Chapter 1

I jolted awake as my phone buzzed. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and grabbed it. Trace. What did he want now?

Come at once. Room 1056. Need a healer.

I was staying with Trace to help out with his project. I was also staying for my own selfishness. I was hoping to meet my soulfinder. Savants spend their whole lives searching for their other half; the person conceived at the same time and destined to complete their gifts and make them whole. But your soulfinder could be anywhere in the world and it was very difficult to find them. Without your soulfinder you become lost- despair and anger start to haunt you and you begin losing yourself. Conferences were great chances to make new contacts in the worldwide network, maybe leading to a friend of a friend, a sister or brother who would turn out to be the one.

The phone buzzed again. Please.

I had a splitting headache-due to saving lives in the hospital. I had chosen to use my gift to help people and have a career as a doctor. I had only begun and was a trainee doctor but already I was being asked to help out with a lot of the patients. My recent patient had been a little girl of three years and looking into her big blue eyes persuaded me enough to save her, even though I had a killing headache. I just could not be asked to help someone else.

Xav. Please come. You won't be disappointed. I could hear the excitement in his voice as he telepathed me and I relented.

Fine. I'll come.

I got off bed and pulled on my favourite jeans, a blue shirt and a dark grey pea coat. After taking the elevator down, I knocked on room 1056. Trace opened the door. 'Hey Xav, thanks for getting here so quickly,' he said dryly. There was something different about him and it wasn't just his excitement. I found out soon enough. 'Ah, well, you know I charge double for house calls.' I strode in and was met with the sight of a pretty woman with a neat bob of black hair, hands clasped, standing in the middle of the room. Her eyes were following Trace as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. Someone was lying on the bed at the far end but I couldn't sense him or her fully, which was odd as normally I could diagnose from a distance as soon as I focused on a person.

'This is my little brother, Xavier or Xav,' Trace said, introducing him to Diamond. 'Xav, I've got some brilliant news: meet my soulfinder.'

I swung round to the lady and clutched my heart dramatically. 'Awesome. Trace, you're one lucky son of a ... very lovely mother.' I kissed her hand in a knightly way. 'Happily, I can announce that you're fine, Diamond. No harm done. Except for that little detail of being attached to this loser, of course.' I thumped Trace on the arm, delighted for my older brother. 'I've got no cure for that.'

'And I don't need one, Xavier.' Diamond replied, smiling up at me. She had a lovely voice and I could hear the soothing savant power in it, which gave a clue to her gift: peace making. I decided to tease her.

'Have I done something wrong? Only our mother calls me that and then I know I'm in trouble.'

'Xav.' Diamond looks warmly at me. Mum and Dad are definitely gonna love her. 'It's my sister that took the knock to the head.' She gestured to the person in bed, who gave a finger wave. Everything clicked in place; they were the two Brook sisters who were two of the conference guests. Me and Trace had spent last night joking about them being our soulfinders.

'Oh yeah, Crystal.' I winked at Trace. 'Noticed her name on the list. My age, isn't she? How're you feeling, darlin'?' I took a step towards her but still got no reading on her state.

'I'm OK.' Crystal got up and revealed she was six foot tall and an absolute stunner. Her wavy hair was a mass of different shades – ranging from pale blonde to orangey red and she had strong eyebrows. Her greenish-blue eyes were slightly slanted. Just wow.

Embarrassed by my reaction, I made it into a joke and pretended to stagger back. 'Whoa, you're one big lady. I mean tall lady. I bet you never had any problems making the basketball team in school?'

Her expression soured and I wondered if she was in pain.

'I've never played.' Crystal tugged the robe tight. 'I'd prefer not to be examined, if you don't mind. There's nothing wrong with me than a good night's sleep. My sister is just over-reacting.' I decided to check her from a distance as she had put up walls all around her. I sent out a telepathic enquiry but was met with a cloud of static.

'Stop that.'

'You're one prickly lady-patient.' I put my hands on my hips and smiled at her, even though I was annoyed that she wasn't letting me check her. 'Won't let me help you.' Diamond helped her sister sit down onto the bed. 'Crystal doesn't do telepathy.'

Disappointment flowed through me. 'Not much of a one,' Crystal muttered.

'She has a gift but it gets in the way of telepathy. Can you check her over it?' Diamond asks me. I didn't need telepathy to work my gift but it was the easiest method. Judging by the colour of her skin-pale and clammy-I could tell Crystal was going to be sick. I was just about to pass her the trash can when she got up.

'I don't want him anywhere near me.' She pushed past me and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. From the noise inside, I guessed what was happening. 'Well, using my special spidey sense, I'd say she just got sick.'

As soon as Crystal came out, she demanded us to leave her alone.

'I'm sorry about Crystal,' Diamond said when we got out of the room. 'She's not feeling happy about life at the moment,'

'I understand. Bumps on the head can make you feel bad,' I reassured her. I didn't want to worry Diamond anymore.

'No, it's not just that.' Diamond suddenly looked exhausted. Trace wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to his side.

'You can tell me,' he said.

Diamond smiled and looked up at him. Then they were kissing. I pretended to be interested in the plant on the side table. When they pulled apart, Diamond told us she'd fill us in on the Brook situation at the bar. I decided to make a joke on the names to lighten up the mood.

'Crystal Brook. Your parents must have a sense of humour. Sounds like a folk singer.'

Diamond laughed. 'Wait till you hear the rest of our names. There are seven of us, Crystal's the youngest and I'm the one before her.' I was a bit surprised when I heard that as there was quite a big age gap between the two, but I recovered quickly. We arrived on the elevator bank and waited patiently for the car to come down.

'Xav,' Trace gave me stern look.

'What? I know all about names giving you grief. I'm called Xavier - a name no American can pronounce.' I winked at Diamond, annoying Trace even more. The elevator car came down and opened.

'I'm European, I know these things,' Diamond's eyes were bright with laughter. Trace selected the ground floor and once we arrived, we went into the lounge bar, which was decorated with mountain scenes. A waitress came over to take our orders.

'Champagne, I think,' said Trace with a proud smile at Diamond. 'A coke for my brother.' I pulled a face. Typical of Trace, being all law-abiding. Then again, to be honest, we were surrounded by policemen and lawyers.

When the waitress left with our orders, I leaned forward. 'Look, I don't want to be in the way, so I'll take my drink and scoot, but you were saying something about a situation in your family?'

'Our father died just over a year and a half ago. Crystal was sitting right across from him as they celebrated her eighteenth birthday. She's not gotten over the shock and blames herself for it.' Diamond swallowed back her tears and continued. 'I think she's lost her way and we're losing her too somehow.'

I was lost for words. I could Trace was too. This was way more awful than I expected. I couldn't imagine what I would feel if my father died. 'What do you mean about losing her?'

'She struggles with her gift, she doesn't feel good enough. I try to make her feel better about it, but I just can't.'

'What's her gift?' asked Trace, but I could see that he would rather Diamond talked about herself and not her sister.

'She can find things for you - keys, clothes.' I could understand how annoying that could be for Crystal, always being asked for favours: where's my purse, can you find my car keys?

'But that's not the problem. She can't connect through telepathy so she feels on the outside of the family. She doesn't think she has much to offer. I don't know what to do with her.'

Our drinks arrived and I picked mine up, ready to leave. 'It's not on you, Diamond. She'll have to make up her own mind, won't she?' I turn to leave and head back to the apartment.