Exiled: Kenly's Story (A Talented Novel) (10 page)

The temperature in our small corner seemed
to drop with that one word. Willa paled, her mocha skin going
ashen. Riley’s irises ignited and tiny sparks of electricity
crackled on his skin. Honora shuddered and hugged herself. James’s
expression was blank, unreadable, but his hands were clenched in
tight fists at his sides.

I was almost afraid to ask after the
reaction from the group, but I did anyway. “What’s a Poacher?”

Riley blew out a long breath, giving him
time to choose his next words carefully.

“
Poaching has been around
since I can recall. Longer, I reckon. Like James said, over here we
don’t have laws protecting our kind, unalike you Yanks do. Well,
um…
did
, I
suppose,” he quickly corrected.

I didn’t comment on that, having no clue if
any laws were still in place back home. Without TOXIC, who knew
what would happen to the Talented in America.

“
Anyway, Poachers hunt
Chromes—Talents if you fancy instead—and sell them to anyone
willing to pay their absurd quotes. There is quite a large black
economy for our sort.”

“
Wait, hang on. What the
hell did you just say?
Sell
them? Like livestock?” I asked, praying my ears
were deceiving me. There was no way this was happening in London.
“Who buys them? What kind of messed up person
buys
someone?”

Beside me, James was flexing and unflexing
his fingers, as if needing to keep them busy so he wouldn’t hit
someone. I could relate. We were clearly entering turbulent waters,
and I was unprepared for what dangers lay beneath the surface.

“
Mostly chaps from the
corporate world, looking for an advantage. They use mind readers
during negotiations, and viewers to keep eyes on the competition.
It’s gotten to the point that some of these blokes won’t make nary
a decision without a seer’s guidance. Rich prigs who want right
tough bodyguards will buy shifters, for protection,” Willa
explained. Silence followed, while I tried to comprehend how this
was possible, and the others stewed over a reality they’d always
known.

“
And then you have the
collectors,” Honora added softly.

“
Collectors
?” I repeated weakly. My
disgust was quickly giving way to nausea, and I wasn’t sure how
much more I could take.

“
You know, the ones who can
afford to wipe their arse with Globes. When you have more money
than you know what to do with, I suppose it’s time to start
collecting rare things. Nothing in the world as scarce as an
extremely powerful Chrome,” Riley said.

“
I see,” I said. But I
really didn’t. “How can they just snatch people off the streets
without the police intervening?”

This was unfathomable, and I couldn’t seem
to wrap my mind around it. Back home no one would even consider
trying to enslave a Talent. Even if they did, how would they
control them? The Talented were too strong. We were superior to the
average human in so many different ways, it would be
impossible.

“
Poaching is illegal. But
the Poachers are some of the wealthiest, most powerful gents in all
of Britain. Most of the authorities are on the take, whether
through bribes, or funding campaigns. Even if someone’s caught
nicking a Chrome, the penalties aren’t as harsh as they should be.
Usually just some fines, sometimes an occasional stint in the pokey
for repeated offenders. None of it’s much of a deterrent, when
blokes are making anywhere from a couple thousand to a couple
million Globes per Chrome,” Honora said, shaking her
head.

Whoa. That was a lot of money. Realization
suddenly came crashing down, making my heart sink. If a powerful
Talent went for that much…what about a Created? Had one ever been
captured?

“
So…Jaylen Monroe…he’s a
Poacher?” I asked, certain that I already knew the
answer.

Comprehension slammed me in
the gut. I’d been alone with a Poacher. A repulsive, vile Poacher.
Who was probably scouting me out. Wondering how much he could sell
me for.
Sell me. To another
person.

I shoved my chair back so hard it toppled to
the floor, and ran for the small hallway next to the bar. Elbowing
open the door to the ladies’ room, I barely made it to the toilet
before getting sick. Heave after aching heave wracked my body.
Since I hadn’t eaten all day, only acid seared my throat. Even
after I’d expelled the bile, my body continued to lurch. My head
spun like an out of control top.

Death. Containment. These
were what I’d been terrified of, should UNITED find me. I’d thought
those were the most horrifying fates that might befall me. But
being sold, actually
sold
to another human being? Being owned? Made to do
God only knew what? That was immeasurably worse.

Breathe, Kenly. Breathe. You’re going to be
okay.

Realizing how stupid I’d been was a serious
reality check. I’d been so sure I’d lost him, so sure he wouldn’t
find me. So sure I could take him that I’d actually allowed Jaylen
Monroe to get close, and chat, and…I’d been so cocky that I didn’t
even consider the guy a threat. I hadn’t doubted for a moment that
my Created powers made me superior to everyone.

After a minute of deep breathing, I walked
over to the sink and rinsed my mouth out. Out of the corner of my
eye, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the framed mirror above
the countertop. Faint patches of darkness obscured the glass, the
effects of being hung there for decades. Through the spots, I saw
an exceedingly thin girl with wide, fearful eyes and a pale face
tinged with gray undertones.

Good,
I thought.
You should be scared,
Kenly. You’re not invincible, you’re not invulnerable. Keep it up,
and your ego will be your downfall.

As my mind ran through thoughts reminiscent
of fortune cookie fortunes, I emerged back out into the bar area.
When I got to our table, my chair had been righted and pushed back
in. Gratefully, I slid back into it and took a sip from a glass of
water that someone had also placed there.

“
Are you okay?” Willa
asked. Concern was apparent in her eyes, yet I couldn’t help but
feel slightly annoyed with her. She’s known I was Talented for
weeks now. Had even been worried enough to keep tabs on me since
we’d met. Yet she hadn’t bothered warning me about the Poachers.
Not even when she’d thrown me out earlier—was it really possible
that had happened earlier
today
?—apparently because of the
Monroe twins.

“
Yeah, fine,” I muttered.
Turning to Honora, I asked, “So, you were saying?”

The group traded glances. I wasn’t sure what
they were trying to gauge, but I needed to know everything.

“
Seriously guys, I’m okay.
I just want to know what you do about these Poachers.”

Riley gave a barely perceptible nod to
Honora, who took a deep breath before continuing.

“
The Monroes are the worst
sort, even of the Poachers,” she said. “Half the family and most of
the people in their employ are Chromes. The whole lot of them,
they’re traitors to our kind. Instead of banding together with the
rest of the Chromes to fight for independence, they use their gifts
against us. It’s…it’s….” Honora trailed off, at loss for
words.

“
Fecking revolting?
Barbaric? Vicious and cruel and bloody unimaginable?” James
supplied. “They ought to be drawn and quartered for their
crimes.”

“
Dude, it’s been like three
or four centuries since that last happened,” Riley
muttered.

James shot him an icy glare. “Maybe we
should bring it back.”

Tug sidled up to the table, followed by the
waiter. They set bowls of steaming stew in front of each of us.

“
Mighty glad you’re safe,
my girl,” Tug said, voice thick with emotion. He laid a gnarled
hand on my shoulders and bent to place a kiss on my wet hair. The
gesture was so fatherly that it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
“You’ll come stay with me and Willa. Too dodgy for you to be on
your own now, they’ve got you on their radar.”

I was about to protest, but Honora spoke up
before I could.

“
I reckon it’d be better if
she stays with us.” She turned her attention from Tug to me.
“Riley, James, and I have a flat nearby. It’s not much, but there’s
a spare bed, and we keep an eye for each other’s backs. We protect
our own, we do.” She smiled up at Tug. “It’ll be safer for everyone
this way. Should they get any funny ideas, there’ll be the three of
us there with her.”

Tug nodded. “That’s very generous of you,
dear. That arrangement should work right nicely.”

“
Um, hold up. Don’t I have
a say in this?” I asked, annoyed they were making plans for me
without consulting me.

“
No,” Willa and James, of
all people, said in unison.

After a final pat on my shoulder, Tug headed
back for the bar. And with that, they’d decided the matter was
settled.

Everyone picked up their spoons as if to
tuck in to their stew, but no one seemed to have much of an
appetite. I barely touched mine, merely pushed the carrots from one
side of the gravy pond to the other. Only James made a dent in his
dinner, yet I suspected that he barely tasted the food. He stared
out the window as he ate, platinum eyes unfocused. Willa and Riley
were quietly chatting, but the rest of us were silent, each lost in
our own thoughts.

Mine were on overdrive, trying to process
all of this new information. It was obvious that I should make
excuses and leave. I needed to get my meager belongings from the
Hideaway, and find a new place to lay low. Somewhere I could
regroup and figure out how best to move forward. The knowledge that
Tug had pegged me as Talented from our first meeting was beyond
disconcerting. I’d thought I was being so discreet, blending in.
How did he know? And having Willa keep tabs on me? That didn’t sit
well with me.

But worse than all of that,
I felt stupid for not realizing that someone was watching me, even
by Viewing. I was better than that. I’d been trained better than
that. How would I keep eluding UNITED if some girl, without any
formal training, had been following me for three weeks? Especially
since I hadn’t had a clue. I thought I was being
so
stealthy. It was
almost laughable, except nothing about the situation was
funny.

Talia wouldn’t have been
so blind,
the thought popped into my head
unbidden. I quickly dismissed the idea.
Don’t think about her. She isn’t important.
Then another thought occurred to me, something I’d
forgotten about.

“
What about the people we
saw on our way here?” I asked. “Are they Poachers, too?”

Riley looked up from his conversation with
Willa. Their heads were conspicuously close, so their words
couldn’t be overheard. I wondered what they were discussing.

“
No, just bloody gang
thugs. Out looking for a fight, most likely. Pinching Chromes is a
common initiation ritual,” Riley answered. Though I knew he meant
taking them, I couldn’t help but picture the thugs chasing after
Talents, their fingers poised to pinch a patch of skin. I almost
smiled, until I realized this meant I had
another
threat to worry
about.

“
That’s why we travel
together, always. Most aren’t brave enough to take a group of us
on,” Honora added.

“
We don’t have to worry
about them, as long as we stay together,” Willa assured me. “Now,
how bout I get some carryout boxes and we get out of here?” It’d
become obvious that no one was really interested in
eating.

“
Sounds good. I just need
to go get my things from the hostel,” I said to no one in
particular.

This was my chance to get away from them.
Where I would go from there, well, that I didn’t know. But I didn’t
know these people well enough to know their intentions. For all I
knew, they themselves could be Poachers or gang members, or a cult,
or…. It didn’t really matter. Sure, they’d seemed genuinely upset
when talking about the Poachers, and genuinely angry, but I had
other problems to deal with, too.

An image of Alana being
dragged away by UNITED agents filled my mind.
That will never be you,
I vowed. All
that mattered was remaining free. For all I knew, UNITED was
already watching this group. Joining them might be the same as
serving myself up to my worst enemy on a silver platter.

I stood, a plethora of excuses for going to
the hostel alone on the tip of my tongue.

“
Willa and James can do
that,” Riley replied. “Honora, and I will take you to the
Barracks.”

“
Why don’t I go get my
things, and then I’ll meet you? Just give me the address,” I said.
By the time they realized I wasn’t coming, I’d be long gone. Willa
probably wouldn’t be able to track me if I kept my emotions
neutral. Possibly. Hopefully.

A small hand gently wrap around my
fingers.

“
Kenly,” Willa said softly.
“Please. Let us help you. We rally round to keep everyone safe.
Just like Honora said, we protect our own. You’re one of our own,
aren’t you?”

We protect our
own
.

It was similar to TOXIC’s manifesto. TOXIC
and The McDonough School had been formed to give Talents a place
where they belonged. A place to call home. A place to feel normal
at a time when being different meant being shunned. A place to not
only feel safe, but to be safe. Even as the feelings in the U.S.
changed, and Talents were no longer ostracized, those original
ideals had remained. From the founding of TOXIC and the School,
through the years when the objective was keeping the Coalition at
bay, right up until the day TOXIC fell. Those principles had bonded
operatives together for decades, right up until the end. I longed
to feel that bond again.