‘The dings and scratches. Show me the other elbow.’ Marcus did a quick inventory of my injuries. ‘I’ve got arnica for bruises.’ He got out a tube from the first-aid box and rubbed it into the blackened spots he could see. ‘Anywhere else?’
‘My hip—but I think I’d better get that.’
Marcus moved to the other side of the trailer as I slipped a hand under the waistband of my leggings and rubbed a little of the ointment on my left hip. I tugged the tunic dress straight. ‘I’m decent now.’
‘Coffee or tea?’ He opened the little cupboard over the sink.
Have you got something herbal?
‘Yes, I’ve got mint or chamomile. Margot keeps it in stock for herself.’ He hadn’t noticed.
Chamomile please.
He took out the packet, then froze. ‘You’re doing it again.’
Yes.
‘Well—don’t.’
OK.
‘I mean it. I don’t like it.’
No, you don’t understand it. That guy who attacked me—he knows about our kind and wants to crucify us in the press. He suspects some of you are savants—he saw you respond to my telepathy You’ll have gone to the top of his list.
‘That’s crap, Angel. I’m just me—nothing special.’ He threw the tea bag in a mug and drowned it in hot water.
I think you might be very special, Marcus.
‘You said you’d stop that.’
‘Yes, I did. Would you just answer me back that way—just the once? Then I really will shut up with the telepathy.’
‘No, never. And why? Because I’m not telepathic.’ He plonked the mug on the table, liquid sloshing over the side. I cleaned up with a little twirl of my finger. He sucked in a breath. ‘I can see you can do some weird stuff, but I’m not interested, OK? I’m fine how I am—with my music, my career. I don’t want you coming in here with the equivalent of “You’re a wizard, Marcus”. I’m way past eleven, didn’t get that letter to Hogwarts, OK?’
All my conversations with other savants hadn’t prepared me for someone who just blanked out the possibility that they were one of us. What was I supposed to do now? Inappropriate Angel had a daring suggestion.
I tried my dimples on him. ‘Marcus, thanks for looking after me.’
Some tension left his shoulders as I returned to what he thought was more normal territory. ‘That’s fine, Angel. I was just pleased I could get there in time.’
I knelt up on the sofa so my face was level with his. ‘I’d like to thank you properly.’
He turned towards me, the tug between us still there despite his best efforts to ignore it. ‘I don’t need thanks.’
‘But I do.’ I leaned in, closing the gap between us. A little kiss, a brush of my lips on his. ‘Thank you.’
The attraction-o-meter went off the dial; I could see the needle flicking into the red with each touch.
‘Well, now you mention it, a little bit of gratitude doesn’t do any harm.’ Marcus slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. ‘No harm at all.’ He returned the kiss but his was firmer, taking over my mouth with his. I hadn’t expected his lips to be so warm, so soft, unlike the rest of him that was all spiky defences and strength. Golden tingles ran up my spine. All the bones left my body in a shower of sparkles. From kneeling somehow I went to sitting on his lap. His fingers caressed my cheek, the outer rim of my ear, the shape of my collarbone. ‘Beautiful,’ he whispered. ‘Perfect.’ We rested there, forehead to forehead, both with eyes closed.
What had I intended to do? Oh yes, get him to talk telepathically to me while he was disarmed by the kiss. Unfortunately, I’d wandered off track myself, wits scattered by the most amazing kiss of my life.
‘Perfect?’ I asked. No one had ever said anything remotely like that about me.
Marcus smiled ruefully. ‘Until you open your mouth to speak. Then the crazy girl comes back.’
I punched his chest—but not hard.
He settled me more comfortably on his lap. ‘This is getting complicated.’
You’re telling me. ‘I know.’
‘I think I might like you, Angel.’ He sounded almost regretful.
‘In equal parts to hating me? I heard that song, you know.’
He swore. ‘You didn’t?’
‘I was at the rehearsal.’
‘It was … just a song.’
‘It was about me, wasn’t it? Demon Angel. I’m not a demon, Marcus. Not bad. Stupid. Foolish often. But right now, I’m just trying to do what’s right.’
‘Baby, you are really, really strange, you get that?’
‘And you’re not?’
He gave a gruff laugh. ‘I suppose I am. We all are. You asked to park the questions earlier. Why don’t we park this stuff completely and just enjoy the festival together? We’re not likely to see each other after, are we? I’m on tour and you’re … ?’
After I’d just blown my big break with Gifted? ‘Going back to sixth form.’
He tapped my nose. ‘Sweet. That’s settled then.’
Hang on! I hadn’t agreed to being his festival squeeze. I scrambled off his lap. ‘I’m not a groupie, Marcus. I don’t just throw myself at guys in bands for a one-night stand.’
Marcus watched me with amusement as I retreated to the other end of the sofa. ‘Technically we’re here for two nights.’
I knew what he was doing. He felt the attraction between us and had decided he could work it out of his system by letting it run its course over the next couple of days. He had no idea what he was really dealing with here. And his attitude made me about as cherished as a tissue from a box of Kleenex, the exact opposite to how he had made me feel when we had kissed.
‘I’m not like that. Savants have one true partner in life: their soulfinder. I don’t go sleeping around with any hot rock star in tight jeans. But Marcus, I think you could be mine.’
Chuckling, he stood up and pulled me to my feet. ‘Baby, you think I’m your soulmate? That’s cute.’
‘Soulfinder—similar but different. It’s special to savants.’ If you fricking well replied to me telepathically, you’d understand.
‘I agree we’ve got real chemistry between us, Angel.’ He ran his hand down my back, doing that sparkle thing to my spine. I shivered, trying to resist the urge to melt all over him again.
‘Stop it: I’m trying to tell you something important here!’
‘Let’s just see how it goes, hey? We’ve a couple of days. Let’s not waste it.’
He bent his head to find my lips with his. The love-rat was thinking we had only two days before he said ‘adios’ and left me languishing. After his humiliating experience with the gutter press, he still thought every girl was a Sinead. Cynical was now his starting point in relationships.
‘No, Marcus. That’s not the deal.’ I stamped on his toe to get free of his embrace. ‘If you want a girl for that, go wander the campsite. They’ll form a queue for you, I’ve no doubt.’ This was a disaster. He didn’t respect me, didn’t believe me, just fancied me.
Ignoring the squashed toe, he closed the distance again. ‘But you’re in my trailer—not some other girl.’
‘And watch me: I’m walking right out of your trailer giving you the finger, Marcus. You know, you pretend you’re all emotional depth and creative genius angst but you’re just like other guys, aren’t you? You’re not thinking of me as a person; you’re just thinking how to get laid.’ Oh hell, I was not handling this at all well. I stopped on the top step. He was standing in the centre of his trailer, expression unbelieving that I really intended to walk away from what he assumed had been my aim in life: getting it on with a rock star. I had to remember what this was all really about. There was more at stake than just my petal-plucked ego. ‘If you change your mind about finding out about savants, just tell me, OK?’ I swallowed against tears. ‘You don’t have to talk to me about it. I’ve got some friends who can fill you in without the distraction of this thing between us. And really, if you do o
ne thing for me, keep away from Davis.’ I started down the steps.
‘Hey, Angel, you’re not really going?’
‘I really am.’
‘What about us?’
Until you talk to me telepathically, there is no ‘us’.
For all my storming out of the Winnebago, I wasn’t so stupid as to go marching off on my own back to my tent, not with Davis and unspecified cronies on the loose.
‘Hey, Matt, would you mind walking me back?’ I asked, interrupting my friend mid-conversation with Brian.
‘Really?’ he asked with a pained look on his face. ‘Really now?’
‘Sorry, but I’m not feeling too good.’
Brian tactfully got up and moved off to another table. Matt watched him go with the expression last seen on his face when I told him that, no, he couldn’t have the last doughnut from the box. ‘You should do something about your timing, Angel.’ He finally turned to look at me. ‘But you’re not lying, are you? You seem a little … shaken. What’s happened, sweet pea?’
‘Do you mind if I postpone that conversation until I’m feeling better?’
He got up and slung an arm around my shoulder. ‘I saw you do your happy dance when you were talking to Kurt. Something happened since to set you back?’
‘You could say that.’ I glanced over at the alley between the trailers. Marcus was just emerging from his doorway. I quickly turned my gaze away.
‘I see.’ Gauging my reaction, Matt assumed my problem was with Marcus. ‘Angel, he’s not for you, you know that, don’t you? These guys might let us in to play for an evening but they move in different circles. If you’re looking for a date, then Joey said he liked you.’
‘Joey?’
‘You know, Joey Reef, the rapper you danced on the table with?’
A little bit of admiration warmed my chilled heart. ‘Aw, that’s sweet of him, but I think I might give the whole romance-at-the-festival thing a miss.’
We reached the security checkpoint and I made doubly sure there was no Eli Davis lurking.
‘You’re really nervous tonight, Angel. I know you were good in the concert but I doubt the crazy fans are waiting to jump on you. They’ll expect you to stay the other side of the fence.’ Matt marched me through the rows of tents, eager to deliver me and get back to the tail-end of the pizza party.
We reached my little encampment. I could see Will sitting on a cooler outside his tent, head bent over his phone.
‘I’m good now, thanks. You go back to the guys.’
Matt squeezed my arm. ‘OK, Angel. I’ll just swing by reception and see if I can persuade Henry to gatecrash the party with me.’
‘She’ll love you for ever if you get her introduced to Gifted.’
‘That’s the plan.’ With a wave goodbye, he jogged back the way we had come.
‘Hey, Will, what’s up?’ I called.
‘Thank God!’ Will leapt up and grabbed me by the arms to check me over. ‘Why weren’t you answering your phone?’
‘Hey, ease up a little.’ I pulled my injured elbow out of his grip.
‘The threat level on you went off the scale about half an hour ago. We’ve all been trying to call you but were shunted through to voicemail. Alex has persuaded his way backstage and is looking for you. You know you can’t forget to keep your phone switched on during a mission.’
‘Hang on, partner, back up a little.’ I put up a hand between us and pushed him in the chest. ‘Give me a chance to explain, why don’t you? First, where is everyone else?’
‘They’ve spread out looking for you. I got “abduction attempt” on my radar. We had to act fast.’
‘Call them back in right now; get Alex from backstage. Eli Davis was there a moment ago.’
He sent the text. ‘What’s happened?’
I wasn’t quite sure how to put this. ‘I think it’s fair to say, Houston, we have a problem.’ I frowned. ‘Multiple problems.’
Deciding that Will would make an easier audience than the combined ears of my friends, I quickly fessed up to the gory details of my disastrous evening.
‘Angel … ’ growled Will.
I covered my face with my hand. ‘Don’t say it: I know I’ve got absolutely everything wrong. The only thing I can say in my defence is that I was trying really, really hard to do right.’
‘You shouldn’t have used telepathy.’
‘Well, duh, I think I kinda got that when Davis rugby tackled me and tried to drag me off for a torture-the-savant session.’ My voice sounded a little hysterical but, gee, I was having one crap night.
Will touched my upper arm sympathetically. ‘That guy’s out of control. He seems to think having a gift means we shouldn’t be granted the basic human rights not to be roughed up in pursuit of the truth.’ He put a finger under my chin and tipped my face up so he could see my expression. ‘You really OK?’
My ‘yes’ turned into a ‘no’ as truth-leaking Misty approached with Alex and Summer, closely followed by Uriel and Victor. ‘I could do with a hug,’ I blurted out.
Will obliged, tucking me against his broad capable chest and taking on the burden of repeating my story to my friends. It felt safe and comfortable hiding under his jacket listening to his voice rumble away about Davis and Marcus. Was it feasible to spend the rest of my life here?
Summer’s light touch patted my back. ‘I’m afraid not, Angel.’ She’d been reading my mind again. ‘Come on, out of there.’
Red-faced I forced myself to confront my friends. ‘I’m really, really sorry, guys. I am Queen of Disaster.’
No one protested my declaration.
Victor flicked a glance at Will. ‘Check there’s no threat near our tents.’
Will put his fingers to his temples. ‘Nope, levels have dipped again after the spike when Angel was attacked.’
Victor looked fit to kill. ‘So Davis has all our numbers? Did you have security on your phone?’
‘Um … ’ I had tried a passcode for a while but got bored of entering it so disabled it.
‘I see. So do you have any incriminating photos or texts on it?’
‘Er … ’ Hundreds.
‘Angel, you’re on a mission here. Didn’t you stop to think for a second that that might be one huge security breach?’
I closed my eyes briefly against the pain of his reprimand. I had wanted to impress the Benedicts but I had just proved I had fluff for brains.
‘I’ve seen the photos on Angel’s phone,’ said Summer softly, ‘and most of them are normal stuff like anyone our age has: shots of friends and silly poses. He won’t be able to make much of them.’
‘But he’ll see that Will circulated his photo to her. Thank God I thought twice and didn’t let you send her the file, Will. I thought she might not be secure.’ Victor paced the space between the tents, clearly wanting to kick something. Me, probably. ‘Is there anything else on there?’
Would he worry about a photo of me hosing Misty and Alex with water in the back garden—without a hose? ‘No, nothing.’
Misty winced but didn’t give my lie away.
‘Everyone will need to change numbers and delete all contents of your voicemail before he hacks it.’ Victor got his phone out.
‘I didn’t have your number,’ I said quickly. ‘Just Will, Misty, Alex, Summer, and … er … Uriel.’ And a shed-load of other savant friends but fortunately they were mixed in with my contacts, with nothing to link them together. I’d have to warn them all—but not in front of Victor.
‘OK. Uriel, take my spare SIM.’ He flipped his brother a card from his back pocket. ‘Send out the alert that no one should contact the compromised numbers. Absolutely no one should ring Angel’s old phone.’
‘Can you tell my parents, please?’ I asked humbly. The last thing I needed was for Davis to trick them into giving a candid interview under the mistaken impression that he was a friend of mine.
‘I’m on it,’ said Uriel, cracking open the back of his phone and slipping in t
he new card.
Summer sat on the other side of me and nudged me with her shoulder. ‘You OK?’
‘Getting there.’
‘You told Marcus straight out what you thought he was: that was brave of you.’
‘Stupid, you mean. I did telepathy, brought out a couple of my best party tricks and he blew it all off. I don’t think even parting the Red Sea would’ve impressed him.’
Will’s phone vibrated. He pulled it out and checked the screen. ‘I don’t recognize the number,’ he said.
‘Don’t answer it,’ warned Victor. ‘It could be Davis having got your number off Angel’s.’
‘No, do answer it!’ I yelped, totally forgetting I was in the doghouse and shouldn’t be countermanding Victor’s orders. Had I really neglected to mention that I’d left Margot with a plea to ring? Way to go, Angel. ‘It could be your soulfinder.’
‘What?’ Will stared at the ringing phone. If he didn’t do something it was going to go through to voicemail, then Davis would hack it and … oh God, oh God. I grabbed it from him and swiped to answer. Victor made a move to cut me off but I danced out of the way. I’d better be right or he would be tying me up and sending me home in the boot of the car. ‘Will Benedict’s phone, how may I help you?’
‘Hello, this is Margot Derkx. Who’s this?’
‘Oh hi, Margot.’ I waggled my eyebrows furiously at Will in a ‘get ready’ gesture. ‘I’m just with Will now. I’ll pass you to him.’ I handed him the phone.
He swore under his breath then took it from me. ‘Hey, Miss Derkx, I apologize for this request to talk out of the blue. Yeah, she is, isn’t she? No, she’s not crazy and I’m not her doctor. Yes, absolutely. She’s right: there is something we need to discuss—a threat to the Gifted security. Credentials? I can give you some references. My brother here has a senior officer at Scotland Yard who will vouch for him. Ah-ha. Yes, I agree: best if we discuss this face to face. Nine a.m.? That’s fine. Yeah, Angel knows the way.’ His voice dropped a little, entering a more intimate register. ‘Looking forward to meeting you. See you then.’ He ended the call and held the phone to his lips for a second.
‘Well?’ I squeezed my hands together, pressing them against the butterflies in my stomach.
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