Fearless (38 page)

Thane moves into Shadow's stall. ‘Hey, hey, hey, boy,' he croons, bringing the stallion's head down and holding him by sheer angelic force. Amber steps back for Thane to work his magic, and he does what he does best, pushes calmness into Shadow's chest through his glowing hands.

Ebrielle inhales a shuddering breath and glances at Thane. ‘Thank you.'

He nods and moves out, leaving Ebrielle stroking Shadow's face with tender fingers and talking to him in a voice that's both calm like honey and soaked with sadness. ‘My beautiful boy, I'm not going to draw this out because it will only hurt you more. You know that I love you. You know that, right?' He neighs a long trill sound and moves his head up and down. She pulls him back to her. ‘Of course, I know. Don't worry, I know that too.'

She takes a deep breath. ‘Shadow, even though we c-can't be together any more, I'll still be with you.' Her hand slides down to where Shadow's big heart is thumping away. ‘Wherever you go, I'll be in here. Always. Remember that, OK?'

Shadow nickers and shakes his head. He understands h
er, bu
t he's not happy. He starts kicking and pawing the ground, but then Ebrielle gathers her breath for one final goodbye. He senses this and, when she leans into him, putting her face flush against his neck, he holds still for her. ‘Thank you for being there when I needed you, which was
a lot of times, I know,' she says with a wry smile, tears pouring out now. ‘Be good to Amber, OK? And … ride fast, baby, ride as hard as your heart desires. Goodbye, Shadow. Goodbye, my beautiful boy.'

Thane motions to Amber, who hurries Ebrielle outside, then waves me over to help him hold Shadow down while he pushes his calm healing powers into the horse.

But we're not fast enough. We just get our arms around him when he lets out a wild primal scream that shakes me to my core.

47

Ebony

Leaving Cedar Oakes and everyone I love behind is crushing me. I said goodbye to Amber's parents and my mum and dad last night. It was hard and everyone cried. And now Shadow. Any more, and my soul will curl up and die.

Amber rushes me away, but I still hear his scream. I want to run back and comfort him, blanket him in my love, wrap him up inside it so tightly it will keep the two of us bound together forever – how we should be. I never thought I would have to part from him except in death. Not like this. To walk away feels so wrong.

But letting Shadow see me again would be cruel. Too cruel. So I stand here and let the shuddering sobs work through me, layer after layer.

‘I'll take good care of him,' Amber says. ‘How could I not love him? He's my link to you.'

‘Thank you, Amber.' It occurs to me how hard this is for her too and I ask, ‘But who's going to be there for you?'

Just then Jordan comes out. Amber catches my eye, lifts her eyebrows and shrugs.

‘You know, Amber, it will be more like you taking care of him.'

‘I know!' she says, carrying my joke a little further with a shaky smile.

‘But only until I polish up my Guardian skills. Amber, Jordan's life is going to improve. It's going to be amazing.'

She smiles at this, but neither of us can hold a happy face for long, and when Jordan arrives he finds us in a tight embrace with Amber whimpering, ‘I'm happy for you, hon. I really am. It's just that I'm going to miss you like crazy.'

‘I'll miss you too, Amber. You have been more than a friend, especially this year with all that we learned about me and the Earth and its different worlds. Thank you for not simply assuming I was crazy and petitioning to have me locked away.'

She wants to laugh, but trying to be brave is stopping her. I press my forehead against hers. ‘You don't have to say anything. I know. Thank you for being the best friend anyone could ever have.'

She bites down on her lower lip and nods.

Nathaneal joins us and we head to the portal, walking along the meandering paths through the forest that's growing back with lush, deep green foliage. At the portal we find Shae and Isaac waiting with my personal guard, the seven angels who were born of evil but now have sworn to protect me.

For the next few minutes everybody exchanges hugs and kisses. Then it's Nathaneal's turn to say goodbye to Jordan and they hug. Nathaneal gives Jordan encouragement and advice for the years ahead and hands him a set of keys, then as he steps back he musses Jordan's hair.

The keys puzzle Jordan and he holds them up. ‘What are these for?'

‘The house, everything inside it, the land it sits on – oh, and the car.'

‘Are you serious?'

Nathaneal smiles. ‘I've signed everything over to you. The house is in trust until the day you turn eighteen, but yours to live in from today. The paperwork is in one of two envelopes sitting on your new desk in your new study with the phone number of the solicitor who will lodge the documents with the courts as soon as you add your signature. There are also two financial accounts set up in your name. One is for your tertiary education, the other for living expenses. The details, account numbers, key cards are in the second envelope.'

‘I-I-I don't know what to say.'

‘Didn't I tell you that once you helped me find Ebrielle and she returns home to Avena your life would improve?'

‘Yeah but, Thane, this … this is so much more.' He turns to me. ‘Did you know?'

‘Only this morning. Come here, Jordy.' He steps into my arms and I hold him tight.

‘I'm not sure whether I thanked you for saving my life,' he says. ‘I owe you both so much.' He glances at Nathaneal. ‘I'll pay you back one day.'

‘Jordan, you don't pay back a gift.'

‘Thane, I won't let you down. I'll make something of my life.'

‘Choose to be happy, Jordan.'

‘Besides,' I tell him, ‘you can't go wrong now that I'm
watching over you.'

‘Yeah, about that, you haven't explained yet how the bond works. I don't have to look over my shoulder every time I take a –?'

Nathaneal cuts him off as gently as a brick through a store window. ‘Ebbie, your uncle has been allowed to say goodbye.'

‘Zavier is here? Now?'

He steps out from behind a thatch of trees, Brother Alex a pace behind him. He walks up to me with an uncertain smile. ‘I've been under a code of silence since the acceptance of my plea to become a Brother of the Holy Cross. Brother Alexander is my mentor and he is allowing me to break my code for the purpose of saying goodbye to my niece, and to ask …' He pauses to gather his breath. ‘Ebrielle, I'm sorry for all the harm and all the pain I brought down upon you. I know saying sorry isn't enough, but I want you to know that I regret it all.'

I hold out my hands and he takes them, and in his eyes I see a tortured soul so remorseful he is willing to do whatever he can to make amends. ‘It's all right, Uncle, I forgive you.'

We embrace, and when we pull apart, the man who was once my teacher but really an angel, who betrayed me, saved me, and then warned me of Luca's trap, turns and walks back towards the monastery with Brother Alex patting his shoulder.

Shae and Isaac and my new security guard move closer to the portal. Nathaneal takes my hand. I wave at Jordan and Amber, but I can't just walk out of their lives like this. I run
back and hug them both at the same time, squeezing them hard, but tenderly. ‘I love you both. Take care of each other.'

I take Nathaneal's hand again and this time we walk into the portal, with me glancing over my shoulder and blowing kisses with trembling fingers and a racing heart. And suddenly there are no words left. Knowing this, Nathaneal releases his wings, sweeps me into his arms and lifts me into the skies of the ever-changing border realm. While he holds me, I rest my head on his shoulder and sob, for the end of my time on Earth, on the saddest day of my life.

But today is also the beginning of my new life, an eternal life with Nathaneal, living and breathing, learning and loving and growing amongst my own kind, with parents who have waited nearly seventeen years to meet me, and family and friends I've yet to meet but who will become integral members of my new world, the world where I know in the deepest parts of my heart and soul that I belong.

Avena

Standing before the great northern gates, I stop to catch my breath and absorb the reality of the moment. Today, I'm coming home.

While Nathaneal and Isaac have a chat with the Gatekeepers, two males of the Dominion Order, my own guard keep near and watchful with their large almond-shaped eyes.

Nathaneal and Isaac return with two towering Archangels, one male, the other, who appears to be in charge, female. He introduces them, explaining, ‘They have orders to take your security guard to Empyrean for deb
riefin
g and training.'

‘Is that necessary?' I ask. Since the High King told me the truth about the ‘dark forces' I have felt a need to make up for the treatment Gabriel put them through. I can't do that if they're taken from me.

‘They will be safe and return with invaluable skills,' she explains.

I ask her, ‘How long will this process take?'

‘That depends on their current skill levels, and how quickly they reach the standard considered adequate to
protect you, Princess Ebrielle.'

My eyes fly to Nathaneal's, asking him why she just addressed me as Princess.

He laughs under his breath. Heads turn to him but he brushes away their questions, sending me the image of the High King bestowing me with the title ‘Princess of Hope'.

Oh. That was for real?

Using mind-link imagery to communicate with my seven security guards, I explain that they have to go with the Archangels to Empyrean. They are unwilling to leave me, but I assure them I will be safe with Nathaneal until their return, and though they remain reluctant they go quietly, zooming into the sky via the Archangels' preferred method of transportation – straight up and very fast.

Linking his fingers with mine, Nathaneal squeezes my hand. He can't seem to stop grinning. He's so excited his heart is beating like a hummingbird's on a warm summer's day. He keeps looking for excuses to touch me, to whisper words, to suddenly pick me up and spin me around, or lift me into the air and gaze up at me with his blue eyes glazing over, shaking his head.

And now, as we stand before the gates, a few steps from entering Avenean territory, he leans down and whispers, ‘Are you ready to come home, Ebbie?'

‘As long as I'm with you, I'm ready for anything.'

The gates swing inwards, revealing the Arc of a Thousand Stairs, the bridge known throughout the universe for uniting one world to the next in spectacular style.

I watch with trembling knees as the stairs spiral downwards in their famous arc, appearing as if they're floating in air.

Shae's palms come down on my shoulders. ‘Welcome home, sister.'

Overwhelmed with emotion, and still a little numb from all the goodbyes, I just nod, and wish that every time I close my eyes I could stop seeing Shadow and feeling my heart overflow with sadness. Leaving him behind has left a deep chasm inside me that's not going to be easy to fill.

Halfway down the glittering stairs, as my lungs gradually adjust to the subtle atmospheric changes, I get my first glimpse of the capital, Aarabyth. Its gleaming glass towers reflect the sunlight in a rainbow of colours that makes me sigh in wonder. ‘It's beautiful.'

Nathaneal nods. ‘Wait till you see the gardens in the Centre Square, the purple magnolia trees that surround it, and the Temple with all its pillars, and the towering cat
hedr
al where royalty is crowned, and –'

Isaac comes up behind us. Throwing an arm around each of us he looks at Nathaneal first. ‘If your grin gets any wider I'm afraid your face will split into two, and Michael will have me hung and quartered.' He turns to me. ‘There's plenty of time to see the city. It's hardly changed in three thousand years.'

I laugh. ‘Wise words, Isaac. Let's go home.'

We reach the last stair and step on to the viewing platform. Apparently I'm going to be living on a property next door to my sister's in the Lavender Ranges, where she and Isaac live with their young daughter – my niece, whom I can't wait to meet.

A bubble of excitement tries to mushroom inside me, but just as quickly it deflates again. I stand still for a moment
and just breathe. Underlying the flawless beauty of this land, there's also a sense of freedom. Of peace. It stirs inside my veins. And there's a scent in the breeze that's fresh and full of promise. I know I'm going to be happy here. It's just that now my heart is heavy with the friendships I've had to leave behind, my human parents, my best friends, and Shadow.

Nathaneal pulls up our linked hands and kisses my knuckles, one feather-light kiss after another. ‘It will take time.'

I nod and manage a smile. He deserves to be happy.

Shae moves to the left of the platform, facing north. She glances at us over her shoulder. ‘Ready, everyone?'

The four of us leap into the air, wings unfurling, beating, lifting us higher and moving us faster towards the Lavender Ranges, apparently named for their mass displays of lavender blossoms all year round.

‘You
will
smile freely again, Ebbie,' Nathaneal says as he flies beside me. ‘It won't be long.'

‘I know. But, oh, Nathe, Shadow won't understand why I left him, why I'm not walking into his stable every morning and taking him out for our usual ride. I can't shake the image of him watching the door, and waiting. I know him. He will wait and watch every day. He will grow old watching that door. For the rest of his life he's going to think I abandoned him. And he will be right.'

He pulls me against him, wings and all. ‘Let me hold you, Ebbie.'