Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (69 page)

So did Cressa. Pain had definitely played a
part, but what caused that intense pain?

“
The Leonard boy. He’s a
Perception Manipulator. We have known this since his arrival, of
course.”

“
So the deprivation
chamber worked successfully in his case,” Sir Tate mused.
“Hopefully it will work on the girl as well.”

Dr. Masterson cleared her throat
uncomfortably.

“
Well, that is not
certain,” she began, sounding almost nervous. “I believe his
abilities were active long before he came to the Institute, which
would explain his superior acting prowess from such a young age.
Natural-born Talents can either exude a certain charisma that draws
others to them, or a sort of preternatural repellant that causes
others to shy away from their power. Obviously, Cadet Leonard falls
in the former category.

“
According to his medical
records, he was involved in a near-fatal hovercraft accident at the
age of ten. The incident probably caused his powers to manifest
fully, though I doubt he was even aware of it. Perception
manipulation isn’t like hurling objects across a room or hearing
the thoughts of others—it’s not something that anyone would notice.
For the Talented, using their abilities is almost instinctual. It
probably never occurred to him that he was making the world fall
him love with him by altering their perception, not simply because
he was a handsome little boy who could cry on demand.”

Kev glanced over his shoulder at Cressa, his
expression heartbreaking.

“
I’m a fraud?” he
whispered. “All those Golden Achievement awards, letters from fans
gushing about how wonderful I am…It’s all a sham?”

While Cressa did feel badly for Kev, she
couldn’t muster too much sympathy. So what if his talents gave him
an advantage in acting?

“
It’s still you,” she said
quietly. “The way you were born. It’s not any different from people
who win over audiences because they won the genetic lottery for
beauty.”

The simple truth did not erase his forlorn
expression.

“
It’s still you that they
love,” Cressa repeated.

“
I have to go the Dame’s
office,” Sir Tate was saying out in the hallway. “We should have
another handful of cadets for you soon. Do you think the ones
receiving additional injections will be ready by the
morning?”

The soft clicking of Dr. Masterson’s heels
indicated that the pair was walking away.

Finally,
Cressa thought. Though she found the onslaught of
information interesting, Dr. Masterson and Sir Tate were standing
between her and freedom. Cressa was ready to leave the entire
Institute in her rearview

Their conversation also confirmed Kev’s
hurried explanation from earlier, erasing all of Cressa’s lingering
doubts over whether she could trust him.

“
They will be ready,” Dr.
Masterson confirmed, her voice growing distant as she traversed the
hallway. “Several of the candidates you and the Dame chose are not
ideal, if you do not mind me saying so. They may not survive the
procedure. Injecting multiple talent signatures at once carries
many intrinsic risks.”

“
Penelope Crane and
Erikson Kelley survived the process,” Sir Tate replied. “And they
were stronger for it.”

There was a whoosh of air,
then a slight creaking of door hinges.
Cressa leaned forward, straining to hear Dr. Masterson’s
reply.

“
Yes, well, they both have
a unique advantage, being natural-born Mimics,” the doctor was
saying. “Which leads me to my next point. If we do not capture one
or both of them soon, as well as Natalia Lyons, we cannot proceed.
I need their blood to continue. Unless the Dame knows of other
Mimics, and a Mind Manipulator of that caliber?”

The slamming of the door cut off whatever
Sir Tate said next.

“
Ready?” Cressa asked,
nudging Kev.

Kev shook his head as if clearing the
thoughts from his mind, looking miserable. Cressa guessed that he
was still stuck on the discovery that his adoring public only loved
him because they’d been manipulated, though unconsciously, into
doing so.

“
Um, yeah,” he said. “The
coast is clear now. Let’s go.”

Kev opened the door a little farther, just
enough to slide through, and reached for Cressa’s hand. Entwining
their fingers, she returned Kev’s squeeze. It was a small gesture,
but one that gave them both comfort.

Their med booties made no noise as they
hurried down the hallway to a set of doors marked Restricted. Kev
paused outside, turning to face Cressa.

“
There is a real chance
that opening these doors will set off an alarm,” he told her
gravely. “If that happens, we need to run as fast as we can to the
end of the corridor inside. The last door on the right, Cloning
Room Six—that’s our destination. The entrance to the tunnels is in
there, through the empty supply closet. You’ll need to use
telekinesis to open it. Once you’re inside the tunnels, go straight
and don’t stop running. If I’m right, the passage dead-ends about a
quarter of a mile down. Again, use telekinesis to open the hidden
doorway. Now that you know what the doors look like, you won’t be
able to miss it.”

Kev shrugged, looking frighteningly
uncertain.

“
That’s sort of where my
plan ends,” he concluded. “I don’t know what’s around the
Institute, so just keep running until you find someone who can help
you.”

“
But you’ll be with me,
right?” Cressa pressed.

“
That’s the idea.” Kev
held her gaze. “But I got you into this mess, and I didn’t give you
a choice. If it comes to it, I want you to keep going without
me.”

Cressa started to shake her head. She wasn’t
strong enough to do it alone. She’d already left too many people
behind. Daphne, Ritchie, Nydia, even Shyla Towers—they were all
still under the Dame’s thumb. Cressa knew there was no going back
for them, but Kev was not a lost cause. If he was caught, she would
fight for him.

“
Promise me, Cressa,” Kev
demanded. “Promise me that you’ll keep running and won’t look
back.”

“
I promise,” Cressa
lied.

Kev smiled sadly. “Good.” He reached for a
small alcove beside the doors.

“
Wait.” Cressa grabbed his
shoulder and pulled his hand back. “That’s a biometric scanner,
right? It pricks your finger and reads your blood to see if you’re
cleared to enter?”

“
Exactly,” Kev
agreed.

“
But you won’t be cleared.
It will definitely setoff an alarm.”

“
Maybe. Maybe not,” Kev
said. “My telekinetic source is not a normal benefactor, it’s
someone here at the Institute. Since I was recently re-injected
with her source DNA, I’m hoping the scanner will identify her blood
and let us through without sending up red flags.”

Kev was leaving a lot up to chance.

Before Cressa could protest, he thrust his
hand inside the alcove, wincing when the needle inside pricked his
finger.

Several agonizing seconds
passed, and Cressa was positive the scanner wasn’t fooled. Then,
the doors swung inward. Relieved, she let out a half-laugh,
half-sigh. It
actually
worked. Kev and Cressa were one step closer to
freedom.

The hallway in the restricted wing was
empty. Unlike the cubicles in the main part of med bay, the glass
was clear along this corridor, and several of the rooms were
occupied. Unable to resist, Cressa slowed as they passed a room
with a lone figure lying inside an incubation chamber. Just like
Gracia’s cloning procedure, there were two images side-by-side on a
holo-screen behind the chamber. As the robotic arms worked on the
boy inside the chamber, one of the faces continuously morphed to
reflect the alterations.

“
Donavon McDonough,”
Cressa muttered, reading the name beneath the unchanging image.
“Who’s that?”

She felt a tug on her hand.

“
We can’t waste any more
time,” Kev insisted.

Something about the name was familiar,
though Cressa couldn’t recall why. In that moment, it certainly
didn’t matter. Turning her back on the poor boy who was becoming
Donavon McDonough, Cressa followed Kev.

Cloning Room Six was deserted, and Kev had
no trouble opening the entranceway to the tunnels with his powers.
Once inside the dark earthen tunnels, Cressa started to believe
they might actually achieve the impossible and escape the
Institute. They were nearly there. A quick quarter-mile run, and
she would see true daylight for the first time in a month. That
prospect alone made Cressa sprint even faster.

By the time they reached the door at the
dead-end of the tunnel, Cressa was positively giddy with
excitement.

“
We did it!” she
exclaimed.

“
Yeah,” Kev agreed, though
he didn’t sound quite as enthusiastic as Cressa felt. “I just wish
I knew where we were. For all I know, we’ll have a twenty-mile hike
on our hands before we find civilization.”

“
True. But after all we
made it through to get here, a hike is nothing.”

Kev laughed softly. “Yeah, I guess.”
Squeezing her hand, he asked, “Ready?”

Cressa nodded. Together, they placed their
palms on the stone doorway and focused on their abilities. The door
slid open easily, and the pair stepped through.

Blinding light struck
Cressa’s retinas, causing her to blink rapidly. Immediately, she
knew something was wrong. They weren’t outside.
The light was artificial, not sunlight.

It took Cressa’s eyes several moments to
adjust. Once they did, she realized they were inside an extremely
fancy bedroom, nicer than any she’d ever seen. The canopy bed was
enormous, with sky-blue silk curtains hanging from gold rods. Five
life-sized portraits hung on the walls, the largest mounted above
the marble mantle of a real, wood-burning fireplace.

“
I’m so freaking stupid,”
Kev lamented, stomping his foot like a petulant child. “I should
have known this led to her private rooms. Why did I just expect it
was an exit?”

“
Because you wanted it to
be one,” Cressa replied stiffly.

She didn’t fault Kev for the error. Still,
all hope of seeing her family, Julie, and daylight ever again
vanished. Yes, there probably was an exit somewhere in the Dame’s
suite. But escaping from her lair seemed highly unlikely.

Especially since camera orbs were affixed to
the corners where the ceiling met the walls. Someone, likely the
Dame herself, was probably watching them at that very moment.

It was over.

“
I’m so sorry, Cressa. I
just assumed…” Kev trailed off.

“
Yes, and we all know what
they say about assumptions,” a voice called from behind them. It
was warm, melodic, and undeniably familiar.

Kev and Cressa spun in unison, their hands
still joined.

A panel opposite the foot of the bed was
open, a beautiful woman framed by the doorway as though she were
just another painting. Except, this woman was flesh and bone.

She was much older than her holographic
portrayal, but no less pretty. Her eyes were the same shade of
blue, her hair the same blonde bob. Even the clothes were the same
sort of simple fashions the Dame favored, though she’d clearly
shaved a good twenty pounds off of herself when creating her
hologram.

“
You’re the Dame,” Cressa
breathed. And despite every nasty thought she’d had about the woman
lately, Cressa was awed by the sheer power radiating off of
her.

This is how Icarus must
have felt,
Cressa thought. The Dame’s
power was so intense that Cressa knew she should look away. But she
was too captivated. In that instant, she would have gladly let the
Dame’s rays burn her alive, if only to touch true greatness before
she died.

Beside her, Kev was having a similar
reaction. His mouth was agape, and his eyes were round as
frisbees.

“
I have been waiting a
long time to meet you in person, Cressa Karmine. And you, Kevin
Leonard,” she said, seeming to really mean it.

The Dame smiled serenely.

“
And because we are sure
to be great friends from this moment forward, please…call me
Gretchen.”

Erik

London, England

Day of the Vote

“
Talia, wake up!” Kenly’s
yells dragged me from sleep not long after I’d entered the dream
world.