Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (65 page)

“
Told you!” declared a
girl sitting in front of Cressa, giving the boy beside her a little
punch on the arm.

She wasn’t the only cadet excited by the
prospect of activation. It seemed she was among the majority, in
fact. Of those around Cressa, only Kev Leon wasn’t gushing about
how great the Dame was or how lucky he felt to be among the
Privileged. Daphne, Ritchie, and even Nydia all wore smiles. Her
friends may not have agreed with the Dame’s methods and practices,
but they weren’t shying away from the chance to be part of her
master plan.

“
Now, please look to your
elders, the 8Ps and instructors among you, for directions on how to
proceed,” the Dame concluded. “I look forward to meeting each of
you, my worthy children, during your individual allegiance
ceremonies. Until then, I wish you all well.”

The Dame’s visage winked out of existence,
and bedlam erupted in the common room. People began firing
questions at Leslie and Sir Tate, all wanting to know what happened
next.

Cressa found herself oddly
uncurious. Honestly, she didn’t want to find out how to proceed.
She wanted to know how to use her abilities—hell, she wanted
to
get
all of her
abilities—before embarking on some mission. The Institute was
supposed to train cadets on how to use their gifts before sending
them out into the world.

Thus far, Cressa had yet to turn more than
her finger invisible during lessons. She wasn’t ready to—to what?
Cressa didn’t even know what it meant to be activated. She felt so
foolish.

Yes, she’d always known that the Dame
planned to unite the world’s governments under her rule. And yes,
Cressa knew that not all of those governments would capitulate
easily. But how the Dame intended to conquer the globe was still a
mystery, let alone what role Cressa was supposed to play in that
crusade.

“
If you want to leave,
it’s now or never,” Kev muttered in her ear.

Cressa whipped her head around to face
him.

He was so close, their
lips nearly brushed. Had she not been so scared of what lie ahead,
Cressa would have blushed and likely turned into a pile of
slobbering fangirl; she’d basically kissed Kev
Leon—
freaking
Kev
Leon. But even after Kev took her hands in his, she couldn’t get
excited about his closeness. There were too many thoughts running
through her mind.

“
What makes you think I
want to leave?” Cressa asked shakily. “I want to become Privileged.
That is what we all want, isn’t it?”

Kev studied Cressa from beneath long
lashes.

“
Not all of us. Not you,
for instance,” Kev replied seriously. “And not me either. I didn’t
sign up for this. I never wanted to be a member of some stupid
cult.”

“
Becoming Privileged is
the only way out,” Cressa whispered. “You must realize that. You’ve
seen the frog pond, where they keep all of the dismissed cadets,
and you saw what happened to Shyla and Hartley and the Jacobs. No
one leaves the Institute. Not until they become
Privileged.”

She knew it was a gamble, telling Kev all of
this when she still wasn’t sure if she could trust him. But Cressa
was terrified. And if Kev wasn’t a spy planted by the Dame, then he
needed to understand the option to leave wasn’t on the table.

“
There is another way,”
Kev said. “If you’re willing to try.”

Cautiously, Cressa began to hope. Did Kev
truly know another way out of the Institute? Had he come across a
secret exit in all of his wanderings?

“
Why haven’t you tried
before now?” Cressa asked suspiciously. “If you hate it here so
much, why haven’t you escaped?”

“
I’ve been trying to get
myself thrown out of this place, but we’re out of time for
that.”

“
Why are you even here?”
Cressa finally asked the question she’d been wanting to. “Why did
you come here, if you never believed in any of this?”

Kev gave her a heartbreakingly sad smile. “I
didn’t choose this. I went to read lines for a new director in
town, but the audition was really just a sham—a setup so these
nutters could kidnap me.”

Cressa stared wide-eyed for a long moment.
Was this a trick? Could Kev possibly be telling the truth?

“
I’m not the only one,
either,” Kev quickly continued when he saw her doubt. “They have
been targeting celebrities and public figures for a while. The Dame
needs influential people on her side. Which is probably why,
despite all of my shenanigans, I’m still here. But desperate times
call for desperate measures, and I’m about to up my
game.”

No one was paying attention to Cressa and
Kev, not even Ritchie or Daphne. They were all too busy discussing
becoming Privileged.

“
What other celebrities?
You’re the only one I’ve seen,” Cressa challenged. It wasn’t the
most pressing issue, but Cressa was still unsure if Kev’s was
lying. She figured the longer she kept him talking, the more likely
it was that he’d screw up and expose himself as a spy.

“
Seriously?” The stunned
expression on Kev’s face was genuine. “Come on, don’t you recognize
Lessie?”

Kev’s eyes darted to the front of room, to
where Leslie Abbot was deep in conversation with Sir Tate. Cressa
followed his gaze.

“
Lessie Abbot?” he
pressed. “Leslie, she calls herself now. She was the little girl,
Little Racine, in
Dark as Night, Bad as
Sin
. She won a Golden Achievement for best
actress. Any of this ringing a bell?” Kev was becoming more
insistent with each word that left his mouth.

The vid,
Dark as Night, Bad as Sin
, had come out when Cressa was very small. She’d seen it
once; her father had it in their home collection. Cressa tried to
recall the plot and the character called Little Racine. She
couldn’t. All Cressa remembered was Kev—he’d played the lead
character as a child, in flashbacks.

“
You’re lying,” Cressa
said uncertainly.

“
Lessie starred in several
other flicks before disappearing from the vid scene. Her parents
cited exhaustion, claiming she needed time away from the limelight.
Clearly, that was a bunch of cow pies. I’d bet my last paycheck
that she was brought here when she left the business. Same with
your girl Nydia.”

“
Wait, what?” Cressa
asked, forgetting all about Leslie. “I know for a fact my roommate
isn’t some kidnapped celebrity.”

“
Maybe you know her better
as Dani Daring?”

Cold clammy fingers crawled up Cressa’s
spine. She’d loved Dani Daring as a child. It was an hour-long show
that came on every Saturday morning. Dani Daring was just a regular
little girl, until her aunt gave her ring that made her brave. As
soon as she’d slip the rose gold band around her finger, Dani would
go on adventures and save the world by the end of each episode. The
show had ended years ago, but Cressa remembered all of Dani’s
escapades as though she’d watched them recently.

Cressa’s gaze found Nydia. Her roommate wore
a blank expression that contrasted sharply with those seated around
her. Looking closely, Cressa saw a slight physical resemblance
between the high-spirited little girl she remembered and the quiet
teenager before her.

“
You’re not just messing
with me?” she asked Kev quietly.

“
No, of course not,” he
insisted. “I promise, this is all true.”

“
How many others?” Cressa
wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“
I don’t know the total
numbers, but I’ve seen at least ten so far. Not all of them are vid
stars, though. I’ve spotted a couple singers, and that swimmer that
was all the rage at the last Global Games. Oh, and a
princess.”

A princess?
Cressa wondered. She eyed Kev, feeling certain he
was lying. There weren’t even that many royal families left in the
world. And surely a princess’s absence would have been
noticed.

“
Her name is like Kya or
Kalie or something,” Kev rushed on, seeing her disbelief. “She’s
from an island nation, I think. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. My
point is, the Dame is building an army of influential people with
abilities, all of whom she plans to control through mind
manipulation. Not just us, from the public eye. You’re part of it,
too. Becoming Privileged is no gift. It just means you’re
connected, either by birth or business. And once we ‘ascend to
greatness,’” Kev rolled his eyes as he used air quotes, “we’ll just
be a group of brainless drones with a crazy lady at the
controls.”

“
I’m no one special,”
Cressa responded.

Kev’s eyebrows winged upwards. “Really? No
one special? Cressa Karmine, the only child of billionaire
businessman Nyles Karmine, isn’t special? You’re the heir to one of
the greatest political dynasties since the Kennedys. And you’re
clearly a latent, same as me—with a little training, you’d be more
powerful than any of these jokers.”

He stared intently into her eyes, then shook
his head and laughed. “You really don’t know how valuable you truly
are.” It wasn’t a question.

More confused than ever, Cressa couldn’t
decide which question to ask first. What the hell was a latent? How
did Kev know so much about her and her lineage? Was the Dame really
planning on taking over their bodies?

“
I need everyone’s
attention,” Leslie Abbot announced, before Cressa could pose a
single question to Kev.

The room quieted again, every ear eager to
hear whatever Leslie had to say.

“
The 1Ps are being brought
up to speed now. As soon as they are finished, I will take the 2Ps
to the ascension floor. The 3Ps will follow shortly thereafter, and
so on. Due to time constraints, only a select few will receive
additional abilities. The rest of you will be activated with only
the abilities you currently possess. In time, that will be
rectified, and you will all receive the powers you are owed as
Privileged. Is this all very clear?”

Every voice in the room replied in unison,
including Cressa and Kev. Cressa was too scared not to respond, and
Kev was back to playacting.

“
Very good. Now, 2Ps, line
up in alphabetical order. Then, as soon as the Dame sends word, we
will depart for the ascension floor.”

Kev and Cressa didn’t speak again until they
were in line. Because their last names were only one letter apart,
she stood directly in front of him.

“
It’s now or never,
Cressa,” Kev repeated, this time with more urgency.

Becoming Privileged had been her dream for
so long. Even before she knew it was an option, really. Many of her
friends at boarding school counted themselves lucky to be born
without talents. Not Cressa. She’d always wanted powers, to be
special, unique.

The hopes and desires of a
stupid child,
Cressa thought
bitterly.

There were a lot of things Cressa still
didn’t understand, but she knew what the Dame was doing at the
Institute was wrong. If the Dame ran the world the same way she ran
her school, Cressa wanted no part of Privileged society. She wanted
to be like Cadence Choi, like Natalia Lyons; willing to fight for
what was right, no matter the cost. That would only be possible if
Cressa were on the outside, if she were free.

“
What do you need me to
do?” she asked.

“
I just need you to trust
me,” Kev whispered. “Eyes front.”

Leslie Abbot was walking up the line of 2Ps,
inspecting each one as she passed. She paused for only a moment by
Cressa, looking her up and down before nodding in approval. When
she got to Kev, she stopped. Cressa angled herself so she could
just see him out of the corner of her eye. He immediately began
shaking again. For good measure, he sniffled several times and even
produced real tears.

His theatrics had no effect on Leslie. If
anything, the older girl looked appalled by Kev’s behavior.

“
I don’t want to do it.
Don’t make me do it.” Kev grabbed Leslie’s arm and stared down at
her through wide, frightened eyes. “The voices—the voices
are
so
loud. Why
me? Why do they want
me
, Lessie?”

Disgusted, Leslie tried to shake free from
Kev’s vice-like grip. But he was like a starving python that’d
finally located his first meal in months.

“
Sir Tate?” Leslie called.
The older guy strolled over to join Leslie. “I believe we have one
for Dr. Wythe.” She indicated Kev with a nod.

“
Of course. I will escort
him myself.” Sir Tate tugged on Kev’s arm, both to pull him out of
line and free Leslie’s purpling hand. This time, Kev didn’t resist.
He released Leslie and transferred his focus to Sir
Tate.

Sir Tate started to walk, attempting to drag
the vid star along with him. Feet firmly planted, Kev refused to
move. Sir Tate gave one hard yank on his arm, and Kev pulled free
from him.

Hands covering his ears, Kev sank to his
knees and began rocking back and forth.

“
No, no, no!” he wailed
piteously. “I’m special! I was chosen! It’s time to ascend. The
voices don’t want me to, but I can’t let them win.”

His performance was flawless, garnering the
attention of every eye in the room.

“
Yes, he is definitely a
candidate for Dr. Wythe,” Leslie said dryly.

Kev suddenly grabbed Cressa’s leg, locking
his arms around her thigh in a steel embrace. Surprised, Cressa
yelped. Then, she started to convulse. Every part of her body, from
her eyelids to her pinky toes, was instantly wracked with spasms.
The pain was horrific, and Cressa let loose a bloodcurdling scream.
Still twitching violently, she collapsed on top of Kev.