I was so confused. Savants—soulfinders—al that did not hide that this was real y about being committed to him. I’d spent many years defending myself by not exposing too much of my heart to other people; could I trust him enough to risk loving him back? What if I fel in love with him and got hurt?
What if something happened to him?
‘What’s going on now? Has Victor had any luck finding the people after you or who betrayed you?’ I asked.
Zed leant against a desk, positioning me so my back rested on his chest, his hands looped round me, chin on the top of my head.
‘He thinks it’s most likely it goes back to Daniel Kel y.’
I turned to look up at his face. ‘Hey, I’ve heard of him. Doesn’t he build skyscrapers?’
‘That’s only a tiny part of what he does. He’s currently building a city-within-a-city in Las Vegas.
It’s a massive complex of hotels, casinos, and apartments. But he does it with dirty money—not that anyone dare say as they’d be crushed by a ton of lawsuits. He’s got various relations heading different parts of his empire. Some are complete crooks—no better than the mafia. We caught a couple of them in Denver after a hit—we think on his orders, not that we could prove it; they went down for murder one a month ago—it was big news at the time.’
‘I remember them talking at school about it.’
‘Vick is trying to find out if they’ve got a savant on their payrol but it’s tough. They’re hardly going to talk to a Benedict and his sources are coming up dry.
Kel y’s got it in for us now. Wil and Uriel are at col ege in Denver so they’re watching each other’s back. The rest of us are confined to barracks.’
I linked my fingers with his.
‘What’s Wil ’s gift?’
‘He’s most like Dad, can sense trouble. He’s great at telekinesis too.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Moving stuff.’
‘Like lemons.’
‘Yeah.’ He smirked. ‘I’m way better than Xav at it.’
The bel rang in the hal way. ‘I’m missing maths.’
‘That’s too bad. I’ve missed being with you.’
‘I’l get detention.’
‘Then I’l get it too. Great idea.’
‘Won’t you risk getting thrown out—Tina said you were in trouble again.’
‘No, they won’t dare. I’l send you along to the principal’s office in your skele-suit. Man, I love that outfit.’
When no class came in, we realized we had another hour to ourselves.
‘So are you going to tel me the rest of it, about your family?’
He sat on the windowsil and helped me up beside him. ‘Yeah, I suppose it’s past time. We al can do different stuff like telepathy, but we each have a main gift. You know about Dad sensing danger. Mom sees the future and can read thoughts off people: she’s the most like me, I guess. Together they can maintain a guard around the house—it’s part of their combined power as soulfinders. Trace can read objects. If he touches something, he can see the person or the event that brought it there.’
‘Very handy for a cop.’
‘We think so. It’s either that or be an archaeologist. Uriel, I think I mentioned, sees the past. Victor can manipulate people’s thinking …’
‘What!’
‘Yeah, he channels emotion and thoughts. Not so good when you find yourself agreeing to do the dishes when it’s his turn. Xav’s a healer. And Yves can handle energy, make things explode, catch fire and so on.’
‘Bloody hel ! Yves looks so … wel , so friendly and studious.’
‘It was scary when he was a toddler, Mom says, but he’s got it under control.’
‘How can your family do these things?’
‘We just can. It’s like why do you have blue eyes?’
The question fel like an ice cube down my neck. ‘I guess I must have inherited them from my birth parents, but I wouldn’t know, would I? They dumped me.’
‘Sorry, that was stupid of me. I saw something about that in your memories.’
‘Sal y and Simon couldn’t have children so took me on when everyone else thought I was too disturbed for adoption. I didn’t real y speak for four years until they rescued me. They had the patience to coax me out of my shel .’
‘They’re special people.’
‘Yes, they are.’
‘In the most important respect, they’re your real parents now—I can see things from them in you.’
‘Like what?’
‘You’re as nice as your mom about people and that stubbornness, that’s from your dad.’
‘Good.’ I liked the idea of inheriting Simon’s grit.
‘He’s a Yorkshireman. He’l be pleased to hear it’s catching.’
‘You shouldn’t be scared of what you inherited from your biological parents. I can’t see anything to be ashamed of when I look at you.’
‘Just don’t look too hard.’ I crossed my arms.
‘I guess one of them at least must have been a savant.’ He snagged a curl and twirled it playful y.
‘My family comes from savants on both sides. Dad’s people are part Ute—that’s a Native American tribe.
Mom says she has gypsies and al sorts in her bloodline. Dash of Irish somewhere along the way and a big dose of Mexico. I’d say we were doomed from birth.’
‘That’s how it works?’
‘Yeah. My parents are both key players in the Savant Network—it’s a kind of world-wide web for those of us with a gift. Mom’s gift helps check those who join, making sure they are in it for the right reasons.’
‘So bad guys need not apply?’
He shook his head. ‘Not that they’d want to. The Net is about using our gift for the benefit of others.
We keep ourselves secret so we can live as near to normal lives as possible, but that doesn’t stop us helping where we can.’
‘And you real y think I’m a savant too?’
‘Yeah I do.’
‘But I can’t move things.’
‘Have you tried?’
‘Wel , no. I wouldn’t know what to do. I thought I saw stuff once—aura, I suppose you’d cal them—
but I don’t any more.’ Not that I’d admit, anyway.
We sat for a while, hand in hand, gazing out of the window. The skies were thick with iron-grey clouds.
Snow began to fal , thick and fast, gusts of wind driving it horizontal before letting it drop back to a gentle downward progress.
‘I think this is it,’ said Zed. ‘The first proper snow.
I’d love to be able to teach you to ski but it’s not safe for you to be with me out there.’
‘I suppose it wouldn’t be a good idea.’
‘You should get Tina to take you out: she’s pretty good.’
‘I might do that. But she’l laugh at me.’
‘Yeah, she wil .’ He was doing it again—reading the future.
‘Then again nothing can be as humiliating as the skeleton suit.’
‘Don’t knock the suit. I’m preserving that and gonna beg you to wear it on special occasions.’
I kicked myself. I real y mustn’t fal in love with this guy, but I wanted to curl up and tuck myself inside him, never to leave him. ‘Wil you teach me to shield?
I don’t want your family reading every thought that crosses my mind.’
He put an arm round me. ‘No, we wouldn’t want that. I catch some of them sometimes, you know. I like the one where you …’ He whispered the rest in my ear, causing me to die of embarrassment.
‘Shields—I need shields,’ I said when my cheeks stopped burning.
He laughed. ‘OK. The technique is simple but it just takes practice. It’s best to use visualization.
Imagine building wal s, putting yourself inside them, keeping the emotions, ideas, thoughts safe behind the barriers.’
‘What kind of wal ?’
‘It’s your wal ; you decide.’
I closed my eyes and recal ed the wal paper of my bedroom. Turquoise.
‘That’s good.’
‘You can see what I’m seeing?’
‘An echo. When someone’s shielded I see a shadow, a blank. Yours is a pale blue colour.’