Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (38 page)

Amberly started to say something, but
I talked over her.

“
Your attempts to
manipulate this hearing are transparent,
councilwoman
.”

Victoria’s golden eyes narrowed on
me.

“
Natalia,” she warned, her
tone all I needed to understand I’d gone too far.

But I didn’t care. Like Erik had said,
this was ridiculous. Amberly was toying with us, dangling one
enticing carrot after another in front of Erik and me, just waiting
for one of us to bite.

“
If you all actually want
to know why I—yes, me, it was my decision and mine alone—saved
Anya, then I will tell you. Otherwise, Amberly’s little game of cat
and mouse is growing tiresome. And if she wants to see me flip my
shit, I will gladly oblige her. If that is not your purpose,
councilwoman, perhaps we can discuss
today’s
events. Not those in our
respective pasts.”

I sat back in my chair, both mentally
and physical exhausted. The day had been extremely stressful and I
was done. Done with the games and the politics and the
nonsense.

Stunned silence followed my tirade.
The councilmembers appeared uncharacteristically at a loss for
words. They exchanged uneasy glances with one another. Even
Amberly’s smug smile had vanished, as if erased by my
bluntness.

“
Tals, what the hell was
that? Why didn’t you let me speak my mind?”
Erik demanded.

I said nothing. I didn’t regret my
little tantrum, not exactly. But I was starting to think maybe I
should have listened to Erik’s first bit of advice prior to walking
into the hearing. I believe it was something about thinking before
I spoke. Yeah, that probably would have been smart.

After what felt like an eternity,
Victoria gestured towards me.

“
Please, Agent Lyons, do
not stop there. I think we are all very interested in what you have
to say now.”

Her wan smile gave me pause. Did
Victoria really want to hear my reasons for helping Anya? Or was
she asking me to give the council further reason to contain me?
Because, regardless of the council’s judgment on my actions at the
auction, I had just blatantly insulted Amberly.

“
This is your one chance,
Tals. You have everyone’s attention and more than a few look like
they want to hear you out. Tell them about Anya analyzing your
blood. Explain about what happened in D.C.,”
Erik encouraged.
“Make them
understand.”

Make them understand? Easier said than
done. But Victoria was giving me the floor and I wasn’t going to
waste it.

“
As you all know, I was
accidently infected with the Creation drug through a transfusion of
unfiltered blood.” I met each councilmember’s eyes in turn,
searching for some sign that they all did, in fact, know that part
of my story. Most clearly did. The New Zealand delegate cocked her
head questioningly and the Taiwanese representative tapped the
table top, as if trying to locate the information in my personnel
file.

I was on the verge of backtracking, to
explain about Mac injecting his own son with the drug and how that
led to my infection, when Victoria saved me the trouble.

“
Yes, Agent Lyons, we do
have a record of that transfusion,” she said. “No need to rehash
the gory details.”

Intentional or not, Victoria had just
extended me a great kindness. Donavon was obviously a touchy
subject these days, and I had no desire to talk about him or the
atrocities he’d suffered at his father’s hands.

I gave Victoria a small smile of
gratitude and she responded with an almost imperceptible head
nod.

“
I was unaware I’d been
infected,” I continued, absently wondering at what point using the
term “infected” had become okay with me. “For months, I had these
episodes. TOXIC’s medical staff told me they were seizures. They
said the cause of them was the chemical the Coalition used to
sedate me when I was captured during a mission.”

“
Excuse me, what does the
Coalition have to do with any of this?” the New Zealand
councilwoman asked, looking honestly perplexed.

“
It’s all in the file,
Shyla,” Victoria answered quickly. To me, she said, “Continue,
Talia.”

Her use of my first name made me do a
double-take. Victoria was a hard woman to read, and I was unsure
whether her lack of formality was intentional or simply a slip of
the tongue. Worries for another day, I decided. And if this ended
badly, I might have a lot of time ponder the complex inner workings
of Victoria’s mind.

“
The doctors kept telling
me that they couldn’t identify the chemical, which was why they
couldn’t reverse the effects,” I continued. “But my mood swings
were getting out of control.” I paused, uncomfortable with the
admission. It was true. My highs had become atop rocket ships, my
lows in the deepest trenches of a volcano. But I wasn’t sure how
the council would interpret the information. No one commented. So,
I moved ahead. “Erik, um, Agent Kelley, thought maybe we should
have someone else take a look at my blood. Someone who wasn’t so
close to Mac—err, Director McDonough.”

“
You’re doing great,
Tals.”

Erik squeezed my hand, and then began
making small circles on my palm with his thumb.

“
Anya Pritcher worked in
TOXIC’s medical research department. Since she and Err—Agent
Kelley—”

“
Erik is fine, dear,”
Councilman Tanaka interjected. “We all know to whom you are
referring.”

I smiled my thanks.

“
Since Erik and Anya were
still friends, he asked her if she would run some tests for us. She
did. That was how she discovered the cause of my seizures—TOXIC was
giving me a suppressant so that I’d be unable to morph. That’s my
Created Talent, morphing,” I added by way of explanation. “Anya ran
more tests to understand how I’d suddenly developed the ability to
morph. She found the Creation drug in my system. From there, she
was able to put the pieces together and determine what was really
going on.

“
Anya Pritcher is the
reason UNITED found out about TOXIC’s illegal experimentation with
the Creation drug. She took a huge risk by analyzing my blood, one
she didn’t have to take. And she did it because it was the right
thing to do. She helped me when the smart, not to mention easy,
thing would have been not to. For that, I owed her. And,” I
hesitated, suddenly acutely aware that everyone—the entire council,
Viktor, Chaz, Frederick, Erik—was hanging on my every
word.

It was exactly what I’d wanted, to
spin an engaging, harrowing, story that would aid my case. I had an
additional reason to add, one that was likely to garner sympathy
for Anya and drive home the guilt that made me defy orders and save
her. In doing so, I ran the risk of betraying Erik’s trust. He
wasn’t aware that I knew about Mac torturing Anya in the hope her
pain would cause Erik to divulge my whereabouts. Erik refused to
talk about his time in captivity, even going as far as to lie to
protect my feelings. But nightmares didn’t lie. And I’d seen the
images in his head. The images of Anya, begging Erik to hold his
ground, tormented him more than the physical torture he’d
endured.

“
And?” Victoria
prompted.

I bit my lip, indecision caused the
hand entwined with Erik’s to sweat. He smiled at me, his beautiful
turquoise eyes full of love and compassion.

“
And, I think Anya deserves
a medal or something,” I said. “She was the one to blow Mac’s whole
operation wide open.”

“
And Anya Pritcher could be
an asset to UNITED,” Frederick added, speaking up for the first
time in a while. “She obviously has experience with the Creation
drug. She worked in TOXIC’s research department, as Talia said. She
might prove very helpful in developing a cure.”

Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Frederick’s justification was so much more practical than my
long-winded diatribe. And succinct.

“
Thank you, Agent Lyons.
You, too, Agent Kraft. You have both given us a lot to think
about,” Victoria began.

“
This might turn out okay
after all,”
Erik sent.

“
Don’t count your kelp
burgers just yet,”
I sent back.
“We might not be returning to Eden.”

Erik laughed out loud, drawing several
odd looks from the councilmembers.

Instead of deliberating out in the
open, so Erik, Frederick, and I could hear what they were saying,
the council muted their microphones. Judging by their facial
expressions, it was clear that they were split on our punishments.
We knew that Councilwoman Azevedo was pro-harsh penalties, while
Councilman Tanaka was open to reason, so I studied their reactions
closely. Both seemed agitated, which told me nothing.

“
Think this is all they
wanted to talk about?”
I asked
Erik.
“Or should I be worried about the
mess with Kenly? And that Libby girl?”

“
Not sure. Probably a good
thing they are deliberating now, though. If they were going to
charge us with whatever for those two, wouldn’t they wait to rule
on all of them together?”

“
Let’s hope so,”
I said.

“
Agent Kraft,” Victoria
said, dragging me out of the mental conversation with Erik. While
I’d ceased to pay attention, the council had finished their
discussion and were all settled back in their chairs once more. “It
is the judgment of this council that you acted on the orders of a
superior. While those orders were in opposition to UNITED’s wishes,
it is the duty of any good agent to obey his team leader during a
mission. Therefore, you will receive a mark on your permanent
record as punishment. Further, your privileges are to be suspended
for the next three weeks. All day passes for leaving the island
will be revoked during that time period. Also, until further
notice, you are removed from the taskforce. You will report to
Oceanic immediately, where you will continue solely with your work
locating TOXIC officials. Are you clear on your orders?”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” Frederick
replied stoically.

Overall, the punishment wasn’t so bad.
Day passes were only given in theory. Since joining UNITED, only
Brand had ever taken a personal day off of work. We were simply too
busy. And a black mark on his service record wasn’t the end of the
world. It might hinder advancement within the organization for the
time being, but Frederick was a great agent. If he decided to make
a career with UNITED, one indiscretion wouldn’t stop him from
sitting in Victoria’s seat one day.

Relocation to the Oceanic was pretty
crappy, though. It meant Frederick and Henri would be separated. I
prayed that separation was only for work, and that Frederick would
still be allowed to live on Eden with the rest of us.

Regardless, I felt horrible. This was
all my fault. I refused to regret saving Anya, but I did regret the
fallout my actions had on my teammate.

“
You are dismissed, Agent
Kraft. I will see you when you arrive at Oceanic.”

Victoria punctuated her dismissal with
a nod.

Frederick stood to leave. I caught his
eye and mouthed, “I’m so sorry.”

“
Don’t be, Talia,” he
murmured. “She’s my friend, too.”

“
Agent Kraft, this way
please,” Chaz said, stepping forward.

With one hand on his gun, it seemed
Chaz was prepared to forcefully escort Frederick from the
conference room if he didn’t leave soon. I rolled my eyes. This
really was ridiculous.

My amusement with the castle clowns
was quickly quashed the moment the door closed behind Frederick.
The sea of pointed stares was left focused entirely on
us.

Erik and I were alone with the
council. And our verdicts were in.

VICTORIA ADDRESSED ERIK
FIRST.

“
Agent Kelley, it is the
judgment of this council that you used your personal relationship
with Agent Lyons to convince her to disobey her orders.”

“
What?” I screeched,
stunned by this turn of events. Unfortunately not stunned enough,
though, because I was still fully capable of speech. And my mouth
was great at digging my grave. “You can’t be serious. That is not
what happened, Victoria. I told you, it was my decision. Erik
didn’t use me. You can’t just decide that he did. That doesn’t make
it fact.”