Miles and Frederick thought I was finally succumbing to the mental instability caused by the creation drug. Nothing I said was going to change their minds, which was why I needed an ally. Once Penny saw the images I’d pulled from Martin’s addled brain, she would help argue my case.
“Where are you guys?” I sent Penny.
“Café Americano on Main. Why?”
“Stop making inquiries and wait there for us,” I replied.
“Is everything okay? What did the harbormaster tell you?” Penny asked.
“I’ll explain when I get there. I want everyone together so I don’t have to keep repeating myself.”
Penny’s response was hesitant. “Okay, we’ll see you soon.”
Penny, Brand, Henri, and Agent Nadir we crammed into a back booth at Café Americano when we arrived. I didn’t waste time with explanations just yet. Penny’s interpretation of the memory needed to be unbiased, otherwise no one was ever going to believe me.
“Look into my head, at the memories I read from the harbormaster’s mind. Tell me what you see,” I demanded, pulling a chair over to the end of the booth.
Miles and Frederick eased into the booth, both wearing identical skeptical expressions.
“Okay, what am I looking for exactly?” Penny asked.
“Just look and tell me what you see,” I repeated.
Penny closed her eyes and concentrated. I brought Martin’s memory to the forefront of my mind to make it easier for her to access.
“What a perv,” Penny muttered as she watched Martin talking to Anya. Then, she gasped and her eyes popped open. “What’s going on? Who is that girl? And why does she look exactly like Talia?”
I leaned back in my chair and grinned, satisfied. “That’s exactly what I’d like to know.”
“You’re sure it’s not Talia?” Frederick asked, still a little dubious but no longer outright skeptical.
“Positive,” Penny confirmed. “I mean, she looks just like Talia, enough to fool most people. Erik and I,” she gestured between us, “aren’t most people. The girl the harbormaster saw was insecure, uncertain. Does that sound like Talia to you guys? And letting Anya do all the talking?” Penny shook her head emphatically. “No way. Talia is used to being in control. She’d never have let Anya take the lead.” Expression turning thoughtful, she added, “But what does this mean?”
No one had an answer for that. Who was this Talia lookalike? And where had she come from? Who was she working for? How did Anya know her?
“I’ve got to call Ian. He’ll want to know about this,” Brand said, rising from the table and stepping outside where it was quieter.
“So will Victoria,” Miles added. He didn’t move. “Do we want Victoria to know about this?”
I trusted Victoria Walburton as much as I trusted any politician, maybe a smidgen more if I were being honest. And the councilwoman had been sincere when she spoke about keeping Talia safe. She’d also agreed to hand Talia over to Crane to hide, which further cemented my belief that she was on our side.
“Yeah, call her,” I decided.
Miles nodded and rose. He joined Brand outside to make his call.
“What should we do now?” Penny asked. “Go back to the islands? Go to London? Stay here and find the doppelgänger?”
“Let’s talk to the hover rental people,” Henri said, automatically assuming the role of leader.
He was used to being in charge, which was fine by me. I needed time to think, time to process, and time to come to terms with something I didn’t want to consider.
“Sound good to you, Erik?” Henri asked, pulling me out of my own head.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
The manager of the hover rental dealership was unlocking the front doors when we arrived. Unlike the harbormaster, Mr. Kempf, the manager, was actually French and spoke very little English. Luckily Henri knew enough French to get us through the conversation.
Mr. Kempf had not been on duty when Anya and the fake Talia came in, but he was eager to help and had no qualms about relaying the transactions details to us. I didn’t even have to compel him either. Anya had been smart, renting the hover under an assumed name. She probably hadn’t counted on me remembering her mother’s maiden name, or Anya’s own middle name, which was the alias she’d chosen. Or maybe she had. I was no longer certain of anything.
According to the dealership’s records, Lauren Caputo rented a black Y-90 Mizuto hover capable of going up to five hundred miles without recharging. She was scheduled to return the vehicle later that day at a drop-location near the French-Swiss border.
“What is near there?” Henri asked Mr. Kempf in French, a fact I knew since I’d fed him the question.
The manager contemplated the answer for several long moments, before finally answering in broken English. “Farms, I do think. There are a lot of cow farmers. That is all.”
“Cattle farms?” Penny sent me, furrowing her brow in confusion. “Does Anya have family out there?”
“Her immediate family lives in upstate New York, but I don’t know about her extended relatives. It’s possible,” I sent back.
Henri thanked Mr. Kempf for his help, and then Penny set about making sure the manager didn’t remember either our talk or the group of UNITED agents who’d paid him an early morning visit.
“Should we go to the drop-off location?” Frederick asked as we headed back to the docks, where we’d left our unmarked hover.
“We might want to call in reinforcements,” Brand spoke up. “Something about all of this doesn’t add up.”
“I agree,” I added. “I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“Erik,” Penny began timidly.
“Don’t,” I warned before she could continue any further down her current thought path.
“But doesn’t it seem likely—” she started.
“I don’t know, Penny,” I growled. Running a hand through my hair, I sighed. “I don’t know what is likely anymore. None of this makes any sense. All that I am sure of is this: The girl with Anya isn’t Talia. That means Talia isn’t in France. She probably never was.”
We reached the docks. The line of Talented waiting for passage out of France was longer than it had been hours before. People were haggling with pod and hover owners, bargaining for use of the vehicles so that they could get to the States, England, and several island nations known for their tolerance of our kind.
“It’s your call, kid,” Miles said to me. “Either we go to this BFE town and look for Anya and the imposter, or we head back to the islands.” He considered what he’d just said. “Or, I guess we go to London. Since you’re so sure your girlfriend is headed there.”
“I can continue to make discrete inquiries here, if you like,” Agent Nadir offered. He’d been fairly quiet up to this point, acting as more of a tour guide than anything.
All eyes turned to me, expect for Penny’s, which were lingering on the ever-growing crowd of refugees.
“London,” I said decisively. I turned to Agent Nadir. “Thank you for your help. If you wouldn’t mind updating Hans if you hear anything new that would be great. But don’t make inquiries. This just got a whole lot more complicated.”
“Of course. As I said, I would like to help Natalia Lyons in any way possible.” Agent Nadir offered me his hand, which I shook.
“Thank you,” I repeated. Turing to Miles, I gave my next order. “Call Victoria. Give her an update, and tell her we’re headed for London. Have her send a team to that drop-off location near the border.” I caught Penny’s eye. She nodded gravely, already knowing what I was going to say next. “Tell her Anya Pritcher might be a double agent.
Talia
Pelia Island
Two Days Before the Vote
After the fax Jeb received, I’d been ready to leap out of bed and hunt down Kip immediately. NS was coming for me. Whoever he or she was, I didn’t want to be around to find out. Emma had insisted that we wait, however.
The fax sender wa
nted confirmation from Jeb that I was indeed on Pelia. And Emma thought we could send back a denial, supposedly from her father, and ask for the source behind the rumor of my presence. Since I was insanely curious about who had reported my arrival, I agreed to her plan.
Between the two of us, we were able to alter Jeb’s memory of receiving the fax and compel him to sleep. Then, we scribbled out the response, along with our request.
Since fax machines were not modern devices, I left the actual transmission of the document in Emma’s hands. We waited up all night for a reply. But never received one.
I whittled away the hours with repeated attempts to contact Erik. There too, I struck out. Though I did succeed in making myself pass out three more times, much to Emma’s chagrin. Each time she shook me back to consciousness, Emma shoved food into my hands and demanded I eat to replenish the calories I was stupidly burning in my fruitless attempts.
Just before sunrise, Emma finally agreed to go in search of Kip. And because we didn’t want Jeb receiving a response to the fax we’d sent the mysterious NS, we unplugged the machine. To be safe, I wanted to fry its antiquated insides, but neither of us possessed electrical manipulation abilities, so that was out.
Ross, Jeb, and Andromeda were sound asleep when Emma and I crept out of her house.
Finding Kip was easy, since he worked the morning fishing shift.
“You must be the new arrival everyone is gabbing about,” Kip said to me after giving Emma a lopsided grin. He removed one large rubber glove and offered me his hand. “Vester Ozolos, but everyone calls me Kip,” he said by way of introduction.
“Talia Lyons,” I replied. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Same.” Kip turned to Emma. “What’s got you out of bed and down at the cliffs so early?”
Emma glanced guiltily at me. She was having second thoughts about asking Kip to take me to London. I didn’t blame her, not after what had happened to his father. But the trip would be a quick there and back for him. It would also save me the trouble of navigating my way across the ocean, seeing as that hadn’t gone so well for me the last time.
“Can we talk somewhere private?” Emma asked Kip, her voice low.
Kip’s grin split his handsome face and his light almond-shaped eyes twinkled mischievously. He reminded me so much of Erik in that moment that my heart felt as though it were being ripped in two.
Soon. You’ll see him so soon.
I didn’t know whether that was true, but I had to hold on to the hope that it was. Otherwise, I’d go insane.
“Why Emma Montague, what would old Jeb say about his baby girl going off into the woods with some ruffian?” Kip waggled his finger. “He’d strap a chastity belt on you faster than—”
“Not alone,” Emma interrupted, her cheeks the color of ripe tomatoes. “Talia is coming, too.”
Kip made a pouty face. “Shame.”
“Kip, be serious. We need a favor,” Emma said, tone grim.
This sobered Kip. “Yeah, okay, sure. Give me just a sec.”
Kip peeled off his other glove and tossed the pair of them on the ground next to a tackle box. “Hey, Rig, I’m taking ten. Cool?”
Another fisherman, presumably Rig, standing beside the table where other worker bees were busy measuring and gutting the fish, nodded absently.
Kip led Emma and I back up the path we’d taken to the cliffs and into the woods beyond. The trees near the forest edge were leafless and covered in a thick layer of ice. Deeper inside the woods, white and gray leaves clung to icy branches, shielding us from the rising sun. Beneath my boots, powdery snow crunched as we walked. We didn’t stop until we were far enough from the edge that there was no chance of a passerby seeing us.
“So, what’s up?” Kip asked, leaning against a thick tree truck and crossing his arms over his chest.
Emma looked to me. I cleared my throat, acutely aware of how arduous the favor I was about to ask truly was.
“I understand that you can teleport,” I stated flatly. No reason to beat around the bush. Either Kip would agree, or he wouldn’t. I had no intention of manipulating him if he declined to help. That just seemed wrong.
“I understand that you can read minds and force people to do your bidding,” he shot back, smiling despite the unease leaking off of him.
“Sure can,” I said, matching his smile with one of my own.
A branch cracked beneath Emma’s feet as she shifted uncomfortably.
“Now that we know what we’re all capable of, mind telling me why you two wanted a clandestine meeting in the woods?” Kip was no longer smiling, and I felt the moment realization dawned. “Where is it you need to go?”
“London,” I answered.
“When? There’s another storm coming. I don’t know if I’ll be able to take you after it starts,” Kip warned.
“I’m ready as soon as you are,” I told him.
To his credit, Kip didn’t shy away from the task. If anything, he seemed excited by the prospect of getting away from the island, even briefly. He tapped his index finger against his elbow as he complied a mental list of all of the things he’d need to do in preparation for the trip. Just as Emma had intimated, Kip needed a booster to break through the energy field. He also believed we’d need to go to the top of Mt. Tipper—whatever that was—in order to pull this off.
I remained silent, listening to Kip’s mental ramblings and trying not to think about the fax and NS. Admittedly, I wasn’t doing a stellar job at the latter task. I wanted to know the identity of NS. It might have been someone in UNITED. I wouldn’t have put it past the organization to put a bounty on my head. Still, that didn’t feel right for some reason.
“Alright. We can leave in an hour. Well, two by the time we reach the top of Mt. Tipper. But first we’ll need to stop by the school and borrow a booster,” Kip announced, pulling me away from my own thoughts. He eyed me critically. “I don’t suppose you have moral qualms with breaking and entering or stealing, do you?”
I laughed. “Hardly. Escaped convicts rarely worry about such trivial crimes.”
Kip’s eyebrows winged northward. “Escaped convict?”
“Is that going to be a problem?” I asked calmly. I wanted him to know the truth before he broke his society’s rules to help me. It was only fair.
“Not for me.”
“Good,” I replied.
At the edge of the woods, our little group parted ways. Kip returned to the cliffs to tell his boss that he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t finish his shift. Emma and I went directly to the school.
“If you tell me where to go, you can stay out here and keep watch,” I offered, not wanting her to get in any more trouble than necessary on my account. Truthfully, I wanted her to go home. That way she could claim ignorance to the entire plan. But Emma was firm on staying with me until the end. She even planned to make the trip with Kip and I, but I wasn’t going to allow that.
“Keep your mind open. I can guide you to the supply closet in the nurse’s office. It’s pretty easy to find,” Emma replied.
I made quick work of the lock on the front door, disengaging the two halves with my telekinetic powers. Once inside, I followed the map in Emma’s head straight to the nurse’s office. The school was only one floor, so finding it would have been easy even without her help. The closet was also locked, and also extremely easy to open using my talents. Vials of substances I’d never heard of lined the shelves, everything from Cat’s Paw to Hydelophine.
Tachatrine. I read the word from Emma’s thoughts and located the booster easily—whoever had organized the drug supply had a bad case of OCD.
Since I wasn’t sure whether Kip would need to drink the concoction or inject it, I pocketed three syringes to be safe. By the time I finished my felonious acts, Kip had joined Emma by the front doors.
They were mid-argument when I slipped outside.
“You need me,” Emma was saying. “Mt. Tipper is on Hoya land. If you’re caught—”
“Which is why you need to stay here,” Kip shot back.
“I know this island better than you do. You need me,” Emma repeated, stomping her foot angrily.
“I’m guessing Hoya is another tribe?” I interrupted.
Both Kip and Emma turned, startled to find me listening to their bickering.
“Yes, it is,” Emma said through gritted teeth. “And they aren’t one of the friendlier ones. I am familiar with all of the trails on the mountain. I can make sure no one catches us trespassing.”
Crap. This just got a whole lot stickier.
I started having second thoughts about this plan. Throwing caution to the wind, morphing, and braving the storm seemed like the better way to go.
“Jeb is our leader, Emma. You are his daughter. If the Hoyas capture you,” Kip shook his head, frustrated, “it would be really bad.”
Neither Emma nor Kip actually knew what would happen if this other tribe captured us, but they were both convinced the punishment would be severe. Great. Why was everything so damned difficult?
“Look guys, you don’t need to do this. I can fly to London. I didn’t understand all the risks involved when I asked you to take me originally.”
“The famous Talia Lyons shying away from a challenge. That goes against everything we learned about you in school,” Kip said, the dare evident in his tone.
“Oh, I’m not worried about me. I can take care of myself. It’s you guys I worry about.” I hesitated. “I’m not even sure how safe you’ll be with me in London, even if you drop me off and return immediately.”
“That’s not an option. I won’t be able to teleport again right away, too much energy required. I’ll have to stay in London for, minimum, a couple of hours. Really I’m thinking more like a day.” Kip waved off the protest I was about to make. “Don’t worry. I won’t cramp your style. You can go off and do your thing. I’ll lay low at a café, maybe sightsee. I have always wanted to visit a big city.”
And the twists just kept coming. I rounded on Emma. “You should have told me that,” I said accusingly.