Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (39 page)

“
Keep it together, kid,” he
murmured, talking out of the side of his mouth.

Crane still seemed skeptical.

“
He’s telling the truth,
Uncle Ian,” Penny chimed in. For good measure, she added, “I
haven’t spoken to her either.”

“
What you both need to
understand is that UNITED is not the only people looking for
Talia,” Crane said, clearly trying a different tactic to persuade
us to be honest.

“
He knows, Ian,” Victoria
said. “I have explained about Nightshade.”

Identical grim expressions came over both
Victoria’s and Crane’s faces. Henri, who had never mastered the art
of blocking his mind but excelled in projecting his thoughts,
started to ask about Nightshade. He got as far as, “What’s Ni—”,
before Victoria held up her hands for silence.

“
Time is short. The treaty
vote will take place in three days. Pass or fail, once the decision
is made all of UNITED’s resources will be diverted to either the
evacuation of those refugees selected for relocation to the Isle,
or maintaining the peace in the more hostile nations. A manhunt for
an escaped prisoner will no longer be a priority.”

Personally, I found that fact uplifting.
Once the heat surrounding Talia died down, she would be a lot
safer. At least from UNITED.

Victoria launched into an abbreviated
version of the story she’d told Miles and me the night before. Once
everyone was up to speed on the situation, the councilwoman paused
to let the newcomers digest the new information. Then, she dropped
her next bombshell—the planned executions of all Level Four and
Five prisoners on Vault.

Even before she’d finished speaking, the
room was in an uproar. Frederick and Henri were on their feet,
shouting protests to the room at large. Brand was outraged, his
expression murderous. The guy might have come across as cold and
unfeeling, but clearly he did have a large heart. Not even the
proper dude in the expensive suit seemed to think that new plan was
a good one. Only Penny, Miles, Crane, and I remained unfazed by
Victoria’s little speech.

“
Everyone calm down,” Crane
said from his holographic chair. His voice did not rise a single
octave above normal, but the command it carried was enough to
silence the protesting duo of Frederick and Henri.

“
You agree with this?”
Frederick demanded.

Crane held up his hands in a placating
gesture. “It doesn’t really matter whether I agree or disagree,
Frederick. The council has voted, and the decision is binding. What
matters now is finding Talia and keeping her safe.”

“
Why?” Brand
asked.

“
Brand
,” Penny hissed, hurt by what she clearly perceived to be
insensitivity.

Brand reached over and took Penny’s hand,
which she snatched out of his grasp with an annoyed huff.

“
What I mean is: Why
are
we
specifically trying to find her? It’s ridiculous to bring her
back only to execute her. Why don’t we leave her be? If the vote
fails, won’t she be safer, or, I don’t know, alive, if we leave her
wherever she is? Even if the vote passes, we’d only be bringing her
back to face punishment.”

“
And if Nightshade weren’t
involved, I would agree with you,” Crane replied. “But they are.
That changes the situation drastically.” He shot a sidelong glance
at Victoria. “The councilwoman and I have talked it over, and we
agreed that once you all have located Talia, I will provide her
asylum in the United States for the time being.”

“
So I guess you already
outlined your plan with your uncle?”
I
sent Penny.

“
No. I haven’t had the
chance. And I certainly wasn’t going to bring Victoria into the
loop,”
she sent back.

“
Now, for the last time,
has anyone in this room spoken to Talia?” Crane asked. He cast his
penetrating stare on each of us in turn. “Erik? Frederick?
Penelope?”

“
No,” Penny and Frederick
replied empathically.

“
Erik?” Crane turned his
penetrating gaze on me.

But I was no longer aware of my immediate
surroundings. Victoria’s office was still visible, as were all of
the occupants. But interposed over the furniture and my friends
were shelves of toys, an old-fashioned sales register, and several
people in heavy coats with fur-lined hoods. I recognized my
girlfriend’s vibrant purple eyes and freckled nose immediately.

“
Talia? Can you hear me?
Talia, please tell me you’re okay? Are you safe?”
I sent.

“
Erik? What’s wrong?” Crane
demanded.

I ignored him. Nothing mattered but holding
on to this vision of Talia.

“
Erik…safe.
Sorry…ran.”

The words in my head were stuttered and
Talia’s voice sounded distorted. After a moment, the image of the
toyshop began to waver. It took every ounce of my power to hold the
scene in place.

“
It’s okay, Tal. Just tell
me where you are. It’s a shit show here. Frederick says he saw you
looking up at something with fur. An animal maybe? Are you hurt?
I’m with Crane now. He wants to send his men to bring you to the
U.S., where you’ll be safe. He says he’ll grant you
asylum.”

“
Erik, you’re scaring me.”
This time it was Penny’s voice that nearly tore me away from
Talia.

“
You’re…up. Can’t…hear.
Reception…off.”

The reception was off. Why? Why couldn’t I
talk to Talia like we normally did? Was the problem on my end? Were
my Created powers finally frying my brain?

“
Just tell me where you
are, Tals,”
I sent.

The toy store disappeared. As did Talia’s
voice inside my head.

“
Erik, what just happened?”
Victoria demanded, golden eyes rounding with alarm.

“
She’s safe. I think,” I
said hollowly.

“
Good. That’s good. Where
is she?” Crane asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“
She wouldn’t tell you?”
Penny asked, surprised.

“
No. I don’t know. It
doesn’t make any sense. I was able to talk to her like we normally
do, but half of her words weren’t clear. All I got was that she’s
somewhere she feels safe.”

I felt useless. How was I ever going to find
Talia if we couldn’t talk mentally?

“
But she didn’t say where
she is?” Crane insisted.

“
No,” I snapped. “I could
feel that she felt safe. She said ‘safe’ at some point. But no, I
don’t know where she is. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I
communicate with her?”

No one had an answer for that.

“
Could you tell anything
about her surroundings?” Victoria asked.

“
She was in a store. A toy
store, I think.”

Both Victoria and Crane looked
skeptical.

“
I know. It sounds crazy.
But that’s what I saw,” I said, running my hands through my hair
and wanting to rip out the strands at the roots. “There were other
people in the shop, too. A young boy was right next to Talia. And
two other teenagers were across the store.”

Now even Frederick and Henri were looking at
me like I was nuts. Honestly, I didn’t blame them. The story
sounded ridiculous, even to me.

For several long moments, no one spoke.
There was a lot of exchanging of pointed glances and dubious looks
shot in my direction. I didn’t need to read anyone’s minds to
appreciate how worried my friends were for my mental state.

“
She reached out once,
she’ll do it again,” Crane said finally. “Just keep trying to make
contact with her.” He turned his attention to his niece. “You too,
Penny.” Crane gave me another pointed stare. “In the meantime,
Victoria and I have discussed the places we believe Talia would
most likely use as her hiding spots. None include a toy store,
however.”

“
I’m not lying,” I
growled.

“
No one thinks you are,
Erik,” Crane said calmly.

“
You guys wanted me to
reach out to Talia, which I did. I can’t help that you don’t like
what I saw.”

Victoria cleared her throat, and then
started up where Crane had left off, as though I hadn’t spoken.
“Coalition headquarters in California is one option. She hasn’t
arrived there yet, but Ian’s men are on the lookout. The McDonough
School is another option. It is currently vacant, which means she
could stay there without detection. Another team of Ian’s men is
already on their way there. The McDonough School is close to D.C.
It’s possible she stopped in the city for some reason. Maybe
someone on the street recognized her and she ducked inside the
store to hide out.”

The tone of Victoria’s voice suggested that
she wasn’t buying her own theory.

“
Talia won’t go to either
of those places,” I interjected before Victoria could name another
long shot locale. The councilwoman raised her eyebrows in question,
so I continued. “The school doesn’t hold happy memories for her. If
she goes anywhere associated with TOXIC, it will be Elite
Headquarters in West Virginia. But I doubt that, too. Doesn’t feel
right to me. And Coalition headquarters is in California. It never
gets cold enough there for fur.”

“
Look, kid,” Miles began,
placing a hand on my arm. “I don’t doubt that you believe what you
saw was real, but—”

“
It. Was. Real,” I
snapped.

“
Erik’s vision is in line
with what I saw earlier,” Frederick interjected. All those
suspicious glances that had been directed at me were transferred to
Frederick. “Early this morning, I was able to view Talia very
briefly. I saw her with a girl in a fur-lined jacket, which does
suggest she is somewhere extremely cold.”

“
Why is it you failed to
mention this before now?” Victoria demanded.

Frederick sighed. “Because I wasn’t sure it
was real. It was just like Erik described, with the whole scene
feeling very fuzzy, for lack of a better word. Normally, when I
view someone, the image is sharp, and I feel as though I am really
a part of the picture. This wasn’t like that.”

“
Okay, well, the fact that
you both made contact with Talia and believe she is somewhere cold
is a start. You do know her best, Erik. Do you have any guesses as
to where she might be?” Crane asked me.

I glanced around the room at my friends.
Henri was still seething over the whole proposition 2690 thing.
Frederick was staring at his hands, contemplating whether he should
have spoken up sooner. But until I’d confirmed his earlier vision,
he truly had believed there was a chance it was some sort of
bizarre hallucination.

Brand was staring at Penny forlornly,
attempting to implore her to look at him. I didn’t have to read his
mind to know that his only interest in Talia’s wellbeing was for
his girlfriend’s benefit. Penny was ignoring her other half and
using all of her strength to simultaneously view Talia and open up
a mental communication channel. It wasn’t working.

Then there was the guy in the suit. What was
he even doing in Victoria’s office? He’d yet to voice an opinion on
anything.

“
I really don’t know where
she is now,” I said after the long pause. “But I do think I know
where she’ll go next.”

“
Where?” Crane
asked.

“
London?” Penny squeaked,
reading the thought from my head.

I glared over at her.

“
Sorry,” she mumbled. “It
just popped out.”

Facing Victoria and Crane, I repeated,
“London.”

Crane looked perplexed, apparently unclear
as to why Talia would choose a city she wasn’t familiar with.
Victoria, however, wore a knowing expression and, if anything,
seemed slightly embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of the
possibility sooner.

“
Of course,” Victoria
breathed. “Kenly Baker.” Her eyes narrowed on me in suspicion. “How
long have you known Ms. Baker’s whereabouts?”

“
Really? You want to have
that conversation now?” I deadpanned.

“
Wait, Kenly’s in London?”
Frederick asked. “Why haven’t our agents found her
then?”

“
Not important,” I
grumbled.

“
Actually, it sort of is,”
Henri interjected. “If UNITED agents have been searching London for
Kenly and haven’t found her, then what chance do we have of finding
Talia? And how is Talia going to find Kenly?”

“
Kenly is with a group of
native Londoners, all of whom have a great deal of practice playing
hide-and-go-seek with the Poachers. I’d say they’re pretty good at
flying under the radar. Talia will have no problem finding them,
because Kenly will tell her exactly where they are,” I said
impatiently.

Crane cleared his throat. All eyes in the
room turned towards him. “I assume there is another reason you
believe Talia will go to London?”

It was Victoria who answered. “To see Erik,
of course. Once she learns he will be there for the final peace
rally before the vote, Talia will go there to see him. If only from
a distance.”

“
I suppose that settles it
then,” Crane replied. “If we don’t find her soon, London will be
it.”

The room fell silent.

Someone coughed. The man in the suit took
several steps away from the wall he’d been leaning against. He
coughed again.

“
Hans Walburton,” Victoria
said by way of introduction and gestured towards the man in the
suit. “British Intelligence. He also happens to be my younger
brother.”