Finally, at nearly eleven p.m., Victoria declared that she was satisfied with the search of Pure Bliss, and that I obviously was truly gone. Her agents did find the storage room, but they never did locate the trapdoor. Between Emma and Brand, we’d remained invisible to both the naked eye and infrared image scanners.
“I can’t believe they’re leaving,” Kenly proclaimed, letting out a huge sigh.
Me neither, I thought. Victoria was nothing if not tenacious. I was shocked she hadn’t ordered the entire structure bulldozed or something as equally destructive.
Erik and I were sitting side by side at the desk. He pulled my chair closer to his, so that our arms and legs touched. The kiss he placed on my temple was sweet, his demeanor almost relaxed.
James appeared at the top of the ladder, jumping through the opening as I’d done earlier. Haggard and emotionally wiped, his platinum eyes lit up when he saw Kenly. She ran to him, and the two embraced. James stroked her hair and whispered in her ear, promising that Bryn was going to be okay.
“The medics say the bullet didn’t hit any major organ. It nicked her spinal cord, but they believe the damage is fixable,” James told us over the top of Kenly’s head. He sounded relieved.
“I’m sorry about all of this, James,” I replied.
“Don’t be. We knew the risks.” James paused and furrowed his brow. “Well, obviously not all of the risks. How did they know about the meeting?”
No one had an answer for this, at least not one they were willing to share. I was too tired to contemplate the possibilities, particularly since every one that popped into my head was ridiculous and farfetched.
“It’s late,” Erik said quietly. He squeezed my hand knowingly. Apparently my mental barriers were still leaky, and Erik felt my exhaustion. “We should all get some sleep. We can talk about all of this in the morning, decide where to go.”
“Why can’t we stay here?” Emma asked, confused. “It’s doubtful UNITED will come back now that they’ve searched the place top to bottom.”
Erik and I exchanged a pointed look, but it was Kenly who spoke. “They have Riley and Bryn, and they’ll have Willa soon, too. It won’t take them long to learn about the bunker.”
Emma still looked confused. “I thought they were your friends?”
“UNITED has ways of prying information from even the most reluctant of informants,” I said gently, not wanting to upset her. Emma was from a primitive society, it was doubtful they used physic interrogation. This was particularly unlikely given that the mental powers required for such a method were shunned on Pelia.
“Like torture?” Emma squeaked.
“Nothing quite so bloody,” I replied. “But their methods are unpleasant and effective. Everyone succumbs in the end.”
This seemed to disturb Emma more than the prospect of physical torture. Kip wrapped an arm around her waist. “You’re going to have nightmares, Em. Let’s save the unpleasantness for morning,” he said, and then steered Emma back towards the alcove where they’d been resting earlier.
“There are loads of extra beds, take whichever you like. I’m sure you’ll be able to tell which belong to Riley and Willa, but they won’t mind if you use them. Help yourselves to food, drinks, whatever.” James gestured towards the bunker at large. “But if you don’t mind much, I’m going to get Kenly settled.”
“Of course,” I said.
I leaned over and hugged Kenly tightly to me. “I really am sorry about all of this,” I whispered in her ear.
James helped Kenly to her feet and led her off in the same direction that Emma and Kip had gone. And then, finally, I was alone with Erik.
He turned my chair so we were facing each other. He didn’t touch me, though I felt the physical ache inside of him to do just that.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
“Hey,” I echoed, fighting a grin. It felt inappropriate and just plain wrong to be so happy after being ambushed, nearly caught, and having two of our numbers severely injured. But I was happy, so freaking happy.
Erik sighed. “We have a lot to talk about.”
I nodded. “I know. So much to talk about.”
Erik leaned forward, sliding one of his knees between mine. He placed both hands on the arms of my chair, our lips so close we were breathing the same air. “I don’t feeling much like talking.”
His mouth covered mine in the most amazing kiss we’d ever shared; absence really did make the heart grow fonder. The kiss upstairs was nothing compared to this one, a flick of match compared to a bonfire. I crawled onto Erik’s lap, straddling his hips. His fingers searched the back of Bryn’s ridiculous dress for a zipper or buttons. Finding none, he tore the fabric down the seam along my spine.
Laughing, I broke the kiss just long enough to chastise him. “Bryn is going to kill you. This is her dress.”
“She can bill UNITED,” Erik mumbled, his lips finding my throat.
I arched my back and worked my arms out of the sleeves with Erik’s help. He flung the silver material across the room. The boots were another matter, one that required a lot more finesse owing to all of the pearl buttons.
“Leave them on,” Erik said huskily when he noticed me fumbling with the footwear.
“Then how would I get the tights off?” I asked.
“Right. Here, I’ll do it.”
Erik lifted me off of his lap and onto the desk. My butt hit controls, and the screens behind me started to go berserk.
“We’re going to wake the others,” I muttered.
Erik slammed keys until the sound muted. “They’re all adults, Tals. They’ll survive. Besides, they’re distracted with their own issues. You and these boot things are my only concern.”
“Actually, Emma and Kip…” I began, but lost my train of thought when Erik made circles with his tongue down one side of my neck.
“What was that you were saying?” he teased, easing back into his chair so that he could figure out the boots.
Unlike with the dress, Erik seemed to want to take his time undoing the pearl buttons. Then again, I was half naked and he was racking his gaze up and down my body. So, yeah, there was that.
“I don’t remember,” I breathed. “Not important.”
Somehow, by the time Erik had my shoes off, he’d managed to get me out of the rest of my clothes, too. Then, he hooked one arm under my knees and one across my shoulder blades. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in Erik’s neck, inhaling the mix of love, desire, and mango soap.
“It was in the hotel bathroom,” he said, reading the thought about the soap from my head.
Just as I always did when we were together like this, I kept my mind open to Erik. I let him feel everything I felt, my love and affection for him, the way he made me feel both desired and protected, how complete I was with him by my side.
Erik found the closest alcove with a bed and tossed me onto it. I laughed as the springy mattress sent me bouncing back into the air. Erik didn’t take nearly as long with his own clothes as he had with mine. Then, he was laying next me, our bodies pressed together. He tucked a curl behind my ear.
“I can’t even tell you how many nights I’ve laid awake thinking about this moment,” he sent.
“Me too,” I sent back. The difference of course being that I’d been in a cell on the lumpy piece of cardboard the prison administrator called a bed.
“Tals, I am so sorry. It should have been me.”
I hadn’t meant to let the thought about my time on Vault slip out.
“Can we not do this now?” I pleaded. “I won’t lie and say that the last month didn’t suck. But I just want to forget about it for the next hour. Please.”
It was the please that caused Erik to grin wickedly.
“You’re adorable when you beg.”
I rolled my eyes. “I thought you liked strong women.”
“Oh, I do. I also like to know that you aren’t made of marble. With me, you can be vulnerable. It only makes me love you
more.”
Without warning, Erik rolled me onto my back, his face hovering inches above mine.
“You know what else is adorable?” He didn’t wait for answer, before adding, “That you think I’m going to help you forget your troubles for just one hour.”
The Privileged
Besançon, France
The Night Before the Vote
Cressa’s eyelids felt like they were made of lead, and glued together with cement. Given the last thing she remembered, Cressa was surprised to find she wasn’t in excruciating pain. Her body was weightless, as though she were suspended in water. And yet, she didn’t feel like she was floating either.
In fact, Cressa didn’t feel anything at all below her chin.
Alarmed, she tried wiggling her fingers and toes. Nothing happened. She tried again, still to no avail. It was like something was blocking the messages her brain was sending out.
Cressa panicked.
She tried to scream. Though she felt her lips move no sound came out. Full-blown terror set in. Except, she had no visceral reaction. Her heart wasn’t pounding. Sweat didn’t form on her face, which was the only part of her body Cressa could feel. Even her breathing was even. It was her mind, not her lungs, screeching for air.
“Cressa? Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
Soft fingers caressed her cheek. At the same time a hand tipped her chin upwards. Warm breath fanned her face as the person leaning over her let out a relieved sigh.
“Cressa, can you hear me?” the person repeated. “Please open your eyes. We need to go.”
She recognized the voice. It belonged to Kev. His touch was so gentle; all Cressa wanted was to snuggle closer to him.
“Cressa,” Kev snapped. “Open your eyes.”
The next instant, her cheek was on fire.
Shock alone brought her mind into sharper focus.
“Did you just slap me?” she asked incredulously. At least, that was what Cressa tried to say, but the words came out jumbled and unintelligible.
Fingers pried her lids apart. Kev’s deep, soulful eyes filled her vision. When he spoke, his voice was firm, authoritative, just like the one her father used when scolding one of his underlings.
“You need to sit up. We need to leave. Now. Do you understand?”
Her body obeyed the command with no conscious thought on Cressa’s part. The sting in her cheek was fading, but the rest of her body still felt numb. She looked down. Thick blue gel swirled around her body from the waist down. The same substance coated her arms and chest, which were bare.
Cressa let loose an ear-piercing scream.
Kev clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle the noise.
“You’re in a deprivation chamber, this goo is just a numbing gel,” he assured her, his tone once again soft and soothing. “You aren’t paralyzed. Once I get you out of here and wash it off, you’ll be able to feel your arms and legs again.” He offered her a weak smile. “I know it’s scary. The first time I woke up in one…well, let’s just say my reaction was embarrassing. I’ve heard people joke about being so frightened they mess themselves, but I didn’t really believe it could happen.”
Despite her predicament, Cressa started to relax. She had a feeling Kev’s tale was an exaggeration meant to calm her anxiety, possibly even make her laugh so that she wouldn’t scream again.
Just to be safe, she glanced down at the pool of gel surrounding her in the clear, glass tub. It was a pure, crystalline blue, with no hint of discoloration to suggest that she’d lost control of her bodily functions.
“I’m going to remove my hand. Promise not to yell again? If they hear you, we’re as good as dead—or worse.”
Cressa nodded, her head wobbling on her neck like a newborn.
Kev slowly drew his hand back, visibly relaxing when Cressa didn’t immediately start screaming.
She had to open and close her lips several times before her mouth was able to form a single word. “Where?” Cressa finally asked.
“Med bay, back wing. It’s where they perform the shady stuff.”
“Why?”
Kev looked confused. “Why? Because the Dame is nuts, I guess. It doesn’t matter right now, okay? Right now, we need to go, before someone comes to check on us.”
Cressa shook her head, the movement so spastic it probably looked like she was having an epileptic episode. She tried to speak, but the words in her head were still having trouble making it to her mouth.
Frustrated, she licked her lips, a nervous habit, and tried again.
“No.” She gulped audibly. “No. Wh-why are w-we here? Y-y-you and m-me.”
“Oh, right.” Kev sighed. “If I had to guess, it’s because they realized you’re a latent. They already know I am.” Tapping the side of the tub, he added bitterly, “I’ve spent a lot of time in these chambers.”
Latent. There was that word again. What did it mean?
Her head was so foggy, like her brain was covered in that gross fuzzy mold that grew on old fruit.
“L-latent?” she managed to ask.
“I’ll explain later, I promise.” Kev’s gaze flitted towards the doorway. “Seriously, Cressa, we need to move. I had no idea they’d bring us back here to the tanks; I thought they’d just sedate us until they were done with the allegiance ceremonies. I don’t know how much time has passed, or how long we have. We need to go, okay?”
“N-now,” Cressa demanded.
Closing his eyes and pursing his lips, Kev seemed to be praying for patience, or maybe for time to standstill. Either way, when his gaze met hers, Kev launched into a hurried, somewhat frantic explanation.
“A latent is someone born with the genetic mutation that causes talents. Unlike other Talented, who possess an active mutation that gives them abilities from birth, latents don’t exhibit signs until they experience a trauma that forces their powers to come out. For most, it’s a life-threatening event. But it doesn’t have to be. Any serious shock to the system can make a dormant gene become active. You have the latent mutation. I don’t know how they figured it out, but they put you in the deprivation chamber to force it to become active.” Kev cupped Cressa’s cheeks in his palms and leaned in so that his face was all she could see. “I know this is a lot to take in. I know you have a ton more questions. I know you are scared. I promise, I will tell you everything else I know once we are free. But please, just trust me when I say we have to go.”
Trust him? Kev had left her no other option but to trust that he was on her side. Whatever he’d done to her to cause such intense pain that she’d blacked out, Kev had done it without her permission. And now he was rambling about dormant mutations and all sorts of other nonsense that Cressa’s muddled brain couldn’t begin to digest.
It was too much. Part of her wanted to sink beneath the gel and let the detached feeling from earlier take over again.
The only way through is forward.
The mantra popped into her head, only this time Cressa wasn’t thinking about becoming Privileged. This time, it was escape. Kev clearly had a plan, and he’d already put it in motion. If she didn’t follow him to the end of this treacherous road, she would end up in the frog pond. Or worse. How far would the Dame go to force Cressa’s dormant powers out of her? If she truly had this latent mutation Kev kept insisting she did, she knew the answer already: the Dame would go as far as necessary. Probably until Cressa was dead.
“I’m sorry about upstairs,” Kev began, trying to interpret her prolonged silence. He was still holding her face between his hands, and Kev’s proximity was making it even harder for Cressa to focus. “I know I put you in this position, and I didn’t give you a choice. But I know you don’t believe that the Dame is a good person. I know you don’t want to be one of her minions.”
Kev searched her eyes intently, imploring her with the depths of his gaze.
“If I’m wrong about that, stay here. Like I said before, you don’t know how valuable you truly are. The Dame needs numbers on her side rig
ht now, so she won’t dismiss someone like you easily. Believe me, she knows that Daphne, you, and I were in the tunnels, too. Hartley and the others wouldn’t have been able to keep that a secret, not under psychic interrogation. She didn’t come after us because we are worth more to her as Privileged drones than we would be as caged rats. That public shaming spectacle she put on yesterday was solely for our benefit, to scare us into obedience.” Kev paused for air. “I am giving you the choice now, but you have to make it quickly. Do you want to come with me, to see your parents again? Or do you want to stay at the Institute, blindly following a madwoman intent on enslaving the norms?”
“Well when you put it like that, there’s not much of a choice,” Cressa said dryly, surprised the remark rolled so easily from her tongue.
“Sarcasm is a very good sign.” Kev beamed at her. But when he spoke again, his tone was eerily serious. “I can’t promise to keep you safe, but I will do everything in my power to make sure you make it out of here alive. Are you ready?”
The decision was surprisingly easy. Truly, she’d known it was the one she’d make all along. Cressa wanted to see her parents again, wanted to see Julie again. She wanted her life back. Being Privileged had seemed so exciting before the Institute. But after everything she’d experienced there, Cressa wished she’d never heard of the Dame or her program to turn normal children into Talented leaders in her dream world. She only hoped her parents weren’t too disappointed in her decision. Maybe the news that Cressa was a latent would soften the blow.
Or maybe you’re condemning your family to pauperism, a voice in the back of her mind suggested.
What would happen to the Karmines if the Dame succeeded?