“It is.”
I glanced towards the door and found Frederick leaning against the frame. His expression was serious, concerned, more than a tad angry.
“What were you thinking, Erik?” he demanded. “You could have killed yourself. You could have killed Penny.” Frederick shook his head, exasperated. “Seriously man. What were you thinking?”
“I was trying to reach Talia,” I said, feeling like a naughty schoolboy. Then, my anger rose to match Frederick’s. I was trying to reach Talia, my girlfriend. Because she was missing. And Frederick had the nerve to chastise me? He had no right. “What if it were Henri out there?” I flung my arms wide to indicate the world at large. “Can you honestly tell me that you wouldn’t be doing everything possible to find him? Don’t bother lying. I’ll know.”
Frederick sighed and rolled his eyes. He took several deliberate steps inside the darkened bedroom. “Yes, I would. To an extent. I wouldn’t go on a suicide mission, though. That’s not going to help. You and Penny are the best shot we have of locating Talia, and you’re both out of commission. So, good job.”
His tone dripped sarcasm, which I chose to ignore.
“Whatever. How is Penny?” Hurting myself to find Talia was one thing, but I did feel guilty about taking Penny along for the ride.
“Sleeping,” Frederick replied. He reconsidered. “Well, she’s unconscious anyway. I imagine she’ll be up soon, too. I’d steer clear of Brand for a while if I were you, though.”
“Is he pissed?” I guessed.
“That’s putting it mildly.” Frederick came to perch on the edge of my bed. His tone was no longer flippant or annoyed when he spoke again. “You were right. She’s here.”
The mush in my skull where my brain should have been took a minute to process Frederick’s meaning.
“Talia? You saw her?” I demanded, throwing back the covers. “Let’s go get her.”
Miles was on his feet. With two hands firmly planted on my shoulders, he pinned me in place. “Sit. Listen.”
Because I was in no shape for a physical confrontation, I complied.
Frederick cleared his throat and averted his gaze temporarily before meeting my imploring stare. “I did see Talia, very briefly. I wasn’t even trying. Her emotions were so strong she must have pulled me to her. But one glimpse was all I got before she disappeared again. I’ve been trying to view her again ever since. I can’t. It’s weird. It’s like before, like there is a force field around her, blocking me.”
Force fields, fake Talias, what was the world coming to? As if having a slew of Talented and Created running through the streets wasn’t enough.
“How do you know she’s here? For sure?” I asked, trying to tamp down my excitement.
Frederick and Miles exchanged irritating pointed glances across my sickbed.
“For one, I recognized her surroundings,” Frederick said finally. “You remember that pub, The Pink Giraffe? It’s where we met that Riley kid—Kenly’s friend.”
“Yeah, I remember,” I replied.
The Pink Giraffe was a dive that catered to an eclectic crowd of Talented and other individuals looking for a quiet place to eat, drink, and not be bothered.
“That’s where I saw her. She was with two other people. A boy and a girl. At least, I think they were together. She was holding hands with the boy.” My pulse spiked. “Not like that. The boy was holding hands with the other girl, too. I got the impression they all needed to be touching.” Frederick reached into the pocket of his cargo pants and withdrew a folded piece of paper. He handed it to me. “Do you recognize either of the other two?”
Slowly, I unfolded the paper and smoothed the creases. With the skill of a professional artist, Frederick had drawn three figures surrounded by high-top tables and chairs. A surprised older man stood behind the bar off to one side of the picture. I traced the planes of Talia’s face, the outline of her small, lithe frame, pretending my fingers were touching her skin.
“Kid? Take a good look. Do you recognize the two with Talia?” Miles prompted, tearing me away from thoughts of Talia.
The boy was tall and between sixteen and twenty. Frederick had drawn the picture in black pen, and had colored in the boy’s hair, so I assumed that meant the guy had dark, shaggy hair. The girl was shorter than the boy, but significantly taller than Talia. Her hair was most likely blonde, because Frederick hadn’t bothered to add pigmentation. Both of Talia’s companions had high, sharp cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. Neither triggered a response in my memory.
I shook my head. “Pretty sure I’ve never seen either of them.”
Frederick reached for the drawing. I snatched it out of his grasp. Childish as it was, I wanted to have the picture of Talia to look at later.
“Erik, come on. I need to give that to Victoria and Crane. One of them might recognize those faces. If nothing else, they can run facial recognition. You can have it back after I scan the image and comm it over to them. Or I’ll make you another if you really want.”
With one last look at my girlfriend’s soft lips, I relinquished the drawing. Frederick carefully folded the paper and returned it to his pocket.
“I’m guessing you’ve spoken to Victoria? Did she have anything useful to say?” I asked, fidgeting with a loose gold thread on the comforter Miles had replaced over my legs.
“I have. And she did.” Frederick paused and more nonverbal signals passed between him and Miles.
I opened my mind to read their thoughts, only to have a searing pain lance through my skull. Cursing, I cradled my head in my hands and waited for the worst of it to subside.
“I told you, you blew a fuse, kid,” Miles said. “No mind reading for you right now.”
“Fine. Just tell me what Victoria said,” I said through gritted teeth.
“She sent one of the search teams to the location where Anya was supposed to drop off the hover,” Frederick began.
I looked up. White spots obscured portions of Frederick’s apprehensive expression.
“And?” I prompted.
“And Anya did leave the hover there this morning. From there, it is unclear where she went. According to satellite imaging, there isn’t much within walking distance. Some farms. A couple of vineyards. There’s a small town, like population-549-small.”
I didn’t need my mind reading capabilities to know Frederick was holding back. Something he’d said stood out: According to satellite imaging. Why was Victoria relying on imaging? Sure, it was usually pretty accurate, but nothing about Talia’s escape had been usual.
I decided to ask the current million-globe question. “What do you mean about satellite imaging? What did the agents Victoria sent report?”
“That’s the thing. There hasn’t been a report since the one stating that Anya left the rental hover at the exact location the guy in Nice gave us. That was hours ago. UNITED is currently unable to contact any of the agents they sent.”
“Excuse me?” I looked from Frederick to Miles positive I’d misheard.
“Weird, I know. They can’t get them on comms. I can’t view any of them. Satellite imaging is showing nothing.” Frederick sighed. “Victoria is deciding whether or not to send more agents right now. Between the search for Talia and the general chaos around the world, she isn’t sure whether they can spare the manpower. Especially when there is no evidence that the agents are truly missing.”
“As opposed to what?” I asked. “On vacation?”
“Dead zone,” Miles answered knowledgably. “There are pockets all over the world where electronics don’t work right. It’s like that Hans guy was saying with the energy fields. And there are several bodies of water surrounding the area, so it makes sense that the energy would be higher in that region.”
“Exactly,” Frederick agreed. “Under normal circumstances, the whole no-reporting-thing wouldn’t be a big deal, at least not yet. Victoria’s only concerned because nothing about any of this makes sense. For now, our orders are to find Talia’s lo
cation in London. Victoria doesn’t want us going to her if we do manage to pinpoint her coordinates. The city is crawling with agents, and we don’t want to run the risk of leading them straight to Talia. We’re to notify Victoria and Crane instead. Then, Crane’s people will go get Talia and take her back to the States as planned.”
“Why are there so many agents here already?”
It was Miles’s turn to give me bad news, which apparently didn’t stop coming. “Frederick over here isn’t the only one who saw your girl,” he told me.
My stomach sank. Of course. Talia had gone to a freaking pub. How many people had reported seeing her there?
“Eyewitnesses say Talia and the two others materialized out of thin air. Like poof. One second the space is empty, the next three bedraggled teenagers in artic explorer outfits are standing there. Then, ‘cause that’s not weird enough, all three of them leave snowy prints on the tile when they skedaddle out the door.” Miles held his hands up. “This crap keeps getting stranger and stranger.”
Snow? Well that did jive with what both Frederick and I had seen in our respective visions. But the whole appearing out of thing air thing was bizarre, though not unexplainable.
“One of the two Talia’s with must be a light manipulator,” I said, voicing my theory aloud. “That’s why all three were holding hands. The guy was in the middle, right? He must be the light manipulator. Also, he must be strong to be able to make the girls invisible as well.”
“Strong but not proficient,” Frederick agreed. “He must have lost control at some point—that’s when they magically appeared. But why were they at the pub in the first place? And why were they wearing such ridiculous outfits? Even if they’d traveled from somewhere cold, wouldn’t they have changed, or at least shed a few layers, the second they reached London?”
“Maybe they went to the pub to meet up with Kenly. Her friends do have ties to the Pink Giraffe,” I pointed out.
Even as I said it, I wasn’t convinced. Talia wasn’t stupid. UNITED knew about those ties, and had probably already explored them in the search for Kenly. If only my stubborn as a mule girlfriend would reach out to me, all of these mysteries might be cleared up.
“Talia’s too smart for that. But I guess desperate times call for desperate measures,” Frederick said half-heartedly. He didn’t believe Talia had gone to the Pink Giraffe looking for Kenly either. He shook his head, baffled by the entire situation. “The snow prints make no sense. All of the witnesses say they only saw the tracks after Talia and the others disappeared. How did they get inside without leaving a trail? Even invisible that isn’t possible.” Speaking more to himself than Miles or me, he added, “Unless…no, that’s impossible. Well, not impossible, I guess. Farfetched definitely.”
“Want to share with the class?” I asked dryly.
Frederick exhaled slowly. “So you know how right after the Great Contamination there was a much wider range of powers? A lot have died out over the years. Mimics, for one, are exceptionally rare. Mind Manipulators are few and far between. Well, way back when, Teleporters existed. According to UNITED’s records there were only ever a handful of people who possessed the ability. I know it sounds ridiculous, but maybe the guy is a Teleporter.”
Miles whistled. “Now that would be something. UNITED hasn’t had a documented case of teleportation in over thirty years.” He shrugged, seeming to warm up to the possibility the more he thought about it. “It would explain a lot, though—the lack of footprints leading inside the pub, the boots and coats. But where would Talia have found a Teleporter? When would Talia have found a Teleporter?”
These were all good questions. But I wasn’t interested in sitting around theorizing. Inventing reasons for any of the number of bizarre occurrences that had taken place lately was not going to help find Talia.
“Look, guys. None of that matters right now. Once we find Talia you all can ask her for the answers. I’m sure she’d be happy to introduce you to her teleporter friend.” I focused on Frederick. “How does Victoria suggest we look for Talia without physically going to find her? I assume you’ve told her my fuse is blown?”
Frederick nodded guiltily.
“Pretty boy over here is supposed to keep trying to view her,” Miles chimed in.
Frederick looked offended by the nickname.
“Just means he likes you,” I told my friend.
“And,” Miles continued, “the big boss lady believes Talia might try to contact you or the girlie tonight. In fact, she’s done everything possible to make sure that does happen. Though I don’t mind telling you, she’s taking a huge risk, kid. UNITED put out an official press release, stating that you are here already in preparation for the final rally, including where you’re staying.”
Smart. No, wait, not smart.
“That sounds like a trap,” I stated.
“Exactly. UNITED already has agents swarming these fancy digs, so now Victoria looks like she’s playing along. She doesn’t think Talia will come in person.” Miles gave me a pointed stare.
No. Of course not. Crane and Victoria were banking on Talia’s inability to resist contacting me knowing that we were in the same city. I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of peace. They were right. Talia would reach out to me. She wouldn’t be able to stop herself. All I had to do was lie back and wait.
And wait. And wait. And wait.
By two a.m., I was no longer confident that my girlfriend would take Victoria’s bait. Depending on where she was hiding, Talia might not have even seen the news. Still, I didn’t understand why she wasn’t contacting me. Whether she knew I was in London or not, it wasn’t like Talia to remain radio silent. And I knew for a fact that the energy field in this region wasn’t high enough to disrupt our powers.
Is she hurt? Did Nightshade find her? If so, what did they do with her?
The thought of Talia in the clutches of the ruthless mercenary organization both infuriated me and terrified me. I felt so useless. I was supposed to protect her. Even if she didn’t actually need that protection. Talia had moved heaven, earth, and Ian Crane’s soldiers to rescue me from Tramblewood. And I was helpless to so much as locate her, much less go to her.
At three a.m. I got the bright idea to use alcohol to dull the heartache of uncertainty. Three glasses of the most expensive bourbon in the minibar did nothing to ease the pain in my chest. Unfortunately, they did slow my reflexes and my senses. Otherwise, I would have heard the soft click of the outer suite door, even three floors up. I would have heard the pitter-patter of the feet climbing the stairs. I would have heard the girl who slipped through the narrow crack she made in my bedroom door. And I most certainly wouldn’t have screamed like a madman when she whispered my name into the blackness.
“Oh, please. You’re the one who tried to kill me, not the other way around,” Kenly Baker said.
The Privileged
Besançon, France
Two Days Before the Vote
The news that four 2Ps had been caught sneaking around in the secret passageways beneath the school was all anyone wanted to discuss at breakfast the next morning. Cressa was stunned. She’d thought the rest of their group had made it back before bed checks.
“I bet there were more than just the four who got caught,” a 4P named Darcy was saying between bites of scrambled eggs.
Normally the cadets stayed with their own phases during mealtimes, but Cressa’s table had been bombarded by higher-ranking individuals, since all the wandering students were 2Ps. Everyone was desperate for more information about the big scandal.
After being poked and prodded by a med tech—Dr. Masterson was too busy to bother with something as routine as stomach issues—it was determined that Cressa was not suffering from an adverse reaction to her injection. The med tech diagnosed her with food poisoning, flagged her file, and insisted she drink a thick tonic that tasted like grass. Cressa had spent the rest of the night in med bay, returning to her floor just in time to get dressed for the day.
br /> “Probably,” Ritchie replied, feigning indifference. “I wonder if the people who got caught will talk.”
“Oh, they’ll talk,” another 4P girl insisted with a flip of her white-gold hair. “I hear they are using psychic interrogation on all of them.”
Cressa felt Ritchie stiffen beside her.
“Who was caught?” Daphne interjected. She was sitting on Cressa’s other side, looking pale and tired from the previous night’s ordeal.
Cressa had been wondering the same thing. Everyone kept saying four cadets had been found inside the tunnels. Excluding Daphne, Ritchie, and Cressa herself, who were all present at breakfast, that left six, not four, other wanderers. Neither of the twins was at breakfast, nor had she seen them in the bathroom after returning from med bay. Unfortunately, it was a safe assumption that Lyla and Shyla Towers were slated to become PDs.
“They haven’t released the names yet,” an unfamiliar girl spoke up. “Right now, it’s all just speculation and gossip.”
Cressa discreetly looked around the large, bustling space. A cursory search of the cafeteria didn’t produce Kev, Hartley, or the Jacobs.
“Looking for Kev Leon?” Darcy asked, smirking.
“Huh?” Cressa replied dumbly. She would’ve though the 4P was reading her mind, but cadets didn’t receive that ability until the seventh phase.
“He was spotted entering the cafeteria this morning,” Darcy said, speaking slowly as if repeating something Cressa already knew. Then, she rolled her eyes. “It’s understandable to want to see him, you don’t have to pretend otherwise.”
Cressa let out a sigh of relief. Of all her cohorts, he was the one she worried for the most. The twins, Hartley, and the Jacobs had bolted at the first sign of trouble, so those traitors deserved whatever fate befell them.
“If not for those kids getting caught in the tunnels, it would be all anyone was talking about,” another 4P chimed in.
“Shut it. Gossip is not tolerated at the Institute,” Suzu Mitsu said loudly, dropping her tray with a clatter as she joined the other end of the table.