Stealing Phoenix

by Joss Stirling

  All this family stuff was both heart-warming and excruciating. I wanted to crawl deep inside to protect myself from the unaccustomed swirl of emotions.

  A third Benedict stepped into the hallway; it had to be the youngest one, Zed, as he held hands with a shy-looking blonde girl and I already knew he was the only brother with a soulfinder. ‘Hey, Einstein, I see you’ve found your magic formula at long last.’

  Xav bounded out behind him. ‘Yeah, Phee equals You-She squared. I’ve been working on that one: like it?’

  The blonde girl groaned. ‘That really sucked, Xav. Not even worth a place in a cracker.’

  ‘Aww, Sky, you are so cruel! I don’t know how Zed puts up with you.’ Xav tweaked her long plait.

  ‘Hands off my girl,’ growled Zed, mock-wrestling his brother away from his giggling soulfinder.

  Yves laughed at the battle while I marvelled at the impressive, tousle-haired Zed in front of me. Someone had overdone the share of good looks when it came to this family: there wasn’t a runt among them.

  Ending their tussle as abruptly as it had started, Zed flicked his gaze to me as if I had spoken. He laughed, slapping Xav on the back. ‘She just wondered if I was the runt of the litter!’

  ‘Truth will out.’ Xav grinned.

  I blushed. ‘Did not!’ I whispered, clapping my hands to my cheeks. How could Yves live in a family where several of them could pick thoughts out of your head?

  Sky elbowed him in the ribs. ‘Shh, Zed, you’re making her feel uncomfortable. Her colours have gone all pink and purple.’

  ‘Sorry, Phoenix.’ Zed gave me a charming grin.

  I revised my opinion that the girl was timid. She appeared to have her giant well under control and a disturbing ability to know what I was feeling.

  Yves pulled me further into the flat, dropping my hand to embrace first Sky, then Zed, murmuring thanks for them coming so quickly. I laced my hands together nervously, out of my depth.

  ‘Come through to the kitchen, Phoenix,’ said Karla brightly. ‘We were just having breakfast—or is it lunch? My body-clock is all out of sync!’

  Victor waited for me by the kitchen counter. I realized I hadn’t actually properly met him—you couldn’t call our confrontation in the Barbican an introduction. He held out a hand to me.

  ‘Phoenix, I’m Victor, Yves’s big brother. How’re you doing?’

  ‘Fine.’ My voice had disappeared along with my confidence. Where was Yves? This trial by family was too much for me.

  A warm palm splayed on the back of my shoulders, calming me before the seeds of panic could bloom. ‘Hi, Vick. Sorry I didn’t tell you where I was going. I couldn’t.’ Yves met his elder brother’s penetrating gaze.

  Victor read the message then nodded. ‘OK. I understand. Just, in future, an “I’m-not-going-to-get-myself-killed” note would be appreciated. And, Yves, you got to remember you have a tendency to take on more than you can deal with. Next time, use back-up.’

  Xav slapped Yves lightly over the top of his head. ‘Dog breath.’

  That appeared to put an end to their complaints about being left worrying what had happened to him. I wasn’t sure I could’ve been so forgiving if it had been me.

  ‘So you got Phoenix back,’ declared Karla, clapping her hands in delight. ‘That’s lovely.’

  ‘I’m more on loan,’ I muttered.

  ‘Yeah, my little library book.’ Yves guided me to a barstool at the kitchen island. He helped me up then stood behind me as the rest of his family took seats. We’d interrupted their breakfast: half-drunk mugs of coffee waited by plates of buttered toast.

  I thought I should make an effort to be friendly, filling the expectant gap in conversation with a polite question. ‘Um … how was your flight?’

  ‘Very pleasant. Victor has so many useful friends.’ Karla smiled at her brooding son, the only female in creation who was not bothered by his air of danger. ‘We had lovely first-class seats. I slept like a baby.’

  Saul rolled his eyes. ‘Only after I persuaded you to take a sleeping pill. She’s been worrying about you, Yves.’

  Smart woman.

  ‘I can imagine.’ Yves poured us both a coffee from the filter jug.

  ‘So, Phoenix, tell us how you met?’ Karla looked at me with her bright brown eyes. With her long, dark hair loose, she managed to look far too young to have seven grown-up sons.

  I choked on my drink.

  Yves stepped in. ‘Mom, Phee has a difficult background. It’s not easy for her to talk about it.’

  She frowned. When I checked her mental patterns, I could see that she was searching me for something, like a sniffer dog after drugs.

  ‘Karla.’ Sky tapped her mug with her knife to draw attention from me, her English accent standing out against all the Americans. ‘You’re doing your thing.’

  Karla shook herself, her misty expression clearing. ‘I was? Sorry, I must be more tired than I thought. Don’t mind me.’

  ‘I found it spooky when you first did it to me; maybe you should give Phoenix a bit of space?’

  This Sky was an astute reader of character. Or perhaps she just knew what it was like to be dropped into this family with no preparation? She caught my eye and nodded reassurance, letting me know without a word that I had one ally at least at this table.

  ‘I think that is a very good idea, Sky,’ Saul rumbled, giving his son’s soulfinder an affectionate look. ‘We came here to help Yves and Phoenix; not scare the living daylights out of her.’ He brushed his fingertips over his wife’s arm in a tender gesture. ‘And I can sense that the threat has not gone away. Am I right?’

  Yves nodded.

  I closed my eyes, hoping that if I did not see him betray the Seer, my orders would not be triggered. Hold me back if I attack one of them, I begged Yves.

  I’m not going to renege on my deal, he promised.

  Saul’s eyes narrowed. ‘And I sense something from you, Yves. You’re registering as a threat to us. Like to explain that?’

  Really not, I thought.

  ‘How can I be a threat?’ Yves asked innocently.

  Saul corrected himself. ‘More a risk.’

  Yves shrugged but the silence felt awkward for all of us.

  ‘So what’s going on?’ Zed bumped Sky from her chair, sat down, then pulled her onto his knee.

  ‘We can’t tell you. Neither of us can do anything to help you find out.’

  Yves’s statement wasn’t met with outrage as I had expected, but another silence. Then the family appeared to come to a collective decision to postpone the reckoning.

  ‘O-K,’ Xav drawled after a painful few seconds. ‘Pass the OJ, then.’

  Zed shoved the carton of orange juice to his brother with a wave of his hand. ‘So, Sky, are you gonna show me your old haunts in London?’

  The Benedicts just accepted Yves’s statement and changed the subject. They were amazing. If it had been me, I would have demanded answers.

  They trust me—well, mostly, Yves whispered. I just wish you would too.

  I rubbed my hands on my jeans. I’m working on it, I admitted. But I couldn’t see how he could square his loyalty to them with his promises to me.

  Good. The rest of the occupants of the kitchen were fully aware we were talking telepathically but politely pretended not to notice. Yves smiled affectionately at them all. ‘Now, we should let these guys get some sleep.’

  Karla reached over and patted my arm. ‘Take the rest of the day off from worrying, Phoenix. You’re with family now.’

  Not worrying was easier said than done.

  The arrival of so many of Yves’s family caused a reorganization of sleeping arrangements. Mr and Mrs Benedict took over Victor’s room; Sky and I were given Yves’s double, and the boys were to share Xav’s queen bed and the sofas in the living room. At Yves’s suggestion, I followed Sky to have a rest for a few hours. The stress of the last two days had taken its toll on me and, besides, it was less traumatic than staying in the
kitchen to make conversation. If Yves was going to tell his brothers the truth, I didn’t want to hear it. I was hoping that ignorance would protect me from carrying out the Seer’s order.

  Sky kicked off her shoes and lay down on the right side of the bed. ‘Bliss. I didn’t sleep much on the flight. We were all too stirred up about Yves’s news.’

  I hovered by the other edge wondering if she would mind if I shared the double with her or if I should sleep on the floor. ‘What exactly has he told you?’

  Sky patted the mattress. ‘There’s plenty of room. Why don’t you lie down?’ Gingerly, I unlaced my shoes, took them off, and stretched out. She smiled. ‘Yves didn’t say much. We know he met you at the conference but you’re in some kind of trouble, mixed up with a bad crowd of Savants. He said he needed help getting you out of the country. Saul and Victor are going to work on sorting a passport for you. And he thought that I might be able to understand more about where you’re coming from, being British too.’

  I doubted that. How many people come from a seedy background like mine?

  Sky wasn’t deterred by my silence. ‘How old are you, Phee? You must be nearly eighteen if you’re Yves’s soulfinder.’

  ‘I am?’

  ‘His birthday is first of July. You don’t know?’

  I stared at the white ceiling. No cracks, unlike my room at home. ‘Birthdays don’t figure much where I come from. I think I remember my mum making a fuss of me each year in the summer but she’s long gone and I don’t recall details, like the day or anything.’

  ‘I didn’t know my birthday either. My parents and I had chosen the day of my adoption so it was a bit of a shock to find I was probably younger than I thought.’

  Her strange comment pricked my interest. ‘How did that happen?’

  ‘Zed’s birthday is fifth of August; because of the link between soulfinders, that makes mine around then too.’ She turned on her side to look across at me. ‘But I’ve kept first of March as my birthday as I like to tease Zed about dating an older woman. And my parents wouldn’t understand if I told them about the soulfinder bond and tried to change it.’

  ‘They don’t know?’

  ‘Well, I think they’ve picked up that there’s something special between Zed and me but I’m not sure how I’d even start to explain to non-Savants. I wasn’t exactly overjoyed when Zed filled me in about it all the first time.’ Her smile broadened and I sensed there was a story behind that statement.

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘Thumped him with a shopping bag and told him he was a jerk.’

  ‘Ouch.’

  ‘So how was it for you and Yves? Love at first sight?’

  ‘Hardly. I nicked his stuff and he made it explode.’

  Her fair eyebrows winged up. ‘Oh my gosh! That sounds exciting. And then?’

  I sensed I could confide in her without scaring her off. Watching her mind-kaleidoscope for a moment, I saw that her powers gave her similar insight into people, though she saw moods rather than thoughts. She was watching my colours, seeing my face ringed by pale pink and grey like the first flush of a sunrise on the horizon. ‘What’s a lie?’

  She caught on quickly. ‘You can see what I’m doing?’

  I nodded.

  ‘I can’t help it these days. Spending so much time with Savants switches on my antenna for emotion. Do you mind?’

  I shrugged. ‘I see thought-patterns so I suppose I should be the last one to object.’

  She brushed a strand of her long wavy hair off her face. ‘Yellow.’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘A lie. Can you tell one too?’

  I thought about it for a moment. ‘Not sure. I can see how people are thinking so if they are conscious of the lie then they might give it away by having conflicting images passing through their heads. Your approach is much more straightforward.’

  ‘Is that the extent of your gift—as far as you know, I mean?’

  ‘No, I … um … can freeze your thoughts—it feels like time is suspended for a few moments.’

  She considered this. ‘Cool. You might find you can do even more with Yves. That stuff about soulfinders completing each other really is true. I’m finding new strengths when I work with Zed. My telekinesis is getting very good—I sometimes beat him, which he hates, naturally.’

  ‘I’ve never tried. You think I might be able to do other things? At the Community …’ I paused, worried that I was betraying too much information about myself.

  Sky met my eyes soberly. ‘Go on. Think of me as a friend.’ She sighed when I looked blank. ‘That means I won’t tell anyone, not even Yves, what you say to me.’

  I’d never had a proper friend; it would be nice—not that I was ready to accept her offer just on a few minutes’ conversation; I was too streetwise for that. ‘Where I come from, we concentrate on developing our main skill. Even telepathy isn’t used much. The Seer—’

  ‘Who’s the Seer?’ She twirled a lock of fair hair around her finger.

  ‘Our leader. He uses it most—to give us our instructions. I wouldn’t want anyone else in my head. I think we all feel the same.’

  ‘Doesn’t sound as if you want him in your mind either.’

  ‘Yeah, true.’ I tried to even out my breathing. Just talking about him made me feel close to panicking.

  She let the lock fall back in place. ‘You know he’s abusing you, don’t you? You have every right to your own privacy. Shoving his voice into your head is just as bad as keeping someone imprisoned against their will or beating them up.’

  I gave a gulp of laughter. ‘There’s plenty of that too.’

  She reached out and touched the back of my hand. ‘I do know what it is like, you know.’

  ‘How can you?’ I whispered. She was so perfect—a tiny fairylike creature, all sweet and pretty, floating on a bubble of love above the taint of everyday life; I felt like the ugly gnome next to her, living a life grubbing in the lowest muddy dregs of humanity.

  ‘I’m not what you think, you know. I was abandoned as a child at a service station after years of abuse—broken bones, bruises, the full works. I couldn’t speak for many years and even forgot my name.’

  ‘What … ? How?’

  ‘It’s true. My parents saved me first, then Zed finished the job, with his family’s help. I thought I had it rough but now I see that I had more luck than you. How long have you been alone?’

  Her understanding triggered a welling of emotion. Disobeying my mind’s order not to be weak, tears crept down my cheeks, heading for the pillow. ‘It seems like for ever. Mum tried, but she was under the Seer’s control, much like I am. I don’t know any other kind of life, Sky. I’m really worried I’m all wrong for Yves—I’m gonna mess him up. I’m toxic.’

  She shook my shoulder, a gentle reproof. ‘Rubbish. There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s a miracle you still care as much about others as you do.’

  ‘But Yves …’

  ‘Don’t worry about him. He’s a strong person, quite capable of looking after himself despite what his brothers say about him. Don’t let that studious outside fool you; he’s got fire within.’

  I thought of the confrontation at the Tate. ‘I think I’ve seen it.’

  ‘Trust him. He deserves this chance to make things right. And you can rely on the rest of the family too.’

  Wanting to believe her even if I wasn’t convinced, I smiled and snuggled down into the pillow. ‘He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?’

  Sky laughed. ‘They all are—Zed most, of course.’ I didn’t agree—I’d take my sleek leopard any day over the tiger she was with. ‘It’s quite exhausting if you’re the jealous type.’

  I bit my lip, wondering how I could want to smile so soon after crying. My emotions were yo-yo-ing all over the place. ‘Yves attracts older women—they all flirt with him.’

  Sky giggled. ‘Oh my, I never knew that. I can’t tell Zed—he’d tease him unmercifully. How does he handle it?’

  ‘Gets
all embarrassed. It’s so cute.’

  ‘Yes, all my friends think he’s … well, you probably don’t want too hear that. But they’ve told me—the lucky ones that have dated him—that he’s the perfect gentleman.’

  I wasn’t sure that was how he behaved with me; I seemed to press too many buttons to allow him to keep his cool. ‘So does Zed attract the cougar-women too—the older ones?’

  She let out a snort of laughter. ‘No, they all cross the road when they see him coming. He can project this quite scary aura when he’s not thinking. Funny really, as his powers are nowhere near as lethal as Yves’s.’

  ‘It’s the quiet ones you have to watch.’

  ‘Yes, so it seems.’ She yawned. ‘Ready to have a sleep?’

  I nodded, more at peace than I had been for days. ‘OK.’

  ‘Wake me at four if you get up before me. I promised to ring my parents and let them know we arrived safely.’

  I envied her the network of people who cared what happened to her.

  ‘Don’t,’ she said softly, astutely guessing, or maybe reading, my emotions. ‘We care. You aren’t on your own now.’

  That was what Karla had told me. The problem was I had a hard time overcoming the training of my upbringing. The first lesson of this new life would be to accept that there might be some truth in their claim to care for me.

  I woke a few hours later to find Sky still asleep, her breathing a soft whisper, eyelashes curling on her pale skin. She looked like a fairytale princess waiting for her prince to wake her with a kiss. Checking the time on the bedside clock, I saw that she still had a few hours before her phone call so I slipped off the bed and padded on my bare feet out of the bedroom.

  Glancing in through the open door to Xav’s room, I saw Zed stretched out on the queen mattress, his arm hugging a pillow as if he felt Sky’s absence at his side. I guessed he had left the door ajar so he could hear if there were any problems in our room. I was reassured by this more normal level of suspicion where a stranger was concerned. He wasn’t to know that I wouldn’t turn on his soulfinder and I approved his precautions. I tiptoed on into the kitchen, discovering Yves, Victor, and Xav all at work on laptops.

  ‘Hi.’ I paused in the doorway, wondering if I was welcome.