Stealing Phoenix (9 page)

Xav had put a stool in front of the sink for me to sit on. Yves hovered at my shoulder as his brother carefully pushed up my sleeve and unwrapped my bandage. Xav didn’t say anything for a few moments as he turned my arm over to inspect the ugly yellow-white blister on my palm.

‘Sheesh, Yves, I thought you grew out of playing with fire.’

‘Don’t rub it in. You know I try.’ Yves’s temper was simmering again.

‘This needs a hospital.’ Xav glared at his brother.

‘She won’t go.’

The glare now turned on me. ‘You’re an idiot, do you know that? I can help but I can’t see how deep this has gone. Does it hurt?’ His touch was soothing.

I bit my lip and nodded.

‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but that’s good.’ Xav winked at me, softening the ‘idiot’ remark. ‘If it was really deep then no pain is a danger signal.’ He covered my hand with his. Not trusting what he was doing, I searched his mind patterns; I watched them shift to a soothing blue. I could see my arm in his thoughts, layer by layer, bone, nerves, muscle and skin, like an illustration in Gray’s
Anatomy
. He really was trying to heal me. I wondered what it was going to cost.

Yves moved around behind us quietly, disappearing into the kitchen, muttering something about making drinks for us and putting together a round of sandwiches. The calm after the confusion of the past twenty-four hours was a welcome oasis. I found some of my tension untwisting like a tie-dye T-shirt coming out of the wash to reveal a new pattern on the surface. I had a soulfinder. I’d been in such a panic about discovering this that I’d not really stopped to think. I’d been acting like someone carrying the plague trying to cut themselves off from the healthy. That was still probably the right thing to do, but I had to consider this more slowly, work out what was the next best step. I’d only had an hour or so with him, but already it felt so good to be close to Yves that even when he was in the kitchen I was missing him. Though he irritated the hell out of me, I kind of liked it. The sparks of attraction flew between us even when we were yelling at each other. Maybe even more so then.

‘Does that feel any better?’ Xav released my arm.

The blister had shrivelled up to lie flat against the new skin forming underneath. The redness had faded. I flexed my fingers to find that the tight pain I’d had since yesterday was almost completely dulled. ‘That’s amazing.’

‘Happy to help.’ He took out a dressing from a first-aid kit. ‘I’ll put this on your blister but I think the rest of the arm will be OK.’ He fastened it with tape then stood back, rubbing his temples.

‘Are you OK, Doctor?’

He laughed. ‘Bad headache. Get them when I push my gift.’

‘So do I.’ It slipped out before I realized what I’d said.

Xav didn’t seem surprised that I was another Savant. ‘What do you do? Not put out fires obviously.’

I pretended to examine my new dressing. ‘This and that.’

‘She stops time—or slows it.’ Yves had appeared in the door to see if we were done.

‘Neat.’ Xav chucked the old bandage in the bin. ‘Useful.’

‘Yeah, allows her to be one of the sharpest thieves I’ve ever seen in action.’

‘Shut up!’ I hissed, outraged that he would share this about me.

‘Oh yes, and she’s my soulfinder. Lunch is served.’ After dropping that bombshell, Yves headed back to the kitchen.

Xav was speechless. He stared at me as if I’d just crash-landed from a flying saucer.

‘Phee, Xav, hurry up or I’ll eat it all,’ shouted the jerk from the kitchen.

Xav patted me awkwardly on the shoulder. ‘You have my commiserations. He may act like a twit sometimes, but he’s the nice one in our family, so it could’ve been worse.’

I locked the door after Xav, saying I needed a moment, then sank to the floor, head on my knees. Not even hunger was going to drive me out of here. If I had Yves’s power, I’d blow up that plate of sandwiches and make sure it splattered all over his face. But all I had was a gift that didn’t work too well on him, not even giving me enough time to escape.

A tap on the door. ‘Phee, are you OK in there?’ Yves.

I banged my head softly on the wood behind me.

‘Look, sorry I came out with it like that. I tell my brothers everything—we’re really close. I should’ve thought what you might think.’

Yeah, you should’ve.

‘He won’t mind if I don’t mind—about the stealing thing.’

Well done him. God, I was so tired of all this. Yves had clearly not smoothed out his rough edges when it came to handling girls if he thought this excuse for an apology would sweeten my sour mood. A trickle of flame poured under the door then spun to form a little ball of fire. Was he trying to burn me out? I yelped and scurried backwards, but then saw that the carpet was not even singed.

‘For you,’ said Yves quietly.

The ball began to spin faster, then split into three different spheres, flame-yellow, white-hot, and blue like a gas ring— three little planets revolving around each other. Suddenly, they flared open, forming into the shape of flowers in bloom. They came to rest at my feet like lilies on a pool before snuffing out of existence, leaving only a faint smell of smoke behind. Nothing was damaged; not even a soot mark on the floor where they had been.

I was stunned: no one had ever given me flowers before. That had been awesome; I’d never thought to create something beautiful out of my powers but Yves must have spent a long time honing his skill to do so.

‘Come out when you’re ready,’ he said, retreating to the kitchen.

I sat for a few more minutes, brushing my hand over the spot on the carpet in front of me. Staying locked in Yves’s bathroom wasn’t really a good plan: I’d have to emerge eventually. The longer I left it, the harder it would be. I quietly opened the door and went into the corridor.

The entrance to the kitchen was diagonally across from the bathroom. I could hear the boys talking but they couldn’t see me. I had no qualms about eavesdropping—I had to know what they really thought of me before I decided my next move.

‘All I can say, little brother, is that, after years of faultless living, when you get into trouble you do it properly.’ Xav poured himself a glass of water from the dispenser on the spaceship-sized refrigerator. Ice clunked into his glass with the noisy whirr of some machine in the enormous door. ‘If it had been Zed, Trace, or Vick, I’d’ve understood, but you!’

‘We don’t choose our soulfinders.’ Yves sounded more distant; I guessed he must be at the far side of the room.

‘Are you sure it’s her? I mean, she doesn’t look a likely match for you, not like Zed and Sky.’

‘Come on, there was nothing obvious about them at first either—they grew together.’ Yves’s tone was doubly defensive. ‘That’s how it’ll be for us.’

‘You hope. You didn’t say if you were sure. I mean, don’t take offence, Yves, but I know you haven’t dated that many girls and I thought, maybe, you were, like, getting mixed up.’ Something went ‘bang’ and I heard Xav swear as he put out some flames. ‘Holy cow, that was my doughnut you just nuked!’

‘Back off, Xav! Just because I’m not the Super Bowl champion in serial dating like you! I know what I feel when I’m seeing a girl and I’m telling you, this is completely different— another orbit entirely. When she answered me telepathically, it all kind of clicked. More than that—my whole centre of gravity shifted to her, you know?’

‘No, I don’t know—I’ve not found mine, have I?’

‘Sorry.’ A cupboard door snapped shut.

‘No problem, I’m not offended. Hey, I think I might be the lucky one today. She’s … she’s not what I expected. Weird looking—those funny glasses and clothes like something our grandma would wear. I thought there’d be some kind of chemistry, you know, with a soulfinder.’

‘I guess.’ A chair scraped on the floor. ‘She didn’t look like that yesterday—I’m not sure what’s the real her at all. I think I’m in over my head. She’s got issues—and issues under those issues. She won’t tell me much about herself: all I’ve got so far is a name and the fact that she’s never been to school.’

‘And that she’s a professional thief—don’t forget that choice bit of information. If you keep in mind the other reason why we’re here, don’t you think it odd that she zeroed in on you as her target?’

Other
reason? I shrank back against the wall.

‘Yes, I know: we’ll have to ask her about that. I will, but it’s all so complicated at the moment. She doesn’t trust me. What time is Vick getting back from his meeting at Scotland Yard?’

‘About six. You’ve got five hours to work out if she is going to be a security risk or not, then we’ll have to turn her over to him to check out.’

‘She’s not going to like that.’

Too right.
She
definitely didn’t like the sound of that.
She
had decided she was out of the front door on the first mention of the police. I crept backwards, hoping the sound of my footfalls would be absorbed by the carpet. The front door was locked and bolted. I could undo all the locks but the very top one, which was out of my reach. I looked around for something to stand on but this arty flat didn’t run to normal bits of furniture, only glass shelving that was fixed to the wall.

‘Going somewhere?’ Yves appeared at the kitchen entrance, watching my increasingly desperate attempts to reach the top bolt.

He had no right to keep me prisoner. ‘Yes. Home.’ I jumped, my fingers brushing the bolt but not moving it.

Yves walked calmly towards me. ‘And where is home? I don’t think you said.’

‘That’s right: I didn’t say.’ I kicked the door, leaving a black scuff mark on the pristine gloss.

‘You’ve not had lunch yet.’ Yves reached over my head and undid the bolt.

‘Not hungry.’ I couldn’t believe he was letting me go.

That’s a lie.

What? You’re a mind-reader now?
I wrinkled my nose in disdain; I was the one with that kind of gift. He didn’t have a clue what I was really thinking or he wouldn’t be so calm.

No, I sense energy and yours is dangerously low. Everyone has a different and unique energy signature; yours is telling me you have no gas in the tank. When did you last eat?

I shrugged. A lifetime ago. ‘I’ll get something on the way back.’

He turned away and returned to the kitchen, saying over his shoulder, ‘You need a key for the lift.’

‘I’ll take the stairs then.’ Twenty floors—thanks a lot, mate.

‘Need a key for them too unless you want to set off the fire alarms,’ his disembodied voice called.

I stalked into the kitchen and held out my hand to the two boys sitting at the kitchen counter. ‘Can I have the key please?’

Yves slapped a sandwich into my palm. ‘Eat.’

My stomach churned at the pink rim of ham. ‘I’m vegetarian.’

Xav whisked the sandwich away as Yves replaced it with a cheese and tomato on granary. ‘
Please
eat.’

Resentful of their manipulation, I moved to the window and perched on the radiator, taking small bites of the sandwich. Thankfully, they left me alone while I demolished it; not that I was flattered: they acted like zookeepers of a dangerous animal, not wanting to provoke the beast any further. Angry, I gave them my back. It was a good job I had a head for heights because the view was amazing: I could see all the way to the Olympic stadium and the visitor park. It looked pretty from up here: a patch of green and white in the tired urban jungle of east London and the snaking lianas of roads and railways. If I looked carefully, I could even make out the housing estate where we were living at the moment—a biscuit-coloured stack of termite hills. I hesitated to call it home but I’d have to go back, wouldn’t I?

I finished the sandwich and brushed off my hands. ‘Are you going to return to the conference?’

Yves shook his head. ‘Got more important things to sort out now.’

‘Jo and Ingrid are going to be disappointed.’

‘Jo
and
Ingrid?’ laughed Xav. ‘And here was I thinking these conferences were all for guys who looked like Brains out of
Thunderbirds
. I got you all wrong, bro. I should’ve paid more attention in class.’

‘There is no inverse correlation between beauty and intelligence,’ Yves threw back at him.