"Is...alright?"
"She'll be...Will. Just give...time to rest."
What?
Gradually, I surfaced from the non-thought of unconsciousness into a world of light and sound. Red lights flickered past my eyelids; everything was warm and fuzzy. I felt completely peaceful.
"Mara? Mara Cooper? Can you hear me?"
I felt a flicker of annoyance. Stupid person, couldn't they see that they were disrupting my sleep?
"Xav..."
"Hey, chill, Will! I did all I could. I definitely said 'Give her time!' And guess what you're not doing? Jeesh, you could make a refrigerated cucumber angry!"
"Shuddup." I mumbled, irritated.
There was a sudden silence. "Mara? Can you hear me?"
"Tommy, go away. S'bedtime."
"Has she gone..."
"No! How 'bout you talk to her?"
Silence. Ahh! Bliss. Then a very calm voice sounded next to my ear. "Mara, this is Will. You know, the one you saved from the cupboard? It'd be nice if you could wake up now."
"Yeah, yeah..." then what the voice was saying sank in. My brain kicked in, chasing away the fuzziness with panic. My eyes snapped open- only to find a pair of dark ones staring right back at me.
"Aaargh!"
I jolted up in bed- only to be hit by a wave of pain from my shoulder, groan and slump back down again. "Oww..."
"Mara, are you alright?"
Blearily, my eyes swivelled around to find the speaker. There he was- Will, straight from my nightmare. Or not...it seemed that the whole breaking-in thing was turning out to be horribly real. I managed a half-smile, before slowly taking a deep breath, and levering myself up, inch by inch.
"Do you need help with that?" He was hovering by my side! Scary. Were all guys like this? I could do it on my own.
"Er. No. It's fine. Thanks." Slowly the rest of the world came into view. Enough for me to realise that this definitely wasn't my house. More expensive, for one: a large room with a glass wall giving die-for views of good ol' London city (ha!), a double bed, several tastefully framed (but probably hideously expensive) pictures on the walls, and some random furniture.
Also, two very good-looking boys were sitting on the bed- plus Will. Where did they all keep coming from? I'd been missing out on this hunk-fest. On closer inspection, I noticed that they, with their dark hair and powerful frames, bore a strong resemblance to Cupboard Guy. They must all be family. So they must all be Savants.
Blimey, three rich, American, good-looking Savants in my room. What were the odds?
Speaking of 'my room'...
"Where am I?" I asked, and immediately cringed. My voice was cracked and dry from not speaking for- how long? How long had I been out? I felt the first signs of terror stirring in my gut, fighting against the remaining sleep-stupor.
Will leaned across the bed, obviously trying not to frighten me, and held out a glass of water. "Mara, you were shot as we left the Institute. So we- ah- took you home. Well. We've got an apartment here. Xav's a healer, he mostly fixed the damage. You should be good as new by tomorrow."
Really? I shot him a suspicious look as I grabbed the water and downed it in one. Aaah...bliss on my throat. But the healing? That was almost too good to be true. Also, how the heck had he managed to carry me all the way back from the Institute? Hesitantly, I reached up and touched my right shoulder, only to feel a thick padding of bandage there instead. Apart from the slight pressure, I felt almost nothing. Oh, that was cool. I grinned.
"And these are...your brothers?"
"Yeah. Mara, meet Xavier and Yves. Don't think you've got away lightly- there are another four brothers, mom and dad to meet as well. As well as a couple of Soulfinders."
"Oh." I managed, staring at the newly named Xavier and Yves. Yves looked rather intellectual- maybe it was the glasses- and Xav, with his shaggy hair and wide, wide eyes, rather day-dreamerish, but I could sense formidable willpower and strength behind their exteriors. I glanced at Will. Actually, now he was on his home turf, he wasn't hiding the formidable willpower and strength at all.
"Pleased to meet you." The best form of defence was always politeness, I thought. A rather worrying thought popped into my head- I didn't actually know if these guys were on the same side as me. Neither Will nor I had talked about our loyalties during our fight to survive- for all I knew, he could've been imprisoned because he was part of the criminal Savant ring. If that was true, then I was seriously screwed.
"Same." Xavier grinned; Yves offered a shy smile. Criminal or not, I decided that I liked them. Manners were hard to find these days without getting picky about whose side we were on.
Still, the sooner I got out, the better.
"Nice meeting you, and everything. Where exactly, er, am I?" I cautiously inched my legs over the side of the bed. Someone had removed my socks and shoes, making it that much harder to escape. Oh well, I thought, staring at a particularly jagged scar across my right foot, courtesy of a rusted nail I'd stood on when I was about six. My feet had definitely withstood worse than a run through London.
I braced myself, and then launched myself upwards off the bed and onto my feet. Bad move. My shoulder screamed at me, and only Will's arms around me stopped me toppling backwards onto the quilt again.
"You'd better get some food down you." He said in my ear. His mouth was so close that his breath warmed the back of my neck. I inhaled his leather-and-cologne smell, temporarily dazed- but the sight of Xavier and Yves staring at me was a wake-up call. I couldn't eat any of their food- what if they'd drugged it or something? I reminded myself: I couldn't trust them until I knew where their loyalties lay.
"No," I argued, pulling myself free and trying to ignore Will's hurt expression. I kept my face carefully blank, trying not to give any sign of what I was about to do. "It's very nice of you, but I'm fine."
"Mara," That was Yves' soft voice. I stared at him, surprised. "Your energy levels are so low right now that I'm surprised that you're still standing. You need to eat something."
Aaargh! Panic spread across the pit of my stomach. I stared at them for a second, and then bolted for the door, trying to ignore the pain; desperation lending me wings.
I'd caught them unawares- I could tell that much from the surprised shouts that followed me up the corridor. Thank god, the apartment seemed small- wood-floored, ultra-modern, not much furniture. All fine by me.
"MARA!" A voice thundered from behind me. Will. "STOP! PLEASE! LET ME EXPLAIN!"
No, no, no!
I rounded a corner, gasping with relief when I saw the door.
And then my heart stopped with horror when I saw Xavier step in front of it. No! My escape route! I whirled around, ready to smash something- anything- something to get me out! But the other two had cut off the route behind me.
"What do you want?" I cried, voice cracking, the strain finally getting to me. "Who are you? Why can't you let me go? I'll...I can hurt you!"
I hoped they wouldn't call my bluff on that one.
"Mara. We don't want to hurt you. We just want to find out what you know." Yves spread out his hands in a calming manner. I flinched backwards. I didn't want to injure him...
"What's all this?"
Another huge shape had stepped out of a side room- possibly the living room. As the sun fell across his broad face, my heart lifted.
"Saul!" I cried with relief.
His face changed from formidable to astonished in the space of a second. "Mara?"
"What?" Will's jaw dropped with a clang. "You guys know each other?"
"Well." Saul puffed out a huge sigh. "Guess everyone's got some explaining to do."
My full name is Mara Rosie Cooper. I was born in New Zealand. My mother, Eleanor Cooper, had abandoned us for her Soulfinder ten years after I'd been born, and my father, Harry, had worked for the Savant Net, and had been killed in action six months before. I had two brothers, Thomas and Fred. Before my mum had left, we'd moved to Britain; now we ran a shop outside Sevenoaks, near London. Ever since Fred had been small he'd been taken to the meetings so my dad could keep an eye on him. With both parents not around and me and Tommy still tiny, Fred had done the same for us.
It goes without saying that we all became part of the Savant Net. I had sat in meetings from the age of ten; by the time I was sixteen I was deemed old enough to actually be of some use, despite the potential hazard my power presented (turns out they were dead right about that one, anyway). Seventeen I went on my first mission. Now it was a lot further on, and I had several more under my belt- and not all of them successful, either. I had known Saul Benedict for ages- he was a fundamental part of the Net. Seeing him calmed me down immensely; it was just a surprise that I hadn't met the Benedict boys sooner.
That was the basic synopsis of what came out over a mug of tea and about ten biscuits in the Benedict kitchen with Saul, Will, Yves and Xav (yeah, weird names, huh?) hanging on to my every word. When I'd finished, Saul sat back in his chair and let out a long breath.
"Mara Cooper..." he muttered to himself. "Should'a known. The pocket hurricane. The one who destroyed the conference room that one time. You don't look much like Fred, if you don't mind me saying."
I winced, then quirked a smile. "Everybody else says that, too." In all truth, it was as though there was a divide in the family. Fred looked like my dad: deep blue eyes, sandy hair, and a lopsided smile that girls fell over themselves for. Me and Tommy, meanwhile, looked more like Mum, with our grey-blue eyes and red-brown hair. Unlike Fred, we were fairly tall and slim- even more so when compared to his broad, medium-height build. I wished I looked more like him; I loathed my mother after what she'd done to us.
"Blew up the conference room? Awesome! Sounds like Yves." Xavier interjected. Seeing my confused look, he hastily explained. "Yves has a fire-thing going on. Can control it. Nice for toasting marshmallows; not good if you irritate him. What can you do, then?"
I stared into the dregs of my tea mug, watching the milky brown liquid swirl as I tilted the cup. I'd been hoping that this question wouldn't come up. It tended to scare people, and then my chances of getting to know them vanished like smoke in the wind as they then started to avoid me.
"It's like...a destructive power." I said slowly, trying to phrase it as tactfully as possible. "I...can. I dunno. It's like a concentrated burst of energy. I can shatter things- only dead things, though, not living things like...you know." Dogs. Humans. Thank god.
Feeling a bit hot all of a sudden, I shrugged off my jacket. I was still wearing the familiar clothes I'd worn for my role as Michelle Inkson, and underneath was my white sleeveless blouse. I cradled my cup of tea, and prepared to start again.
"What are those?" Will's voice was sharp enough to cut diamond. I jumped and looked around for the threat before realising that he was staring at me.
"What are what?" I asked, bewildered.
"Those. Scars." He brushed a finger up my arm, and I felt goosebumps follow its path. I stared at him confusedly, before clocking the countless white marks marking my arms in a spiderweb of runes. They were so normal to me that I'd taken a while to figure out what he'd been angry about. Despite myself, I felt a warm little fire kindle in my stomach from his worried reaction.
"Oh. Well, sometimes I get a little too close to the things I smash." I said casually. My eyes fell on a flurry of white marks which adorned my shoulders- the closest ones to Will's finger. That particular set of scars extended to my back, and came from when I'd blown up the kitchen window during a (rare) argument with Tommy. I was also missing a little toe from when I'd blown up the knife rack. I wasn't any keener on hurting myself than other people, but sometimes it was, sadly, unavoidable.
"How far does it go?" Saul asked, his tone businesslike. I frowned, uncertain about how much I wanted to confide. But then again, if I couldn't talk to other members of the Savant Net, who else could I trust?
"The biggest thing I've ever smashed is a car, and that was when I was really furious. It gets worse the angrier I get- and the older I get." Aah...what a career. From cracking the bars in my cot to smashing cars. I didn't think the house counted-it had been fragile. And old. The only thing I'd done was break the supports. And I'd totally trashed the car. Fred had not had an easy time claiming the insurance from that one.
Xavier whistled between his teeth.
"Can you show us?" That was Yves. I let out a long sigh- I'd kind of been expecting that one.
"It's okay-you don't have to." Will said quickly, but I stopped him.
"No, it's fine. Do you mind the loss of a mug? I'll pay you back."
Saul twinkled at me. "Go ahead. Don't bother paying- I never liked that mug."
With the eyes of four Benedicts on me, I slugged back the last of my tea and turned my attention to the empty cup. I closed my eyes, centred myself, took a deep breath. I didn't want it to explode.
I stared at the mug-it was rather ugly, a Technicolor affair with polka dots exploding across the china- which started to vibrate under my gaze. Cracks snaked up the sides; the handle shot off and hit the wall with a bang. Then, with an almost defeated sigh, the rest of the china collapsed in a heap on the table.
"Wow!" Will's voice shattered my concentration like a battering ram. I gasped in shock and jerked backwards in my chair; before I could stop it, the other four mugs exploded outwards, showering us all in a lukewarm coffee rain. Their cries of admiration turned to yells of shock in the space of a heartbeat.
"Sorry!" I cried, wringing my hands as I wrestled my power back under control. "Sorry, sorry! It's hard for me to manage sometimes!"
"I'm never gonna get this out of my hair!" Will moaned. "On the other hand..." He ruffled his hair into coffee gelled spikes. "...it looks quite sexy, don't you think?"
"Definitely." Yves grinned. "Don't worry, Mara. I do it a lot myself. I burnt Phoenix's hand when I first met her." He winced to himself. "Xav helped then, as well."
"I'm indispensable." Xav grinned to himself, earning himself a lot of eye rolls.
"Phoenix?" I ventured cautiously. A female? Did everyone here have strange names?
"My soulfinder." Yves explained. A dreamy expression slid across his face. "Phoenix Benedict. We got married a couple of months ago."
"He's still living in the land of the sickeningly happy." Will informed me. "We've tried to bring him back from Cloud Nine, but nothing's worked yet."
"You make it sound like an illness." The happy husband retorted, cheeks flushing beetroot. "You'll understand someday."
"I don't need a lesson from my little brother!" Will laughed. A milk jug upended itself over Yves' head, giving him the ultimate facemask. Yves yelled in shock, and an unfortunate nearby loaf of bread went up in flames.
"BOYS!" Saul thundered in his scariest who's-the-daddy voice. "We have visitors!"
"Another one?" I asked, after I'd stopped laughing. The wonderful family atmosphere was doing great in putting me at ease. Then it clicked- all the memories of before came flooding back. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten him. "Where's Penny?"
They stopped laughing immediately and Will's face instantly became solemn. "He's in hospital, Mara. We-er- put him in Xav's care." He said, sounding almost apologetic. "But nothing he did was working. I'm sorry, Mara. I think the illness got him." His large hand closed over my much smaller one in an almost absent-minded gesture.
For a moment, I couldn't think. Penny? Ill? He'd lose his power completely. I'd never known someone who'd fallen prey to the virus- my partner's being ill brought it home with a bang. And it was an awful feeling.
I stood up slowly, feeling suddenly weary and thickheaded, as though I was wading through glue. I wanted to see Fred and Tommy. "I need to get home."
"What?" Will's face closed; disappointment etched itself across his face. "You're practically starving! You can't leave now!"
"Does Malcolm know where you are?" Malcolm, the guy who was masterminding the Savant Net's investigation into the illness.
"I'll drop him a line when I get home. There's a meeting tomorrow night anyway."
"D'you want me to walk you home? I need to tell you something..." That was Will. I bit down on my emerging blush- and smile. Aah...chivalry! He was doing a wonderful job of getting underneath my skin- he must have a talent for it. Or...
"Nah, s'alright. I live just outside Sevenoaks, it's quite far away. See you tomorrow. Thanks for healing me, Xav."
"No probs." Xav said with an easy smile.
And with that, I picked up my jacket, swung it onto my shoulder, grabbed my shoes and marched out of the front door, leaving them still sitting at the kitchen table. As soon as it closed behind me, I turned and leant my forehead against the cool wood, my brain struggling to compute with the facts.
In other words, struggling to compute Will.
