Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (64 page)

Erik backed the imposter against the
railing.

“
Who are you?” he
shouted.

“
I’m you.” The imposter
grinned, exposing reddened teeth. “I’ve been inside your head,
Erik. I feel what you feel. I think what you think. I am you.” Erik
began to shake with fury. I wanted to do something to help, but I
didn’t know what. Calming vibes didn’t seem appropriate for the
situation. “That jolt of pure elation you feel when you touch her.”
He nodded in my direction. “I feel it too. I understand why you
love her. She’s quite special in—”

The words hung in the air, the sentenced
forever destined to remain unfinished. Blood trickled from both of
the imposter’s ears, dripping from his lobes like a pair of long
ruby earrings. That stupid smirk froze on his face, even as he sank
boneless to the ground.

I watched, horrorstruck. Erik had killed
him. Because of me. It wasn’t the first life he’d taken. Judging by
the emotions wafting off of him, it was the most devastating. Erik
backed away from his doppelgänger, stumbling over the table and
knocking the glass champagne buckets to the ground. A rage and
shock stew boiled inside his stomach.

The lounge had fallen silent. Techno music
pounded through speakers in the club below, but I barely heard it.
The frivolity and imbibing taking place didn’t seem real in that
moment. How could it be? How could people be drinking and laughing
and kissing in the midst of this?

“
Erik?” I called
tentatively.

Slowly, he turned to face me. Red dots
peppered his cheeks like freckles. Dying embers of rage were still
visible in his eyes. But it was the shocked expression that scared
me most.

“
Tals?” he asked, as though
unsure.

“
It’s me,” I said, smiling
sadly.

Vaulting the three sofas between us like a
champion hurdler, Erik was standing in front of me an instant
later. He placed both hands on my cheeks and titled my head back to
look at me head on. Figuring he’d kiss me, I closed my eyes and
waited for his lips to find mine. Instead, Erik traced the contours
of my face with his fingertips, murmuring my name over and over
again. Then, finally the moment I’d been dreaming about for a month
came true. His lips were soft yet demanding, the kiss sweet by
intense. I lost myself in Erik, the real Erik. My Erik.

“
Hey, guys? Hate to break
up this reunion and all, but we need to get these two to a doctor.”
It was Penny’s voice.

Reluctantly, I broke the kiss. Erik wrapped
me in his arms, not wanting to break physical contact. I turned
towards Penny and nearly fainted. Bryn was lying on the ground,
James cradling her head in his lap. Kenly held one of Bryn’s hands
in hers, openly weeping. Beside them, Riley was once again human.
He was naked and bloody, his chest rising and falling too quickly.
The two attackers were bound, gagged, and leaned against the wall
by the door. Neither was moving, but I didn’t much care whether
they were alive.

“
We can’t, Penny,” Erik
growled, his chest rumbling from the deep vibrations.

At first, I didn’t understand. Bryn and
Riley needed medical attention. What did Erik mean that we
couldn’t? Couldn’t what? Help them? Then, I read the thought from
Penny’s mind.

“
Do it, Penny. Make the
call,” I said calmly.

“
No,” Erik snapped. “You
don’t understand.”

But I did. I knew that once UNITED arrived I
would be taken into custody. Sure, I could run. I could be long
gone before the medics reached the doors to the club, but my
disappearance would have serious repercussions for Penny, Erik, and
the others. That wasn’t an option. Too many people had already
suffered because of decisions that I’d made.

“
Now, Penny,” I reiterated.
My best friend hesitated. “
Penny
,” I snapped harshly, hoping to
spur her into action.

Bryn was hurt badly, and Penny was wasting
precious moments trying to decide how best to handle the situation.
The bullet had lodged near Bryn’s spinal cord, and she was bleeding
out quickly. She didn’t have much time.

Literally taking the choice out of her
hands, I summoned Penny’s communicator and called Victoria
myself.

The Privileged

Besançon, France

The Night Before the Vote

Alarm bells shrieked inside Cressa and
Nydia’s bedroom, pulling them both from sleep. Tousle-haired and
blurry eyed, the two girls trudged to the common room. There, they
were met by the other 2P girls and boys.

Cressa had no idea what was going on.

Spotting Ritchie and Daphne huddled together
in one corner, Cressa grabbed Nydia’s arm and hurried over to join
them. The roommates had spent that afternoon working on their
abilities together, and were thankfully back on friendly terms.
Seeing Cressa so distraught after the allegiance ceremony had
effected Nydia, and she no longer seemed to harbor resentment over
having to lie to their superiors.

“
What’s up?” Cressa yelled
to be heard over the alarms.

She was jostled from behind, and then heard
a boy’s voice in her ear.

“
The beginning of the
end,” it muttered.

Cressa glanced over her shoulder and found
herself nose-to-nose with Kev Leon. The vacant expression was gone
from his eyes, replaced by keen awareness and acute
determination.

Madame Brink had again separated the boys
and girls for their lessons after the allegiance ceremony, so
Cressa was still waiting to have her promised talk with Kev.

“
Not a clue,” Ritchie
said, shooting Cressa an annoyed look. She beamed at Kev. “How are
you? Things have been so crazy since you arrived, we’ve barely had
a chance to catch up.”

Offering Ritchie a weak smile, Kev mumbled
something unintelligible, his bottom lip trembling.

“
I don’t know either,”
Daphne added. “Leslie Abbot came around to say we’re all supposed
to wait here for further instruction. She’s off making sure
everyone gets out of his or her rooms. You know, just in case they
didn’t hear the racket.”

“
It’s starting,” Kev
whispered in Cressa’s ear. “Time to make a choice.”

What is starting? What
choice?
Naturally, she didn’t have a
chance to ask him.

Just then, Leslie Abbot and Sir Tate
appeared in the common room with a group of cadets that Cressa
thought were 3Ps and 4Ps. The alarms ceased abruptly.

“
Everyone, sit,” Leslie
called from beneath the archway.

Cressa, Daphne, and Ritchie moved to the
back of the room, leaning against the wall. Kev trailed behind
them, then propped himself beside Cressa. As the other cadets found
places to sit on the floor, Leslie and Sir Tate took up positions
in the front of the room.

“
I am sure you are all
wondering what is so important that we dragged you out of bed,”
Leslie began in her monotone. “It was not for nothing, I assure
you.” She paused for dramatic effect. “The Dame will address the
entire Institute in just a few minutes. Until then, you are all to
remain quiet. Take these moments to reflect on what you have
learned in your studies. Very soon, you will be called on to
implement those skills in real life.”

The moment Leslie finished speaking, the
room erupted in chatter. Excited cadets posited theories about what
the Dame was about to tell them. Were they being activated early?
Why? Was this good news?

“
I hear we’re going to
deployed by morning,” Daphne said. “Supposedly the Dame has decided
to move up the timetable.”

“
The timetable for what?”
Cressa asked, perplexed.

Daphne gave her a look that made Cressa feel
about two inches tall. Ritchie snickered, as though Cressa was the
only one who didn’t understand the punch line of a joke. Or maybe
she was the punch line?

“
The takeover,” Kev
whispered ominously.

“
The takeover,” Daphne
echoed quietly. “Gracia told me that the Dame originally planned to
wait until after the grace period before activating us. But with
the influx of new sources, it seems she’s changed her
mind.”

“
Where is Gracia, anyway?”
Nydia asked, looking around the room as if the haughty 7P might be
hiding beneath a desk.

“
The rumor is that she was
activated right after her clone procedure. Dina says Gracia has
been sent to trade places with Natalia Lyons. Who knows if that’s
true, though? She’s a worse gossip than the twins.” Ritchie glanced
over to where Shyla Towers was sitting with her knees pressing
against her chest, her chin tucked between them. “Though, I guess
not anymore. Should I ask her to join us? I feel sort of bad for
Shyla.”

“
Yeah, we should,” Cressa
replied. “I definitely feel bad for her.”

“
Good evening, my
children.” The Dame’s voice was syrupy sweet when it boomed
throughout the common room.

“
Too late,” Ritchie
mouthed, looking guiltily towards Shyla again.

The Dame’s holographic image popped into
being at the front of the room. As she began pacing back and forth,
her incorporeal form glided through Leslie and Sir Tate, who
scurried to move out of the way.

Wearing a wrap dress the color of ripe
cranberries and four-inch heels in the exact same shade, the Dame
radiated both power and friendliness. Her blond hair was down, the
ends of her sleek bob bouncing with each step she took. When she
stopped pacing, the Dame clasped her hands behind her back and
grinned at her pupils.

“
Tonight, my children, we
will witness history in the making. As I speak to you, the Joint
Nations delegates are casting their votes on whether to renew the
Coexistence Treaty. At midnight, their decision will be released to
the public. I possess a great many abilities, one of which allows
me the incredible gift of foresight. I alone know the outcome of
this momentous vote.”

This cued more murmuring from the crowd. It
was the first time the Dame had ever even alluded to her abilities,
let alone enumerated one. The gift of foresight, Cressa knew, meant
that the Dame could see into the future. The ability was extremely
rare, and wasn’t one given to cadets during the phases. In fact,
very few of the Privileged would ever have it.

A thought occurred to
Cressa in that moment: it was technically impossible for the Dame
to know the outcome with absolute certainty. The future was always
changing, which was what made foresight more of a parlor trick than
a science. Yes, the gifted individual could see what was going to
happen if every person in the world continued on his or her current
course. But even the smallest deviation could, and
would,
change the
outcome of a situation halfway around the globe. It was too
imprecise a gift to rely upon.

“
The heavens have once
again smiled upon us,” the Dame continued, grinning even more
broadly. She tapped her temple with one scarlet painted nail. “Once
the treaty is abolished, the Talented will be cast into exile. But
I am not an unforgiving ruler, not at all. I am gracious and
generous, and I will give each of the imposters the same
opportunity that I have given each of you—the chance to become
Privileged. Most will join us. This, too, I have seen.”

There were collective “oohs” and “ahhs” from
the cadets. They were enraptured with the Dame’s speech. She was a
captivating speaker, and the type of her person that others wanted
to follow. It was also why, despite the many atrocities she’d
proudly committed, so many cadets still believed the Dame deserved
their loyalty.

When Cressa glanced over at her friends,
even Daphne and Ritchie, who’d seen more of the Dame’s ugliness
than most, were fixated on the woman. Only Kev seemed to share
Cressa’s reservations.

He leaned over until his lips brushed her
ear.

“
She’s full of shit,” he
said, sounding angry.
Super
angry.

“
Yes, yes, I am sure that
you all find this news as uplifting as I did,” the Dame said
indulgently. Her expression grew serious, effectively putting a
halt to the mutterings around Cressa. “Unfortunately, not all of
those with abilities will choose to join our esteemed ranks. A
small contingent of the unworthy will even oppose our
plan.”

This provoked boos and hisses from Cressa’s
classmates.

“
I find this sad, as well.
Even sadder still, those unworthy individuals will have to be dealt
with before we can stage our uprising. That is why I have decided
to activate all of you tonight. By sunrise, each and every one of
you will be Privileged.”