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Closing her mouth, she glances at Thane as she turns back. ‘Who are you people? Are my parents like you? Am I … ?’

Thane says, ‘We are angels. Your parents are angels, and, Ebony, you too are an angel.’

She sighs. ‘A man named Zavier told me he was my uncle. He said his sister was my mother who died in childbirth, but he never mentioned angels or Avena, and he has a house on the outskirts of the valley. I think I was there once when I was a baby. Do either of you know this man? He was the one who arranged the adoption with my parents.’

Thane frowns and glances at Michael, communicating
with him before answering. ‘We haven’t heard that name before. He may have been a man hired by Prince Luca to deliver you, and to spin the story of his sister being your biological mother to fill in the gaps in an effort to prevent you from searching for your true identity. I’ll have the Brothers look into it, see what they come up with.’

Looking at Thane, Ebony says, ‘If – and I’m only saying
if
– I believe you, who is Prince Luca and what does he want with me?’

‘He was once a royal prince of Avena by birthright, but after a failed attempt to overthrow our High King he was stripped of his rank, excommunicated from his order and banished from Avena for eternity.’

‘He wouldn’t happen to be a hot Adonis-looking guy with long light-brown hair and amazing intense eyes, like yours but green?’

Thane exchanges a worried glance with Michael before turning back to her. ‘Have you met him?’

‘I think so,’ she says, alarming both angels before adding, ‘in a dream a couple of weeks ago.’

I’ve seen this prince too, and ‘hot’ and ‘Adonis’ aren’t exactly words I’d use to describe him.

‘Will you tell me about this dream, Ebony?’ Thane asks, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

‘There’s nothing to tell, except I suppose the guy was athletic, and he could fly. He had four velvet-black wings.’

Giving Thane a moment to absorb this, I tell her about my encounter. ‘If it’s any comfort, Ebony, he visited me in a dream too. He didn’t show me his wings, but I got to see my mother locked up in a cell.’

After a space of silence Michael asks us both if he showed us anything else. I shake my head, while Ebony frowns. ‘Let’s not get carried away,’ she says. ‘It was just a dream.’

Thane asks, ‘Did he touch you, Ebony?’

She looks straight ahead. ‘He ran his fingers along the edge of my face. They were so hot I screamed.’

As she says this, Thane’s hands on the steering wheel tighten so hard it’s a wonder the wheel doesn’t snap in two.

‘Easy, Thane,’ Michael warns.

‘Did he ask you for anything?’

She frowns, sensing this question is important, if not to her then to Thane and Michael. But then she shakes her head. ‘Not that I can remember, but he kept calling me something.’

Thane looks at her and she says, ‘My young queen. He said I was his … young … queen.’

Thane goes quiet, and a spine-chilling silence settles over us until Ebony’s voice peals out with concern: ‘Nathaneal, are you all right? Have I said something to upset you?’

‘Careful, Thane,’ Michael warns again.

‘I swear –’

Michael leaps from his seat and puts a hand on Thane’s shoulder. ‘Pull it back, Thane.’

‘As the King of all Kings is my witness –’

‘Nathaneal! Stop!’

Thane’s lips tremble, his whole body shudders, fingers bone-white around the steering wheel, as he fights to stay in control.

Overhead, the sky rips apart with a bolt of lightning that divides into multiple fingers streaking across the sky in all
directions. It ignites the night in a blaze of colour from one horizon to the other. The birds are illuminated and scatter, terrified, millions on the move. Thunder like I’ve never heard before rumbles for so long it will probably register on the Richter scale. Ahead in the Ferrari, Isaac swings around. Ebony glances at me with that startled-doe look. I shrug, not at all sure what’s happening, or why.

What I do know is that Thane is always careful to keep his emotions under control, or bring them back under control quickly.

Now I understand why.

When all is calm again, Michael returns to his seat, and without another word goes back to watching the darkness.

Taking a deep breath Thane peers at Ebony sideways. ‘How often do you need to cut your hair? Monthly? Weekly? Some of us need to trim every day.’

Too surprised to answer, she stares back at him with a puzzled look, her eyes asking how he knows. Turning to stare out of her window she peers into the darkness for a while, absently running her hand through her long hair. ‘Fortnightly.’

‘It’s one of those quirks we have.’

‘What’s with the hair?’ I ask.

He catches my eye in the mirror. ‘An angel’s hair grows particularly fast in comparison to human hair, but we have no bodily hair except for on our head and around our eyes, whereas humans have a fine coating of hair all over their body.’

Running her hand over the skin of her arm, Ebony smiles softly, pleased with his explanation. Maybe this girl should stick around; she could learn heaps about herself.

‘Why me? Why did this … Prince Luca take me?’

Nathaneal tells her sadly, ‘Many theories have been suggested, none confirmed. I won’t let anything happen to you, Ebony.’

‘You didn’t answer my question. Tell me what
your
theory is.’

His eyes close and he sighs. He’s holding back, just like he’s been doing to me from the beginning. It’s why I haven’t been able to trust him completely. But he won’t get away with holding anything back from Ebony. I can tell, and he knows it.

I watch and wait as intently as Ebony, but before he tells her he exchanges a look with Michael as if asking for his advice. Michael shrugs with his ginger eyebrows and Thane takes a deep breath. ‘It’s been foreseen that you will develop the ability to read souls.’

‘A formidable power,’ Michael chimes in. Ebony just stares from one angel to the other. ‘Quite unique. And valuable. Imagine during times of war being able to pick out spies with just one look into their eyes.’

‘I don’t mean to be rude or insulting or …’ Ebony says, casting a look downwards when she pauses, ‘so just for argument’s sake let’s say I go along with the concept of everyone having a soul … why does it matter so much to this prince? Is being able to pick out spies worth going to all this trouble?’

Thane explains, ‘Prince Luca selects his human prey by their weaknesses.’

Michael adds, ‘Your ability to read souls could provide that information in an instant.’

Thane says gently, ‘But why he wants you will make no difference to the outcome, because I will protect you, Ebony. I promise to keep you close by my side and perfectly safe.’

She turns immediately to me and reaches for my hand. ‘You promised you would stay with me too.’

‘I meant it. I won’t leave you. My promise is good.’

She sighs, sounding relieved, and links her fingers through mine. ‘Don’t go anywhere without me, OK?’

‘You got it,’ I tell her; then, out of the corner of my eye, I notice Thane’s brooding look.

We walk through a maze of paths and outer buildings until a bald man named Brother Bernard unlocks a thick steel door and we’re finally inside the monastery. It’s here that Michael steps aside and Nathaneal eases his hold, but keeps one strong arm still firmly wrapped around my shoulders. And it’s now I get my first real look at my surroundings, mostly dimly lit corridors. Brother Bernard leads us through one after another.

Eventually we come to a white-painted room, modestly furnished with armchairs and low tables around an open fire. Although the ceiling is high and ornately decorated, it’s a casual, relaxed setting. There are several lamps, no obvious windows, and a second door at the opposite end.

Gently Nathaneal removes his arm, and as I settle on the only two-seater couch, he signals Jordan to sit beside me. He understands that this boy makes me feel at ease. I feel strongly that Jordan and I belong together. Not in a boyfriend–girlfriend way though – it’s a strange feeling I have for Jordan. I can’t explain why or how, but I’ve had it since the moment we first met. I have to be near him. I’m afraid something might happen to him if I’m not.

But it’s when I’m braced against Nathaneal’s chest, listening to the slow beat of his heart, seemingly synchronised with mine, that I feel safe and secure and alive. It’s as if every part of me that’s touching a part of him awakens with a zing of electricity and a sense of awareness that leaves me breathless and invigorated at the same time.

It’s Nathaneal’s embrace that imbues me with the sense that I have at last found my place in this world. Not that I would tell him any of this, not while there are so many unanswered questions, so many inexplicable details.

Jordan comes at once and takes my hand. A fleeting look of pain sweeps across Nathaneal’s eyes and I want to wipe it away. It hurts to see it there and I suspect I know why.

I’m developing feelings for him. No … and this sounds crazy, but it’s as if I was born in love with this guy. Is it possible to fall in love with someone before you’re born? Or after knowing them only a short time?

I know, it’s ridiculous. It’s insane. It’s something I would normally think impossible, but nothing is normal with me, and hasn’t been for a long time, especially what’s happening tonight. The danger is real; I see it on everyone’s faces, and the birds in the sky – that doesn’t happen, ever. Just thinking about them makes me shiver.

Jordan squeezes my hand. ‘Are you OK, Ebony?’

‘I’m not hurt, if that’s what you mean.’

‘Well, I can see you’re not hurt.’

‘I’m fine, Jordan. Don’t worry. I’m just a little overwhelmed by these incredible-looking people. There’s something about them, and I’m not referring only to their physical perfection – that goes without saying.’

‘Do you mean like an aura?’

‘Yeah, an aura of greatness, of drama and power.’

The rest of the angels walk in then, and the brunette makes a beeline straight for me, her sapphire eyes, ravenous in their intensity, start turning black and freakish-looking.

She’s almost upon me when Nathaneal intercepts her. ‘Shae, where are you going?’ He pulls her aside and they argue quietly. I try to listen, but can’t hear a thing. Then I notice their lips aren’t moving. But they’re obviously communicating. The brunette breaks the connection first and takes a deep breath.

‘What’s that about?’

Jordan says, ‘She’s just excited to meet you.’

I frown. He’s not telling me everything. ‘Be straight with me. I’ve had enough lies.’

‘You’re right, sorry. You’re someone very special to her.’

I frown at him and he explains. ‘Thane doesn’t want you to be swamped with information until he thinks you can handle it, and Shae has heaps to tell you and is annoyed with him for restricting her.’

‘He’s protecting me?’

‘You have no idea.’

Nathaneal comes over and hunkers down in front of me. And just like the first time he looked into my eyes, I feel as if I’ve come home, found my place in life, where I truly belong. I then have to remind myself to breathe. ‘I’d like to introduce you to everyone, if you’re up for it.’

He makes it sound like he’s asking my permission, so I nod and try to work some moisture into my mouth. Oddly, even though she is obviously the keenest, Nathaneal doesn’t start with the brunette. ‘You know Michael.’

The golden man nods and gives me a small smile and a wink, then goes and stands by the door in the far wall with his arms folded across his chest and his head tilted as if he’s listening for a faraway sound. I know that look because I do it myself.

Nathaneal introduces the sandy-haired man next. Laying his hands on the guy’s shoulders, he shakes him and says with unmistakable pride, ‘This peculiar individual is my brother Gabriel.’

Gabriel is just a bigger version of Nathaneal, but he doesn’t awaken the same emotional response in me. He comes over and lifts the back of my hand to his lips.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, my lady.’

Watching carefully from behind, Nathaneal smirks and rolls his eyes. ‘Don’t be fooled by his angelic manner. He’s trying – pathetically, I might add – to impress you.’

Nathaneal impresses me more. Here, among his own kind, his relaxed demeanour is so much more charming. I have to drag my eyes back to the brother in front of me.

‘What my baby brother doesn’t know is that I don’t have to
try
to impress. It’s an inherited gift that didn’t pass down to Thane, I’m afraid. It’s what makes him jealous of his older brothers,’ he adds in a husky whisper meant to be overheard. He spins around and ruffles Nathaneal’s hair.

With a glint in his eyes Nathaneal says, ‘You have to claim something to restore your self-esteem since we all know, though I’m the youngest of seven, I’m also the strongest.’

Everyone is laughing except for the black-haired female with the masses of curls, who keeps giving me furtive
glances with more than a little loathing tucked inside her unusual and quite exquisite turquoise eyes.

As if noticing my interest, Nathaneal introduces her next. ‘This is Jezelle, trained in seven different fighting arts, and also one of our province’s most esteemed healers.’

He forgets to mention how she has the uncanny ability to change the atmosphere of a room from warm to freezing without uttering a word. Dragging her dazzling eyes reluctantly away from Nathaneal, she eyes Jordan next. Noticing our clasped hands she smiles, apparently delighted at the possibility Jordan and I might be a couple. Lifting one shoulder in a dismissive gesture, she tosses her thick hair so the curls ripple down her back. Though it has no effect on me, Jordan is lost in the scent it gives off. Done with her little game of teasing the human boy, she steps back behind Nathaneal.

The last two, Isaac and Shaephira, are married. Before he introduces Shaephira, Nathaneal crouches down in front of me. ‘Ebony,’ he begins, and then stops. His eyes on mine feel like a caress and suddenly all I can think about is the yearning need tightening inside me and making me hungry for the taste of his mouth. I watch as he swallows deeply and with a big inhaled breath withdraws from whatever this is we’re feeling. ‘Shae is your sister.’