Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (11 page)

“
Are you going to do it?” I
finally asked as we stepped into the bright sunshine. The silence
was making me antsy. Unfortunately, it resumed once my words faded
away.

While we’d been in our meeting, Eden
had come alive. Children and teens were walking in groups, laughing
and joking as they headed towards Eden Academy on the south side of
the island. Their conversations ran the gambit from worry over a
math test to the latest gossip. Apparently Nina, whoever she was,
had broken up with Glen, whoever he was, and had been seen enjoying
a romantic dinner with Jessi at the Fish Tank, the nicest
restaurant on the Island, the previous night. It was unclear
whether Jessi was a girl or a boy, but I was betting female since a
perky girl with aqua hair was gushing about Jessi’s
rhinestone-encrusted bubble dress from the gossip-worthy
dinner.

As I listened to their problems to
distract me from my own, I decided I envied them. The love triangle
that had everyone buzzing made me long for my own school days. Glen
probably felt like his heart had been ripped out and life was never
going to get better. Nina and Jessi were probably high on love and
their budding romance, both relieved it was finally out in the
open. According to rampant speculation, the two had been canoodling
long before Glen and Nina officially called it quits.

I looked to my left hand, which hung
loosely in Erik’s, and realized their problems weren’t so different
from mine. The third entity in my relationship wasn’t another girl,
or boy, but the lack of communication. Silence had come between us,
threatening to tear Erik away and rip out my heart in the
process.

“
Yes,” Erik said, seemingly
out of nowhere.

Lost in thought, I scrambled to
remember what I’d asked him. Oh, right. Whether he was going to go
before the cameras and assure the world that all Created were
handsome, harmless, and misunderstood. The absurdity made me laugh.
Erik was a lot of things. Most were wonderful, and even those that
weren’t were part of him, so I loved every last one of them. But
there was nothing harmless about him.

I studied his profile: the sharp slope
of his nose, the brilliant, lethal glint of turquoise beneath long
dark lashes, the hard set of his jaw. No, my boyfriend was
definitely not harmless. Even today, when he was in an unusually
good mood, the vibes coming off of Erik were ominous. He was a
fighter, a soldier, a warrior, just like me. I found his dark,
dangerous nature thrilling. But the wide berth the school-aged kids
gave us as we strolled past reminded me that not everyone felt the
same way. Victoria was playing with fire using him as her
spokesperson.

“
Not because I’m afraid of
containment,” Erik continued, oblivious to my inner musings. “I
won’t be used, or controlled with threats ever again. I’ve had
enough of that for a lifetime. Besides, I believe Victoria will
abide by her promise. I don’t think she’ll lock us up as long as
we’re doing our job.”

“
So, why?” I asked, not
disagreeing with his decision, but genuinely curious. “Why do you
want to do this?”

“
Because she’s right. It’s
an odd coincidence, but I saw something about that circus the other
night on the wallscreen when I couldn’t sleep. It was about all of
them, but I saw Mai Matsu performing. She’s an amazing Talent,
Tals. I mean, you have to see her. She’s not like us. She doesn’t
use her Talents for fighting. Her Talents are a thing of beauty.
It’s…amazing.”

Awestruck was the only word
I could think of to describe the expression on Erik’s beautiful
face. Admittedly, I was a little jealous. It had been a long time
since he looked at me with that same expression. Still, I
understood what he meant. We were lethal. That’s who we were, and I
wouldn’t change that for anything in the world. But not everyone
was like that. Everyone
couldn’t
be like that. The world would be terrible
place.

“
I can’t let more people
like her get hurt,” Erik continued. “I don’t know if I’m really the
right person for the job. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m not. But I’m
willing to try. Trust issues aside, I do think Victoria is smart,
and knows what she’s doing. So if she wants me to do this, I will.
If she thinks I can prevent one more innocent Talent from being
attacked, I need to at least try.”

Grief swept aside the curtain
shielding his innermost thoughts and a wave of pain and regret hit
me with the force of tsunami. The intensity of his agony was
startling, and I missed a step. Erik caught me before my tangled
feet sent me to the ground.

“
You are mighty clumsy for
a trained fighter,” he joked.

“
Wow Mr. Comedian, you’re
hilarious,” I shot back, pretending his comment bothered me. In
truth, it warmed my heart. My Erik was still in there.

He grinned, seeing right through the
ruse. Erik leaned down, his lips finding mine. The kiss started out
innocent enough. His mental walls were still down, which brought
such relief. I wrapped my arms around his neck and arched my body
into his, finally feeling the intimacy I’d been craving. As the
kiss became way too suggestive for public, I saw some of what he’d
been trying to hide from me. I felt the instability that terrified
him. The raw power he both hated and craved. The dark shadows
mixing with the golden goodness that was at his core.

I deepened the kiss. Yes, it was
incredibly inappropriate in that setting, but I wanted, needed, to
be closer to him. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. Erik must
have felt the same way, because before I knew it, my back was
pressed against something rough. A tree, I realized absently. The
bark dug into my spine through my clothes as Erik pressed me
against the trunk. His hands were around my waist, tugging at the
hem of my shirt tucked into my dress pants. Longing poured through
the whisper-thin barriers separating our minds, intensifying my own
feelings. We were out in the open, exposed, but I didn’t care. Erik
was finally letting me in, something that was so rare these days
that it was nearly as thrilling as the feel of his hands on my bare
skin. No way was I going to do anything to ruin the
moment.

Unfortunately, being out in the open
like that, it couldn’t last. Surely enough, someone else ruined the
moment for us.

“
You two are the most
lecherous people I know. Seriously, Kelley, can’t you do that shit
in private?”

Only one person said things like that.
And he wasn’t my favorite person by a long shot.

Instead of being irritated by the
intrusion, like I was, Erik’s lips curved into a smile against
mine. With one last lingering kiss, he pulled back. Maintaining eye
contact with me, Erik called over his shoulder to the
voyeur.

“
Good morning,
Brand.”

“
It
was
a good morning. Then I had to
see the two of you sucking face,” Brand griped as he walked over to
stand next to our tree.

“
Hello, Talia,” he added
curtly.

Readjusting my shirt to cover the
strip of stomach that was showing, I glared at Penny’s
boyfriend.

“
To what do we owe the
annoyance of your company?” I asked.

Brand cocked an eyebrow.

“
Victoria didn’t tell you?”
he asked, genuinely surprised.

“
No,” I replied, a sinking
feeling in the pit of my stomach. Realization dawned. “Wait. Crap.
You’re going to London with me, aren’t you?”

“
Lucky you!” Brand
quipped.

“
Ugh, why?” I
groaned.

Victoria had said I was
allowed to choose my team, yet she’d apparently forgotten to
mention that Brand was a de facto member. This was
not
going to be a fun
trip.

“
In case we need to
organize a strike on short notice,” Brand said condescendingly.
“
I
have
experience leading a massive operation. You do not.”

Oddly enough, Brand’s words inspired
hope, instead of annoying me as he’d meant them to. He loved
getting a rise out of me, and the dig about my lack of leadership
experience was supposed to do just that. But if Brand was going
with me to London, it meant the council really was prepared to move
against the Poachers. In the meeting, Victoria had made it sound as
though the decision were still up in the air, contingent on what
exactly we learned from the tipster.

“
Also, someone needs to
keep you line, since your boyfriend won’t be going,” Brand
continued.

The three of us began walking, once
again headed towards the Dolphin Cove Café. Erik reached for my
hand, lacing his fingers with mine.

Inspiration struck like
lightening.

“
Who said he’s not?” I shot
back with a smile.

“
Um, Victoria—”

Brand’s reply was cut short when a
pair of teenagers sped by in front of us, nearly colliding with
Erik. Chimes tinkled from the far end of the island, signaling the
start of Eden’s school day.

“
Outta the way, we’re
late!” one of them yelled, a boy with glistening white-blonde hair
and an unfortunate case of acne yelled at our trio.

His companion, a pretty girl without
the pimples but the same shimmery hair, stopped abruptly. She
stared up at Erik, eyes wide and dazzled.

“
Sorry. Excuse us,” she
said quietly. “We didn’t mean to….”

“
Don’t apologize, Lace.
They were in our way,” the boy said, yanking her roughly by the arm
to get her moving again.

“
Van, don’t be such an
ass.” Lace tore her gaze away from Erik to include me and Brand.
“Sorry…,” she repeated.

“
It’s okay,” Erik replied
with his trademark grin, amusement making his irises brighter than
the sea surrounding us.

When he realized that he wasn’t going
to be pulling Lace away from Erik anytime soon, Van turned to
really look at us. He gulped, realizing for the first time who he’d
shoved aside in his haste.

“
S-s-s-sorry,” he
stuttered, backing away slowly now.

The chimes sounded again—the late
bell.

“
Better get going,” I said
kindly. “The punishment for being tardy is detention. I hear it’s
pretty crappy here.”

My attempt at a joke was lost on him.
Apparently, students served their detentions on Eden in the waste
management section of the island—uber gross.

Without another word, Van tugged on
Lace’s arm again, this time jarring her free from the allure of
Erik. With one last look at us, the oh-so-fascinating UNITED agents
who had invaded their island, the duo turned and sprinted towards
the school.

Once they were out of earshot, Brand
chuckled heartily.

“
I can’t decide if
Victoria’s idea to use you as the face of the Created is a really
good one, or a really bad one,” he told Erik. “The women of the
world will fall all over themselves to meet you. Everyone else will
be terrified of you.”

And just like that, Brand and I agreed
on something. Maybe the world as we knew it really was coming to an
end.

As we entered the café, we were
greeted by a thirty-something man wearing a polo-style shirt
covered in embroidered dolphins. He gave us a tight smile and
backed up several paces as we entered, further proving Brand’s
point.

“
Table for three?” he asked
in a high, squeaky voice that didn’t go with his muscular
frame.

“
No, we’re meeting our
friends. They’re right over there,” I said, indicating a table on
the other side of the restaurant where Penny, Frederick, Henri, and
Janelle sat with Cadence Choi.

It suddenly struck me as odd that
Cadence hadn’t been at our morning meeting, a fact I hadn’t even
realized at the time. Then again, Cadence spent most of her time on
Vault, working with the children in containment. Maybe she’d just
returned.

The greeter shoved menus in our hands
without a word and scurried off as if he had something pressing to
attend to. Unfazed, we began to weave our way through the table and
chairs between us and our fellow outcasts.

The man’s reaction was sadly
representative of the way most Edeners treated us. On the one hand,
it was understandable. The island natives weren’t used to such a
heavy military presence. Still, the mix of awe and fear they
exhibited was unsettling. Almost all of Eden’s residents were
Talented. And the majority of them were extremely strong,
Elite-level Talents. So why did they find us so
intimidating?

I pushed aside the unanswerable
question as Erik, Brand, and I joined our friends. Since the work
and school days had begun, only a handful of other tables were
occupied. Our regular waitress, a twentyish woman named Amal,
appeared to take orders for us newcomers. She was one of the few
Edeners who treated us like normal citizens. I liked her a lot. She
was always pleasant, and sometimes even joined our table to chat
when there was a lull. Though I did wonder about her social
intelligence at times, since she constantly made eyes at Frederick,
seemingly oblivious to the fact that he and Henri were a
couple.