Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (28 page)

“
Status?” Catherine Canary
asked in my ear.

I plastered on a fake smile and
attempted to reply without moving my lips.

“
Bar by the
entrance.”

“
Three back in the door
line,” came Henri’s response.

Frederick ordered glasses of champagne
that came with crushed strawberries in the bottom and a ring of
pink sugar around the rim.

“
We’re inside the—” Brand
started to say.

“
Holy shit! This is totally
crazy, and not in a good way,” Penny interjected.

“—
auction arena,” Brand
finished.

Frederick handed the bartender more
than enough globes—the Global Currency that was used in England—as
a generous tip. The man was striking, with skin the color of a
latte and pale gray eyes with just the barest hint of violet, but
it was the power wafting off of him like expensive cologne that
kept my gaze trained on his beautiful face. He winked at me, then
gave a flick of his wrist. Frederick’s money flew into an oversized
wine glass to sit atop a mountain of other bills. Those closest to
the bar clapped as if telekinesis was something that existed simply
to amuse them.

“
We’re on the move,”
Frederick murmured to Brand. “Rendezvous inside in ten.”

Looping his arm around my waist, he
guided me towards the archway we’d seen Penny and Brand pass
through. With a pasted-on smile that barely moved when he spoke,
Frederick whispered to me, “Smile, Talia. This is fun, remember?
The greatest party you could possibly be invited to.”

My eyes wide, like I was in a state of
perpetual shock and awe, I grinned like an idiot. All the while, I
gripped Frederick’s fingers hard enough to bruise. He laughed,
throwing his head back as if I’d said something
hilarious.

“
Reya, you minx,” Frederick
hooted.

It took me a minute to remember who
the hell Reya was. Right, I was Reya. A shameless strumpet who was
looking to further her acting career by dating a man with enough
money to buy a production studio and produce all her films
himself.

Wow, I really needed to get my head in
the game.

Being so short, even in four-inch
heels, seeing over the heads of those in front of me proved
impossible. And after Penny’s comment, I desperately wanted a look
inside the main arena of the auction house.

“
Shit,” Penny swore in the
comm unit again.

“
What’s wrong?” too many
voices to count chorused in response.

But Penny’s reply was for my ears
alone and the comm unit stayed quiet.

“
Don’t freak out, Tal.
Please do not freak out. I see her. I found Kenly. She’s with two
guards. Both female. One’s real little, like you. The other is a
beast. Like, wow, she’s huge, for real.”

The rest of the information floated
past me without comprehension, as I was stuck on those three words.
Kenly? Penny found Kenly?

“
Is she okay? Is she
hurt?”
I sent back, mental voice high and
squeaky with a mix of frantic hope.

“
I can’t tell. I mean,
she’s walking on her own. But—seriously, Tal, please do not lose
your shit, you will not be able to help her if you go nuts…she’s in
chains. I don’t see any blood or bruises, if that’s what you mean
by ‘okay’. Beyond that, I don’t know. What do you want me to
do?”

“
Tal? What’s happening?”
Frederick’s mouth was right next to my ear, so he could speak
without being overheard.

“
Update, Crane,” Catherine
insisted.

“
We’ve spotted Kenly
Baker,” Brand answered for Penny. “Everyone just hold your
positions.”

Though I should have been the one
giving the orders, my desire to reach Kenly trumped all else. For
once, I was glad Brand was overstepping his role.

The crowd around us surged forward as
one, carrying Frederick and me through the archway and into the
arena. My eyes darted around the cavernous space, searching in vain
for Kenly. But the crowd was a thick forest of lavishly attired
trees, all sporting different leaves but somehow looking the
same.

“
Tal? I need some direction
here. Do you want me to engage?”
Penny
urged.

I had orders, strict orders, from
Victoria to buy the Created as each came up for auction. Grabbing
Kenly now would cause a scene. But letting her sit in captivity a
second longer wasn’t something I wanted to do. And she was so
close.

In my ear, Brand was communicating the
situation to the others who had yet to enter the arena.

“
Talia,” Brand snapped
harshly, “make the call.”

Swallowing over my heart, which had
become inexplicably lodged in my throat, I compromised with myself.
If Penny could somehow get Kenly away from her jailers without
causing a scene and blowing her cover, then we’d be all
good.

“
Try to buy her,” I said,
using the comm unit so that the entire team heard the plan. By the
grace of God, my voice didn’t crack as I spoke the despicable
words. “At least we can spare her the indecency of being auctioned
off. Do you think you can do that?”

“
Oh yeah, I think I
can.”

The fake smile on Penny’s face was
evident in her words.

Being that we were best friends, it
was easy to forget how truly different Penny and I were. I was all
about the instant gratification. She excelled at the long game. I
operated under a brute-force-is-best philosophy, while Penny danced
the graceful steps of subtlety. While both skill sets had their
uses, I was out of my element on an undercover assignment. I
couldn’t just run around knocking people down and shooting them
with their own weapons when I was supposed to be one of them.
Thankfully, I had Penny to count on. After all, she had deceived
the entirety of TOXIC for years before her cover was blown. Penny
was the ultimate undercover agent.

“
Are you sure this is a
good idea?” Frederick asked, holding his champagne glass in front
of his mouth to muffle his words. He took a small sip and then
fake-grinned for the passersby.

I was busy scanning the room for Penny
and her yellow dress, and my impatience was creeping up again.
Really, how hard was it find a girl dressed like a lemon with
magenta hair?

“
No,” I admitted. “But it’s
worth a….”

My voice trailed off as I stopped
perusing the crowd and finally took a good look at the inside of
the arena.

Reminiscent of a sport’s stadium or an
amphitheater, the interior was round with a stained-glass domed
ceiling. A stage had been erected in the front, directly across
from the archway we entered through. Thick gold ropes cordoned off
an area just before the stage, where approximately fifty velvet
chairs were setup for VIPs. Suit-clad guards with handheld scanners
patrolled the elite section, double-checking that the people
occupying the chairs had indeed paid for the privilege.

In one ear, I heard Penny talking in
an exaggerated drunk-girl voice that was eerily similar to her
actual drunk voice. A moment ago, I would have hung on every word
of that conversation, desperate to learn how Kenly was doing. Now?
It was like I’d just been enveloped in a soundproof bubble, all
audio muted by the roaring of blood in my hypersensitive
ears.

The upper two-thirds of the arena were
lined with glass windows. At first glance, I’d assumed they were
box seats like at a sporting event. Reserved for obscenely wealthy
patrons who wanted to enjoy the auction in comfort and away from
the commoners. Those of us with only a measly ten million or so
globes in the bank. But the lights in one of those boxes turned on.
For maybe the first time in my life, I actually felt like I was
going to faint. Like, seriously fall down on the ground,
unconscious.

Men, women, girls, and boys, dressed
to the nines, complete with hair and makeup, were chained to raised
platforms in each glass box.

Needing something to dull the pain in
my heart and quiet the fury in my veins, I gulped the champagne in
my hand like it was water. Reality was crashing down on me like an
anvil. This was actually happening. It was real life. I was
standing in an auction house where, in the very near future,
Talents were going to be sold. To buyers. For money. Until that
instant, I hadn’t fully appreciated the reality of the
situation.

Like a particularly gory hover wreck,
I was unable to look away, yet horrified by what I was seeing.
Suddenly, my view was blocked by the neatly tied bowtie around
Frederick’s neck. His hands were resting on my shoulders, the
champagne glass in his right hand cold against my bare
skin.

“
Steady, Talia,” he
whispered.

“
I like this one,” Penny’s
voice slurred in my ear. “She’s cute as a button.” My best friend
hiccupped for effect. “What can she do? How much does she
cost?”

I met Frederick’s concerned
gaze.

“
Pinch me,” I
demanded.

He quirked a thin eyebrow.

“
This is a nightmare,
right?”

Frederick relaxed, seemingly convinced
that he wasn’t about to have a blubbering pile of Mind Manipulator
on his hands. Rattled as I was on the inside, my exterior was
suddenly rock solid. It had to be. Because this wasn’t about me. I
wasn’t the one with her head on dignity’s chopping block. The one
scared shitless that freedom was about to become a dirty word. The
one whose fate and worth were both being discussed by a ridiculous
drunk girl.

Kenly. Focus on Kenly, I coached
myself.

“
Hey, guys? I think we have
a really big problem,” Henri said sharply, his announcement
breaking into the Penny Show like a news alert bulletin. “I think I
just saw a ghost.”

THE WHOLE REMOTE
viewing thing was super awkward. Somehow, it felt
even more intrusive than reading thoughts and manipulating
emotions. Normally I had to be relaxed, in a calm, tranquil
environment, like when I’d viewed Kenly the day before. But
slipping into Talia’s head, viewing my girlfriend was loads easier
than with her protégé. Maybe it was the bond we’d created way back
when, by spending so much time in each other’s heads. Or Talia’s
insanely intense mood swings. Whatever the case, sitting in the
copilot chair of a hover cockpit, I was yanked into Talia’s world
without warning.

Like the voyeur she’d accused me of
being the night before, I watched my girlfriend play kissy-face
with Henri’s boyfriend. Weird was an understatement. Frederick was
a natural, probably from his years as a conductor on the
Underground, where he ferreted the Talented outside of TOXIC’s
rule, across the border into Coalition territory. Had I not known
better, I would have believed the adoring gaze he bestowed upon
Talia was genuine.

Hell, I did know better and still my
blood began to boil when he touched her. Even reminding myself that
it was all an act did little to quell the jealousy. She was mine to
love. No one, not even a gay friend of mine, touched her and got to
keep his hand.

Talia, on the other hand, was a
horrible actress. She shied away from Frederick’s touch, making it
obvious to any closely watching eyes that she was uncomfortable
with her companion. Each time she smiled, the gesture looked faker
than the one before it. Yeah, undercover work was not my
girlfriend’s forte.

Penny’s voice inside
Talia’s head—super weird—made both of us, Talia and me,
gasp.
Kenly. Penny found Kenly,
I thought.

At which point I jumped from Talia’s
head to her best friend’s for a better look.

Kenly Baker was shackled like the
prisoner that she was. But that wasn’t the most messed up
part—Kenly looked like some sort of living doll. Her light brown
hair was twisted and wound around her head in a complicated pattern
of interlocking braids. Heavy coats of mascara weighed down her
long lashes to the point it was an impressive feat that she was
able to hold the lids open. She wore a silky red dress that clung
to her thin body. Except, she didn’t look hot like Talia did when
she put on fancy clothes. Kenly just looked…wrong.