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Then it comes back to me, the full force of my …
dream
? I get up and check my room, switching on more lights as I look into shadowy corners, not really sure what I’m looking for. I’m still fuzzy on the details, but I notice how everything in my room is still in its place.

It seemed so real, but … the Dark Prince himself?

I hear Thane moving around in the kitchen and retrace my steps. I was tired and came up for a sleep. I had a shower and fell into bed. Thane is adamant the house is secure, that nothing can get in. So, what was that? Does the Dark Prince know Thane has located Ebony?

I throw on my jeans and a jumper and take the stairs two at a time, finding Thane setting out plates. When he sees me, he
frowns and points to a glass of juice, freshly squeezed, of course. Keeping his eyes on me, with a flick of his head he indicates the window. ‘When is bush-fire season around here?’

I down the juice in one go. ‘Not for six months. We rarely have fires in the cold season.’

He studies my face. ‘What happened, Jordan?’

‘I, uh, think I had a bad dream.’

‘
Think?
’

‘I
know
, OK? It was a nightmare. Unless … ?’

‘Unless what?’

‘This house
is
protected, right? Nothing can get in; no one can break through the protective barriers. That’s what you said. You weren’t lying or anything, were you?’

‘Of course not. What’s this about, Jordan?’

I take a deep breath. ‘I took a nap like you said, and … dreamed the Dark Prince made a deal with me for my mother’s soul.’

The dinner plates slip from Thane’s hands. They hit the floor and shatter, rice, veggies and shards of china spread all over the place.

‘It’s not possible,’ he murmurs.

‘Are you sure?’

The look of horror on his face says he isn’t.

In the morning Thane tells me to stay by Ebony’s side at school today, convince her to come to live with us, and to watch for anything unusual. She turns up right on the bell, and during the morning break her bodyguards – Amber, and a few of their girlfriends – keep me from getting close.

‘She doesn’t want to talk to you,’ Amber says.

Leah, a brunette from my metal-working class, thumps me in the chest with her flat palms. ‘Leave, pretty boy.’

By lunchtime I’ve had enough of the bodyguards and I enlist Danny’s help. ‘What about the blonde chick?’ he asks.

‘Amber? Leave her to me.’

I find Ebony sitting beside Amber at a table crowded with Year Eleven girls.

My plan is simple. When Amber looks the other way, I run in from her blind side, climb over the bench and sit between them.

It works.

‘Watch it!’ Amber yells. ‘Hey, not you again!’

I whisper to Ebony, ‘Just hear me out. Please.’

She purses her lips together while she makes her mind up. ‘Can you make it quick?’

‘As long as you promise to listen this time.’

She leans around the back of me to reassure Amber that she’ll be all right.

‘Are you sure?’ Amber checks.

At Ebony’s nod, Amber gives me her best death stare.

Turning my back on Amber, I finally get to ask what’s going on. ‘Why are you ignoring me today?’

‘After meeting Nathaneal yesterday, I was so worked up that last night I thought someone was trying to get in my bedroom window.’

‘What are you talking about? Did something happen? I should ring Thane, he –’

She covers my mouth. ‘If I take my hand away, you have to promise not to ring your cousin.’

I nod and she eases her hand down. ‘They were just birds scratching at the glass. But your cousin is seriously starting to tip me over the edge.’

I gasp. ‘Did they have blue eyes?’

‘Yeah. Which I thought was really weird.’ She peers at me suspiciously.

‘How many were there?’

‘Four.’

‘Oh man. They’re not what they seem. Ebony, danger is coming.’

‘Could you be any more dramatic?’

She’s not taking me seriously. ‘OK, your life is in danger, and by staying with Amber’s family you’re putting them in danger too. Is that dramatic enough for you?’

‘We’re just talking about a few birds.’

‘Except these birds are not just birds. What they were doing last night was spying on you.’

‘Are you out of your mind?’

‘They report to the one who orchestrated your abduction.
He
made sure you were raised in the valley. Where
he
lives the air is too toxic. But now that Thane has found you, when
he
finds out
he
’s going to come and take you away again, this time for good.’

‘The one you’re talking about wouldn’t happen to be called Zavier, would he?’

‘Who? No. You haven’t met this dude. Believe me, you’d know it if you did.’

She doesn’t say anything for a long time.

‘Ebony, Thane has information about who you really are. Will you just hear him out?’

An Aracal suddenly swoops down and perches at the top end of our wooden table. A couple of girls sitting up that end scream, and the big bird, with its oily-black feathers, sharp clawed feet, long pointed beak and bright blue irises, sort of hops down the length of the table, making a mess of all the lunches. Everyone scrabbles to stand back, and as more people spot the bird, more screams erupt. With all the commotion, the Aracal flies up and perches on a window ledge.

Amber yanks on my shoulder. ‘Are you done yet?’

‘You mean talking?’

‘I mean scaring Ebony. She couldn’t sleep last night after talking to you and your cousin.’

I tug on Ebony’s arm. ‘Walk with me.’ She hesitates. The Aracal has thrown her. ‘Please.’

She nods, giving me a small smile, and my gut quivers, just like the first time we met. If only she wasn’t the angel
Thane is adamant she is. Ebony is a beautiful girl, and when she’s cheerful it’s like everyone around her gets a breath of fresh air.

We stroll to the front of the school and sit on a vacant bench outside the admin office. ‘I’m sorry if I ruined your lunch,’ I tell her.

‘You didn’t ruin anything. That bird did. They must have nests nearby they’re protecting.’

‘That’s not what’s going on here.’

She peers at me with pleading eyes. ‘Can we not talk about the bird?’

To deny her would be impossible. ‘OK.’ Amber’s angry face comes to mind. ‘So what’s with your friend? Why is she so aggressive towards me?’

Ebony glances down at her lap. ‘Ever since the fire she’s been protective, like a big sister.’

‘I get it, she’s a good friend, watching out for you and all that, but does she have to be so anti-me? I’m not your enemy.’

‘I’ll talk to her. I’ll ask her to be nicer to you.’

‘Well, not
too
nice, if you don’t mind. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea.’

She smiles. ‘No, we wouldn’t want that.’ Drawing in a deep breath, she unwinds just a little.

‘You know, under different circumstances you and I –
we
– could have been …’ I offer her my hand.

She takes it in hers. ‘I feel something too, Jordan, but I’m not sure it’s what you’d like it to be.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘You know how I said Amber feels protective towards me
since the fire?’ I nod, and she says, ‘Well, that’s sort of how I feel about you.’

‘Protective?’

‘I don’t know why. It’s hard to explain.’

We sit quietly for a minute before she deftly changes the subject. ‘He’s not really your cousin, is he?’

‘Nope.’

‘How long have you known him?’

‘A few weeks.’

‘That’s all? How can you trust someone you’ve known for only a few weeks?’

I shrug. I don’t want to tell her the whole story. She’d trust Thane even less if she knew the deal he struck with me in the operating theatre. ‘Some people are like that. You only have to know Thane a short time to realise he’s on the good side.’

‘That might be the case, but you know how he asked me to come and live at his house?’

‘Yeah, so you’ll be safe. He wants to pick you up after school today.’

She glances across the paved footpath to the green fields beyond. I give her all the time she needs. It’s a big decision, and she has to make the right one.

But she doesn’t. I can tell before she opens her mouth that she’s not coming. ‘Tell him I need more time.’

‘But, Ebony, this is really important. Don’t you want to know the truth?’

‘I do, but …’ She shakes her head. ‘Sorry, I just don’t trust him.’

No!
‘Ebony, you’re making a mistake.’

‘Well, it’s my mistake to make.’

Shit! She’s digging her heels in
. ‘So, how long does it take?’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Before you can trust someone?’

She shrugs. ‘Depends on the someone, but more than twenty-four hours.’

I have to keep trying. ‘Is there anything I can say or do to change your mind?’

‘Not today.’

‘How long do you need?’

She shrugs again. ‘I don’t know. At least a week. Why? Is he going somewhere?’

No, but you might be!
How do I get through to her without freaking her out? Thane is relying on me. My own future is relying on me.

Leah and Ivy round the corner and bear down on us. Since Danny is behind the girls, we return to the table, where Ebony’s friends are cleaning up after the bird trod over their food.

I spend the rest of lunch trying to convince Ebony to change her mind. I look for her between biology and maths. I sneak out early so I can be standing outside the door of her last class. I’m getting desperate and she can tell. But she still won’t budge. ‘Go home, Jordan. Tell Nathaneal I’ll let him know when I’m ready.’

Jordan is persistent, like his life depends on me doing what Nathaneal wants. Strange. I don’t know these two guys well enough yet, but they’re certainly intriguing. I’m starting to feel a connection between my life and theirs, but that so doesn’t mean I’m ready to move in with them.

If only I could talk to Mum and Dad. Every day it seems my life grows more complicated. It burns me not knowing where they are, if they’re hurt, or even if they’re alive any more. And lately I feel as if they’ve abandoned me. It’s silly because, logically, I know they would be here if they could.

We’re getting the bus home today since Dawn has some errands to run. I pack my bag with my homework books and hang around the seniors’ lockers for Amber to turn up. I’m surprised she’s not here already. She had gym last period, a class I now avoid like the plague. Running into me is like running into a wall, so they tell me. It’s all part of keeping a low profile, though lately that’s been impossible.

Minutes pass and I start thinking maybe I misheard and we’re meeting at the bus bay just outside the school gates. The corridor is emptying out fast now, with only a straggler
or two left. It’s a good thing our bus is the last to arrive and the last to leave.

A senior boy from my physics class, Josh Corbin, walks up to a locker two down from mine and starts emptying it out into a gym bag. He notices I’m watching and looks across at me with a grim smile. ‘Hi, Ebony,’ he says, while dragging out the dregs of a locker I know is not his, but belonged to Adam Skinner, the boy who tried to kill Jordan. Finishing, he slams the locker door shut, zips the bag closed and hooks it over his muscular left shoulder. ‘That’s it, then. The last of Adam Skinner’s belongings are now gone from Cedar Oakes High School.’

‘If you’re trying to draw some kind of compassionate response out of me, sorry, Josh, that’s not going to happen. I hope your friend rots in a prison cell for the rest of his life.’

He leans on the locker with an amused look on his face, one dark eyebrow arched higher than the other. ‘That’s harsh.’

‘D’you think? After what he did?’

He glances away as if he’s having a moment of conscience, which he should since he was there on that night too. ‘Yeah, well, he’s sorry about that night. He wasn’t in a good head-space. He did something stupid and now he has to live with the consequences for the rest of his life.’

‘It’s called justice.’

‘He had a big future ahead of him that’s ruined now.’

‘Maybe he should have thought about that before he shoved that glass bottle into Jordan Blake and scarred him for life.’

More angry than I can remember feeling in a long time, I turn around and start walking to the exit doors.

The sounds of his heavy footsteps behind me make me groan. I speed up my walking pace, but it only makes him break into a jog. ‘Hey, wait up.’ He catches up at the exit doors. ‘You walk fast for a girl.’

‘Maybe you’re not as fast a runner as you think – for a boy.’

He laughs and, annoyingly, follows me all the way outside the gates to the bus bay. It feels wrong because I know he drives a car to school. My instinct says he’s following me. I look around for Amber, but still can’t see her anywhere. Even the bus appears to be running late today, which is a good thing, I guess, considering Amber is too.

Beside me, not towering, but still taller by a centimetre or two, Josh clears his throat.

‘Why are you hanging around me? Do you want something?’

‘I’m waiting for a friend to pick me up. My car’s out of action.’

‘Oh. Sorry.’

A sleek silver car, low to the ground, with windows tinted so dark it’s impossible to see inside, swings into the bus bay and stops in front of us. Looking uncomfortable suddenly, Josh opens the rear door. While he throws his backpack and the gym bag inside, I catch a glimpse of his friend Damien Hall sitting in the front passenger seat.

It’s such a relief to see Josh get in the car that I feel lighter, like I could skip along the footpath or something just as silly. He waves as he closes the door and, feeling generous and friendly, I wave back.

But then the driver gets out and instinctively I step back.
Wearing jeans and a black pullover, this boy stands taller than Josh, with coal-black hair, grey eyes and an air of superiority. ‘What are you doing here? You should be locked up.’

Adam Skinner casually glances at his watch. ‘I was released into my mother’s custody until the hearing,’ he says. ‘But don’t worry, I won’t be coming back to school any time soon.’