Page 72 of Gifted Thief
‘What do you mean?’
Bob stood on his tiptoes and smacked me on the side of my head. ‘Hello? Teleportation?’
Oh. I’d completely forgotten. I grinned. ‘Thanks, Bob.’
He tsked. A faint shadow crossed his face while I snapped my fingers and declared in a deep voice, ‘The tower.’
‘You don’t have to do that with your hand, you know.’
‘I know but I think it adds a little something to the effect,’ I said, as I felt myself being tugged away. It really was a handy Gift to have.
*
Lexie, Speck and Brochan were relieved to see me. Once again I enjoyed several hugs. ‘We’re making a habit of this,’ I joked.
‘We didn’t know what had happened to you!’ Lexie burst out. ‘That wanky genie…’
I sighed. ‘It wasn’t his fault. But I certainly won’t be asking for any more wishes any time soon.’
‘What happened, Tegs?’ Brochan asked. ‘Who was it?’
‘It was the Bull all along. I should have suspected him from the start. I guess there are so many people around here who seem to hate me that he was too obvious.’ I explained to the three of them what had happened.
Speck’s face turned green. ‘Heights. I hate heights.’
‘It was kind of fun once I realised I wasn’t going to hit the ground.’
‘What colour is my aura?’ Lexie asked eagerly.
‘Orange. It’s very bright,’ I admitted.
She folded her arms. ‘Orange? That’s awful!’
I blinked. ‘Why?’
‘Orange and blue don’t go together at all. Now I’ll have to re-think my entire wardrobe! Not to mention dying my hair.’ She shook her head. ‘All this time I’ve been clashing.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about it, Lex. I don’t think there’s anyone except the Bull and me who can see it.’
She pouted. ‘That’s two people too many.’
‘What am I?’
I turned to Speck. ‘Dark blue. And Brochan is…’
He held up his hands. ‘I don’t want to know.’ He paused. ‘Tegs, have you thought about how you came to have this Gift?’
I frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s a bit of a coincidence, isn’t it? You take the Bull’s true name and now you have the same Gift as him?’
‘I’ve never heard of that happening,’ I said slowly. ‘But it does seem to make a kind of sense.’
‘Let’s face it, you could write down everything all four of us know about the Sidhe and it probably wouldn’t fit on the back of a stamp. Maybe it’s not just the true names that have power. Maybe if give away your true name, you also give away part of that power.’
‘I’m sure the Bull would have realised if his Gift had been diminished.’ I nibbled my lip. ‘What happened with Bob…’ My voice trailed away.
Speck scratched his chin. ‘What do you mean?’
