Fearless (6 page)

I step back and he releases my fists, and before thinking the thought, I charge at his gut with my head.

Before I make contact he grabs both of my shoulders. ‘Are you
trying
to break your neck?'

‘I hate you for being so strong I can't even hit you.'

‘Listen to me, Jordan, you'll only hurt yourself if you try. Last time you hit me you broke five fingers. Remember?'

‘I
hate
you! And d'you know why? Because you did th
is t
o me. You should have just let me die like I was supposed to that day Skinner bottled me in the gut. You promised that my life would get better, and all you've brought me since is pain and anguish. And if I hadn't found Ebony for you, she'd still be here!'

He grabs my arms. Looking me in the face, he pushes my jacket sleeves up above the burns. ‘Who did this to you?'

Yanking my arms free, I stumble backwards. Thane probes my mind, but I scramble fiercely. He peers at me with a penetrating look of remorse. ‘I'm sorry, Jordan.'

I hold my wrists up and yell, ‘These are nothing. Just tell me why you bothered to come back here when you don't have her? Why aren't you in Skade right now rescuing her?'

He takes a deep breath. ‘He sealed the gates … for … for …'

Isaac finishes when he can't, ‘A hundred years.'

Amber gasps. ‘Oh my
God
!' She bursts into tears and runs into the forest.

‘Amber! Amber, wait up!' She doesn't stop. I turn back to
ask Thane, ‘Can't you open them?'

He exchanges a look with Michael. ‘I tried.'

‘And failed? You fail her all the time.'

He glances at the ground.

‘Can
anyone
open them?'

Michael says, ‘We're not sure. That's one of the things we have to find out.'

Gabriel runs out of the portal with a bunch of soldiers. He assesses the scene in a flash but says nothing. He nods at me. At the same time the soldiers who passed through earlier, along with a dozen Brothers from the monastery arrive with open-backed trucks loaded with rattling cages that could fit elephants inside them. My eyes boggle as I wonder what they need
them
for. Inside the first cage are heavy chains, iron poles and hundreds of cuffs, similar to the ones in the cave that gave me my scars. The sight makes my stomach drop. ‘W-what's all this for?'

Uriel, Sami and a host of other angels in armour burst through the portal followed by an army of enemy soldiers, some so big they gotta be those Thrones that Thane mentioned were crucial to Luca's plan to steal Ebony.

Gabe's soldiers and the Brothers herd the prisoners into the cages, ten in a row, ten rows per cage, with each prisoner cuffed and a pole driven through their chains and attached to both the top and bottom of the cage.

The whole process takes a while, but eventually they're on their way to the monastery.

Isaac and Michael tag on at the end of the convoy and cast a glance at Thane, who doesn't appear to want to move yet. ‘I'll be there soon,' he tells them, and watches the last of
the prisoners leave before he turns to me.

He runs his fingers through his tangled matted hair, shoving it off his face. Standing in front of me, he lifts my hands and studies my weeping blistered wrists. ‘What happened, Jordan?'

‘Luca had me chained to a wall in the cave where he was holding Ebony. You won't believe how close to your place and the monastery it was.'

Shifting his hands to the burns, he attempts to initiate healing, but I break away. ‘I don't want your help.' I take a step backwards. ‘Haven't you damaged my life enough already?'

What I don't tell him is that I
need
to feel this pain. This pain I can handle. But without it I would get the full brunt of the other pain, the pain of missing Ebony, and I'm not ready for that yet.

‘Where are you going?' he asks as I step into the forest.

I keep my back to him. ‘To find Amber. In case you didn't notice, she was shattered by your news.'

He's quiet for so long I think he has nothing more, but when I start walking he says, ‘There's a meeting at the monastery in ninety minutes.'

Without turning, I ask, ‘What for?'

‘To plan how we're going to get Ebony back.'

I take this in for a moment. A small spark of hope ignites inside me. ‘Don't start without me.'

7

Ebony

I wake in a strange bed, disoriented, not sure if it's morning or night, or even what day it is. But it doesn't take long for reality to sink in, for me to realise that Prince Luca kidnapping me didn't happen in a dream.

Last night I didn't notice how cold it is in Skade. I didn't notice much at all. My brain was full to capacity and couldn't take in any more. But now my heart is thudding in my chest, pounding against the palm of my hand as I look up at an unfamiliar ceiling inhaling frosty air.

Mela comes to my door and I instantly feel my heart rate slowing down. She has a sympathetic smile and a compassionate look in her eyes that resemble Jordan's so much that I know I'm right – Mela is Jordan's mother. But what is she doing here, in this palace, with
him
?

‘Good morning, Ebony. Did you sleep well?'

‘Like the dead,' I murmur, then gasp, ‘Oh, I'm sorry, Mela, how tactless of me to say that when you're surrounded by death here.'

‘It's all right. I'm used to the souls now,' she says. ‘I admit, sometimes I've wished death for myself. I even begged him once.'

‘Forgive my ignorance, Mela, but I thought only souls came to Skade, not the living.'

She comes closer, and I see that she's breathing, her skin has colour, her heart is beating at a regular human rate, pumping blood around her body, but it's the brief glance I catch into her eyes that reveals the burning flame of her soul and I know absolutely. ‘You're alive.'

‘Death is not the end, Ebony. But here –' she glances over her shoulder, checking the door behind her – ‘dead or alive makes no difference.'

‘Are there any other living human beings in Skade?'

‘I've travelled to every province and haven't met one like me yet.'

‘It must be horrible to be the only one of your kind.'

She smiles, placating me, trying to make
me
feel better about
her
plight. ‘I've found my place here. And you have enough to deal with, so please, don't think of unpleasant things today.'

‘I'll try not to.' Instead I'll think of ways to escape.

Even if it's true that Luca has sealed the gates for a hundred years, it doesn't mean I can't escape
him
. Or his palace. That will take some planning and perfecting of my powers, and hopefully my wings will appear soon. But I have time. It's more than a year until I turn eighteen, the golden age of maturity when angel law allows couples to marry.

Mela has a calming presence, and talking to her keeps the anxiety at bay. It's almost possible to imagine I'm in Jordan's company.

And since I'm still here, Nathaneal can't yet have found a
way through the gates. He would have come for me if he could. So maybe Luca is telling the truth.

The thought makes my stomach roll. And roll. ‘Argh … Mela, I think I'm going to be …'

She runs off, returning quickly with a ceramic bowl she holds under my chin. In the most undignified way possible I bring up the contents of my stomach, which are mostly liquid. It hurts and I want to die, but since I can't do that either, I settle for crawling back under the quilt, curling into the foetal position and wishing I could sleep for the next hundred years.

Like they do in fairy tales.

Like my daydreams when I was eleven and twelve, when I used to ride Shadow into the wooded hills at the rear of our property and pretend I was meeting my beautiful prince.

Oh, Nathaneal, where are you? What are you thinking?

I take a deep breath and wipe away the tears soaking into the pillow. Crying will do me no good. I'm not giving up on Nathaneal finding a way into Skade, but escaping is going to be top of my agenda every minute of every day until I'm out of here.

Mela strokes my forehead as you would a child with a fever. I want to scream at her to leave me alone. But that's just because I'm angry and scared. And lashing out from my fears and frustrations will get me nowhere. I will have to be clever to get through this.

I drag myself into a sitting position and swing my legs to the floor. The bowl with my vomit is still in Mela's hand. ‘Thank you.' I go to take it from her, but she moves it out
of my reach and heads to the bathroom at the other end of the apartment.

Standing at the bedroom window, I draw the heavy curtains aside so I can see where, exactly, I'm living. It's morning, though nothing like those stunning mornings growing up in the Oakes Valley. The sky here is dull, bleaker than the cloudiest, coldest, most dismal winter's day on Earth.

Streaks of purple, bright pink and crimson light suddenly fall on my hand where it's leaning on the windowsill. Skade's sun is trying to show itself through a break in the clouds. The break widens, and the sun's rays ripple across my arm. Skade's sunlight is surprisingly beautiful. I stare at the vivid colours. It lasts about thirty seconds before clouds swallow it up.

Mela returns with a robe she puts around my shoulders. That's when I realise I'm wearing only my undies and a singlet. The thought of Luca walking in and catching me in my underwear turns my stomach. I quickly slide my arms into the robe.

‘If you're wondering who helped you prepare for bed last night, that was me,' Mela says, securing the drapes back with a silver rope. ‘I thought it would be more comfortable than sleeping in your jeans.'

I tie the sash around my waist. ‘Thanks, Mela.'

‘After you have breakfast I'll draw you a fragrant bath, then do your make-up and help you into your new dress. It's a special day today and I'm under orders …' She glances down at the floor, shaking her head, clearly annoyed at herself. ‘The king has asked that you wear a specific gown
today he had made for you by his favourite designers.'

‘So today he's going to show me to his people.'

I was expecting this, just not on my very first morning. I was hoping to be gone before I had to participate in anything official.

Mela confirms with a nod.

‘And I have to be washed, dried and fluffed up like a fancy French poodle. Do I get to wear a ribbon with a bow around my neck, or is it to be a collar and leash?'

She gets that sympathetic, motherly look in her eyes again, and smoothly steers me to a different subject. ‘The views are better from the living room.'

I follow her, tugging my hair out from my robe, and see why. Last night I noticed this window protruded outwards, but now I see how this large bay shape allows views in three different directions, and from this elevation that's a lot of area.

I look through the wide centre panel first. Soldiers in their now-familiar black armour and hideous horned helmets patrol the paved grounds and the top of the great white wall that surrounds the palace.

Shifting to the right side panel, I notice a set of heavily patrolled street gates are wide open, allowing angels inside the big palace square. There are souls too, but in smaller numbers.

I try to open the window but it doesn't budge.

‘I'm afraid they're sealed.'

‘Did Luca really think I would jump from up here?'

‘Not jump exactly.'

She means when I get my wings. He thinks of
everything, even the future. ‘I was just angling for a better view of whatever's going on in that courtyard over there.'

She looks at me with a funny close-mouthed smile.

‘What have I missed?' My brain must be a little slow this morning, but it quickly tweaks. ‘Oh. Right. The big intro.' My gaze roams over the crowd, with more pouring in through the gates.
So many.
‘Who are they all?'

‘Most are local citizens from right here in Odisha. Others have come from faraway provinces. They all want that first glimpse of their future queen.'

‘Really?'

‘Their
first ever
queen.' She watches me carefully. ‘They have waited a long time for you, Ebony. Some of them have been waiting for thousands of years.'

‘Mela, that's intense. I'm only a schoolgirl. A few months ago I was thinking about exams and career possibilities and … who my biological parents were. I didn't know I was an angel. I didn't even know angels existed.'

She gasps and pats my shoulder. ‘My goodness, Ebony, you have a lot of adjusting ahead of you. I'll guide you, b
ut yo
u will have to let me.'

Mela is growing on me. She has a positive attitude, and a caring nature that's undeniable; I see it when I look into her eyes, and I feel so bad for Jordan and the childhood he endured without her. Zavier told me I would be safe in Mela's hands. It sure would be good to have someone close I can trust.

But I still need to be careful, because I haven't known Mela long enough to make that kind of judgement yet. I will learn more about her when I tell her that I know her
son. All I need is the right moment. There's just something I'm sensing, as if she's evaluating me as much as I'm evaluating her, but for what reason I can't put my finger on yet. ‘How did you end up living in the palace, Mela?'

She makes a distasteful hissing sound as she draws in a sharp breath through clenched teeth. ‘It's a long story.'

‘Gee, I'm so busy I don't think I have the time to hear it.'

She laughs. Thank goodness she gets my humour. ‘Whatever his reason, King Luca wanted me, and what he wants he goes after relentlessly. When I died, he fought my Guardian Angel for my soul and he won. His was the first face I saw when I started breathing again.'