Free Stealing Phoenix by Joss Stirling Page B

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