Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (18 page)

Talia huffed and sat back in her
chair, somewhat mollified.

The news about the Poachers’ important
clientele was not the bombshell the councilwoman had anticipated
for several of us, drawing a curious expression tinged in suspicion
from her. Evidently, Victoria had not informed the rest of the
council that she spoke freely in front of Talia and me earlier that
morning. Which of course had been passed along to the others at
breakfast. Our team had been processing our outrage for several
hours.

In fact, Victoria had shared critical
intel with Talia and me, things that were above our pay grade,
several times over the past few weeks. Thinking back on Victoria’s
diatribe about trust that morning, I wondered if keeping us in the
loop was her way of reaching out. As if by telling us the unbridled
truth, gory details and all, she could gain our trust.

“
Our Crypto teams are
working to secure invitations to the auction for your team,”
Victoria said, taking over before anyone on her side of the divide
questioned our foreknowledge. “As you know, this mission will be
clandestine, so each of you will assume the identities of actual
auction invitees.

“
The plan is for you to buy
the Created. Money is not an issue, of course. Dummy bank accounts
will be set up under your assumed identities. No matter the cost,
one of you will be the highest bidder for each of the
targets.”

Victoria’s golden gaze landed on
Penny.

“
Agent Crane, I trust that
you can route the funds through enough servers and holding
companies that the Poachers will be unable to trace them back to
UNITED?”

“
I can,” Penny
agreed.

Brand beamed at his
girlfriend and I had to suppress my instinctive urge to give him
hell for it. Not because I didn’t understand the pride he felt, or
what ridiculous things that love for a woman could do to a guy. No,
it was because Brand gave me so much shit about Talia, and here he
was all starry-eyed because his girlfriend was a computer whiz.
Regardless of the Created Talents she possessed, Penny was a Brain,
and had been since birth. The girl’s
mind
was a computer. If she couldn’t
hack into some basic man-made mainframes, it would be
absurd.

“
One hindrance still
remains,” Victoria said, her voice drawing my attention once again.
There would be plenty of time to bash on Brand later. “The location
of the auction is unknown. Though we were able to procure
invitations, they do not have any obvious details on
them.”

“
Obvious
details?” Frederick asked, brow
furrowed.

“
Yes. The Poachers use
symbols to indicate the date, time, and location of their auctions.
It is a safeguard so that undesirables and law enforcement cannot
just show up. The men who attend these auctions are among the most
powerful in the world, requiring security against detrimental
exposure. Though not everyone disagrees with the Poachers, it would
cause great scandal nonetheless if these dealings were
public.”

Was it bad that I was a little
impressed by the ingenuity?

“
Our Cryptos are busy
trying to decipher the code on the invitation itself. Agent Crane,
if you would also take a look, that would be appreciated.
Otherwise, we will have to rely on those of you with viewing
capabilities. Agent Kelley….” Victoria paused to smile
affectionately at me before continuing. “You are acquainted with
Ms. Baker, correct?”

Returning her smile, I
nodded.

“
And you believe that you
will be able to locate her?”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” I said
without hesitation.

My insides squirmed with the
half-truth. There was no guarantee that I’d be able to find her.
But one look at Willa—who’d given her lip a rest in favor of
maniacally twirling a lock of hair around her index finger, tugging
on it every so often—renewed my resolve to give it my most
determined effort. For Willa’s sake, I would find Kenly. Hopefully
once I made a physical connection with Kenly’s mind, Willa would be
able to relinquish her emotional one. Her sanity might just depend
on my success.

Yeah, no pressure.

“
Excellent. Your false
identities and documents will be ready late tonight, and will
arrive by the morning at the latest. I shall be in touch as
necessitated until then, and throughout your preparations tomorrow.
Until then, I advise you all to rest. You have an exceedingly long
day ahead of you.”

Without any further sendoff, the
picture disappeared and the council was gone.

“
I will show you all to the
guest wing now,” Chaz’s rigid voice spoke from behind
us.

“
Those two are so creepy,”
Janelle muttered under her breath, as she stood.

I shot her an amused grin. Couldn’t
have said it better myself.

The guest wing was not nearly as
modern as the rest of the house, it had more of the castle-like
atmosphere I’d been expecting from the stone exterior. Oil
paintings of old dudes in ceremonial clothing hung on the walls and
antique knickknacks littered the hallways. There was even a suit of
armor, which made Penny and Talia giggle. And yes, the swords I was
hoping for were there, too.

Even though there were more than
enough rooms for all of us to have our own, I followed Talia into
hers without a second thought. She told Riley and the two girls to
rest, promising that someone would come find them as soon as we
knew more. Talia wanted to question Willa, I felt her desire as if
it were my own. But we both could tell the girl was distraught, and
now was not the time. Besides, if I was able to View Kenly,
Honora’s input would be unnecessary.

To my utter dismay, Frederick and
Henri followed Talia and me into our bedroom.

“
We’ve been wanting to get
you two alone,” Henri said, closing the door behind him.

“
Sorry, man, I’ve told you
before. I might be into the whole orgy thing, but Tals is a little
shy.”

My joke fell flat, and I regretted it
the moment the words left my mouth without thought. Humor was my
coping mechanism, and I was as close to the edge as Willa. Ever
since I’d connected to her mind, I was having trouble detangling
myself from it. Kenly’s emotions were still bleeding from Willa’s
thoughts into my head. Because Kenly was so upset, the pull was
that much stronger.

“
And I’ve told you, you’re
not my type,” Frederick deadpanned, playing along. “Regardless, if
you can get me a picture of Kenly, I’ll try to View her. I know
your abilities are…not quite steady yet, Erik.”

Frederick sat down on the end of a
chaise lounge, next to a trifold screen with koi fish painted
across it. He was trying not to offend me by stating what we all
knew to be true: my new abilities were spotty. Though I appreciated
his efforts, I wasn’t offended, and wouldn’t have been if he just
said it outright. Unfortunately, the fact that I was actually
acquainted with Kenly—you can’t get much closer to a person than
almost strangling them—I was the better candidate.

“
It’s okay,” I told
Frederick. “I’m going to try. If I can’t, then you should
definitely have a go. But I do know her. And I’ve, um, had physical
contact with her. So, in this one case, I might actually have
better luck with it.”

Neither Henri nor Frederick
knew how close I’d come to killing Kenly in the Hamilton.
Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure Talia knew. I
hoped
she didn’t, I didn’t want her
to. Those images from the fleeting minutes in front of the door to
McDonough’s suite at the Hamilton, that feeling that had overcome
me…those were things I’d buried so deep in the subterranean reaches
of my mind that Talia would need to destroy my psyche to find
them.

“
Okay….” Frederick drew out
the syllables. “We’ll leave you to it then. Just let me know if you
need me.”

“
I will,” I
promised.

Frederick stood to leave. Henri
already had one hand on the doorknob when he paused and turned to
Talia.

“
We’ll get her back,” he
told my girlfriend, with a kind smile.

“
I know,” Talia said. To my
surprise, she didn’t leave it at that. Mounting irritation streaked
her words as she continued on. “I just hate how the council is
treating all of this, you know? I mean, I get it. They want the
Created in containment. Okay. Fine. They don’t want to piss off a
bunch of important people before the Treaty vote. Okay. Fine. But
they’re missing the bigger picture. The Poachers. It’s not about
what else is happening in the world right now. It’s about
them.
And they need to
be stopped. Not in a week, not in a month, not at some
indeterminate point in the future.
Now.
”

Arms crossed over her chest, defiance
etched in every inch of her face, Talia looked every bit the
warrior that she was. Impossibly, I loved her more in that
moment.

Frederick wrapped an arm around
Talia’s shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“
I know, Tal. I agree. But
if the Treaty doesn’t pass, none of it matters. All of us, UNITED,
everyone—we’ll all be forced to live on the island or go into
hiding. There will not be anywhere safe for us. No one will treat
us as if we deserve the same fundamental human rights as everyone
else. In the eyes of the law, we won’t be equals. Poaching won’t
just be something that’s done quietly underground if that happens.
It will, essentially, be legal. The only prayer we have of stopping
the Poachers is to make sure that Treaty passes.
Then
we can shut them
down. If it doesn’t pass, we won’t have any authority, no
resources, no UNITED. If it doesn’t pass…we won’t have anything,
just a tenuous hope for survival ahead of us.”

That was a sobering thought. From
Victoria’s pep talk earlier—had it really only been that morning?—I
understood how important the Treaty vote was. Until Frederick
spelled it out in such plain terms, though, I didn’t truly
appreciate the ramifications of it failing. If I was being honest,
I hadn’t considered that as a real possibility.

But he was right. The
council was right. Diplomacy, at this precarious juncture, was key.
The vote
had
to
go in our favor. There was no other option. If it didn’t, the
Poachers would be the least of our concerns.

Frederick bent down and placed a soft
kiss on Talia’s forehead before crossing the room to where Henri
was holding the door open for him.

“
We’ll see you guys in a
little bit,” Henri called over his shoulder.

He pulled the door closed behind them,
leaving Talia and me alone. Finally.

There was a giant four-post bed in the
center of the room, with curtains tied to each wooden beam. Talia
walked over and flopped down on the mattress, causing a thin layer
of dust to form a cloud around her small body. She wrinkled her
nose and sneezed.

“
I guess Victoria doesn’t
have a lot of houseguests,” she said, waving at the air with her
hands to ward off the particles flying up her nose.

“
Probably not,” I agreed,
crossing the room to sit beside her. I eased myself gingerly onto
the bed, attempting to avoid another eruption from Mt. Dustmore.
Then I lay down next to her, wrapping my arm around her and pulling
her close.

Talia rolled onto her side, burying
her face in my shirt. Having her in my arms was like a balm to my
frayed nerves and raw emotions. The ever-present storm within me
quieted. I stroked her hair, playing with the curls. We lay there
in silence for several long minutes, both of us lost in our own
thoughts. I was half in my own head and half in Willa’s, gauging
Kenly’s emotional state. With Talia’s mind wide open, I felt the
struggle going on inside of her. She was worried. She was scared.
She was pissed. She felt useless. And, after Frederick’s words
about the Treaty, she was starting to lose hope.

“
Let’s focus on the one
thing we can do something about,” I told her. “Let’s get Kenly
back. Get the other Created. Once that’s done, we’ll worry about
the Treaty. Okay?”

“
What about the other
Talents at the auction?” she asked, her voice muffled since she was
essentially talking into my shirt. Ignoring the heat her breath
sent through the material, warming the skin and causing my mind to
wander, I focused instead on her words. “Are we just going to leave
them behind? That’s not right.”

A small wave of darkness crashed
within me and I gritted my teeth. Somehow, I hadn’t considered that
point. All anyone had discussed, seemingly all they cared about,
was getting the Created out. There hadn’t been any talk of the
Talented. But Talia was right, we couldn’t just leave
them.

“
We’ll do what we can,
Tals,” I said, knowing the vague promise wouldn’t appease my
girlfriend. Needing to do something useful, I added, “I’m going try
to View Kenly.”

Talia sat up and scooted towards the
ornate headboard. She wiggled into the pillows, adjusting positions
until she found one she liked. When she was settled, she beckoned
for me to join her. Crawling up the length of the mattress until I
was at the top, I lay down beside her. I wanted to put my head in
her lap, have her run her fingers through my hair to relax me. But
that would have only proved a greater distraction than a
help.