Stealing Phoenix (16 page)

How’s the arm?
I could feel a smirk behind the question.

Been better.

Remember, won’t you? You may think you’re daddy’s little girl, but that counts for nothing.

He had no need to be jealous; I had no illusions about my importance.
Don’t worry, Dragon, the diamonds wouldn’t have suited you in any case.

I cut off, pleased to get in the last word for once. Dragon could hurt me, true, but somehow he no longer scared me, not like his brother and the Seer.

Vanity saw me dipping quickly back into the bathroom to put on a whisper of lip gloss and mascara. Though tired, I definitely looked better than my Wendy disguise. Perhaps Yves wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen with me in public this time? It would be nice to think so. Hurrying out, I jumped on a bus heading through the City to St Paul’s. It wasn’t far but I still went upstairs to occupy the front seat, the one above the driver which gave you the illusion that you were in charge of the bus. I had to share it with a school kid who was listening to music on his phone so loud I swear I could hear the lyrics. The absurdity of the not-silent-headphones made me laugh and I hummed along until he started giving me dirty looks. His problem—if he didn’t want me to share his tracks then he really should invest in a better pair of earbuds. He was lucky I hadn’t nicked his mobile—normally I would’ve done so just to see if I could get away with it, leaving him mid-song, wondering what the hell had just happened.

I admit it was strange to be in such a good mood when everything in my life was so dire. I could only explain it as a response to the awareness that I was going to see Yves again in a few minutes, my soulfinder. I didn’t need to steal other people’s stuff to give me a mood-lift because I could steal myself a little happiness just imagining that things were different.

I got off the bus in the shadow of the great cathedral. White walls rose from the narrow streets like cliffs of grubby sugar candy. This close you can’t see the dome well, but I knew it was above me, sitting on the cathedral like one of the serving dishes the waiters used at the Waldorf to cover the plates as they brought them to the table. I could imagine a heavenly hand coming out of the sky and lifting it off with a flourish, revealing the tourists and tombs inside.

Sun was shining on the Thames as I walked down Peter’s Hill. The sounds of traffic mingled with the shouts of the boys in the grounds of a school right by the footbridge. I was swimming against the tide as commuters battled up the hill towards the City from the rail terminuses south of the river. It was exciting to be among so many people, to feel briefly part of the vibrant life of London. I could almost imagine I had a proper reason for being here, a job perhaps in one of the cafés on the South Bank, a normal life with friends and a fl at somewhere cheap in the suburbs. Some people might think that a boring life choice, but to me the independence sounded like heaven.

I didn’t have my own watch so I stopped a harassed-looking woman hurrying north, one of the few not occupied with talking on her phone. Without breaking step, she crisply informed me that it was eight-fifteen. Perfect—I had plenty of time to get in position. I thought the centre of the bridge would be the best spot, giving me a chance to watch out for trouble from either direction. I had been serious about ducking out of the meeting if Yves brought his brothers with him. Stepping onto the bridge, I admired the catapult-shaped supports, musing that, if my heavenly hand had finished serving the cathedral, it could pick up one of these and fire a pellet at Kent.

Shaking my head at my absurd imaginings, I wondered if anyone else saw things like I did. Would Yves understand the way my mind worked?

‘Phee?’

I almost jumped out of my skin at the light touch on the shoulder. I spun round—Yves, of course. He’d got here before me and had lain in ambush by the entrance to the bridge. For all my plotting, I’d forgotten that he too would have made his own plans in the short time I’d allowed him.

‘Yves, you came.’ I pressed my palm to my pounding chest.

‘You didn’t leave me much choice.’ He glanced behind me. The sunlight kissed his skin, turning his tan golden. He made me feel like some mortal visited by a demi-god in one of those Greek tales—and none of them had ended well for the human if I recall. ‘Are you on your own?’

I nodded. I was—sort of. ‘Are you?’

His face could not hide the brief spasm of his annoyance that I’d doubted him. ‘You asked me to come alone so I did. You need to learn to trust me.’

I started walking, leading him to the centre of the bridge, away from the dangers that lurked near the busy entrance. Anyone could hide there. ‘And you need to be more suspicious. Not everyone can afford to be so trusting.’

He let that pass without comment but instead caught up with me.

‘So, to what do I owe the pleasure of my summons this morning?’

I could forgive him his sarcasm: our encounters up to this point had not been promising.

‘I don’t want to steal anything from you today, if that’s what you’re asking.’ I dug my hands in my pockets.

‘Can I hope that this is you finally realizing that soulfinders have to stay together?’

We reached the middle of the bridge. I leaned on the balustrade and gazed down into the muddy-green waters of the Thames. An orange plastic bag tugged against the plinth of the bridge support, rippling like a poisonous type of seaweed. Yves stood next to me but his eyes were on my face, not on the river. ‘Phee?’

I didn’t want to answer his question. I just wanted to stand for a few stolen minutes with my soulfinder, enjoying the sunshine and the feeling of quiet happiness that being with him gave me despite everything in our way. ‘You know, Yves, you are a really lovely person.’

‘Why does it always sound as if you are saying goodbye?’

Because I was. ‘You have a great family too from what I’ve seen. You’ll be OK.’

He folded his arms. ‘What are you trying to tell me?’

‘I think if you stayed with me, I’d be very bad for you.’

He shrugged that away. ‘Soulfinders can’t be bad for each other—they
are
each other. We aren’t complete apart.’

‘You see, Yves,’ I picked at the paintwork, ‘the thing is I’ve been brought up in a … a bad crowd and I can’t get out of it.’

‘I’ll get you out.’ The firm line of his mouth told me he would not settle for less.

‘My leader controls us.’ I could feel a nervous shiver running down my spine but so far I hadn’t broken any rules set down by the Seer; I was only forbidden to say what I had
heard
yesterday. ‘I tried to tell you what it was like, about the things that happen where I come from. My friend was … hurt in my place because I’d been seen with you.’

All stiffness went from his stance. He closed the gap between us and put an arm round my shoulders. ‘I’m sorry, Phee. Is he OK?’

‘I don’t know.’ My voice sounded thin even to me. ‘And then yesterday I met some new … well I suppose you’d call them “allies” of my leader. I can’t tell you what was said, but it isn’t good—for you, I mean.’ A pain like a drill in my skull warned me not to say any more. I took a deep breath. ‘That’s all I can say.’

‘Phee?’ His tone was gentle.

I looked up at him, wishing I could lose myself in his warm brown eyes.

He stroked my cheek with a finger. ‘You don’t have to look after all of us, you know? You worry for your friend, for me; when are you going to let someone care about you?’

I swallowed, tears close. No one had ever put me first. I didn’t expect it.

‘And I don’t think you really understand about soulfinders.’ His fingers were trailing fire over my too-sensitive skin, tracing the line of my jaw, the hypersensitive place by my ear. ‘Sure, you know the theory but you’ve not seen it in practice. My parents are soulfinders—and I’ve had months to watch my brother Zed and his soulfinder, Sky, together. Forgive me, but I think I know more than you do on this subject.’

‘You do?’ Why was my voice so husky?

‘Hmm-hmm.’ He bent a little closer. I could feel him shaking a little, as if he wasn’t sure if I was going to push him away again. He didn’t realize that I was caught up in the magnetic attraction too. ‘I can see you are not going to believe me unless I show you.’ He gave me a shy smile.

‘I’m not?’

‘No.’ Sliding his arm down to the small of my back, he tugged me towards him until our bodies were touching, his boldness growing as I made no sign to discourage him. ‘You know, I quite liked Wendy, despite her old-lady clothes and funny attitude to Geoscience, but I really like Phee: she’s beautiful, determined and protective. I was so wrong yesterday to say I was disappointed to be matched with a thief—I gave you no credit for doing what you had to do to survive and I want you to know that you could never, ever disappoint me.’ I could feel his breath on my cheek; my eyelids fluttered closed of their own accord as he closed the gap. His lips began a gentle exploration of my mouth, peppering soft kisses at each corner. ‘Relax—I won’t bite,’ he whispered, caressing the side of my face to get me to soften my jaw.

I unclenched my teeth and began kissing him back. His tongue tickled my lips then eased in to caress my mouth. I could feel my knees beginning to turn to water; all that was stopping me from crumpling was his hand at my back holding me tight against him. I could feel the heat of his palm against my spine, fingers carefully flexing against my taut muscles as he coaxed me to let myself trust him. I’d never felt so precious to anyone before in my life—so respected. And I had thought he wasn’t sure of his moves around girls; boy, was he proving me wrong! This guy aced this test as he did all others.

He was the one to break the kiss. I came out of my lovely dream with his forehead pressed against mine. An elderly passer-by gave us an indulgent smile, reminding me that we were in the middle of a crowd. ‘Young love,’ the man muttered to his companion, patting her arm. ‘Remember what that was like?’ They strolled on, heads bowed together affectionately. Yves grinned after them, then turned back to me with a very male smile of satisfaction.

‘Understand now?’ he asked.

I wasn’t sure. I’d been set on fire and could not put out the flames. My body seemed to spark with new energy as if, after months with batteries running down, I’d just been connected to the mains. I ran my fingers over my mouth. ‘And I thought you didn’t know much about girls.’

He frowned. ‘Why? Did I do it wrong?’

I gave a shaky laugh. ‘No. But your brother said—’

‘Oh, you heard that, did you?’ Yves laughed and brushed a strand of hair off my cheek. ‘I won’t claim his broad expertise but I’ve kissed my share of girlfriends.’

Annoyed at the idea of other girls being on the receiving end of those kissing fireworks, I made to pull away, which seemed only to amuse him.

‘Don’t. That was before I knew you. With you, I’m completely different. I need you like I need oxygen. No kiss has ever affected me like that one. You know, socks blown off.’ He grinned and I couldn’t help but smile too. ‘The first kiss of many, I hope. Look, Phee, we don’t have a choice about being together; we just have to work out how to clear away the obstacles.’ He muttered a curse. ‘That came out wrong. I meant to say that I want to be with you—it’s not just the soulfinder thing speaking. I know you’re thinking I’ll be fine without you; that might have been true last week, before I met you, but not today. If you care even a tiny bit for me, you have to give me a chance to prove I can help you.’

‘No one can help me.’ But I began to hope, to pray, that I was wrong.

‘That’s not true. At least let me try.’

We stayed like that for a few minutes, his arms wrapped round me, holding me close, his fingers shifting through my hair, massaging the back of my neck. All the tension wound inside me began to ease. I couldn’t deny what he was saying, as I felt it too. With him I was no longer desperate and alone. Too often, I experienced life like a heart patient who has undergone surgery and been left with an aching hole in the centre of my chest; in Yves’s arms, that gap was filled, leaving me cared for and complete. How could I think of giving this up if there was even a slither of a chance that we could have a future together?

‘Feeling better now?’ he asked, reading the signs my body was broadcasting, no longer held at the point of taking flight.

‘Yes. Much.’