Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (12 page)

“
What did Victoria want?”
Janelle asked around a mouthful of kelp-bacon.

Livestock was rare on the island, and
therefore carefully portioned. As a result, most of the “meat”
wasn’t actually from an animal, but instead kelp-based and flavored
to taste like the real deal. It was not something any of us
land-dwellers—the Edeners nickname for anyone not born on the
islands—had gotten used to.

I grabbed a piece of the greenish pork
substitute from Penny’s plate across the table.

“
I’m not even sure where to
begin,” I said in answer to Janelle, and then bit into the
bacon.

Yeah, my trip to London suddenly had a
very big upside—real food.

Between the three of us, we caught the
group up on the latest developments. Their reactions to the news of
the Poachers was what I’d anticipated—horror, anger, and outrage. I
waited until the discussion had died before pressing
forward.

“
She said I get to pick
five agents, so…” I trailed off, looking around the table at my
friends and Brand. “I don’t know if Brand counts, but he generally
doesn’t,” I shot Brand a smirk, “so I’m not going to include him.
How about it? Do you guys all want to come with me?”

“
Definitely,” Frederik
agreed without hesitation.

“
I’m there,” Henri said
next.

“
Of course,” Penny chimed
in.

My best friend had been the most
visibly bothered by news of the Poachers. Yes, everyone at the
table was disgusted. Everyone was shocked and appalled that there
was actually an organization trafficking Talents. But Penny was
trembling and had gone white as a sheet. In that moment, I was glad
that Brand was there to place a comforting hand atop hers. I could
feel the pain radiating from Penny’s mind. She felt a deep empathy
for the Poachers’ victims. Aside from her and Erik, the rest of us
couldn’t truly appreciate what they must be going through. Feeling
helpless, I focused on planning our take down.

Janelle and Cadence also said they
wanted to go on to London. Relief flooded me, knowing they were all
onboard. Working with Victoria’s seasoned lackeys was always a
little awkward.

Most of the veteran UNITED agents
resented taking orders from anyone who was new to the organization.
But it felt like they took extra offense when I was in any position
of authority. Some because of my age. Others because of my seeming
inexperience. And many didn’t trust me simply because I was
Created. They worried that I would go rogue on a mission and start
a killing spree.

When one idiot voiced the concern
aloud in a mission briefing, Victoria’s assurance hadn’t exactly
eased the concerns. She’d actually declared that being created had
nothing to do with my short fuse or homicidal tendencies. That it
was simply my nature, with or without the Creation drug. Obviously,
that was super helpful.

Unfortunately, she had a
point.

No one seemed to have an appetite
after learning about the Poachers, and breakfast ended pretty
quickly. Frederick assured Amal that the food was, as always,
excellent, and we were all just too anxious to eat much. When he
turned his big brown eyes and boyish smile on her, the waitress
melted.

Yep, she totally had a crush on
Henri’s boyfriend.

I instructed the team to be at the
hoverpad at 9:50 a.m., then we all split off to go back to our
rooms to pack. Erik and I took the elevator down to our floor with
Penny and Brand. We split up in the hallway, and I entered the door
to our suite with a purpose.

“
So, I started to tell you
this earlier…,” I began as soon as Erik and I were
alone.

“
I like the sound of that,”
Erik teased, taking a step forward.

“
I really want you to come
to London with me,” I said in a rush, working hard to ignore the
glint in Erik’s eye. Despite everything, he was still in a playful
mood and I wanted to take advantage of it.

“
And I want to be wherever
you are, Tals. For instance, if you were in the bedroom,
I—”

“
I’m serious, Erik. If the
Poachers have Kenly, I’m going after them. I’m not waiting for back
up.”

Erik’s jaw stiffened and his
expression turned somber. He pulled me over to the couch and
plopped down, tugging me to sit next to him.

“
I know you
are.”

“
I need you
there.”

“
You don’t
need
anyone,
Tals.”

Wrapping an arm around my waist, Erik
pulled me closer until I was practically in his lap. He kissed the
top of my head.

“
I do. I
need
you,” I argued, my
words carrying a deeper meaning.

“
I know,” he said simply,
his voice soft.

“
Good. You should know
that.”

Even though I had a point, I nuzzled
in closer to him, unable to help myself.

“
I want you to come with
me, Erik.”

“
And I want to. I do. But I
meant what I said about helping Victoria,” he said. “Besides,
you’ll have Henri, Frederick, Penny, and the others.”

I craned my neck to look up at
him.

“
First of all, having them
isn’t the same as having the person I trust most, and you know it.
Secondly, I understand, and agree, that being Victoria’s poster boy
is super important. Just hear me out. Okay?”

Reluctantly, I pulled away from him so
we were looking each other square in the eye.

“
I support whatever you
decide as far as that’s concerned,” I said, pausing to be certain
he understood that I meant it.

Even if you didn’t ask my
opinion,
the hurt-girlfriend within me
added without warning
.
The rogue feeling had slipped out unbidden before I could
lock it behind my mental walls. Erik pursed his lips. He’d heard
it. Before he could say a word, I rushed on with my
campaign.

“
But I also think that the
council and their Created marketing campaign can wait another day
or two, right? It will take Victoria that long to organize whatever
she’s planning. We won’t be in London for very long, I promise.
Just long enough to talk to the tipster, find out what he knows,
and rescue Kenly.”

Erik laughed at my
reasoning.

“
You make it sound so easy,
Tals. We both know it’s not going to be easy at all. These people,
the Poachers—we don’t even have any intel on them yet. A rescue
attempt could take weeks to plan.”

“
Maybe
it will take more than a day or two,” I admitted. “But ever
since Victoria asked you to do this for her, you’ve been thinking
about the terms and conditions of the deal. So what about telling
her you’ll do it,
if
you can go with me to London first?” When he didn’t answer
right away, I added, “Please?” for good measure.

In truth, all I had to do
for Erik to unquestionably agree was put a little something extra
behind my plea, just a tiny bit of manipulation. But I didn’t.
I
wouldn’t
. No
tricks. No games. We were too deep in our relationship for me to
ever do something like that. Besides, I wanted the decision to be
his and his alone. In typical girl fashion, I wanted him
to want to do it.

Erik sighed and averted his gaze. His
refusal stung. Especially since it had nothing to do with
Victoria’s mandate that he not go. That much was
evident.

My infamously quick temper flared. I
jumped off of his lap and rounded to face him, knocking over the
coffee table in the process.

“
Why not?” I demanded,
sounding like a petulant child and not caring in the
least.

Even as I did it, I was fully aware
that I was being both irrational and unfair. Though I knew his
denial wasn’t because of me—I had no doubt that Erik wanted to be
with me—I couldn’t help but feel like it was personal. Regardless
of everything else, I should be reason enough for him to say
yes.

In a blur of motion, Erik was on his
feet. Strong hands closed around my arms and electricity crackled
in the air, causing the lights in the suite to flicker. His anger
was palpable and matched my own. I stood my ground and refused to
back down, even though the fire in Erik’s eyes was threatening to
burn a hole through me. The anger flew from his mind. In that
instant, I realized his reluctance had nothing to do with me and
everything to do with Kenly.

“
She tried to kill you,
Talia! Did you somehow forget that? She pulled a knife on you, and
tried to kill you. Yet you are ready to risk your life for her. You
want to know why not? I want to know
why
?”

Involuntarily, I winced at the venom
in his words.

Erik closed his eyes, visibly
straining to reign in his fury.

“
I’m sorry,” he said in a
low voice. “I know she means a lot to you, which is why I let her
go in D.C. It’s why I didn’t say anything when Victoria brought up
the mission. Why I didn’t try to talk you out of it before. Why I
haven’t said anything at all.”

Erik seemed to deflate then, all the
anger gone. He suddenly looked lost.

“
Seriously, Tals, she tried
to kill you,” he repeated quietly. “I can’t just let that go. I’m
sorry…. I really am. I still hate her for ever putting that image
in my mind. For ever making me think for an instant that I might
lose you. I hate her for ever laying a hand on you.

“
Which is why I shouldn’t
go with you. I’m not objective where you’re concerned. I want to
help you, to be there with you. I want to take down these creeps as
much as you do. But with Kenly in the equation, I’m just not sure
it’s such a good idea. Every time I think about what she almost did
to you…I don’t know, Tals. I just lose it. I don’t know if I can
control that.”

Erik shrugged his shoulders helplessly
and looked down at the floor.

My anger faded in the blink of an eye.
The scene from the Hamilton on that fateful night weeks before
filled my mind. Kenly pulled a knife on me. She’d pressed it into
my skin, was only seconds away from plunging the tip into my chest.
Except, she didn’t.

For a trained soldier, disobeying
orders was hard enough. But it was more than that. It was like
she’d been programmed. Kenly hadn’t been herself. She didn’t
recognize me as her friend, her mentor. In her skewed perspective,
I’d been nothing more than a specified target. Mercifully, in the
end, the spell Mac had put on her failed.

More likely, I realized in that
moment, it was Gretchen. The only Mind Manipulator I’d encountered
whose powers rivaled mine in that area.

Regardless, it didn’t work as
completely as it was supposed to. She made a choice of her own free
will. Kenly didn’t kill me, as she was supposed to, when it would
have been so easy to do. Something within her, something that had
been buried beneath the propaganda, stopped her.

So, I didn’t blame her for what she’d
almost done.

And yet, I could understand why Erik
did. He’d lost so much in his lifetime. I understood why he refused
to see another person he loved be injured or killed because of
TOXIC.

Closing the distance between us, I
wrapped my arms around Erik’s waist and concentrated on pouring
every ounce of love I felt into him. His hands slid around to my
back. Resting my cheek against his chest, I felt the accelerated
beating of Erik’s heart. I squeezed him tighter.

“
I can’t lose you, Tals. I
need you, too. I do. I know we’ve been through a lot of really
dangerous shit. But that is the only time I’ve truly thought you
might die. It was agony.”

“
I know,”
I sent back.
“But she
wasn’t herself, Erik. Please trust me. I know her, and she wasn’t
herself. It’s just like Harris. Someone messed with her
head.”
Choosing my next words carefully, I
added,
“That doesn’t make it okay, and I’m
not saying you shouldn’t be mad at her. But Kenly isn’t the only
Created the Poachers have. None of them deserve to be treated like
merchandise. I know you agree with me on that. And you’re strong.
You are the strongest person I’ve ever known. You can handle it. I
wouldn’t ask you to if I didn’t genuinely believe that you
can.

Tipping my head back to meet his eyes,
I searched his beautiful face for some sign that he was relenting.
The hard edge that had been there just moments before was gone. A
small smile started to lift one corner of his mouth. I stood on my
tiptoes and pressed my lips to his.

“
You are so
manipulative,”
he sent and deepened the
kiss.

From somewhere across the living room,
my communicator chirped with an incoming message.

“
I am not,”
I replied, trying to sound as indignant as
possible via mental communication.
“I
didn’t use a single ounce of my Talents.”

“
I wasn’t talking about
your Talents and you know it.”