Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (37 page)

“
Yes, Ma’am,” Frederick
replied.

Heeding Erik’s warning about not
talking unless absolutely necessary, I simply nodded. Beside me,
Erik parroted Frederick’s deferential reply. Both guys had
excellent manners, when they felt like using them. I decided I
might need to take some etiquette lessons myself.

“
And why is that, Agent
Lyons?” Councilwoman Amberly Azevedo asked.

I’d first met the Portuguese
councilwoman shortly after arriving at Ian Crane’s cottage several
weeks back. Along with Victoria and a Dr. Kramer, she was on the
panel of council delegates tasked with deciding whether to contain
me. Since the panel’s decision went in my favor, I had no issue
with Amberly. Nor she with me, I assumed. Still, given Frederick’s
warning, I didn’t count her among my supporters just
yet.

“
Because we broke the
rules,” I replied simply. Remembering Erik’s comment about respect
and using proper titles, I quickly added,
“Councilwoman.”

“
Which rules specifically,
Agent Lyons?” Amberly pressed.

For a brief moment I stared
at the Portuguese councilwoman confusedly, as if she’d asked a
trick question. Then, I realized she
had
asked a trick question.
Sneaky,
I thought.
Having me enumerate my crimes, as opposed to the council listing
them off, left open the possibility that I might accidently slip
and admit to a previously unknown infraction. I loved this
interrogation tactic, when I was the one using it. Being on the
receiving end, though, sucked.

“
Careful here,
Tals,”
Erik warned.

Keeping my answer as short and
succinct as possible, I gave only a two word reply.

“
Anya Pritcher.”

No way was I hanging myself with the
rope the council was dangling in front of me.

Amberly’s smoky eyes narrowed in
suspicion. Apparently she’d expected me to take the
bait.

“
Why is it you believe Ms.
Pritcher is the reason we asked you all here?” Amberly prompted,
once again trying to force a confession.

“
Because Anya isn’t
Created,” Erik interjected, his voice tight and
controlled.

“
Erik,”
I groaned.
“You just told me to be
careful. What are you doing?”

“
I’m tired, Tals. I don’t
have it in me to play her games today. And I was telling you to be
careful because I felt your temper rising when she kept asking you
the same question over and over again. I didn’t want you to start
screaming at her.”

Amberly pounced on Erik’s admission,
satisfaction flashing in her eyes.

“
So, just to be clear, you
all knew that Ms. Pritcher is not Created? You, Agent Lyons, were
aware of this fact when you ordered Agent Kraft to purchase
her?”

I sighed.

“
Yes, I was aware,” I
replied.

“
You do not deny your guilt
in this matter?” Councilman Neumann, a German guy in desperate need
of a little eyebrow separation, asked.

“
No, but—”

“
It is a yes or no
question, Agent Lyons,” Amberly cut me off.

“
With all due respect,
Amberly, I quite disagree,” Councilman Michael Tanaka interjected
in that soft quiet tone of his.

Without thinking, I shot Councilman
Tanaka a grateful smile. Of all the councilmembers, he was by far
my favorite. He was fair and honest, never quick to rush to
judgment. Also, he’d welcomed me into his home after the battle in
D.C. and been a gracious host.

“
The reasoning behind Agent
Lyons’ decision is important. I, for one, would very much like to
hear it,” Councilman Tanaka continued.

“
I am not interested in
excuses, Michael,” Amberly insisted.

Great, the council was fighting. That
could not be a good sign.

Looking to Victoria, I expected her to
rule on whether or not “excuses” were allowed. Oddly, she remained
silent. With her expression carefully trained to neutral, the
austere councilwoman folded her hands on the table in front of her
and watched her colleagues bicker.

“
This is ridiculous,” Erik
announced, effectively putting an end to the battle of wills taking
place between Amberly and Michael.

All eyes focused on the seat to my
right, mine included.

“
And you were worried about
my temper?”
I sent Erik, along with some
calming vibes. Which had zero effect on my incensed
boyfriend.

“
Let’s just cut the
bullshit,” Erik continued.

“
Agent Kelley, you are out
of—,” Amberly started to say.

But Erik talked right over the
councilwoman.

“
Talia did it for me. But
you guys already know that, don’t you? Because you have our
personnel files from TOXIC.”

“
Erik, calm down,”
Frederick warned.

The flash of rage that passed across
Erik’s face made Frederick swallow any further protests he might
have made.

Using everything I had within me, I
tried to force Erik to relax. But I was exhausted from the mission,
physically and mentally drained from wielding so much power, and
there was not enough energy left to manipulate his emotions. Which
was the worst-case scenario right now. If I couldn’t control Erik,
and Erik couldn’t control Erik, then no one could control him. So
they would contain him.

“
You all know that Anya
Pritcher and I were involved when we were in school,” Erik said,
once again turning his anger on the council.

“
Erik, please,
relax,”
I pleaded.
“I am begging you. If you love me, you will count to ten and
take some deep breaths.”

Just because I didn’t have enough
energy to use my Talents didn’t mean I was out of tricks. Begging
was not something I did regularly, and I’d never before employed
the “if you love me” line of reasoning. My hope was that doing so
now might catch him by surprise.

Expecting him to redirect his ire
towards me, I steeled my nerves and prepared to match him glare for
glare. But Erik refused to look at me.

“
What exactly do you mean
by ‘involved’?” Amberly asked, gray eyes wide with feigned
innocence.

This, of course, succeeded in pushing
Erik very near his limit. I wanted to leap through the wallscreen
and smack the smug smile off Amberly’s face. It was just like
Frederick predicted, she was goading us. She wanted a reason to
send us containment. I’d assumed I was the target, though.
Apparently, Erik would do in pinch. So much for their poster
boy.

“
Amberly, really, that is
not necessary,” the councilwoman from New Zealand
chastised.

“
Councilman Tanaka believes
the agents’ motives are important. I am just trying to make sure I
understand them is all. To me, it seems Agent Kelley is the one
with the relationship to Anya Pritcher. I would simply like to know
the extent of that relationship.” Amberly’s cheerful tone was
grating. “I imagine it goes beyond friendship, seeing as all three
of these agents disobeyed direct orders on account of the young
woman.”

Erik jumped to his feet. Palms pressed
flat onto the table top, chest heaving in and out, he fought for
control. I placed a tentative hand on his arm, desperate to find a
way to tamp down his fury. He didn’t quite throw my hand off, but
came close.

I opened my mouth to speak, unsure
what exactly I planned to say. Fortunately or not, as it turned
out, Erik spoke first.

“
We had sex, Amberly.
Repeatedly,” Erik ground out through clenched teeth. “Is that what
you wanted to hear?”

I winced, both at the venom in his
voice and his words. It wasn’t as though Erik’s admission was news
to me, but hearing him say it out loud, to a roomful of people,
still hurt.

“
You do know what sex is,
don’t you?” Erik continued. “Or do you need me to define that for
you too? Maybe draw you a picture? I’m not much of an artist, but I
think stick figures should give you the general idea.”

Frederick groaned and dropped his head
into his hands. Even knowing Erik’s outburst was doing him no
favors, I had to suppress a laugh. The look on Amberly’s face was
priceless. Her eyes were still wide, but were now shocked instead
of playing naiveté. This was her goal, to anger one of us so much
that we threw a fit, but she hadn’t expected Erik’s raunchy
retort.

“
Agent Kelley, please, sit
down,” Victoria said, her tone soothing yet firm.

Erik ignored Victoria, his attention
still focused on Amberly.

“
Erik, please,”
I begged again.
“Remember what Frederick said, this is exactly what the
council wants. Amberly is a bitch, she’s intentionally provoking
you. And you’re letting her. You’re stronger than this. You’re
smarter than this.”

I dug down deep, reaching for any
remaining drops of energy. Tendrils of power stirred inside of me
and I knew I had enough left to fight Erik for control of his mind.
At least, I hoped that was the case.

Erik’s own power was wild, untamed and
unchecked at the moment. He no longer saw the conference room or
the council or even Frederick and me. Erik was reliving those
minutes back at Andrew’s Rock when Anya was up on that trifold
wallscreen. Through my eyes, he saw her already pale face whiten
further as one bid after another popped up on the screen. He
recalled the pain tinged rage that had all but consumed him when I
tried to block him from my head so he wouldn’t see the truth. Then,
another emotion took over, this one somehow more intense than the
others: failure. Erik feared my reaction to the reintroduction of
Anya into our lives, and how her presence might affect our
relationship. He couldn’t lose me. He wouldn’t lose me. And yet, he
couldn’t live with himself if Anya continued to suffer because of
him. He was letting us both down, failing us both.
Again.

Over and over, those irrigational
thoughts cycled through Erik’s mind.

Erik was so tightly wound, his
emotions so out of control, I worried compelling him into
submission might do more harm than good. If I was even capable of
such a feat, at this level. Knowing the internal war waging inside
of Erik’s mind, the chances of manipulating him lessened. He was
stubborn on an ordinary day, under ordinary circumstances. In that
conference room, guilt, anger, and ineptitude swirling inside of
him, Erik’s will was beyond my reach, even if I’d been at full
power.

I took a gamble.

“
Erik, please. I love you.
Nothing can or will ever change that. I know how you feel about me.
I know how you feel about Anya. I understand there’s a difference.
A very real, tangible difference. You haven’t failed either of us.
You have done so much for me. You are so much to me. I love you. I
cannot lose you. They will try to take you from me, and then I
can’t be held responsible for my actions. We will
both
be contained. Not a
joke, not a myth, really and truly contained. If you want to
protect me, you will stop.”

The gamble paid off. Slowly the
tension eased from Erik’s muscles and his heart rate evened out. He
blinked several times, as if he’d just woken up. Then, realizing
where he was and why he was here, Erik sank back into his
chair.

I sighed with relief. On my other
side, Frederick blew out a long breath, apparently just as relieved
to have Erik’s temper back in check.

Erik turned to face me.

“
Shit, I’m so sorry, Tals.
I knew someone would bring this up, I just…I’m sorry. And I’m sorry
you ever had to hear me talk about her like that.”

I reached for his hand.
This time he didn’t pull away from my touch. Instead of hiding our
joined hands, I made a show of placing them on the table, on full
display for the council.
Solidarity
, I thought.

Amberly, unnerved by Erik’s outburst,
turned her saccharin smile on me instead. To her, I was an easy
target.

“
Agent Kelley’s reasons,
while misguided, are understandable. However, yours, Agent Lyons,
remain unclear.” She glanced pointedly at our joined hands. “Given
your historically jealous nature, it seems odd that you would want
to help your boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend. I seem to recall that
you—,” she gave the electronic display in front of her a
perfunctory once-over, “—destroyed Donavon McDonough’s cabin after
catching him with another woman.”

The tables had turned. I was the one
ready to leap from my seat, and Erik was the one begging me to
reign in my temper. It wasn’t the mention of Anya’s and Erik’s past
that set me off, though.

Donavon.

How dare Amberly utter his
name?

Even in death, it seemed he could not
find peace.

“
Help me understand, Agent
Lyons,” Amberly continued, oblivious to how dangerously close she
was coming to being the lucky recipient of my wrath. “Because, if I
were you, I—”

“
You aren’t me,” I snapped.
“And you are perverting the facts to suit your purposes.
D-Donavon,” I tripped over his name, tears burning the backs of my
eyes. Clearing my throat, I tried again, a razor-sharp edge to my
voice. Maybe I could cut her with my words. “Donavon is not
relevant to what happened today. And neither is that incident you
referred to.”