He took a step back. ‘Oh, I see.’
‘But I do like you Marcus—a lot. I even liked you when you were being foul to me and treating me like crud—don’t ask me why.’
He moved back and put his hand on the pole next to my head so he leaned in over me. ‘I like you too. I think you might even be good for me. That’s Kurt’s take on you. He has this instinct about people.’
‘Really?’
‘It’s a little like a radar for frauds and fakes. It’s helped him get on in a cut-throat business. Anyway, he says I’m too serious. Do you think I’m too serious?’
Oh Lord: it was like being in a little slice of paradise being herded into a corner between the open flaps of Marcus’s shirt, so close I could smell his warm scent overlaid by eau de salt water—a personal favourite of this particular savant. What had he asked? Oh yes.
‘Maybe you do take yourself a little too … you know … ?’ I toyed with a button, slipping it through its hole and letting it free again.
‘And I need to lighten up?’
‘Only if you want to. I mean, I wouldn’t want you to think I’ve got an agenda to change you. I like you as you are—mostly.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Mostly?’
I shrugged. ‘Well, you wanted honesty. Go to one of the many groupie girls lining up outside if you want flattery.’
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. ‘And what can I do to make you like me fully?’
Try telepathy? No, this wasn’t the moment, Angel. Learn your lesson. Don’t spoil everything by rushing him.
‘Give me your autograph?’ I teased. ‘Where did that girl want it? Her arm?’
He bent down and kissed the sensitive skin of my inner wrist and worked his way up, lips brushing out the letters of his name. I shivered.
‘That is … so much better than a pen.’ Heavens, I was going to melt into a puddle of hopeless excitement if he carried on. ‘If you do that to all your fans, you will have a very devoted following.’
‘Only to you, Angel.’ His mouth finally made it home and settled on mine. His kiss set sparkling a chain of magnificent sensation: lips, spine, hair on back of neck, waist …
A clearing of a throat broke into our little moment. I disentangled myself from Marcus to find Will and Margot waiting for us to surface. And they were holding hands! I sent a little yippee-kai-yay telepathically to Will, who winked back at me. Cat. Got. Cream. And now purring with pleasure. Margot looked rather like a wind-battered seabird just flown in on a storm, but I think she was pleased in her own way. It had to have been one heck of a shock for her. She hardly woke up this morning thinking ‘Hey, let’s completely change the fundamentals of my life today.’
‘I see you guys are getting along well,’ said Margot with a twinkle in her eye.
Not as well as I would like, I told Will. Marcus is still in denial about his own gift and won’t touch telepathy with a barge pole.
Will grimaced in sympathy. ‘No telepathy, remember,’ he said in a low voice.
‘Bit late, isn’t it? I rather thought that particular horse had bolted as far as I’m concerned.’
While Will and I batted that one between us, Marcus was trying to figure out who this stranger was and quite why he was up so close and personal with the tour manager.
‘Marcus,’ said Margot, ‘let me introduce Will Benedict. He’s a good friend of Angel and—’
‘He’s Margot’s extra-special friend in a way we are absolutely forbidden to mention because it gives you the heebie jeebies,’ I said brazenly.
Angel, behave, warned Will.
I thought you said no telepathy?
Will gave me that exasperated look that so many wear in my vicinity. He held out a hand to Marcus. ‘Good to meet you.’
Marcus seemed to like him—at least he shook his hand firmly and didn’t call security. ‘Nice to meet you. Sorry to be blunt, Will, but what’s he doing here, Margot? We’ve got a big show tonight.’
‘I know, Marcus, but something’s come up. We’re just going to fetch his brothers and then we’ll have a meeting. The tour bus in five minutes, OK?’ Margot patted Marcus’s arm, trying to allay his suspicion. I could have told her it would take much more than that.
‘Is Alex coming in too?’ I asked Will, wondering if a little dose of Alex’s persuasive power might help my rocky-road relationship.
‘No, he’s guarding the girls. Do you need him?’ Will’s eyes flicked to Marcus.
‘Who is Alex?’ asked Marcus.
‘No one you need worry about. Maybe, Will, but not just yet. I’m still giving this a go on my own.’
Will tapped his forehead in mock salute. ‘Just say the word.’
I nodded, feeling a little better now I had the promise of backup. I watched Will and Margot walk away together, bodies bent towards each other as they learned how to get comfortable with their relationship. It was all ‘After you’ ‘No, after you’—so cute. Then I remembered what Margot had said: they were fetching Uriel and Victor. Oh crap. Uriel was fine—a sweetie—but, geez, when Marcus met Victor he was going to go ballistic into suspicion orbit. I had to prepare him but that might seem to him like the arsonist offering to put out the fire.
No other option available, I hooked my arm through his and pulled him further away from the thoroughfare to the green room.
‘Um, Marcus?’
‘Yes?’ His eyes were still on Margot, a puzzled little frown on his face that I really wanted to kiss away. Unfortunately, I was probably about to make it worse.
‘You know you mentioned about some gifts being a little scary?’
‘Yeah?’ He turned his blue eyes back on me. This near to him I had a good close up of the ring of darker blue around the almost grey iris. Gorgeous. Stick to the plot, Angel.
‘Well, not all savants are soft and cuddly marshmallows like me and Will.’
‘That guy is no marshmallow. He moves like he’s had training.’
‘You got that? OK, marshmallows like me full stop. The guys they’re going to meet—Uriel’s super intelligent and specializes in forensics. He’s a sweetheart, too.’
‘One of yours?’ Yep: there went the wrinkles—even deeper as I predicted.
‘Heck no: he’s all hopelessly devoted to a lady called Tarryn. But the other one—Victor—he’s a bit more … well, to tell you the truth, he scares the crap out of me.’
Angel, Angel, thy name is not subtlety!
‘That wasn’t how I wanted to say it. What I mean is he’s very formidable. He works for the FBI, but maybe I shouldn’t have told you that?’ I thumped my forehead. ‘Geez, why did they put me onto this mission: I am so completely hopeless at this!’
‘What mission?’
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his face as I confessed. ‘Making contact with a stray group of savants—that’s you, Margot and Kurt—maybe others but I’ve not explored that yet. I’ve tried to explain to you but that whole part of the agenda has not been going well as I suck at the delicate touch. I’ve only succeeded in blowing my cover with Davis and pissing you off on multiple occasions.’
‘Angel, come on, you need to have a reality check. Mission? Cover? We were just pretending with our disguises, remember? To cheat the press.’
I gave up. Sorry, but every time I opened my mouth I dug yet another hole and jumped right in. If my conversation were a dairy product, it would resemble Swiss cheese. ‘OK, let’s park that with all the other stuff we aren’t going to talk about. Don’t say later that I didn’t try to warn you.’
We arrived at the bus to find Kurt already in occupation of the sofa.
‘Hey, lovebirds, how’s it going?’ he asked, running a few chord changes. ‘Excited about tonight?’
‘Thrilled.’ I sat down opposite him and hugged my knees to my chest.
‘Great: we’ve got Angel back and not her scary evil twin who stopped by this morning.’
I threw a cushion at him.
Marcus’s gaze sw
ung between us. ‘You know you treat each other like brother and sister, don’t you?’
‘You’re not another of my dad’s strays I suppose, love?’ asked Kurt with a cheeky grin.
‘Nope—I guess it’s just that plain old recognizing-another-clown-when-I-see-one thing.’
‘No one has accused me of being a clown since … well since for ever.’
‘That’s what you need me for, Kurt: keeping it real.’
Mutually pleased with each other, we were still grinning as Margot and Will returned with Victor and Uriel. The mood instantly did a diversion into more serious territory as Kurt put on his game face: the one that said he wouldn’t waste time on fools and frauds.
‘Thanks for coming in, guys,’ he said, immediately taking control and gesturing to them to take seats. ‘I hear from Margot you’ve got something you want to talk to us about, touching on our security?’
Uriel took the lead—a good choice as he was instantly more disarming than Victor. ‘Thank you for making time, Mr Voss.’
‘Kurt—call me Kurt.’
‘Kurt. The reason we’ve requested this meeting is that we have reason to believe that you have a gift—something our society calls a savant power—that means you use psychic energy to change the environment around you. Will here says that Margot uses sound in incredible ways. Angel has identified Marcus as having a gift for projecting emotions through music—or something of that nature … ’
Marcus muttered a denial but didn’t interrupt.
‘And she also thinks you have one too, though that’s not yet pinned down.’
I cast a worried glance at Marcus even as I piped up. ‘I think Kurt senses good and bad in people—seeing their true motives.’
‘Darlin’, that’s just being a sharp operator.’ Kurt stretched his arms above his head lazily.
‘I think it’s more than that,’ I said softly. ‘And I think you know it too.’ We held each other’s gaze. Kurt looked away first.
‘OK, Uriel—it is Uriel, isn’t it? Hell, I’m surrounded by angels. Who else plays on your team: Gabriel? Raphael?’ I could tell from his sarcastic tone, Kurt was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Like Marcus, his induction into the savant world was not going to be an easy one.
‘Maybe, but not today. It’s just us. Kurt, if you’d just hear what we’ve got to say, then we’ll be out of your hair so much sooner. As Angel has tried to tell you, there is a threat at this festival. A group of investigative journalists are trying to find a story—proof, if you like—that savants exist and have penetrated into all walks of life. To them, we are a hidden enemy, something to be feared. They don’t trust us because we are different.’
Kurt reached under the coffee table and fished out a six-pack of beer. ‘I think I’m gonna need a drink. Help yourself.’ He pulled the tab on a can.
‘You might not be familiar with your own gift but they’ve identified it. They have a device for reading psychic energy levels. You—or someone in your entourage—has set off their alarms and they are looking at ways of exploiting that to their advantage. The fact that you didn’t know what you really are only played into their hands, making you vulnerable.’
‘I know what I am.’ Kurt took another swallow. ‘If I have a gift or not, doesn’t change that.’
Will sat forward, clasped hands hanging between spread knees. ‘Of course not, but to them it does. It marks you as an enemy, therefore a legitimate target for them to destroy.’
‘Maybe they’ve a point,’ suggested Marcus. ‘With respect, you guys could be bad news. How do we know?’
Margot looked ready to leap in but Will wasn’t offended. He smiled lopsidedly. ‘Fortunately, Kurt here can tell you exactly what our motives are, can’t you, Kurt?’
Kurt looked at Margot practically sitting in Will’s lap. ‘Yeah, you’re OK. At least, I think so. Not getting much from him.’ He nodded to Victor who was still standing by the door, arms folded.
‘That’s because I shield,’ said Victor. ‘It’s part of my gift. It’s also very necessary in my line of work.’
‘You’re the FBI guy, right?’
‘Correct, sir.’
‘Enough with the “sir”. The Queen hasn’t knighted me yet.’
Victor kept silent. The balance of power in the room tipped towards him. Somehow he made the rest of us seem like infants without doing anything.
‘OK then.’ Kurt cleared his throat. ‘These journalists are troublemakers and we should avoid them.’
‘They already have a backstage pass for tonight,’ said Margot. ‘Should I take it away?’
‘I think it best to leave it,’ said Will. ‘If you take it off them, they’ll only make that part of the story. I’ll make sure they’re watched at all times they are this side of the security fence.’
‘So you are appointing yourself our security detail. How much is that going to cost us?’ asked Kurt cynically.
‘Free of charge.’ Will grinned, taking Margot’s hand in his. ‘I’ve got everything I want right here and will do anything to protect her.’
Aw—they were so cute together!
Even Kurt seemed a little impressed. ‘Then I’ll leave you two to sort out the specifics—shouldn’t be too tough an assignment seeing how Margot claims you’ve become inseparable.’ Kurt stood up, our signal that we were to leave. ‘I’ve got back-to-back interviews this afternoon, so if you don’t mind … ’
Of course we didn’t dare mind. We filed out of the tour bus like a class dismissed.
Once outside, we were back in the hubbub of the festival. So hard to imagine sinister plots when the place felt like one long party.
‘I’m going to have to abandon you now, Angel.’ Marcus sounded apologetic. ‘The guys and I are rehearsing and running through our programme, then I’ve got some publicity meet-and-greets scheduled. Will you be OK without me?’
Inside I was shrivelling up with disappointment but that wasn’t the public face. I shrugged, digging my hands in the pockets of my tunic, taking comfort from its swirling pattern of turquoise optimism. ‘Sure, no problem. I’ll just go hang out with my mates and see what’s happening.’
He untwisted the ribbon of my festival pass so it lay flat on my neck. ‘Keep away from that journalist, won’t you? I’ll not be around to save the day.’
‘OK, Batman, I’ll manage without your heroics for a while.’
‘Until later then, Robin.’ He kissed me.
‘Later.’
I found Matt hanging out with Joey and Fresh by the free food in the green room. That figured. They must be putting a dent in the profits of the festival with their repeat visits. I was surprised they hadn’t been banned, but then I remembered that Matt had an ally in Henry, hadn’t he? Wise boy.
‘Hey, stranger, remember us?’ mocked Matt.
I put my finger to my chin. ‘Er, let me think; didn’t we, like, know each other once upon a time before I was famous? Mack, Mick, isn’t it?’
He lunged for me and rubbed his knuckles on my head. ‘That remind you?’
We gave each other a hug, rocking to and fro like boxers caught in each other’s hold—one of our standard moves made all the more absurd by the bantam versus heavyweight difference in stature.
‘So, how’s things with the superstars?’ he asked, steering me over to a chair at their table. From the number of plates and bottles already on the surface they had been treating the refreshments as an ‘all you can eat’ buffet for some time.
‘It’s amazing, Matt—’
He cocked an eyebrow at Fresh and Joey. ‘See, she does remember me. I knew it.’
‘Kurt asked me to—’
‘Kurt—first-name terms, best buddies—how iced is that?’
‘Matt, would you quit with the running commentary, please?’
‘But it’s so much more fun to torment you.’
I turned to Joey and Fresh. ‘OK, I’ll tell you guys. Ignore the parrot in the seat next to me. Kurt asked me to play for one of
their songs tonight—a new one which needs a violin. I’ll be on stage with Gifted!’ My voice ended in something of a squeak.
‘Way to go, girl!’ Joey high-fived me.
‘That’s awesome.’ Fresh got out his phone. ‘I’ve just got to tweet the breaking news. Gifted risk tough public image by taking on sugarplum fairy violinist.’
I scowled, trying to look (as Matt would put it) ‘well ’ard’, and pushed Fresh’s mobile down. ‘Watch it, Freshman. Anyway, I don’t think it’s official yet.’ I lowered my voice to a conspiratorial whisper. ‘I might be stepping on their publicity people’s toes if I let this out. I’m not sure how many are in the know.’
‘Hey, Angel, heard you were making a guest appearance with us tonight,’ someone declared loudly behind me. I swivelled in my seat to find Brian, the Gifted drummer, approaching, arm-in-arm with his girlfriend, the photographer. It seemed my secret was no secret. Fresh winked at me and pressed send on his tweet. If he really had included that fairy joke then someone’s brazils really were going to be in the nutcracker.
‘Matt, how’s it going?’ asked Brian.
Matt’s face flushed with pride that he was being name-checked by a drumming legend. ‘Good, thanks, Brian. Why don’t you join us?’
Brian exchanged a quick glance with his girlfriend to get her agreement then sat down. ‘I’m not sure we all know each other. Angel, this is Jennifer, one of our publicists on this tour.’
‘Hi, Jennifer.’
She took the seat next to me. ‘Angel, so lovely to meet you. Kurt told me you were on board for tonight. I’m thrilled for you.’ She smiled at me but I couldn’t see her eyes as she was wearing mirror sunglasses. She had the same flyaway fine hair as I did—we could commiserate about that later. Hers was Scandinavian fair, unlike my strawberry blonde.
‘Lovely to meet you too. So you’re a photographer?’
She tapped the Nikon hanging on its thick strap over her shoulder. ‘Among other things.’ Her head turned to Joey and Fresh, who were still gawping at Brian as mortals are wont to do when gods come calling. ‘And who are your friends?’
Matt grinned. ‘I’m having second thoughts about introducing you to these two. Brian, you better keep an eye on them. Joey Reef and Fresh Chance.’
Angel Dares Page 15
