Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (40 page)

Difficult? She hadn’t seen
difficult.

“
Erik! Erik, we need to
run.”

No answer.

Resolved to find him the old-fashioned
way, I started for the door. Just as I reached for the knob, I felt
them on the other side. Twenty minds. All projecting nervousness.
Some projecting fear. Those who wanted to find out if the rumors
were true, if I was the one-woman terror of legend, projected giddy
anticipation. They each hoped that they’d be the one to conquer the
consummate beast.

One mind was brighter than the others.
A brilliant diamond among a sea of pebbles.

Betrayal washed over me. We’d never
gotten along, so maybe this wasn’t so shocking. Still, I’d thought
our mutual love for Penny would have been enough for Brand to stand
by me.

At the very least, I’d thought it was
enough for him not to stab me in the back.

A high-pitched screech, like nails on
chalkboard or claws on glass, filled the air. Framed portraits on
the walls began to shake. Random knickknacks—a gold candelabra, a
blue and white patterned vase, a china teapot—teetered precariously
on shelves around the room. The rumbling started off slow and
steady, an ominous noise that reminded me of thunder rolling in the
distant.

One by one, the antique trinkets
crashed to the floor in a symphony of shattering glass and clanging
brass. Without warning, the door flew off its hinges and over my
head. It was merely one more item to add to the funnel cloud of
debris swirling behind me.

“
Talia, stop!” Brand
bellowed.

I was beyond words, beyond
reasoning.

“
We can’t take you. You
have to come willingly,” Brand called over the howling wind
sweeping through the room.

“
Why would I do that?” I
growled in reply.

Then I saw her.
Her.

She was supposed to be my best friend.
Were we really back here again?

Penny’s flame-red hair whipped across
her pale cheeks as she worked her way to the front of the group of
agents waiting to arrest me.

“
Because I’ve seen the
future, Talia. Please, go with them. I promise you, it doesn’t turn
out well if you don’t. I swear, you
need
to do this voluntarily,”
Penny sent.

Images began to flood my subconscious.
Erik motionless and bleeding. Alex hysterical and screaming. Henri
crumpled at the bottom of a staircase. Frederick in chains. Penny
crying over Brand’s still form. The slideshow played over and over
again, each time the scenes a little more gruesome than the time
before.

With that, I understood.

Penny was showing me what would happen
if I fought. All of my friends, Brand included, would fight with
me. And they would all pay a grave price for it. For some, standing
with me would be the last decision they ever made.

If I surrendered, I would save
them.

It took more effort to reel in my
Talents than it had to cast them out. Slowly, the wind died down
and an eerie silence descended on all of us.

Brand was the first of the pursuers to
regain his composure. He lifted his gun. For the second time in my
life, I was shot full of some drug that took effect before I hit
the floor.

Penny rushed forward to kneel beside
me. I blinked up at her. Tears spilled down her cheeks. I tried to
reach for her hand to comfort her. This wasn’t her fault, I knew
that. She was looking out for all of us.

Without her, I wouldn’t have been able
to save them.

Penny threaded her fingers with
mine.

“
I’m so sorry,
Talia,”
she sent.

I closed my eyes.

Me, too, Penny.

For more information on
Sophie Davis and the
Talented
Saga
, visit Sophie’s website,
www.sophiedavisbooks.com

To contact Sophie directly, email her at
[email protected].

You can also follow Sophie on:

Twitter: @sophiedavisbook

Instagram: @officialsophiedavis

Tumblr: officialsophiedavis

Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/sophiedavisbook/

Thank you for taking the
time to read
Unforgettable
. Sophie loves
feedback, and any and all honest reviews are greatly
appreciated.