Fearless (26 page)

Bringing up my power, I shove the images out of my head, breaking his hold with a shudder. And I know then that no matter how much I try, those memories will haunt me for the rest of my days. ‘When is this farce of a wedding set to take place?'

His eyebrows lift and his smile is supreme and smug. ‘Sunrise.'

30

Nathaneal

A sound at the breached gate has me spinning around. It's Jerome and Sami, breathing hard as they collapse on the bridge, shedding their invisibility.

Jez rushes to them, and I see why as their forms become clearer.

There is blood all over them.

But it turns out the blood on Jerome and Sami isn't theirs.

It's still dark, but not far from dawn, and the city is alive
, Jerome links.
There are coloured lanterns, dancers in bawdy costumes, jugglers, fire-eaters, glass-walkers, laser lights criss-crossing the sky –

Soldiers are all over the palace
, Sami adds.

Michael asks,
What's all that blood on your clothes
?

They share a troubled glance before Sami explains.
We tried to get eyes inside the palace and tripped a silent alarm. Twelve soldiers surrounded us. They knew something was out there, but since we were invisible …

We drove them crazy
, Jerome crows with a cheeky grin.

I stare at their blood-soaked clothing.
How did you escape?

He locks his gaze to mine.
Brother, if we had let one enemy
soldier escape, Luca would attack you before we returned.

But now he's wondering what slaughtered his twelve soldiers
, Michael says.

In the silence that follows, Sami continues her report,
From what we overheard, Prince Luca is arrogantly confident you can't break through his sealed gates.

This confirmation of our suspicion is excellent news, and my lips twitch with the makings of a smile. I rein it in. Not yet. Not until Ebony is in my arms. And then let the stars stop me, because nothing else in this universe will.

No one is watching the gates
, Jerome elaborates,
but whatever is going on at the palace tonight has everyone's attention.

Prince Luca's arrogance will be his undoing
, Isaac remarks.
He's not guarding the gates, but it sounds as if he's guarding everywhere else. Something must have happened to warrant such high security.

Just the size of that festival warrants heightened security
, Sami says.
Dignitaries, royalty, and a multitude of entertainers are in that crowd.

But Isaac is right, because something did happen.
Solomon's informant contacted him.
I motion to Solomon to brief them.

The pair nods as they listen to Sol explain about the rebel army and how a few members took Ebony out for a midnight ride.

How deep is your informant involved in this rebel army, Sol?
Jerome asks.

She's their leader.

Jerome blows a silent whistle of appreciation.

But two nights ago Prince Luca fed her to a beast.

The pair glance at each other with wide eyes.
Sorry, Sol
, Jerome says.
So is she –

Ebony healed her, and now my informant is waiting to take us to Ebony.

The sense of urgency I've carried with me since Ebony's abduction threatens to explode if I don't get into Skade now. I can't be this close and not with her.

It's time.

I order Gabriel to leave two soldiers behind to watch Jordan
. Nothing must happen to him in our absence.

You have my word, brother
, he confirms, and I give the command to move out.

31

Nathaneal

The rancid smell of decay hangs heavy in Skade's night air, its two moons hiding beneath thick cloud cover, while in contrast the eastern horizon breathes out fire like a living dragon, with volcanic lightning exploding high into the stratosphere.

I glance over my shoulder to Michael. He catches my eye and tweaks his nostrils. Flying in the formation of a flock of birds common to this realm, we're careful not to even mind-link unless imperative, now that we're inside enemy territory.

After a few minutes without sensing a threat, I accelerate our descent, banking south to avoid the hot geyser fields. The white palace soon appears and, though warned, seeing the festivities with my own eyes still shocks me. There's everything there, from street decorations to laser lights chasing each other across the palace skies. There are colourful dancers, acrobats and as well the disturbing sight of wondrous wild animals chained at the neck, paraded by their masters wielding whips.

Most worrying is the high security. Armed soldiers in full battle paraphernalia patrol the palace perimeter and are all
over the wall, the spacious palace grounds and surrounding streets. In many places they stand shoulder to shoulder.

Still descending, I sweep wide to the east, carefully avoiding soldiers patrolling the air space between the palace walls and Skade's vital river, and land silently on the floor of a concrete drain. I motion Solomon forward to take us to his informant.

As the ceiling is too low for flying we wade with hunched shoulders through putrid-smelling liquid. Eventually the liquid drains away and we follow Solomon into a second tunnel, where a sliding door at the end opens on to a circular stairwell. We descend numerous flights, moving fast and silently into another tunnel, even more moist and foul-smelling than the first. Water drips from the ceiling. A colony of double-headed rats, startled by our presence, runs over our feet to scamper up the walls in their rush to avoid us.

I order the team to increase their glow.

Solomon's informant waits for us in the cold darkness with a cloak around her shoulders. The woman has fair skin, dark hair and blue eyes that look curiously familiar. As we approach, and my eyes remain fixed on her, the strings of my memory unfurl and begin to connect, forcing a sense of awareness that something isn't right.

He greets her with the affection and relief of finding a good friend unharmed. The two have communicated often over the years, and she just almost died in a horrific manner, so this I appreciate.

Solomon?

My prince, this is my informant, Mela
.

Now I understand Jordan's agitation on the morning when Michael came to Earth and arrested me for revealing my powers to the enemy. He had just learned that his mother was alive, but couldn't bring himself to believe it. I see now it is true.

I nod at the woman, quickly softening my shocked stare.
Hello, Mela.
My eyes shift to the big angel.
Sol, how did Mela come to be in Skade, and alive?

Michael and Isaac approach, but remain silent.

I was there when Mela took her last breath. I felt the presence of three Death Watchers in the room: two behind me, one further away. As I weighed up my options, Mela's soul ejected from her corporeal body and rose to the ceiling. I spun round and took out the two behind me first
, Solomon explains.
When I looked f
or th
e third, I saw to my horror it was the Dark Prince himself, running off with Mela's soul in his arms. I gave chase but he threw fire and other obstacles in my way. He proved too fast. When I returned, Mela's empty body lay on her bed, Death Watchers gone.

He planned it all
, Michael says.
He exchanged Mela's body while Death Watchers distracted you, wrapping the replacement body in a dark glamour so anyone looking would still see Mela's image.

The significance of this human's presence in Skade is not lost on any of us.

I offer Mela my hand. She takes it and I become aware of her warmth, her pulse, the thudding beat of her human heart.
I have come to take Ebony home.

She smiles.
Yes, I knew you would try. I just didn't think you could get through the gates.

Mela, I wasn't aware of Luca's devious plans for the night you
died. I'm sorry Solomon didn't receive assistance in time to save you. If it's any comfort, your son lives in my house on Mount Bungarra. I keep him as close as I can. You'll see him soon.

Choked up, she simply nods.

Mela, will you take us to Ebony now?

There's a secret passage directly into the king's apartment that even he doesn't know about. I'll give you directions.

You're not coming with us?

There are too many stairs. I'll only slow you down.

Would you allow a member of my team to carry you?

She glances past me at the others, her eyes stopping on Sol, and she nods.

Go ahead, Sol.

He gently lifts Mela into his arms and, under her dir
ecti
ons, leads us back to the circular stairwell where we run up more levels than we descended until we reach the palace's top floor. Here Mela takes us inside a dark and narrow tunnel where she warns us to be silent.

But it's not long before we come to a door with many bolt heads. Mela turns one near the centre and the door opens soundlessly, revealing the narrowest corridor yet. Pausing, I try to figure out why the floor is shaking. I'm just about to warn of an approaching earthquake when Shae grabs my two hands in hers and nods at me several times, her eyes telling me it's all right. It's then I realise it's not the floor that's shaking. It's me.

The end draws near. Ebony is so close now I can almost –
almost
– hear her heart beating. I take a deep breath and steady myself. Shae releases my hands, and then I spot two Throne guards dressed in full armour, helmets in the crook
of their elbows, waiting directly in front of a door as if to block it.

Mela?

Allies. Captains of his royal army, but my lieutenants, both of them.

I jerk my chin at the door.
Where does it lead?

The royal bedroom
.

I swallow hard. So that's where I'll find her. Unwanted images push into my mind. I squash them all as distraction could lead to a crucial error I can't afford to make. Not now. Not when we're so close.

As we approach, the Throne soldiers do nothing to raise the alarm. Weapons at their sides remain still. They open the door, nod at Mela and back out of our way.

Light floods in as Mela rushes through, and though there are other things I should be doing right now, when I step into the room the first thing I see – the
only
thing – is the bed. It's big and luxurious, more so than I imagined in my worst nightmares, raised up on a circular platform with a red quilt across it, pillows piled at one end. Is this where Ebony laid her head at night? Did her tears soak into the silk-covered pillows? Did
he
lie beside her? Cradle her in his arms?

Michael's calming hand on my shoulder helps pull my thoughts to where they should be. I drag my eyes away and continue moving through room after room until, there, looking ahead through an open doorway into a large living area, I see her. She's standing still, watching Mela dismiss three female souls and wearing a long formal dress in black and taupe. It clings to her upper body as if painted on her skin,
flowing from her hips. Her hair spirals down her back in long red-gold curls with sparkling gems running through it.

My breath catches. It's not been a week, but Ebony has changed, become even lovelier. She's grown up by force, her last youthful year stolen from her by an obsessed monster. Now she carries the air of eloquence she was coming into. And, by the stars, she's arresting.

It takes a whole heartbeat for me to realise she's wearing a wedding dress.

And suddenly everything makes sense – the crowded streets, the gathered dignitaries, the festivities in the front courtyard, the extra security. Now I understand it all.

Prince Luca plans to marry Ebony today.

Mela turns to Ebony, and they embrace like close friends. Ebony is visibly relieved to see Mela again and touches the right side of the woman's face, her fingers timid as they travel lightly from Mela's right eyebrow to the bottom of her chin, looking at her with awe.

But suddenly Ebony becomes aware they are not alone.

She turns slowly round and sees me. Her eyes widen and her lips part as she draws in a large breath, releasing a gasp that reshapes her mouth into an amazing smile. Blinking several times rapidly, she does nothing to stop the tears starting to trickle down her face. Then her smile collapses, and her jaw begins to tremble. She lifts a hand as if to cover her mouth, but stops it in mid-air. There is so much in her changing expressions, her eyes especially. They speak of joy, of disbelief, of stunned excitement and … and of love. Oh, there is love in those eyes. Those same eyes that have loved me for more than three thousand years haven't changed,
except, if possible, right now they hold more love in them than ever before.

Her image blurs suddenly and for a heartbeat I panic that something is happening and she's about to disappear. A drop of moisture falls on my hand and I realise that I'm looking at her through a haze of my own tears.

She starts to run at me. I hold open my arms. She leaps into them, her force so strong I stagger backwards, but we're together and it wouldn't matter if we tumbled off a cliff. But my back finds the support of a wall and I lean against it as her legs fold around my waist and she buries her tear-soaked face into my neck.

‘Are you real? Am I dreaming?' she whispers.

‘This is no dream, my love. I've got you now. And I'm taking you home.'

My hands reach for her legs to secure her higher, but flounder in folds of fabric. Trying again, I gather her bulky skirt up and slide my hands beneath her thighs. She moans, and her husky voice, her warm lips, her breathy, unin
telligibl
e murmuring sounds in my ear have me reeling with t
he ne
ed to get closer.