Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) (17 page)

Next, Leslie indicated a tall girl with dark
chocolate skin and a silky silver ponytail curled up on an
overstuffed sofa with a paper book.

“
Nydia Lupo,” Leslie said.
Obviously shy, Nydia peered over at Cressa through long lashes, but
didn’t make eye contact. “Cadet Lupo will be your roommate. She
will show you to your room and make sure you become acclimated to
your new surroundings.”

“
It is nice to meet you,
Nydia,” Cressa said, infusing as much warmth in her greeting as she
could muster. Even after her long, arduous day, Cressa wanted to
get off on the right foot with her new roommate.

In her short time as a 1P, Cressa had lived
with three different girls. The first, Jinger, had advanced to
Phase Two shortly after Cressa’s arrival. Wendi, her second
roommate, passed the Phase One advancement exam on her first try,
leaving Cressa after only ten days.

Then there had been Steph, the opinionated
daughter of some high-ranking military man in Argentina. Steph had
a delayed reaction to the talent serum, and had been carted off to
med bay just twenty-four hours after her initial procedure was
completed. Cressa didn’t know what happened to her after that, but
she hadn’t seen the Argentinian girl again. That was a week before,
and Cressa hadn’t been assigned a new roommate.

Now, she found herself hoping that Nydia
wasn’t close to advancing to Phase Three. She’d been so focused on
passing her first test that the isolation hadn’t hit her completely
until that moment. Cressa suddenly realized that the
Institute—where she knew no one, had no one to conspire with, and
was cut off entirely from her parents and friends—was a very lonely
place.

“
I’m Gracia Beaumont,
captain of the floor.” This introduction came from a willowy
brunette at the opposite end of the couch from Nydia. Gracia’s
slipper-clad feet were propped up on a coffee table, and a handheld
gaming device sat in her lap.

“
I thought we weren’t
permitted electronics.” Cressa said the words before she’d given
any thought to how much they sounded like an accusation. Gracia’s
hard, violet stare told her that was precisely how the comment came
across.

“
You
,” Gracia began, jabbing her finger towards Cressa with a
toss of her dark curls, “are not permitted electronics.”

“
Only the chosen one is,”
another voice chimed in.

Cressa turned to see the last girl in the
commons. She was the youngest of the group by several years, with
shaggy bangs and a tiny ponytail on the top of her head that looked
like a unicorn horn. The girl was curled up like a cat in the
center of a large, round chair suspended from the ceiling. To
Cressa, she looked like a canary in a cage, though that might have
been because her hair was the color of freshly churned butter.

The girl stood, somehow managing to appear
graceful despite the chair swinging precariously on the hooks above
it. She crossed the room and offered a small, freckled hand to
Cressa.

“
I’m Daphne. Until you
came along, I was the newest 2P, making me the grunt of our lot.
So, thanks for taking over the position.”

“
You’re welcome, I guess,”
Cressa replied uncertainly, shaking Daphne’s hand.

The small girl’s face quirked into a
mischievous expression. “You know, I bet—”

“
Lights out in twenty,”
Leslie interrupted. “You had best all return to your rooms and
prepare for inspection. Gregor and I will be by shortly.” She
turned to Nydia. “Cressa Karmine is your responsibility now, Cadet
Lupo. Make sure she understands all protocols and she’s in
compliance.” Leslie turned her blank gaze on Gracia. “Of course,
they are all your responsibility, so you may want to supervise
tonight while Cadet Karmine settles in.”

“
Of course,” Gracia
replied quickly.

“
Also, the Dame requests
your presence in her office tomorrow morning, directly following
breakfast,” Leslie added.

Gracia smiled knowingly. “So it’s been
decided then? I have been selected?”

Leslie gave Gracia a hard look. “I am not a
liberty to discuss such matters, Cadet Beaumont. Even if I were,
this is not the appropriate time or venue, as you well know. Such
matters cannot be discussed in front of your charges, and you’d do
well to remember that.”

Cressa wanted to crawl under the coffee
table at Leslie’s harsh tone, and the 8P’s words weren’t even
directed at her. Gracia Beaumont, however, seemed undaunted by
Leslie’s rebuke. If anything, Gracia’s smile became smugger,
looking like the cat who ate Daphne. Evidently, she found Leslie’s
non-answer to be a confirmation of some kind.

“
Good evening to you all.”
With that, Leslie turned and left.

“
Thank you, Cadet Abbot,”
Cressa called after her, though there was no sign Leslie heard
her.

As she watched the older girl leave, Cressa
filled with anxiety. Leslie Abbot was far from the warm-and-fuzzy
type, yet her presence had made Cressa feel oddly safe. Not only
that, but their time together had been the most she’d spoken to
anyone since arriving at the Institute. Without Leslie, Cressa was
once again alone, facing a room of unfamiliar faces and appraising
looks.

Stretching languidly, Gracia stood. She
tossed the gaming device on the coffee table, and then turned to
study Cressa. For several moments, no one spoke, the other cadets
taking their cues from the dorm captain. They all simply stared at
the newcomer, while she stared expectantly back at the girl in
charge.

Something about Gracia was oddly familiar to
Cressa. And yet, she was sure they’d never met. She couldn’t put
her finger on it, but Gracia definitely looked like someone Cressa
had seen before coming to the Institute.

Maybe she was famous? Not Kev Leon famous,
obviously, but maybe a minor celebrity?

“
Cressa, is it?” Gracia’s
wordless staring had gone on for so long that Cressa started at the
sound of her voice. “As I said, I am Gracia Beaumont, captain of
the 2Ps. Do not misunderstand, however, I am not a 2P; I am in
Phase Seven. As top in my class, I was given the honor of
supervising and managing the lots of you.” Gracia’s look grew
impossibly haughtier. “You should know this is a rare reward for a
7P. Typically, only 8Ps are made captains.”

“
But Gracia is
so
special, they made an
exception in her case,” Daphne chimed in.

Sniffing, Gracia ignored the younger girl
and continued speaking to Cressa. “My commands carry the full
authority of the Institute. If you choose to defy me, the penalties
will be just as severe as if you crossed the Dame herself. Is this
all very clear to you?”

“
Um, sure,” Cressa replied
uncertainly.

The 1P floor did not have a captain.
Instead, various instructors watched over the newbies. Madame
Gillis had explained that Phase One was very different from the
later Phases. 1Ps had to be monitored very closely by instructors,
since many had a hard time adjusting to the Institute’s strict
lifestyle. Plus, the Dame wanted fully trained Privileged on hand
night and day, just in case the 1Ps had trouble controlling their
new powers. By the time a cadet reached Phase Two, spontaneous and
ungovernable displays of talent became less of a concern.

Cressa thought the divide between the Phases
was probably also due to the high failure rate of reaching Phase
Two—from bad reactions to the serum, talents not embedding properly
in their new host, and the inability of many to wield their talents
well enough to pass an exam—but she guessed no one liked bringing
that up.

“‘
Yes, ma’am’ is the
appropriate response,” Gracia lectured, interrupting Cressa’s
musings.

“
Yes, ma’am,” Cressa
parroted dutifully, hating that she was already on Gracia’s bad
side. Though, even with the short amount of time she’d known the
girl, Cressa suspected that Gracia was like a trick coin—both sides
were identical and equally unpleasant.

“
Better,” Gracia said with
a curt nod. “Now then, Nydia, come with me and Cressa. The rest of
you, to your rooms.”

The twins quickly stowed the chessboard and
pieces, then disappeared without a word through another archway at
the far side of the common room. Daphne remained by Cressa’s side,
arms crossed over her chest as she glared defiantly at Gracia.
Though they were at least five years apart in age, the two girls
were nearly the same height, around five feet.

“
Bed. Now,” Gracia barked
at Daphne.

“
Leslie said we have
twenty minutes,” the canary sang. “Plenty of time for me to help
the newbie settle in.”

To Cressa’s surprise—particularly after the
lecture she’d just received about the floor captain’s
authority—Gracia rolled her strange violet eyes, but didn’t stand
her ground.

With a gesture that clearly meant Cressa was
to follow, Gracia started towards the archway, Nydia in tow. Cressa
hurried after them.

“
Including you, there are
twenty-six 2Ps—ten girls and sixteen boys,” Gracia rattled off.
“That number changes daily, though, as more 1Ps advance. The
Institute is welcoming a much higher number of cadets right now
than they usually do, so it is likely you will see many new faces
before long.”

I’ve already seen the one
face that matters,
Cressa thought with
another bubble of excitement.

She considered sharing her encounter with
Kev Leon, and then remembered how sternly Leslie had frowned upon
Cressa’s gushing. Gracia, obviously made of similar stock to
Leslie, was likely to have the same reaction.

Besides, now that Kev had reached Phase Two,
everyone else would see him soon enough. While Phase One was almost
exclusively one-on-one instruction, with virtually no interaction
between cadets, the 2Ps all took classes together.

“
Here we are,” Gracia
announced.

She stopped in front of an oak door halfway
down the hallway off the common room. On a small screen beside the
door were two names: Karmine and Lupo. Gracia twisted the knob and
pushed the door open, then gestured the younger girls inside. Nydia
entered first, moving straight to a set of bunk beds against the
right wall.

“
Mine is the top, but I am
happy to switch if you’d prefer it,” she told Cressa, her gaze
still downcast.

“
The lower bed works for
me,” Cressa replied easily, wishing they were alone. She wanted to
reassure Nydia that she’d be easy to get along with, but worried
about speaking out of turn with Gracia’s hawk eyes
watching.

Two small, carrel-style desks were arranged
opposite the beds, and Gracia pointed to a thick binder in the
center of one. A plastic-wrapped dinner tray was beside the
binder.

“
That is your 2P manual,”
Gracia told Cressa. “Read it. Learn it. Memorize it. You will be
expected to know and follow all of the rules and regulations within
those pages, no exceptions and no excuses. Should you commit an
infraction, you will be held accountable, regardless of whether you
knew you were committing the infraction at the time.”

“
And so will Gracia,”
Daphne muttered. Cressa glanced over, and found the younger girl
grinning like a fool.

“
That’s because I am in
charge,” Gracia shot back. She cleared her throat loudly to regain
Cressa’s attention. “Do you have any questions?”

Um, yeah,
Cressa thought.
Loads of
them.

There was no sense in asking, though. Cressa
wasn’t sure how much 7Ps knew about sources and supposedly dead
movie stars, but she was certain that Gracia wouldn’t answer those
questions, regardless.

“
No, ma’am,” Cressa
replied.

“
Good. Eat your dinner
quickly, then get ready for bed.”

Without another word, Gracia spun on her
heel and started for the door. Since she was wearing slippers,
Gracia’s slender foot came free when she took her first step,
making her dramatic exit decidedly less so. Daphne snickered
loudly. Even Nydia smiled, though she turned away to hide her
mirthful expression.

Gracia made a very un-lady like noise, and
then snatched up the slipper from the floor. She proceeded to storm
from the room, elbowing Daphne aside as she passed.

“
Right nasty, isn’t she?”
Daphne said merrily, once Gracia was gone.

Cressa gave a noncommittal shrug, unsure
whether the comment was a setup. Being fifteen, and having attended
boarding school, she knew how girls worked—coaxing each other into
saying negative things about others, just to run off to the girl in
the question and spill everything.

Besides, Leslie’s reminder that the
Institute was all one giant competition was still fresh in Cressa’s
mind. The cadets were not in this together. No, they were
opponents, adversaries, enemies. There would be times that one
person’s success meant another person’s failure. Becoming too
friendly with her classmates now was just asking for trouble
later.

Sadly, Cressa’s eyes flicked to Nydia. As
much as she wanted a friend, she understood that her desire to
become besties with her new roommate was silly and childish. Nydia
seemed nice enough, but her father had always said that attachments
made people weak, and vulnerable. Cressa couldn’t afford to be
either, not if she wanted to become Privileged.

“
I’m sure she’s learned to
be that way,” Cressa finally said, striving for diplomacy in case
word got back to Gracia. “This is a difficult program.”