Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (45 page)

“
What’s on level three?”
Cressa asked, shocked by her own ability to form a coherent
sentence. Her voice didn’t even shake when she spoke—another
tremendous feat, given the roiling in her belly.

The other girls were silent. Lyla’s skin had
turned a sickly shade of green, while her twin was white as a
ghost. Even Daphne, who’d been so insistent on seeing the source
stables, was fighting disgust.

Hartley, despite his speech about the
sources being traitors and unworthy of their natural talents, wore
a deeply troubled expression. Evidently he’d been playing up the
part of the Dame’s loyal disciple, but he wasn’t actually so far
down the rabbit hole that he’d lost all sense of human decency.

The Jacobs were a different story. As where
everyone else was outwardly disturbed by the scene, they were
invigorated by the spectacle. They kept laughing and pointing at
certain individuals, making asinine comments about the females’
bodies and rating their beauty on a scale from toad to
supermodel.

Hartley cleared his throat loudly. “Um,
what? Level three? Oh, it’s…honestly, I’m not actually sure what it
is. There’s just a room up there with a really big incubation
chamber.” He shook his head dismissively. “It’s always empty, don’t
know what it’s used for.”

“
I want to see it,” Cressa
replied calmly.

A switch had flipped inside of her, turning
off Cressa’s emotions. She felt hollow and detached. While the
sensation was weird, it was preferable to the chest-tightening,
panic-inducing horror she’d been experiencing.

“
Yeah, sure. If you want.”
Hartley waved her forward. “Come on.”

Her face a blank mask, Cressa followed
Hartley up the third and final staircase.

“
We’re going to stay
here,” one of the Jacobs called after them. “I like to watch the
redhead. She’s got killer curves.”

This was one derisive quip too many for
Lyla, and she snapped. Rounding on the Jacobs, Lyla launched in to
a tirade with enough four-letter words to make a nun flee.

“
Sorry about them,”
Hartley told Cressa sheepishly. “The Jacobs really aren't that
bright.”

“
Yeah, I kind of figured
that out. But I thought you didn’t care about those people?” Cressa
baited.

“
I believe in the Dame’s
vision, that’s how I rationalize all of this.” Hartley made a
sweeping gesture meant to encompass the entire cavern. “I really do
believe those people down there are traitors. I mean, they were
born Talented. They are so lucky, and they don’t even realize or
appreciate it. But us, you and me, we have to jump through a
million hoops just to be able to do the same things they could do
as children. It’s not fair.”

“
So you’re jealous—that’s
what you’re telling me?”

Hartley laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. Oh, hey,
looks like we have some action going on inside the chamber.”

They’d reached the third-story landing, and
Hartley was pointing towards the viewing window. In the middle of a
bright white room was the largest incubation chamber Cressa had
ever seen. People in white, puffy suits stood around the chamber,
pushing buttons and adjusting knobs, while robotic arms with laser
fingers swung continuously around the person inside.

“
Holy clone! That’s
Gracia!” Daphne shrieked, shoving Cressa from behind in her race to
the railing of the observation deck.

“
Shh!” Hartley warned. “I
don’t know how soundproof the glass is.”

Focused on the chamber and the doctors,
Cressa’s gaze hadn’t quite made it to the holo-image on the far
side of the chamber. Sure enough, when she looked up, the face on
the right side of the display was Gracia’s. On the left half,
Natalia Lyons’ cold violet gaze stared out from the projection.

“
She’s breathtaking,”
Hartley muttered. Cressa didn’t have to ask which girl he was
talking about.

To someone who’d never seen Natalia Lyons,
Hartley’s comment might have come across as simple admiration for a
pretty girl. Because Natalia was beautiful, there was no denying
it. But seeing such a lifelike image of the girl for herself,
Cressa understood that ‘breathtaking’ was the only term for her.
There was something about Natalia that drew Cressa in, mesmerizing
her, and made her want to be close to the Talent. The feeling was a
lot like when Cressa had met Sir Tate, except exponentially
stronger.

Without conscious thought, Cressa’s feet
carried her to the railing to stand beside Daphne. Fascinated, she
watched the holo-screen as Gracia’s side slowly transformed,
feature by feature, to become more like the image of Natalia. The
longer the robotic arms worked, the sharper Gracia’s cheekbones
became and more heart-shaped her face appeared. Even the purple hue
of Gracia’s irises deepened, until it perfectly matched her
source’s.

“
This is so freaky,”
Hartley said.

One level below, Lyla was still shouting at
the Jacobs, unleashing weeks of pent up aggression on her targets.
Cressa blocked out the fighting, too engrossed with the cloning
process to care.

“
Do you think the Dame is
in one of those bubble costumes?” Hartley asked.

“
No, she’s probably
watching through that camera.” Cressa pointed to the black orb
spinning above the incubation chamber. “That’s probably how the
floor captains are observing, too.”

“
She already looks just
like her,” Daphne remarked, sounding much like the child she still
was. “I can’t believe my sister is gone.”

The coldness inside Cressa started to thaw,
sending a rush of emotion through her veins. She didn’t fight it.
Daphne was young and immature, and sort of annoying at times, but
that was because she had yet to reach puberty. The little canary’s
heart was breaking for the loss of her big sister, a girl she
clearly looked up to and admired, no matter how much she pretended
otherwise. And Cressa couldn’t ignore the overwhelming desire to
comfort Daphne.

Wrapping an arm around Daphne’s shoulders,
Cressa pulled the younger girl into a hug. “Gracia’s not gone,” she
soothed. “Changing her appearance doesn’t change the person she is
inside.”

Though if she does take on
some of Natalia’s personality, that might not be a bad
thing,
Cressa thought wryly.

The media may have painted Natalia Lyons as
cold and impersonal, which were probably necessary traits for an
assassin, but Cressa doubted that was the whole story. She’d seen
images of Natalia and Erikson together on various UNITED missions.
The way they looked at each other was enough to soften even the
hardest of hearts. And any teenage girl—it was crazy to think
Natalia Lyons was only a few years older than Cressa—who’d risked
her own life to save her boyfriend’s had to be good at the core. A
lot of girls said they’d be willing to do the same, yet Natalia had
actually done it.

Those lasers better be
able to give Gracia a heart and a soul,
Cressa mused. Otherwise, she had no chance of fooling anyone
into thinking she was Natalia.

Holding on to Cressa as though she were the
lone buoy in a turbulent sea, Daphne started to weep. Clearly
uncomfortable by the little girl’s tears, Hartley stepped back to
give them space.

“
It’s silly, I know.”
Daphne hiccupped. “Gracia and I don’t even like each other. But
she’s the only family I have anymore. Our parents aren’t going to
be Privileged. Who knows what the Dame will do with them? Gracia
says we won’t see them again.
Ever.
She said they’ll be better off than most norms,
but nowhere near as valued as us.” This made Daphne cry harder. She
reached out and started to stroke the glass, like she was petting
Gracia’s new face.

Cressa was about to reassure Daphne that the
Beaumonts would live a glorious life once the Dame came into power,
as parents of Privileged children. But the words were still on the
tip of her tongue when all hell broke loose.

Erik

Nice, France

Two Days Before the Vote

My team of misfits landed in Nice, France
just as the sun was coming up. The mission was off the books, so to
speak. The council, minus Victoria, believed we were detouring to
France on our way to London for a bit of sightseeing. The fact that
they actually believed the lie made me question whether they were
really the best group of people to be governing UNITED. Of course,
they didn’t know that Victoria’s brother had provided us with
credible intel, in his mind at least, that both Talia and Anya were
in Nice.

The seaside town was quiet and peaceful when
we arrived, save the hordes of Talented already on the docks.

“
What’s going on there?”
Henri asked, pointing to the line of over a hundred men, women, and
children.

“
A lot of Talented are
relocating already,” Frederick told his boyfriend in a low voice.
“They know their chances in the lottery aren’t good, so they are
immigrating to countries they believe will be tolerant even if the
treaty is overturned, like the U.S. and England.”

We’d arrived in an unmarked heli-hover, but
the refugees still seemed to guess that we were with UNITED. Many
of them began pointing excitedly in our direction, anticipating
that we were there to help with the evacuation. The emotion pouring
off of the crowd was a suffocating mix of hope and desperation.

Penny drew in a sharp breath and stumbled as
our team filed onto the tarmac. Brand reached over to steady
her.

“
Just concentrate on
blocking them,”
I sent her.

“
It feels wrong. We have
spots on the islands, the least I can do is feel their pain and
empathize with their misery,”
Penny sent
back.

“
You can’t, Penny. That
much depression is crippling. And right now, we need you at your
best. Talia needs you at your best.”

With Brand’s help, Penny stood up
straighter. Steely determination shone in her lime irises, and she
nodded.

A man in a black pinstriped suit approached
our group. He saluted, remaining rigid as we all returned the
gesture.

“
At ease, son,” Miles told
the newcomer.

“
I am Agent Nadir, British
Intelligence. Hans Walburton has asked that I escort you all around
Nice. I am at your disposal and would like to help in any way
possible.” The man’s dark eyes turned sympathetic. “I have heard a
great deal about Natalia Lyons and her work against the Poachers. A
close friend of mine was a victim of the Poachers. He is free now,
but he still has nightmares about his time in captivity. Anyone
willing to fight against such an organization is a friend to
me.”

“
Thank you,” I told
him.

“
Right. Well, I think some
of us are going to start by talking to the harbormaster,” Miles
replied.

Agent Nadir became uneasy. “You plan to
split up, sir? I was told you would be operating as a team.”

“
And we are team. A team
that will cover a lot more ground if we divide and conquer,” Miles
answered.

After the meeting in Victoria’s office, the
councilwoman and Crane had agreed that the best course of action
was to send Henri, Fredrick, Miles, Brand, Penny, and me to Nice to
follow the tip from her brother. I’d wanted to leave immediately,
but Crane thought that if word of UNITED’s presence in Nice got
back to Talia and Anya they might leave before we landed. He argued
that giving them time to settle in would create a sense of
security. Of course, that was assuming that Nice was their final
destination, at least until they left for London. Because I was
positive that Talia was ultimately headed to London.

I was also positive that we wouldn’t find
Talia in Nice, no matter what Hans Walburton thought. But Talia
hadn’t reached out to me again, and I’d been unable to contact her.
So, with my only other options being to wait on Eden or head to
London, I’d conceded to the mission. At least going to France made
me feel like I was doing something productive to locate Talia, even
if this venture proved a bust.

“
Very good, sir,” Agent
Nadir told Miles.

“
Kid, you wanted to talk to
the harbormaster with me, right?” Miles asked, addressing
me.

“
Definitely,” I
said.

I doubted that the two girls the man had
seen were actually Talia and Anya. Yes, the descriptions matched my
girlfriend and her coconspirator, but that didn’t mean much in my
opinion. Since Talia’s escape, UNITED’s tip line had been flooded
with false leads and dead ends. Considering the news of her
disappearance was limited to trusted law enforcement officials and
UNITED informants, I was amazed by the number of calls and
messages.