Unleashed (TalentBorn Book 4)

by C. S. Churton

  Oh God, not now, please not now. I grit my teeth and force myself to focus on the room around me. I can’t afford to get caught up in a flashback now; we don’t have time for me to fall apart. Focus, Anna, dammit. Iain’s counting on you.

  Toby frowns and looks over my shoulder at Scott.

  “What’s wrong with her?” I might be imagining it, but I’m sure there’s a hint of concern in his voice.

  So much for keeping my composure. I sigh.

  “It’s a long story. Sit down and I’ll tell you.”

  Scott shoots me a look. I know. I know we don’t have time for this, but if he has a faster way of getting Toby on side...

  Toby sinks into the sofa behind him without taking his eyes from us. I cast around the room and take a seat in a well-worn armchair that faces the large screen. I twist round on it to look at Toby, tucking one knee underneath me and letting the other leg dangle off the edge.

  “Scott, why don’t you put the kettle on?” I suggest. Assuming his electric’s rebooted, that is. We don’t have time to sit around sipping tea, but Toby’s freaked out and having one less person in the room might help him calm down. Scott takes the hint and makes himself scarce.

  “I don’t know what you’ve been told,” I begin, “but I can guess. You know me, Toby, so please, just put all of that out of your mind and hear me out, okay?”

  He nods.

  “There’s a lot going on at Langford House you don’t know about. We stumbled on some things Gardiner didn’t want us to find.”

  I hesitate, remembering Toby had always spoken respectfully about AbGen’s former leader, and that he probably still believes I killed him. The scientist is staring at his hands. Social skills never were his strong suit. I press on.

  “When we...left,” I narrowly stop myself using the word escaped, “We went looking for a group of people who know the truth about what AbGen really is. They call themselves the Ishmaelians.”

  “You wanted to destroy AbGen,” he says, and for all the accusation in his tone, he might as well have said ‘You wanted to blow up the earth’.

  “I would never do anything to hurt any of you, you know that,” I say, holding his eye. The anger there sucks the breath from my throat.

  “Just Mr Gardiner,” he grinds out.

  “I didn’t do that.”

  “Liar! How can you sit there, lying to my face?”

  Scott appears back in the room, probably in response to the raised voices. I wave him off with a slight movement of my hand but keep my eyes on Toby.

  “Pearce and Gardiner are not who they’re pretending to be,” I tell him firmly. “But I have never hurt either of them, I swear.”

  Toby stares at me for a long moment, undecided. I get it. It’s a lot to take in. I should know. And we haven’t even got to the really nefarious part yet.

  “I’m not going to lie, I wanted to, but this is bigger than them. I don’t expect you to take my word for it, but ask yourself this: if I really killed Gardiner, what was I doing wandering round the med wing that day? I know you remember. If everything is what Pearce claims, why didn’t he turn me in to the police, or the military, or hell, just kill me?”

  “I–”

  “Because I was his prisoner. He captured me, he tortured me, and he brainwashed me. And I’m not the first one he’s done it to.”

  “No, that’s crazy, he would never–”

  “Yes, he would, and he did. Give me one other reason I’d have been wandering round AbGen’s med wing, wearing AbGen issued clothing.”

  I remember that I’m talking to a fully paid up member of the geek squad – as evidenced by the action figures on the wall – and raise a hand before he can reply.

  “One credible reason,” I amend.

  “Doctor Pearce must have had his reasons.”

  “Yeah, he did, and I’ve told you what they are. Tell me Toby, when I walked into your recovery room, did I look like the same person you met last year? Do I look like the same person now?”

  He frowns again and I can practically hear the cogs whirring in his brain. The answer is no, because when Pearce had me I was a soldier, with one purpose in life. Emotions like empathy and compassion weren’t part of the package. I may not have reverted to being a naive waitress, and to tell you the truth I wouldn’t go back to being her for all the tea in China. But I’ll never be as cold as I was when I was Pearce’s weapon. Even Toby must be able to see that.

  “You had that on last time I saw you. That... collar.”

  Scott shakes his head to indicate that it’s a sore subject, but I place a hand on his arm. The day we’d tried to remove it, I’d had a full-blown panic attack. Just the thought of my neck being so exposed, empty, was enough to send me over the edge. Like Scott had suggested I walk around in just my underwear for the rest of my life. And we’d had no more luck getting it off than Ollie had, anyway. Like it or not, it seems like the collar is going to be sticking around for a while. I don’t tell Toby any of that.

  “Pearce put it on me to control me. It has a remotely activated EM disruptor. And two electric prongs.”

  It takes a moment for the implications of that to sink in.

  “Why would he do that? He was helping you, Anna, helping all of us.”

  “He lied to you, Toby. I’m sorry, but AbGen aren’t the good guys. If you don’t believe me, take a closer look at this damned collar. He had everyone fooled, and he’s been using AbGen for his own personal agenda.”

  “Like Malcolm Merlyn in Arrow,” Scott puts in helpfully.

  I watch something die in Toby’s eyes as he realises we’re telling the truth, and it’s not pretty. I watched the same thing die in Scott’s eyes last year. That’s me – Anna: destroyer of hope. If you’ve never watched a man’s faith wither and die right in front of you, I don’t recommend it. It’s not a pleasant sight, and nor is the self-loathing that invariably follows. But as much as I want to give Toby some time to adjust to his new reality, we don’t have time for him to go through the entire emotional spectrum right now. And if that sounds cold – well, maybe my faith withered and died last year too. Right now, we have to get Toby onside and get out of here before the storm troopers show up.

  “But this isn’t about what happened to me. He’s done something worse. He tried to put a talent into someone who wasn’t an absa.”

  “But that’s...”

  “Crazy,” I finish for him when it becomes apparent he’s not going to. He shakes his head and frowns, staring at the wall.

  “Doctor Pearce had me doing some research, trying to isolate the gene that makes you unique, the one that allows you to carry more than one talent.”

  I suppress a shudder, somehow feeling violated at the thought of people poking around in my genetic code, trying to work out what makes me such a freak. Toby runs a hand over his face.

  “I had no idea he would use my research like that.”

  I refrain from asking what the hell he thought Pearce would use that sort of research for, because Toby doesn’t always get the bigger picture.

  “It doesn’t matter, it’s not your fault,” I tell him. “But the talent didn’t take, not properly. It’s killing him, Toby. We need your help.”

  “Why aren’t AbGen helping him?”

  “He didn’t exactly volunteer for this. He’s a friend of mine, he was working with the Ishmaelians. Apparently Pearce thought he’d make the ideal guinea pig.”

  I try to keep the disgust out of my voice and fail.

  “I’m not saying I believe you,” Toby begins, but I cut him off with a sharp shake of my head.

  “That’s not going to cut it, Toby. There’s a war coming, and you need to decide which side you’re on. There’s no neutral, not anymore. Are you Spiderman, or Doc Ock?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Eugh, I’m going to be sick.”

  Toby holds out one hand and staggers a few steps. I let him go with a smirk.

  “Yeah, takes some getting used to.”<
br />
  “Seriously,” he gasps, in between retching. “That’s what you used to feel every time you shifted? Why did you keep doing it?”

  “Buck up, champ,” Scott says, clapping him on the shoulder, and walking past him toward the door of the Ishmaelian base just a little more slowly than he normally would. Three rapid shifts are enough to knock the wind out of anyone’s sails, and if I’m not mistaken, Toby isn’t the only one feeling a little green around the gills.

  “Who’s he?” the guard inside the door asks, staring at Toby with obvious disapproval.

  “A friend,” I tell him, meeting his eye and daring him to challenge my assertion. For a moment he looks like he’s going to, but word is obviously spreading about me because after a moment he steps aside and lets us pass. Just as well: it’s not like he could stop us and frankly I’m only bothering with the front door out of courtesy to Ephraim.

  I hurry through the hallway and down into the subterranean room. Toby looks around with wide eyes as we go. Langford House is a hundred times bigger and better equipped, but the Ishmaelian base is like his own personal Atlantis. He had no idea there was a resistance. Hell, until an hour ago he’d had no idea there was anything to resist. We get a lot of stares, but no-one stops us. Some of the Ishmaelians nod or smile in our direction and I acknowledge them with a curt dip of my head. We’ve trained most of them at one point or another and before long we’ll be fighting alongside them. Worried as I am about Iain, I’m not dumb enough to undo our hard word getting them onside and isolate ourselves all over again. But I’m in no mood for chatting either. Even Toby has picked up on my single-mindedness and keeps his mouth closed, although he looks about ready to burst with all the questions he’s not asking.

  That changes when we walk into the med room. His eyes lock onto Iain, as do mine. Straight away I can see he’s worse. He’s stretched flat out on the bed, unmoving other than the occasional muscle spasm. A half dozen tubes run in and out of him, and the machines bleep with a quiet insistence. I cross to them and check the read outs: I learned to interpret them last year when Scott was in his place. My jaw clenches. Pearce is going to pay for everyone he’s hurt. And so should I. After all, Iain only got caught up in this because of me. I shove the thought aside. Cure now, guilt later. I turn to Toby to ask why he hasn’t started, and see him standing rigid in the doorway, his face contorted in horror. Scott follows the direction of my gaze.

  “Toby, you alright, buddy?” he asks gently.

  Toby shakes his head, his eyes never leaving my dying friend.

  “I did this.”

  Shit. We don’t have time for Toby to have a meltdown.

  “Pearce did this,” I tell him firmly.

  “Using my research.”

  “And my blood,” I remind him. He wrenches his eyes from Iain to me.

  “But neither of us is to blame,” I continue, wishing to hell I could believe that. “He used both of us, just like he used Iain. And we can’t change that. But we can change what happens now. I need you, Toby. And I need you at your best. Iain needs you. You’re his only chance.”

  He takes a tentative step towards the bed, and I nod my encouragement. A discreet cough for sounds from the doorway and we all pivot to face the newcomer.

  “Any news, doctor?” I ask, even though I’ve seen the read outs, and the look on his face tells me I don’t want to hear the answer to that question. He shakes his head.

  “We’re doing everything we can, but...”

  But they have no idea how to prevent a body’s immune system from destroying itself in response to a talent that shouldn’t be there.

  “Toby’s here to help. Toby, Doctor Cullen. Doctor Cullen, Toby.”

  “Alex,” Cullen says, as they shake hands.

  “Toby is one of AbGen’s top scientists,” I say, answering the question Cullen is too polite to ask.

  “Was,” Toby corrects quietly. I don’t know if he sounds forlorn because he knows he can never go back, or because he’s realised what he was a part of, and frankly I don’t have the energy to dwell on it right now. The clock’s ticking, and so far as I know there’s only one person who can stop it.

  ...And that person needs a little emotional support right now. Geez, when did I get so important that other people’s problems stopped counting? I place my hand on his shoulder, only resting it there lightly because anything else freaks him out.

  “Thank you, Toby. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

  He shakes his head, and his despondency at the same time.

  “My flawed research put him here. This is me repaying you. Both of you.” He breaks eye contact quickly and glances at doc. “Have you run a gen-p yet?”

  “Yeah, but we don’t have a prior workup for comparison so it’s of limited use. I’ve also run a CBC and CMP. He’s showing a lowered haematocrit and a heightened phagocyte count.”

  I know geek speak when I hear it. That’s our cue to leave. I let my hand slide off Toby’s shoulder and head out of the room, with Scott close behind. We’ve barely made it through the door when one of the Ishmaelians stops me. Roy, I think his name is. I recognise him from our training sessions. Arrogant and surly, he’s not my favourite student by a long shot.

  “Ephraim wants to see you.”

  I guess word of Toby’s arrival has spread. It was inevitable, I suppose.

  “Now,” Roy says, clenching his jaw when neither of us move. “The outsider, too.”

  “That’s not going to happen.” I cast a nod over my shoulder at Scott and he slips back through the door, shutting it behind him. Nothing on this earth is going to interrupt Toby’s work, not with Scott standing guard. Roy is not impressed.

  “Ephraim said–”

  “Ephraim doesn’t have all the facts,” I cut him off. “Toby is the only person on this base who can save Iain’s life. If you were in his position, would you want him called away?”

  Roy looks even less happy but eventually steps back with a grunt.

  “If Ephraim still wants him, I’m coming back for him.”

  “Fine,” I agree, though I’d like to see him try. “Let’s not keep him waiting.”

  He follows me the whole way to Ephraim’s small office, like he thinks I’m going to skip out on him. Yet again it seems like everyone’s forgotten I can vanish into thin air. It’d be funny if there wasn’t so much at stake.

  “Ephraim.”

  “Anna. Thank you, Roy.”

  He waits until we’re alone before his calm mask slips just a fraction.

  “Still incapable of following orders, I see.”

  “We work with you, not for you,” I remind him. There was a time I’d have been intimidated by him, but not anymore. That Anna died in Pearce’s basement, while Ephraim was busy playing Robin Hood with his merry band of half-trained men.

  “Though it seems you’re not capable of that, either. Who exactly is the guest you’ve brought into my facility?”

  “A friend. And Iain’s best chance of surviving.”

  “And what exactly do you think gives you the right to bring one of our enemy’s employees into our home?”

  And that’s what makes talking to Ephraim so tiresome. He knows exactly who Toby is, how he probably knew everything there was to know about him from the moment he stepped across the threshold, but still he has to ask these ridiculous questions.

  “Iain needs him, and I trust him.”

  “And of course you’ve never erred in judgement.” He raises an eyebrow at me while I fight the urge to wipe that smug look off his face. I’d like to say it’s a remnant of Pearce’s brainwashing, but I’d be lying.

  “Exactly how long are you going to hold working for AbGen against me?”

  “For as long as it continues to jeopardise this base and everyone on it.”

  “There wouldn’t even be anyone on this base if me and Scott hadn’t risked our necks to tip you off. And if you keep sacrificing the one for the many, pretty soon there’s not going to be anyone l
eft.”

  We glower at each other across his desk in silence for a long moment. Eventually I take a deep breath and decide to grow the hell up. It’s time to put both our egos back in their boxes and focus on what matters.

  “Look, I’m not asking you to trust him. I’ll stay with him every moment he’s on this base if that will make you happy. But that’s a moot point anyway isn’t it, given that Iain has probably already led Pearce right to us?”

  “You will not allow him to leave your sight, and when we leave this base, he will not accompany us.”

  His eyes bore into mine. After a moment, I nod. If that’s what it takes to keep him onside then I’ll play along. For now. We can argue about Toby going with us when the time comes.

  “Fine.”

  “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, it would seem I have an evacuation to oversee.”

  A few minutes later I slip silently back through the med wing door, and find Scott with Iain. Alone.

  “Where’s Toby?”

  “Through there.” He nods to a side door; the small room we’d been in earlier. “Relax.”

  He takes my hand and I nod. Exhaustion is making me jumpy. Jumpier than usual, that is. I should have known Scott wouldn’t let anyone get close to Toby. There’s only one door into that room and he’s standing guard just a few feet away. And since I’m the only one round here who doesn’t need to worry about using things like doors, we can assume he’s safe from Ephraim going back on his word. I’m not sure that he would – I mean, Iain’s one of them now, but I’m not going to take any chances.

  “You should get some rest.”

  I shake my head.

  “Can’t.”

  “Then at least eat something. I know you’re Super Anna now, but that was still a lot of shifts you did.”

  I ignore his attempt to make me smile, and pull my hand from his.

  “I, uh… I need to stay with Toby.”

  He narrows his eyes.

  “What did Ephraim say?”

  “He’s pretty adamant that he wants Toby kept under guard.”

  “And are you guarding the Ishmaelians from Toby, or Toby from the Ishmaelians?”