Officer Hussein wouldn’t let us talk to each other until he’d had a chance to get our own version of events. I didn’t dare risk telepathy, though the temptation was huge. But there was so much angry emotion rippling off Simon that I doubted any message would be able to penetrate the storm cloud.

‘I’m not going to ask what you were doing with him until we get back home,’ Simon fumed, as he gripped the steering wheel, driving me down to the station.

Now there was something to look forward to.

‘But you are in trouble, Sky. You broke our trust. We asked you to keep away from him for your own safety.’

He was right. Of course, he was right. But it wasn’t as if I’d planned it all. I’d just got carried away by the moment. We thought we’d taken enough precautions to make a simple date in a café a reasonable thing to do.

‘And I did not expect to have to spend my evening ferrying you to the town lockup!’

I hugged my knees, my head buzzing.

‘We’re trying to make a good name for ourselves in Wrickenridge, Sky. Your antics aren’t helping. Mr Rodenheim might send us packing if we reflect badly on his centre.’

I dropped my forehead to my knees. I’d been bad.

Simon looked across at me, alerted by my silence that all was not well.

‘Oh, bloody hell, darling, don’t do that.’ He pulled the car over and caressed the top of my head. ‘I’m just scared for you.’

‘Sorry.’

‘You make me feel like a monster. I’m cross, but it’s more at those idiotic boys than at you. I know you didn’t have anything to do with that. Please.’

I looked up at him. He must have seen the tears in my eyes. ‘I just wanted to be with him.’

‘I know, love.’

‘Is that wrong?’

‘Not in the normal course of things, no.’

‘We just went to the café. We kept our masks on almost all the time when we were on the streets.’

Simon heaved a sigh. ‘Oh, to be sixteen again. Just a coffee and it’s become a police matter.’

‘Zed’s on edge because of what happened in the woods. The axe boy was really convincing—and I screamed—I couldn’t help myself. Zed thought I was in danger.’

‘So, he over-reacted. I can understand that seeing how it’s my fatal flaw. Let’s go and find out what we can do for him then.’

Zed was sitting in the waiting area but the officer on duty ushered me through without letting us talk. I was taken into Officer Hussein’s office as the Gordano twins were leaving in the custody of their mother. I wished I’d had time to change out of my skeleton suit.

‘Not her fault,’ mumbled the bigger twin.

‘Looks like trash to me,’ said Mrs Gordano, her nose in the air.

‘Sky, take a seat.’ Officer Hussein pushed a bottle of water towards me. ‘I think I’ve got the full picture now, but why don’t you tell me your story.’

I briefly ran through the events from leaving the café.

‘What I can’t understand,’ said the officer, scratching his chest wearily—it had been a long night and it was only midnight, ‘is why Zed couldn’t see that it was a joke? He’s a big guy, taking on a boy a head shorter than him. It just don’t click for me.’

‘Zed Benedict was looking out for his girl, officer,’ said Simon, surprising me when he came to Zed’s defence. ‘He may be a head taller than that young man, but Sky is smaller than either of them. He would have seen a boy going for her with a knife. Sometimes you can’t think straight when you are scared for someone.’

‘Was anyone hurt?’ I asked.

Officer Hussein tapped his pad. ‘Not seriously. Ben Gordano has a couple of loose teeth but the dentist should be able to sort those out. It’ll cost though.’

‘Perhaps Zed could split the bill? It seems a suitable punishment,’ Simon suggested.

Officer Hussein rose to his feet.

‘Yeah, I guess that’s right. No one need go away with a record for this.’

He led the way back to the waiting room. Zed’s family had pitched up in the meantime—parents, Xav, Yves, and Victor all were there—and he was having to sit through a lecture on sneaking out and brawling in the streets. He looked frustrated rather than repentant, back to the sullen Wolfman of the first days of our acquaintance.

Officer Hussein clapped his hands to gain their attention. ‘All right, all right, people, let’s move this along. I want a word with Zed, then you can all go.’ He took Zed into the back room, leaving me with the Benedicts.

Victor came forward. ‘Mom, Dad, this is Mr Bright, Sky’s father.’

Our parents exchanged stiff nods. I don’t think Saul thought I was sweet any more. It looked more as if I left a sour taste in their mouths. Only Xav and Yves gave me a friendly smile.

‘Like the suit,’ whispered Xav. ‘You and your dad thinking of starting a new fashion?’

Yves scratched his chin. ‘Fascinating. Do you know, every bone is anatomically correct? Whoever made this has the mind of a medic.’

It only then struck me that Simon hadn’t changed either. He’d thrown on a coat but there was unmistakable evidence peeking out that he too was wearing luminescent bones.

I groaned. ‘Kill me now and bury me.’

‘I thought the idea of the skeleton was that someone had already done that,’ teased Xav.

‘Word’s going to get around, you know.’ Yves’s eyes twinkled behind his glasses.

‘Well, isn’t that a comforting thought.’

Xav rubbed his hands. ‘Yeah, everyone’s going to be talking about how Zed got cuffed and stuffed.’

‘He wasn’t cuffed.’

‘But he was stuffed in the back of the police car. Besides the handcuffs make for a better story. You’re both going to be quite infamous. I think Zed’ll like the new edge to his rep.’ He tweaked the unravelling end of my French plait. ‘Don’t worry, Sky, I’ll still talk to you.’

‘Thanks. You’re a hero.’

Our parting from the Benedicts reminded me of an exchange of hostile prisoners in one of those old war films. Zed and I were kept apart then frogmarched to our separate vehicles. He was looking ashen.

I feel like I’ve been suckerpunched. He risked the thought even though we might be heard. I can’t leave without saying sorry. Again.

What happened?

I lost it, flipped out—all thanks to my freaking gift. I’d seen what was going to happen, you see, months back. Saw you being attacked with a knife. I hadn’t realized it was a fake.

But that’s good isn’t it? The threat wasn’t real.

Yeah, but you’ve just swapped my imagined threat for the real one of assassins. Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of the Benedict family. I’d better stop talking. Dad’s giving me these weird looks.

Zed?

Yeah?

Take care.

You too. Love you.

He cut off.

‘Sky, are you all right?’ Simon asked, turning the key in the ignition. ‘You’re looking a bit pale.’

Zed had said he loved me. Was it just a throw-away comment or did he mean it?

‘I’m fine. Just need to get some sleep.’

Simon yawned. ‘We’ll have to report to the boss first.’

Zed loved me—maybe. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to believe him. The last thing I wanted was to fall in love because, deep down, I remembered that love hurt.

Our grand plan to pretend we weren’t a couple had been blown apart by our visit to the police station. The gossip was too hot for me to put the fire out with indifference or denial. Zed must’ve realized for he came to find me after my first class, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was towing me into an empty room.

‘Are you OK?’ He gave me a hug.

‘Fine.’

‘I’ve been hearing about this drop-dead gorgeous skeleton from everyone. Seems she had to report to a police station with some idiot who took on a couple of sophomores.’

‘What did your parents say?’

He gave a hollow laugh. ‘You really want to know? I’m going to have to work off my debt for Ben’s teeth with extra chores and go round to apologize. I’ve had to swear not to sneak out with you again. They make me feel about nine years old. You?’

‘It was OK. Simon blames you.’

‘Great.’

I wanted to ask Zed if he meant what he said about loving me but was too scared to ask.

He hugged me. ‘Yeah, I did.’

‘Stop nicking stuff out of my head.’

He ignored my protest. ‘I think I knew it from the moment you stood up to me in the parking lot, but, last night, when I saw you in the station dressed as a skeleton, defending me to the police, I knew for sure.’ He gazed down at me, framing my face in his hands. ‘I understand you still have issues with what I’ve been telling you, but it’s more than just a random pairing, Sky: I really feel so much for you, it’s scaring me to death. You are just … just everything—your smile, the way you think, the way you get embarrassed when I tease you, your stubborn streak.’

I sort of wanted to hear this—but also didn’t: how mixed up is that? ‘You’ve noticed I’m stubborn?’

‘Can’t miss it. To me, you’re the theme that harmonizes perfectly with mine.’ He trapped my gaze with his. ‘I’m in love with you.’

‘You are?’

His eyes deepened to a darker shade. ‘Sky, I’ve not felt like this before and it’s terrifying.’

‘Well, wow. Um … perhaps you should try to get over it. I’m not good at this relationship stuff.’

‘Sure you are. You just need time to adjust.’ He put his arms around me so I could rest my head against him and listen to his heart beating strong and steady.

I was so confused. Savants—soulfinders—all that did not hide that this was really 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 fell 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 Kelly.’

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 payroll but it’s tough. They’re hardly going to talk to a Benedict and his sources are coming up dry. Kelly’s got it in for us now. Will and Uriel are at college 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 Will’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 bell rang in the hallway. ‘I’m missing maths.’

‘That’s too bad. I’ve missed being with you.’

‘I’ll get detention.’

‘Then I’ll 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’ll 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 tell me the rest of it, about your family?’

He sat on the windowsill and helped me up beside him. ‘Yeah, I suppose it’s past time. We all 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 hell! Yves looks so … well, 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 fell 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.’

‘Sally and Simon couldn’t have children so took me on when everyone else thought I was too disturbed for adoption. I didn’t really speak for four years until they rescued me. They had the patience to coax me out of my shell.’

‘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’ll 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 playfully. ‘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 all 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 really think I’m a savant too?’

‘Yeah I do.’

‘But I can’t move things.’

‘Have you tried?’

‘Well, no. I wouldn’t know what to do. I thought I saw stuff once—aura, I suppose you’d call 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 fall, 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’ll laugh at me.’

‘Yeah, she will.’ 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 really mustn’t fall in love with this guy, but I wanted to curl up and tuck myself inside him, never to leave him. ‘Will 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 walls, putting yourself inside them, keeping the emotions, ideas, thoughts safe behind the barriers.’

‘What kind of wall?’

‘It’s your wall; you decide.’

I closed my eyes and recalled the wallpaper 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.’

‘My bedroom walls.’

‘Yeah, that’s good. Safe, familiar. When you throw that up between you and anyone listening, they should find it hard to get behind it. But it takes work—and we all forget from time to time.’

‘The savant working for the shooter—has he let his shield drop?’

Zed shook his head. ‘That’s why we know he’s good—powerful. Either that or he’s long gone, but we doubt it.’

‘They’ll try again?’

‘We think so. We hope so, because now we are expecting them, we have a chance of catching them, and they might roll over on the mole in the FBI. But knowing what’s in the wind, you be extra careful, promise?’ He ran his finger lightly over the back of my hand, sending a shiver down my spine.

‘I promise.’

‘I’m keeping you a secret, even from my family. You’re too precious to risk anywhere near this mess.’

Tina couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting Zed to teach me to ski. ‘You’ve got one of the best skiers in the district as a boyfriend—and I’m still angry with you for not telling me the truth about that, by the way—and you ask me to teach you?’

‘That’s right.’ I picked up a scraper and helped her clear the snow off her car windscreen in the school parking lot.

‘Why?’

‘Because according to Zed you totally rock on the slopes yourself. You’re my Obi Wan and I am your faithful apprentice.’

She preened with pleasure at the praise. ‘Thanks. I didn’t think he noticed girls like me.’

‘He’s not what you think. He’s not as unapproachable as he seems. He’s just got this … this problem with relaxing around people.’ And he’s stressed out half the time witnessing major crimes for the FBI, but she didn’t need to know that part. ‘And our parents aren’t too keen we spend time together—not since we ended up at the police station.’

‘Oh my God, it’s like West Side Story!’

I didn’t think that very accurate. If my memory of the musical was any good, I don’t think either of them was pursued by assassins with extra-sensory perception.

‘Fine, I’ll teach you,’ continued Tina. ‘Besides, there’s only so many times a girl wants to fall on her butt in front of the boy she’s out to impress.’

Actually, she had a point. Perhaps it would be better to learn from her.

‘Wisdom you speak, Obi Tina.’

She laughed. ‘None of that—I’m the one who gets to speak backwards—no, we’re both wrong—that’s the little green guy, Yoda.’

I slapped my forehead. ‘You’re right. So I just get to pout and act badly when you try and teach me anything.’

‘Try channelling Luke rather than Annakin—the outcome is better. I’ll take you Sunday morning if you like, after church. We finish about eleven so I’ll pick you up at quarter past.’

‘Great.’

‘Got any gear?’

‘No. What do I need?’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll bring you my old suit—I grew out of it years ago. You can hire skis at the sports store.’

‘I can’t wait.’

‘Think you’re going to be a natural?’

‘Um.’

‘Sure you are. Feel the force, Sky.’

I wasn’t a natural skier—not by a long way. But I was a natural at falling over. My balance needed a lot of work. I’d been compared to Bambi before but today I felt like him when he first gets up on his hooves, legs slipping in all directions.

‘Don’t you sometimes have those daydreams,’ I panted, spitting out snow after my most recent face plant, ‘where you try something new and find yourself to be an undiscovered talent?’

Tina patted my back consolingly. ‘All the time.’

‘It’s just not happening here.’

We were still at the foot of the nursery slopes. I could see the cable car doing good business taking the more experienced skiers up to the peak, Xav manning the ticket booth. It was a perfect day for skiing—sky pale blue, snow glistening with seductive promise, the heights beckoning. The mountains were at their most benign, Old Man Weather in his chair, rocking gently, no nasty changes of mood in mind.

Tina caught the direction of my gaze. ‘Zed’s probably up top. Mr Benedict pays the boys to work the weekend shift.’

At least he wasn’t here to see my failure. I was providing Xav with enough entertainment as it was.

‘OK, let’s go again. Remember, Sky, it’s just your first lesson.’

I watched with a sensation of despair as a little four year old whizzed by on mini skis. She wasn’t even using sticks.

‘You can’t compare yourself to them. They don’t have so far to fall and are indestructible at that age. Once more. Yeah, that’s it. Keep the skis parallel. No, no, don’t let them spread!’

‘Ouch.’ My thighs were screaming protests as I nearly did the splits.

‘That was good—better.’

‘Better than what?’

‘Better than the time before. Had enough for today?’

‘Oh yes.’

‘Would you mind if I went up to do a run down?’

‘Of course not.’

‘You could come too.’

‘You are joking?’

‘You could take the cable car back again. You might like the view from the top.’

I grinned, pleased that Tina was coming round to Zed going out with me. She had dropped her dire warnings, decreasing the threat level to ‘yellow alert’ rather than ‘crisis’. ‘I might just do that.’