Inescapable (Talented Saga #7) Read Online Free PDF Page A

matter.
    Forget about him. Focus on
you, Cressa told herself, envisioning a
large metal shield dropping down from the inside of her skull to
protect her brain.
    It worked. Cressa was no longer scared. She
could do this. She knew it just as surely as she knew her own
name.
    Blinding white light exploded from every
corner of the room. After being in the dark for so long, each ray
that struck her corneas felt like salt in an open wound. Cressa
didn’t dare blink. She’d waited too long for this, and she was
going to savor each and every excruciating second.
    The administrator’s voice returned through
the room’s speakers, warmth infusing her every word where only
coldness had been before.
    “ Well done, Cressa Karmine.
Welcome to Phase Two, daughter.”

 

     
     
    Talia
    Vault, Isle of Exile
    Four Days Before the Vote
     
    My opponent’s right hook connected with my
jawline, the force of her blow causing my head to snap backwards.
For a woman nearly twice my age, Victoria Walburton packed one hell
of a punch.
    I dipped my chin to one side, wiping a thin
smear of blood on the shoulder of a gray tee with INMATE emblazoned
across the front.
    “ You hit like a
girl, Madame
Councilwoman ,” I grunted, even as her next
blow landed in my left side, directly on my bruised
ribcage.
    “ You fight like a child in
her first schoolyard tussle,” Victoria countered. “What’s next,
Lyons? Are you going to pull my hair?”
    The councilwoman aimed for my solar plexus,
amber eyes betraying the maneuver a moment too soon.
    I’ll show you a schoolyard
tussle, I thought. Deflecting the incoming
assault with a sharp, quick combo kick. One foot batted away her
gloved hand, an instant before the other found a home in her
impressive six-pack.
    The air whooshed from Victoria’s lungs. She
stumbled backwards several paces, shaking the hand I’d kicked.
    “ Point to you, Talia,” the
older woman conceded, her British accent more pronounced than
usual. “Nice shot.”
    “ Um, I think you
mean two points,”
I jabbed, grinning like a fool.
    Bent at the waist, the ends of her auburn
ponytail sticking to one sweaty cheek, Victoria rubbed a flowering
red blossom on her abdomen—evidence that my kick, though barefoot,
had done real damage.
    My smile grew even wider, my cheeks aching
from all the gloating I was doing. Well-deserved gloating, since it
wasn’t every day that I scored such an impressive blow on my
opponent. Our daily sparring matches had proved the councilwoman
was more than a glad-handing politician; the woman was a formidable
fighter and worthy adversary. Most days Victoria left me face down
on the mats, gasping for air.
    “ Because you are losing so
abysmally, I shall grant you two points,” Victoria relented. She
eyed my expression critically. “Has no one ever told you that pride
is a sin?”
    “ It’s not the worst one
I’ve committed.”
    My comment didn’t evoke even the tiniest
hint of amusement. If anything, Victoria’s demeanor became more
grim than usual. Come to think of it, in the hour we’d spent
together that morning, the councilwoman had been remarkably grave,
as though her mind was a million miles away. Only the bumps and
bruises she gave me wiped the troubled expression from her thin
lips, though it always returned.
    As my curiosity got the best of me, I
decided to ask her about it.
    “ What’s up? You seem
bothered. I mean, more bothered than usual.”
    Without warning, Victoria’s fist flew
towards my face. I raised my hands at the last second and took the
hit on my forearms. Victoria bounced on the balls of her feet,
neatly dodging my retaliatory punches.
    “ In case you have
forgotten, Talia—” she grunted as I landed a roundhouse kick to her
shoulder, backing her into one corner of the exercise cube.
Wheezing for breath, she continued, “The Joint Nations will vote on
the Coexistence Treaty in four days. So yes, I’m more than a little
bothered by the prospect of failure and our race