Hunted (Talented Saga # 3) by Sophie Davis Page B

therapy sessions with Dr. Wythe I even agreed she was a monster. But deep down a part of me always knew she was telling the truth. In my heart, I knew the images were real and not just because I desperately wanted to find some connection to my parents as Donavon had suggested the one time I brought it up to him. I couldn’t explain how I knew they were real; I just did. They had to be. The pain of loss I felt each time the memories faded further from my mind was too powerful.
    “Tal, Penny lied about so much. How do you know she didn’t lie about knowing your family, too?” Erik murmured softly, his mouth right next to my ear.
    “I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I just feel it.”
    “Have you ever had somebody show you fake memories before?” he asked tentatively. He was working hard not to sound argumentative. He was afraid that I might explode if he openly disagreed with me.
    “Not that I know of,” I admitted reluctantly.
    “So how can you be sure hers aren’t?” Erik asked gently. I was about to protest, but Erik hurried on before I could open my mouth. “She was obviously unusually adept at using her Mimicry. She clearly mastered your manipulation, as well as several other Talents.”
    “You don’t believe me,” I accused him, pulling back from his embrace, hurt that he wasn’t reassuring me that I wasn’t nuts. Erik was the only person I truly trusted and if he didn’t have faith in me, well, that I couldn’t handle.
    “No,” he said firmly. “It’s not that I don’t believe you. I am just not sure you’re being objective. You loved her, she was your friend, and you want to believe she knew you and your family, but that doesn’t necessarily make it true.” He smoothed my wild curls away from my face and locked his eyes with mine.
    “The memories just feel so real,” I said weakly, my resolve weakening under the loving gaze.
    “I know, Tals. I can feel they do, too. But you can implant false memories in other people’s minds and make them believe anything you want. If she had been mimicking you, then she could have done that, too.”
    “You’re right,” I agreed. “But, Erik, she didn’t implant false memories. She could have, and I would have believed them unquestioningly because I would have thought they were my own. But she didn’t. She showed me her memories. Penny knew my parents. Crane knew my parents.”
    Erik’s eyes softened, a flood of mixed emotions swirled like a tidal pool in his confused head. He was on the fence, unsure of what to make of my insistence.
    “Tal, if what Penny showed you really happened, why don’t you have any memory of it? You said you were young, but not a baby. Don’t you think you would remember if you’d met Ian Crane?” Erik asked skeptically.
    I swallowed hard. I’d been wondering the same thing. I remembered most of my childhood, or at least I thought I did. If my parents had met with Crane and I was there, I should have my own memory of the encounter. But I didn’t.
    “No......Yes......I don’t know, Erik. I was really young. How far back can you really remember?” I shot back, becoming defensive. The rational part of me knew Erik was trying to remain impartial, be the voice of reason. But the part of me that needed validation that I wasn’t crazy for believing Penny felt as though he was attacking me, purposely poking holes in my logic.
    Erik held up his hands in surrender, although he didn’t seem all that surprised by my reaction. “Okay, let’s say for arguments sake that Penny’s memories are real. What does that actually prove? At one time, maybe Crane was friends with your family.” Erik shrugged as if to say, “so what?” “It doesn’t change the fact he killed your parents.”
    “For me, it does,” I said quietly. “I need to know why. If they were friends, then why did Crane order the hit?” I boldly met Erik’s gaze, daring him to come up with some answer. I could feel several formulating in his