thank you for letting me watch the
video, I really do appreciate it. And yeah, I’m pretty sure that
girl was the bomb, which is probably why Victoria is sending a
brain guy to check out Erik. If the child’s talents were strong
enough to pull this off, then they were definitely strong enough to
infiltrate Erik’s mind.” I shook my head ruefully. “Not that a
doctor will know what to look for. Run of the mill brain damage
isn’t the issue. I should be there.”

“
Come on, Talia. What can
you do that a skilled specialist can’t?”

“
A lot. Do you know how
much power, how much control this type of thing takes? Few
manipulators possess enough of either,” I replied, voicing my
earlier thoughts.

“
But you do,” Yocum
said.

It wasn’t a question. Since Yocum had read
my personnel file, he already knew I did; it undoubtedly included
some of the more outrageous displays of my abilities.

“
I do,” I agreed. “But more
importantly, I know Erik. I know his mind. I would be able to tell
if that girl screwed with it. I should be with him. I should have
been there with him from the start, not in here.”

Anger blazed through me, even as guilt
turned my stomach to lead. I wanted to hate Victoria and the rest
of her council cronies for locking me away when my place was by
Erik’s side. Yet, the person I was truly upset with was myself. It
was my own fault that I wasn’t there when Erik needed me.

Maybe I could have prevented the attack.
Maybe not. I’d never know. Either way, I was useless to Erik as
long as I remained on Vault. I was useless to UNITED, too.

Suddenly, I had a strong desire to revisit
the folder Victoria had left for me. I needed to prove my worth.
Once I regained value in UNITED’s eyes, I would be allowed to
return to Erik. And if that was what it took, I would become a
model employee. I would make the council wonder how they’d ever
survived without me.

“
There is nothing you could
have done,” Yocum said firmly, interrupting my mental wanderings.
“This attack is no great surprise to anyone. Pushing the vote back
made people extra anxious, especially the fanatics. The council
thought it some great win to have this extra time, thought sending
your boy out would assure victory.” Yocum shook his head. “I can’t
say it’s the decision I would’ve made. In my opinion, for what it’s
worth, they shou—”

“
No one asked for your
opinion,” a clipped voice declared, cutting him off.

Victoria’s crisp rebuke drained every ounce
of color from Yocum’s face. He flew up out of his chair, standing
at attention as the councilwoman entered my cell.

“
Forgive me, ma’am,” Yocum
said tightly.

The door closed behind Victoria, just as
soundlessly as it had opened.

“
As it happens, with the
advantage of hindsight, I do not entirely disagree with you,” she
replied, waving off Yocum’s apology. Looking wearier than I’d ever
seen her, Victoria strode across my cell and sat beside me on the
bed before continuing.

“
Agent Kelley has done a
brilliant job of swaying general public opinion, there is no
doubting that. However, new anti-Talent organizations pop up every
day, and it seems they are unyielding in their beliefs about the
Talented and Created. Threats to Erik’s life have increased tenfold
in the last week; many of those same groups are intent on silencing
him before the vote. While this was not unexpected, it does make me
wonder whether the council’s decision to use Erik as the face of
our movement was not a tad hasty. We’d believed that implementing
strict search protocols at the rallies would be sufficient, but it
seems we were ignorant to all the potential risks Erik would
face.”

“
How is he?” I asked,
nudging Yocum’s communicator beneath my leg. Victoria was lenient
when it came to certain rules, but handing over a UNITED
communicator was unlikely to be one of them. She seemed totally
unsurprised by the fact Yocum told me about the attack, but there
was no need to risk his job by telling her the extent of my
knowledge.

“
He was not seriously
injured.” She held up a hand to halt my next question in its
tracks. “I am sorry, Talia, that is all I know. Erik’s injuries are
minor, relatively speaking. I have spoken with him, and he seems
well. Until our specialized medical team evaluates him, I cannot
tell you more.”

“
Do you know who is
responsible?” I demanded.

Being the head honcho at UNITED, Victoria
was privy to all classified intel. If there was a list of suspects,
she likely had it memorized.

Victoria scowled. “I do not. This is
troubling, of course, because it means there is likely a new player
in the game—one who wishes to remain under the radar.” Her frown
deepened. “Personally, I believe only cowards hide behind a mask of
anonymity.”