‘OK?’ Yves murmured.
‘Hmm.’ I was wound way too tight. No! I wanted to shout: don’t you know your family is in the club and we are surrounded by a bunch of merciless killers out to make a fast buck from other people’s misery? ‘Everything’s lovely, thank you.’
Yves stroked my arm and smiled reassuringly.
His gesture was premature. Before I knew it, the crisis was upon us. A man at the next table checked his mobile then came to Jim’s side. He bent over and whispered in his ear.
New York’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You’re sure?’
The man nodded and showed him a text.
Yves tapped the back of my wrist, a warning, but of what, I had no idea. Be ready, he seemed to be saying.
Jim turned to Yves. ‘Well, Benedict, we seem to be having a little difficulty with that information you gave us.’
Yves swirled the champagne in his glass. ‘What kind of problem? If you did what I said, then there should be no issue.’
‘And what did you say?’ Jim reached inside his jacket—for a terrible moment I thought he had gone for a gun, but instead he pulled out a BlackBerry.
‘I told you not to copy it from my original.’
‘Too late for that: we’ve all been given the files. And somehow, since I last looked, some of the names have changed.’
Yves nodded as if this was all to be expected.
‘Your information now suggests that Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are leading members of the Savant Net.’ Jim’s tone was far from amused. ‘And somehow their names have replaced those of the genuine contacts I checked off this afternoon.’
Yves shrugged. ‘Did you print off the list?’
Jim tugged his bow tie loose, anger making his neck bulge with tension. ‘No, of course not. But you know that, don’t you? You’d put a protection on the file so we couldn’t do anything but read it on screen.’
Yves pushed his glass aside. ‘I can change that for you, no problem. Just a question of adjusting the permissions.’
All around us I was aware that other Savants were receiving whispered messages or texts.
‘Tolstoy! Rasputin!’ spluttered Mr Moscow, throwing his smart phone on the table. His heavies gathered at his shoulder, hands in deep pockets or feeling under the side of their jackets for their weapons. ‘This is an insult!’
‘Very funny: Crocodile Dundee and Kylie Minogue!’ Mr Sydney shoved his chair back and grabbed Yves by the scruff of the neck. ‘What’s your game, mate?’
Heart in my throat, I saw that the commotion at the front of the club was attracting the attention of other patrons, and a number of the wise ones got up to leave. Waiters moved into position, poised to break up an altercation—but they didn’t look like any bar staff I’d ever seen before, too watchful and unsurprised by the crisis down front. Without seeing any sign of Yves’s older brother, I was beginning to suspect that we were surrounded by Victor’s police friends. Even the band had taken note of the drama, grinding to a halt as the Savants clustered around our table.
Yves was playing it cool. ‘It’s no game,’ he spoke loudly in the silence. ‘I warned you not to copy from the memory stick. As soon as it is moved off my stick, the self-destruct begins.’ Yves shook off Sydney’s hand, backing away from the table so that I was behind him. ‘Look, you don’t expect me to leave sensitive information lying around begging to be posted on Wikileaks, do you? I thought you’d have better security protocols than that.’ He sounded disdainful of their technical know-how. ‘The information, if copied from my original, gradually corrupts—in a culturally sensitive manner, of course. I like the recipient to realize it’s happening. I’m not trying to hide what I’ve done.’
Jim yanked Yves back into his seat. ‘So, after this amusing display of your technical wizardry, you can send us the information again? Without the time-corruption?’
‘Sure. I’ll just need five minutes with a decent computer.’ Yves looked innocently round as if expecting one to appear in front of him in the middle of the night club.
But the Seer was not pleased to have his protégé spring this on them all in public with no warning. He wasn’t buying the line Yves was trying to sell. ‘Phoenix, go and join your brothers.’
‘What? Why?’ I hated having the spotlight put on me, feeling the interest of the Savants swing in my direction.
Yves showed the first signs of failing confidence. ‘She stays here.’
‘She goes.’ The Seer gestured to Dragon to take me out of the centre of the gathering. ‘I think you will concentrate better knowing she is being looked after by her family.’ He gave Yves a humourless smile. ‘I am beginning to wonder, Mr Benedict, if you have any more surprises in store for us. Remember, Phoenix has something she must do if you have betrayed us, so think carefully before you reply.’
‘I’ve done nothing. I told you not to copy the information. Your own actions caused this.’
‘But you must have realized that we could only use your data if we could distribute it to interested parties.’
‘But you never asked me to enable that function, did you?’
Oh my God, that was it! My uncertainty lifted as swiftly as a helium balloon. Yves had got round his loyalty to his family and his promise to me by allowing others to make the decision that caused the corruption. Literally, they had caused their own betrayal. My relief was overwhelming.
Sensing the unfavourable direction of the conversation, Dragon bent my arm up behind my back, stopping me from making any rash move but keeping us both within earshot. I glanced desperately to see what Victor’s team were doing, but they were maintaining their distance. I wondered if they had the whole place bugged; perhaps they were hoping that the Savants would incriminate themselves further? New York had already discussed drug shipments: wasn’t that enough? Or maybe they were waiting for Yves to give them some kind of signal. Come on, Victor, I urged silently, end this before Yves gets hurt!
Jim studied Yves, his expression perplexed. ‘Where exactly do your loyalties lie, Mr Benedict?’
The Seer gestured to Unicorn to approach. ‘I think that much is apparent—with his soulfinder.’
Jim circled Yves’s neck with his hands, pinning him back in his seat. ‘But the thing I don’t know is what else he put on that memory stick. If he planted one virus, I’m wondering if there are more that we’ve spread into our own systems. We were stupid not to consider this in our gold-rush moment for the information.’
‘I agree. I’m afraid we all quite lost our heads.’ The Seer’s remorseful tone was chilling. ‘Unicorn, remind Mr Benedict here of what he stands to lose if he double-crosses us.’
Unicorn removed one leather glove and flexed his fingers. ‘How much shall I take?’
‘A year or two should do it.’
Yves struggled against Jim’s stranglehold. ‘What are you doing?’
I shoved against Dragon. ‘Don’t you dare touch him!’
The Seer turned his pale blue eyes on me. ‘It’s not him that he cares about, my dear. I wonder, if you age a soulfinder, does that break the link with their counterpart? After all, the legend claims you are linked by birth.’
‘No! Please!’ I screamed, fighting hard against Dragon’s grip as Unicorn swung towards me. Events were spinning out of control and had turned into a nightmare: he looked so eager to get started on his latest task—that’s how much he must hate me. ‘Please, don’t!’
Shouting for Victor, Yves shoved Jim’s hands away and tried to break through the crowd to reach me, but the other Savants held him back. Desperate, I grabbed for Unicorn’s mental pattern, managing to freeze him for a couple of seconds, but he knew my power well and was fighting it even before I put it in place. Dragon succumbed for only an instant before shrugging off my attack.
‘Stupid—now you’ve got us angry!’ he growled, dragging me towards Unicorn. ‘A couple of years won’t be enough.’
Just then, the table beside us burst into flame; the red candles erupted
like miniature volcanoes. Dragon swore and lurched away, almost yanking my arm out of its socket. A fire alarm shrieked and the sprinklers sprang into action. People ran towards us, shouting—from the sudden appearance of weaponry, waiters and patrons alike were revealed as law-enforcement agents. Missiles whistled overhead, thrown in response by the Savants’ bodyguards.
Dragon dived beneath a table, taking me with him.
‘Police! Police!’ Shouts from all directions. ‘Put down your weapons. Raise your hands where we can see them.’
‘Phee!’ Yves bellowed above the noise. ‘Where are you?’
‘Yves!’ I screamed.
Dragon shoved a hand over my mouth. Unicorn joined us, slithering along on his belly.
Yves!
‘We take her?’ asked Dragon curtly.
Through the forest of legs, we could all see the white figure of the Seer and the other Savants surrounded by armed officers. No one was touching them; they must have been briefed about this group’s powers, but the policemen were not moving forward. The counter-attack had stopped; three chairs and several glasses hovered above our heads, spinning slowly like rocks in an asteroid field. Why weren’t the Savants fighting back? In the midst of the officers, Mr Benedict stood holding hands with his wife, eyes closed as they concentrated, oddly still as around them confusion reigned. Dipping into their minds, I could see the couple were holding some kind of protective wall to hem in the group, holding the missiles back. One man, Sydney I think, crumpled—a dart in his neck. A chair fell to the floor at the same moment, released from his mind. The police were using tranquillizer guns—brilliant! I felt a flicker of hope.
‘Time to go.’ Unicorn replaced his glove. ‘I think we need something more obvious than my ageing power to get their cooperation. I don’t want to pass out and find myself in a high-security prison.’
Dragon pulled a gun from a holster under his jacket and shoved it under my chin.
Yves! I called frantically.
Where are you?
Our temporary shelter of the table lifted off the ground and flipped towards the stage. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sky, crouched behind the piano, directing it with her finger like an orchestra conductor. Positioned to protect her back, Zed lobbed a champagne bottle telepathically towards Dragon, making it swerve to come up on his blind side, but Unicorn saw it in time to pull his brother out of its path. Dragon blasted it with a flick of his wrist, contents spraying the officers hunkered down behind the bar. He wasted no time dragging me towards the exit.
‘Put down your guns!’ ordered the officer in charge, spotting the three of us outside the police cordon.
Unicorn kicked open the emergency exit. ‘If you follow, she dies.’
Dragon pushed the officers guarding the back door out of our path with a wave of power. They smashed into the wall and slid down like puppets with their strings cut.
Stall them! Yves begged frantically. I could feel him trying to get through the ring of policemen but they had orders to hold everyone in position and not touch them—no exceptions.
I tried—it doesn’t work on them. They break it too quickly.
Then we were in an ugly alleyway at the back of the club— nothing but wheelie bins and drifts of fast food wrappers. The police—if they were there—were keeping out of sight.
‘Car,’ Dragon said tersely.
‘Yeah, give her to me. You get one.’ Taking over possession of the handgun, Unicorn pressed his handgun to my temple as Dragon passed me over. He then strode out on to the street, eyes on a black BMW that had just set down its passengers outside a restaurant. As the driver accelerated away, Dragon stepped out and held up his hands. It was as if the car hit an invisible brick wall. I could see the tension in Dragon’s face as he stopped the powerful engine in its tracks. He then pointed a finger at the chauffeur.
‘Out!’
The driver did not need to be asked twice. He scrambled out, leaving the door swinging.
Dragon opened the rear so I could be bundled in. Unicorn practically fell on top of me, gun trapped between us, so for a gut-wrenching moment I thought it might go off accidentally.
‘There they are! The car!’ I could hear voices—Victor’s among them.
‘Go!’ snapped Unicorn.
Now behind the wheel, Dragon put his foot down and pulled away with a screech of tyres. Turning the corner, he gave a crow of triumph.
‘That was fricking easy!’ he laughed.
Unicorn sat up, safe in the knowledge that no one was going to shoot while I was in the car. ‘Yeah, sweet. We made a good team back there.’
Dragon took a sharp left through a red light, causing a double-decker to plough into railings. He hooted with glee. ‘Where to?’
‘Back to the Community.’ Unicorn had ripped strips from the hem of my chiffon overskirt and was busy tying my hands and ankles. ‘I say we take what we need, tell the others to split and make a new rendezvous in four days’ time—once the dust has settled.’
The car lurched. ‘What? We’re taking over?’
Unicorn rubbed his temples. ‘Of course not. We remain loyal. We have to—I’m sure we have to. But while the Seer is away, he’d want his stuff looked after.’
Dragon was quick to catch on. ‘Yeah, and if he doesn’t get free for a long time then at least he knows we are honouring his wishes, living as he lived, waiting to welcome him back a hero.’
‘Yeah, something like that.’
‘Poor old Dad.’ Dragon began to snicker—his amusement spreading to his brother. ‘He won’t like jail. No fancy ladies to keep him happy.’
‘They’ll have to put him in a cell on his own—won’t have one big enough otherwise.’
‘Get this, though: I wouldn’t put it past him to persuade his way out in no time. We had better send him a lawyer— show our good intentions.’ Dragon’s suggestion sobered them both up.
‘You’re right—he must see that we did all that we could— and believe it too.’
Sirens echoed behind us. Dragon glanced in the mirror and deliberately took a turning that led to the river, away from our true destination. Heading over Tower Bridge, he then tried to lose the tail in the backstreets of Bermondsey.
Where are you? Yves was desperate.
South of the river. Heading back to the Community eventually. But you can’t tell the others where that is, remember? I’d prefer to be held hostage than lose my link to my soulfinder.
Phee …
Promise!
Yes, OK. I’ll think of something else. Stay alive.
‘I think we need to swap cars.’ Dragon slowed outside a bikers’ pub, seeing two leather-clad heavies lounging on their saddles.
‘Can you take them out?’ Unicorn asked, tying a third piece of chiffon around my mouth as a gag.
‘No need. Let’s see if they’ll do swapsies.’ He snickered at his childish language as he pulled up abruptly and leapt out. ‘Hey, guys, want a new BMW? It’s hot but it smokes on the road.’
The bikers looked at each other, unable to believe their ears.
‘Just need to use your bikes for the night.’
Unicorn pulled me out of the car, gun hidden by my skirt.
‘What’s wrong with her?’ the bigger of the two men asked. He had to realize I was hardly there by choice.
Unicorn sighed. ‘Bikers with a conscience—who would’ve thought?’ He dug the barrel into my ribs. ‘Your choice, Phee: either freeze them or we kill them.’
I nodded, signalling I understood. I quickly reached for the two men’s minds and stopped time for them. Dragon shoved them off their seats and swung on the nearest bike. A helicopter circled overhead, spotlight dancing over the rooftops.
‘Hurry, they’re on to the car.’ Dragon kicked his bike into life.
‘What do we do with her?’ Unicorn held me up by a punishing grip on my upper arm.
‘Either dispose of her or keep her as a bargaining chip.’
Thinking quickly
, Unicorn took his decision. ‘She’s probably already told them where we’re going, so I suppose she might still be useful as a hostage till we get our stuff from the Community.’ He cut the ties on my ankles, pulled my bound arms over his neck so I was draped on his back, then settled us both on the bike. He revved the engine. ‘Let’s go.’
The bikes surged away, leaving the two former owners sprawled by the open doors of the BMW.
There was no sign of pursuit when we arrived back at the estate. Everything seemed weirdly normal as news had not yet filtered back that the Seer had been caught. Dragon banged a hammer against the rusting climbing frame in the playground—our rudimentary alarm system.
‘Everyone get out!’ he shouted, as heads popped out of doors all over the complex. ‘Check the usual place for your instructions in three days’ time.’ This meant that a small ad would be placed in the window of a newsagent’s on the Mile End Road. A postcard advertising cleaning services, listing a non-functioning mobile number and an address, was the means by which we knew where we were supposed to head next after evacuating an old hide-out.
Community members were well trained. I could hear doors banging throughout the building as they picked up their already-packed bags and headed for the exits, leaving the usually locked gates yawning open. Tony peered out of his basement door and ducked back in quickly before my brothers noticed. Then I realized I could smell smoke.
‘The building’s on fire.’ Dragon scanned the rooftops. ‘Up there.’ He pointed to the ridge.
Unicorn unlooped my arms from around his neck and dropped me to my feet. I crouched down, shoulders screaming after the last twenty minutes of abuse as we had raced through the backstreets of the City. I was freezing even though it was a warm summer night. Perhaps they would leave me here. That would be nice.