by Sophie Davis
Emma’s eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry, Talia. I didn’t even—I should have, but I didn’t. It just never—I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I told Emma.
“What are you two talking about?” Kenly asked. “What fax?”
I blew out a breath and repeated the short communication verbatim.
“So they knew you were on Pelia?” Kenly asked, furrowing her brow. “How? Who tipped them off? Because it doesn’t sound like it was Emma’s father, not if they wanted confirmation from him that you were there.”
“Freedom Beach is in the free lands,” Kip interjected. “News of a mainlander washing up in no-man’s territory spreads quickly on Pelia. Even though Emma found Talia, it’s likely that someone from another tribe saw Talia first. And while the various tribes don’t get along as a whole, individuals from different tribes do socialize in the free lands. My best friend has even dated a girl from a rival tribe. So once Talia’s presence in our village was known, I’m sure people started gossiping to their friends in other parts of the island.”
“Why is Nightshade looking for me?” I asked, directing my question to Kenly. “Do you know?”
“Not exactly,” Kenly hedged. “Given the way their organization works, I can tell you that they were hired to find you. I can also tell you that their orders are to capture you and deliver you to the client alive. No exceptions.” Her eyes flitted briefly to Kip. “And you, too, Kip.”
Now I understood the collective reactions from Kenly, Riley, and James upon hearing Kip’s real name. The fact a mercenary organization was after me was not surprising in the least. And the client who’d hired Nightshade could be any number of unsavory people or groups. But Kip was from a remote island in the middle of nowhere. Why did they want him? How did they even know about him?
The fear I felt was not my own; it was Emma’s, and it was crippling. Using the table to steady myself, I erected reinforced mental shields to block her emotions. I did send calming vibes Emma’s way, though. Judging by her level of anxiety, she needed all the help she could get.
“Now would be a good time to go back to the beginning,” I told Kenly. “Tell me everything you know about Nightshade.”
Between Kenly, James, and Riley they wove a tale of corruption, kidnapping, and murder that spanned centuries. Thanks to Kenly’s hacking abilities, there were pictures to accompany the acts my friends described.
“This is the youngest son of Holo Fantasy Games CEO Bret Canter,” Kenly explained as she brought up an image of a young, terrified boy holding up a sign for the camera. The message “Withdraw your bid on Universal Fortune by midnight, or I die” was written in block letters on the piece of cardboard clutched in the child’s hands. “Nightshade kidnapped the child to force his father to recant his offer on Universal Fortune, and it worked. Mr. Canter did withdraw his bid, and another gaming company, Surreal Entertainment, swooped in and purchased Universal Fortune for a steal.”
My mentee’s tone was dispassionate, but I wasn’t fooled. Kenly was more bothered by the images than I was. She was just trying to put on a brave face in the hopes she wouldn’t break down in tears. James continued to rub her back soothingly, a gesture that did relax Kenly some.
A new image replaced the one of Bret Canter’s son. This one was of a candid shot of woman with an immaculate blonde bun and shrewd brown eyes shaking hands with well-wishers at some sort of campaign rally.
“This is Henrietta Karmine. She was favored to win the U.S. presidential election,” Kenly told the group. She tapped the tabletop. The same woman was now engaged in naked twister with another woman nearly half Henrietta’s age. Both women were clearly enjoying their time together. “This is just one of over a hundred photos Nightshade released after Henrietta refused to pullout of the race. All of her financial backers withdrew their support after the pictures went viral, and Henrietta lost the election anyhow.”
“I get that the pictures are sort of scandalous,” Kip said. “But, I guess I don’t see why people wouldn’t vote for her because of them.”
“The other woman isn’t her wife,” James said darkly. “She was Henrietta’s children’s nanny. And she was only nineteen at the time.”
“Oh, wow.” Kip’s expression was stunned as he angled his head to really study the photograph.
Kenly tapped the tabletop again to switch images. The man on screen was much older, and smiling dazzlingly for the camera. His arm was around a beautiful woman with startlingly green eyes that were focused solely on the man. Kenly cleared her throat and pointed at the man. “This is Jose Rodriguez.” She pointed at the woman. “This is Juana Rodriguez. She was the youngest ever female gymnast to win all-around gold in the Global Games, as well as individual gold in each event. She repeated the feat three more times in three consecutive Games. She married Jose shortly before what would have been her four Games, where Juana should have set a world record for the most gold medals ever by a female gymnast.”
“That didn’t happen,” I guessed.
“No.” It was Riley who took up the story now. He reached over and tapped the tabletop to switch to the next image. I recoiled. Jose’s gorgeous face was slashed with razor-thin lines of red, with blood trickling from the cuts. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the message carved into Jose’s bare torso: Hope the medals keep you warm at night. “Nightshade contacted Juana prior to her fourth Games, demanding she throw the competition or harm would come to her husband. Since Nightshade didn’t abduct Jose before making the threat, Juana called their bluff. She was leading the field after her first day of competition—that’s when the mercenaries took Jose. They didn’t send a second warning. They just killed him. Juana did pull out of the Games after that, but it was too late.”
Before anyone could show another graphic image, I held up my hand. “I think we get the point. I don’t want any more images burned into my mind.” This was true. But my concern was more for Emma than my own not-so-delicate sensibilities. I’d seen death. I’d caused death. So the images, while troubling, weren’t all that much worse than some stuff I’d seen in person. Emma, on the other hand, was verging on a nervous breakdown, even with my calming vibes wafting her way. “How do you know for sure Nightshade is looking for Kip and me?” I asked Kenly.
“UNITED’s files,” she replied guiltily. “I found a report the cryptos sent Victoria Walburton, alerting her to the fact that Nightshade was targeting you. That’s what got me started on their trail. Using the acts UNITED knows for sure were perpetrated by Nightshade, I wrote an algorithm that identifies other incidents throughout history that fit the group’s M.O. From there, I hacked my way into the victims’ personal records and communicator logs to see whether Nightshade ever contacted them with demands. When I did find communications, I attempted to back trace them to the source.” Kenly paused to catch her breath. “No luck so far. I’m so sorry, Talia. Without that information, I can’t figure out who hired Nightshade to capture you, Kip, and the others.”
“You have no reason to be sorry,” I told her, still digesting this information. “Wait—others? How many other people are they currently after?”
“Ten in total,” James said softly.
“Who else is on that list?” I asked, my voice flat and emotionless. The answer was going to upset me further, and I needed to steel my emotions preemptively. Otherwise, I’d be as close to a panic attack as Emma currently was.
James took Kenly’s hand and squeezed. “Tell her.”
Erik. Of course. They were going to tell me that Erik was a target.
“Erik, for one,” Kenly confirmed.
I exhaled slowly. No surprise. He was probably a high priority target for any number of groups, same as me. But Erik was under UNITED’s protection. It would be damned near impossible for Nightshade to reach him. Or, it would have been before my escape. Now that I was out on my own, the chance I’d be captured was exponentially higher than when I’d been imprisoned on Vault. If Nig
htshade caught me, Erik would gladly go with them out of some misguided notion of chivalry.
What have you done? I wondered for the umpteenth time.
“Penny for another,” Kenly continued when I didn’t freak out over the news about Erik.
Again, I wasn’t surprised Penny was a target. Her natural ability to mimic other’s talents made her valuable. The fact she was Created and knew how to use all twelve of her gifts made her worth unquantifiable. And, of course, she was Ian Crane’s niece. Penny’s safety was Crane’s number one concern. If someone held Penny hostage in order to persuade Crane to take, or not take, a certain action, he would capitulate.
Kenly continued reading off names, some of which I recognized and some I did not.
“Winter Rossi, Beth Larson, Kumiko Tao, Miguel Sanchez, and Ida Sawakski.” My mentee paused and looked over at me with sympathetic eyes. “And Alexander McDonough,” she finished quietly.
My heart stopped. No. No. No. No. Not Alex. He was a child, little more a baby. They couldn’t have him. I wouldn’t let it happen. I’d give myself over first.
Calm. I needed to be calm. Losing my head wouldn’t help Alex. Besides, he was on Eden. Victoria wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Even with the councilwoman’s betrayal fresh in my mind, I truly did believe that she would protect Alex. The way she’d spoken about Alex and her personal interest in his education were genuine. That knowledge did lessen the constrictive feeling in my chest some.
As if sensing I needed something to focus on besides Alex, Kenly hurried forward with the scant information she had on the other targets. “Beth Larson was at the McDonough School briefly.”
“I know. I was the one who handed her over to Mac,” I replied.
“I know.” Kenly smiled sadly and clicked on another file folder. This time, the incident report on Beth’s collection came on screen. I didn’t read it. I’d been there; I knew what had happened.
“Winter Rossi is any interesting one,” Kenly continued.
I quirked an eyebrow. “Interesting how?”
“For what we can tell, she’s a Separator,” James said.
“A what?” I asked, confused.
“She can separate her essence from her physical body, like numerous times. The bizarre thing is that her physical form can’t do much, while her copies can do all sorts of stuff,” Kenly replied.
“Like what?” I asked, dread filling me.
“Morph, become invisible, use telekinesis. I’m pretty sure they can’t do telepathy, though. Or control minds. Or teleport. Or remote view. Or future gaze,” Kenly said pointedly.
Right, which were all the talents that Beth, Alex, Kip, and I possessed individually. Great. “Can her copies mimic other Talents’ abilities?” I asked.
“Not that we’re aware of,” James answered.
“Which obviously makes her different from both Penny and Erik,” Kenly added. “She’s strong, too.”
I’d figured as much. “And the others—Kumiko Tao, Miguel Sanchez, and Ida Sawakski—what can you tell me about them?
Kenly and James both shook their heads. “Nothing. We can’t find so much as a mention of them. It was the same with Kip, until he showed up with you.” Kenly smiled sadly over at Kip, who was only half-listening to the conversation. His focus was mainly on Emma. “I can only guess that Kumiko, Miguel and Ida must be from really remote regions, just like you two. It’s possible one or more of the three lives on Pelia. Didn’t you guys say something about rival tribes?”
“Yeah,” Kip agreed. “I don’t recognized their names, but that doesn’t mean anything. I know so few people from the other factions personally.” He squeezed Emma’s hand. “What about you? Are any of those names familiar?”
Emma shook her head, keeping her gaze downcast.
“Is it possible Nightshade has already acquired Kumiko, Ida, and Miguel?” I asked.
“Possible,” Kenly confirmed. “They might have Beth, as well. I can’t be sure. But no one else.”
“You’re positive? Alex is safe?” I demanded. Even though I knew getting him off of Eden would be a epic endeavor, I was still worried. That child had been through so much. He deserved to be left alone to grow up like a normal child. Well, as normally as a Talented child with a rare ability could grow up.
Once again, Kenly’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Alex’s adorable little face came into focus on the center wallscreen. Beside him sat a blonde woman, and they were playing with a set of blocks. Kenly unmuted the volume, and I heard Alex’s soft voice calling out numbers as he traced them on the blocks with his chubby finger. My heart melted at the sight. I missed that little boy so much it hurt.
“Is this live? How are we watching this?” I asked around the lump in my throat.
“I hacked Eden’s security feeds,” Kenly replied sheepishly. “And yes, this is a live stream.”
I laughed and tears fell down my cheeks.
“Winter isn’t so easy to find usually,” Kenly said. “But I’ll give it a try.”
She left the feed with Alex and his tutor on the big screen, using the one to the right of it to scan faces for Winter. It took several minutes, but finally Kenly found the Separator on a bus in Istanbul.
“That’s her, right there,” Riley said, using a laser pointer to indicate a girl around twenty on the monitor. She sat alone on a bench at the rear of the bus, bobbing her head in time to music streaming through tiny buds tucked inside her ears. Ordinary was the only way to describe her. Dishwater blonde hair framed an oval face with narrow hazel eyes and a small mouth. Simple silver hoops were threaded through her lobes and a delicate star hung on a chain around her neck.
“She’s so normal,” I said.
“Not always,” Kenly replied. “This is just her everyday look. One of them at least. Much like Riley, she’s a chameleon. That’s what makes her so hard to find with facial recognition.” She enhanced the image on screen until only the side of Winter’s neck was visible. There was a smattering of freckles down the side of the girl’s throat. At first, I didn’t see the significance, after all freckles weren’t unique; I had freckles. But when Kenly literally connected the dots, I saw it: Not 2 B Duped.
“I can only guess that it stands for: Not to be duplicated. Anyway, that’s how I keep finding her. No matter what appearance Winter takes on, as long as she’s human, she has that tattoo.”
“Are you sure it’s a tattoo?” I asked.
James, Kenly, and Riley stared at me blankly. Kip had once again tuned out of the conversation, and it had been a long time since Emma cared too much about what we were discussing.
“Right. Of course it is,” I answered my own question, feeling stupid.
“I’ve been thinking of contacting her, but I don’t really know what to say. I mean, ‘You’re in danger’ sounds a might dramatic and ominous,” Kenly said.
“The girl’s paranoid as it is,” James interjected. “Warning her probably won’t hurt, but she already watches her back pretty closely.”
“Yeah, we only found her originally through luck,” Kenly added.
James scoffed. “No, you found her through a lot of hard work,” he told his girlfriend.
“It was brilliant,” Riley agreed. “The only picture on file anywhere for Winter is from when she was very small—six, if I remember correctly. So Kenly used age progression to alter the image so we could figure out what Winter might look like now. Bloody brilliant.”
Kenly blushed scarlet. “I mean, anyone could have thought of it,” she mumbled.
“Nightshade clearly hasn’t,” I said. “Otherwise, Winter wouldn’t be riding a bus right now.”
“That’s sort of where the luck comes in,” James admitted. “Kenly’s age progression was spot on. Unfortunately, Winter rarely takes that form. Her birth form, for lack of a better term, is not one of her go-to ones. Which is smart if you ask me. It just so happened she was in that birth form briefly while traveling around Budapest. We weren’t even looking for
her at the time. We were tracking my parents. Winter and my mum and dad literally crossed paths while Kenly and I were watching them. Kenly recognized Winter. A close-up scan of her showed the tattoo, and the rest is history.”
Impressed was an understatement. Kenly was a one woman Crypto Bank.
I rubbed my temples, not realizing how badly my head was throbbing until that moment. Glancing over at Kip and Emma, I saw they were both as exhausted as I was. We’d already had an extremely long day, and Emma and I hadn’t even slept the night before. All three of us needed rest. Particularly Kip, since he needed to teleport himself and Emma back to Pelia. Though I wasn’t certain that was the smartest idea anymore. I didn’t believe Jeb would turn Kip over to Nightshade. But if the mercenaries did brave the storms and travel to Pelia looking for me, they would find Kip.
“Oh, crap,” Kenly interrupted my musings.
Both she and James were staring at the center screen, which no longer showed Alex playing with his blocks. Riley was trying to help Kip soothe Emma, suggesting a sedative to help her rest. But for the first time since meeting Emma, I was barely aware of her presence.
Erik, beautiful turquoise eyes sparkling in the sunlight, was staring out of the wallscreen at me. Fresh tears sprang to my eyes. The ache in my chest born of longing intensified exponentially. How was it possible to miss another human being so much? To love another person so completely?
Without realizing it, I’d gotten to my feet and crossed the room to stand directly beneath the monitor. I stood on tiptoes and reached up to stroke Erik’s cheek on screen.
“Is this in real time? Where is he?” I asked without turning around.
Kenly took a long time to answer, and my gaze never wavered from the image of Erik.
“Here, in London,” my mentee said finally.
It was a long moment before her words registered. Erik was in London? We were in the same city? So close. He was so close. I had to see him.
“Don’t do it, Talia,” Kenly said softly, pleadingly.
“It’s not safe,” James added for good measure.
