Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (50 page)

Kev laughed. “That’s a record. We’ve been
hanging out for like thirty minutes, and that is your first mention
of my former life.”

Daphne blushed, and Cressa realized she
could suddenly see the other girl’s face perfectly.

Kev was right,
she thought,
now that
I’ve tapped into my superhero eyesight, the world is in much
sharper focus.

“
Sorry, didn’t mean to
embarrass you,” Kev said kindly. “It’s nice, you know? Even here,
where they are remaking people into the Dame’s image of perfection,
I still get treated like a celebrity. But yes, actually, I did
learn about this stuff at ‘movie star school.’ On set, a lot of my
stunt doubles were Talented. I spent a lot of time with people who
could see, hear, and feel things that I can’t—well, couldn’t. I
figured they must have better senses, in addition to cool powers.
So, after I was injected the first time, I gave it whirl. Sure
enough, the world looks very different through Talented
eyes.”

Cressa wanted to hear more; she’d never met
a Talent in real life, and knew nothing about their abilities
beyond what the Institute told her. Madame Gillis had said that
their new powers were much more complex than they seemed. At the
time, Cressa hadn’t truly understood what she meant. Moving objects
with her mind was not exactly simple after all. But with Kev’s
explanation in her head, odd little things that Cressa had
experienced over the last month made more sense—like the smell in
the classroom when Sir Tate met Gracia.

Fear,
Cressa realized. She’d smelled Sir Tate’s fear. Or maybe it
had been anxiety? She wasn’t sure. Either way, the fact that she
was able to perceive the emotions of others via scent was pretty
freaking cool.

“
Look, you guys really
should go,” Kev said. “I need to get back, too. I’ll wait until
you’re through. If guards are waiting on the other side of the
door,” he grinned that heart-stopping smile at Cressa, “we’ll go
with your plan b, and see how long we can live in these
tunnels.”

Cressa beamed, strangely unconcerned about
what awaited her in the atrium with Kev Leon’s attention focused on
her. She turned to Daphne, and the momentary carefree feeling
evaporated. “Ready?”

Nodding, Daphne pressed her palm to the
door, which Cressa was still able to see with startling clarity.
Together, the girls shoved the stone slab aside. With a muttered
goodnight to Kev, Daphne and Cressa crept into the atrium, sealing
the passageway behind them.

Only, this door did not lead to the massive
foyer by the elevator.

“
Carpet bombs, we’re in a
shower stall,” Daphne mumbled. Cressa had to suppress the urge to
laugh at the younger girl’s weird slangs for profanity.

The lights in the bathroom were off, but
there was no mistaking the slick blue and white tile of the shower
stall.

“
Cadet Lupo claims Karmine
was in her bed when she fell asleep.”

Cressa froze at the sound of Leslie’s voice.
Daphne slipped her cool, clammy fingers between Cressa’s and
squeezed.

“
Take her to
interrogation. Don’t push her, just find out what she knows. The
Dame is furious. She wants to get to the bottom of this right
now.”

Cressa recognized the second voice as well;
it belonged to Madame Gillis. She looked down at Daphne, both girls
holding their breaths as they waited to hear more.

“
She’s barely been on this
floor for a day, so how did Karmine know about the tunnels?” Leslie
wanted to know.

“
Hopefully Lupo can tell
us that. If not, one of the others will, though they won’t be awake
for a few hours,” Madame Gillis replied. “Are we missing any other
2P girls?”

“
I still have one more
room to check, ma’am. So far, Karmine is the only one unaccounted
for.”

So they don’t know about
Daphne,
Cressa thought.

Bending down so her lips were directly
beside Daphne’s ear, Cressa said, “I have an idea. You’re pretty
good with invisibility, right?”

Daphne nodded tentatively.

“
Okay, good. Use that, and
try to make it back to your room before Leslie gets there. It
doesn’t sound like she knows you’re gone. Can you do
that?”

Again, Daphne nodded. “What about you?” she
squeaked.

“
Don’t worry about me.
Just get back to your room.”

“
I don’t want to leave
you, Cressa. You saved my life down there.”

Cressa smiled sadly. “No, I tried to save
your life. I think it was Kev who actually gets the heroism credit.
He’s the one who stopped you from falling. I wasn’t strong enough.
Now, please, go.”

She gave Daphne a little shove to get her
going. Daphne looked as though she was going to put up a fight. The
next words that drifted back to them from the hallway outside the
bathroom broke her resistance.

“
If we don’t find Karmine
soon, we will have to scan the minds of all the girls, to find out
what they know. Check the Beaumont sisters’ room, then report back.
I will see how Cadet Ivan is making out on the boys’
floors.”

“
Good luck,” Daphne
mouthed over her shoulder.

Cressa heard a faint pop, and then there was
only a shimmering light where the younger girl had stood just an
instant before. The shower door eased open soundlessly as the
invisible Daphne slid through, and Cressa caught it before it
closed again.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she counted to ten,
giving Daphne enough time to make it across the bathroom to the
exit. Then, she darted over to the next shower stall and started
peeling off her filthy pajamas.

Once Cressa was standing in nothing more
than a pair of white granny panties, she took a deep breath and set
her plan into action.

As she stuck her finger down her own throat,
she recalled the images of the frog pond and source stables. The
pit of revulsion in her stomach made the unpleasant task easier to
perform. Eyes watering and nose running, Cressa began to heave.
This time, she didn’t swallow the bile that rose in her throat.

Sickness splashed the tiles. The sight of
her own vomit made Cressa’s stomach heave harder. She coughed and
sputtered, spewing more grossness onto the shower floor.

“
Did you hear that?”
Madame Gillis asked.

Two sets of shoes clapped against the
bathroom tile as Madame Gillis and Leslie rushed to investigate the
noise. Cressa threw up one last time, for good measure.

“
Who is in here?” Madame
Gillis demanded.

“
M-m-me,” Cressa
stuttered, pushing open the shower door so that they could see her.
She hugged herself to cover her nakedness. “I’m sorry. I think I’m
having a delayed reaction to my injection. Or maybe it’s food
poisoning.”

Both Madame Gillis and Leslie stepped back
as the stench hit them. Cressa’s dirty clothes, a visible sign of
her guilt, were at her feet, covered in the mostly-digested
contents of her dinner.

Madame Gillis covered her nose with her
hand, making her voice sound very nasally when she spoke. “We had
best get you to med bay, so Dr. Masterson can look you over. Cadet
Abbot will escort you.”

“
Can I rinse off first?”
Cressa asked. “I got sick all over my clothes.”

“
Quickly,” Madame Gillis
replied. “I’ll wait right here while you do.” She turned to Leslie.
“Fetch Cadet Karmine a fresh pair of pajamas, then check on Cadet
Beaumont.”

Leslie left without comment, eager to escape
the smell and sight of Cressa.

“
Rinse off, but hurry,
child.” With those terse words, Madame Gillis closed the shower
door.

At her boarding school, there had been very
few acceptable reasons for missing class. Vomiting had been the
only surefire way to skip. Cressa had never tried the
stick-her-finger-down-her-throat trick before that night, but she’d
seen other girls do it plenty of times.

As Cressa turned on the water, she smiled.
Her ridiculous plan had worked. A night in med bay and a raw throat
were small prices to pay.

Especially when the alternative was an
electric cage.

Erik

London, England

Two Days Before the Vote

The Palace Hotel in Kensington was fit for
royalty. Probably because it had once been a royal palace. It had
long since been converted into a luxury hotel, with only the most
elite clientele. Thanks to Victoria, my friends and I were included
in that exclusive group. Of course Victoria hadn’t chosen The
Palace for its premiere restaurants, five person Jacuzzi soaking
tubs, 2000 thread-count sheets, or in-room amenities packages. No,
she’d chosen it for its unparalleled security detail. For my last
peace rally, I had already been booked in the Queen Maud suite, the
nicest and most expensive room The Palace had to offer. The staff
was only too happy to amend my reservation to accommodate my early
arrival. And since the suite was three levels, included six
bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and two kitchens—‘cause that was
necessary—Miles, Frederick, Henri, Penny, and Brand each had his or
her own bedroom. Or they would have, had they wanted it. At my
insistence, Henri and Frederick took the master bedroom. Penny and
Brand elected to share the slightly smaller Antiqua room. Miles and
I chose the Charlotte and Balmoral rooms respectively.

I was lying on my bed, hands folded behind
my head, attempting to contact Talia. So far, the chore was just
that, a chore. I’d been so sure that she would be in London, so
sure that once there I would be able to talk to her. In France,
when we’d learned the girl traveling with Anya wasn’t Talia, I’d
felt vindicated, messed up as that was. I hadn’t even given more
than cursory thought to the identity of the imposter, when she
replaced Talia—because the girl who’d escaped from Vault with Anya
was Talia—or whether the doppelgänger was part of the larger plan.
Worse, I didn’t really care. All that mattered was Talia.

Conjuring an image of her beautiful
heart-shaped face, I pushed my telepathy as far as I could,
exerting so much energy that sweat pooled in every crevice. Every
inch of my body ached down to the marrow of my bones. Nothing. I
couldn’t feel her. Plea after plea for her to just answer me went
unanswered.

A knock sounded on my bedroom door. Penny. I
ignored her. Nothing she had to tell me was important enough to
stop trying to reach Talia.

“
Erik! Stop! You’re going
to fry your brain!”
Penny screamed inside
my head. When I continued to ignore her, Penny tried to compel me.
We were evenly matched. The mental tug-of-war that followed was
epic. Every time Penny pushed her will on me, I pushed back with
all the force I possessed.

My brain felt as though it were being ripped
in two. Conflicting thoughts warred with one another, fighting for
dominance. The muscles in my arms and legs began to seize, followed
a second later by the ones in my back and stomach. Then, my entire
body was convulsing. Alternating black spots and starburst of light
exploded behind my close eyes, blotting out portions of Talia’s
face in my mind’s eye. It only made me angrier, and I fought
harder.

Distantly, I was aware of the bedroom door
bursting open.

“
Shit. Henri! Get a medic!”
Strong hands gripped my shoulders and started shaking me. Wait, no,
not shaking me. I was already shaking. The hands, Frederick’s
hands, were holding me down.

“
What do we do?”

Miles,
I thought, recognizing his voice.

“
Break the connection!”
Henri this time. “Brand, get the med kit. We can’t wait for the
medics. We need to knock one or both of them out. Now.”

“
Penny. Penny. Come back
to me.” Brand was sobbing. I wanted to tell him that it was okay,
but I lacked the motor skills. Bile rose in my throat. Frederick
forced me onto my side.

“
Miles! Go!” Henri again,
giving orders like the seasoned leader he was.

I couldn’t hold in the sickness any longer.
Vomit erupted from my mouth. In my head, Penny’s shrill scream was
enough to make my ears feel as though they were bleeding.

“
Where?” I heard Miles
ask.

Where
what
? I wondered, continuing to expel the
coffee and toast I’d consumed earlier.

The prick of the needle barely registered. I
felt my grip on consciousness loosening. My muscles relaxed.

“
I can’t believe that
worked,”
a girl’s voice said inside my
head.