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‘No.
No!
’ Thane loses it. He smacks his palm against a thick branch, which cracks. He yanks it off and flings it into the canopy. It travels fast and high before it snares in the upper branches and gravity returns it to earth.

His frustration spent, he takes a deep breath. ‘Jez, go ahead of us. You’ll be faster on your own. Report any information immediately.’ She prepares to take off and he grabs her arm, ‘Stay out of sight.’

Michael watches her for a moment. ‘She’ll be all right. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, I’ll dispatch a team to back her up.’

‘Take enough soldiers to install a perimeter around the house.’

Michael takes off and it’s just the three of us, running along the path to Thane’s house, the same one Thane and I jog on every afternoon, except it looks different tonight. It
feels
different.

‘Nathaneal!’ Ebony hisses in warning. ‘I hear something.’

Thane says, ‘Keep still.’

An Aracal, unmistakable with its weird orange eyes glowing in the darkness, scours the forest for movement from the other side of the river. It spots us so quickly it must have inbuilt heat sensors.

Thane whispers, ‘Run!’

Sticking to the path, he urges us to run faster, but the creature zooms around the trees, burning leaves off branches with its wings. Another, larger Aracal rockets in behind it.

Thane and Ebony sprint ahead, only to slow down until I catch up. I’m running at capacity, but they’re not. I tell them to go ahead. ‘I’ll find somewhere to hide, a hollow log or tree trunk.’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Ebony cries out. ‘We’re not leaving you behind.’

Without warning, Nathaneal picks me up.

‘This is really embarrassing,’ I murmur. ‘Come on, man, put me down.’

‘Not leaving you behind, Jordan.’

‘Well, you should. My life’s one stuff-up after another. If you keep me around, chances are you’ll go down with me eventually.’

‘Jordan, do I
really
need to remind you of our arrangement?’

That shuts me up quick.

We set off again, but the Aracals get so close the one in front swipes at Thane’s back, almost scratching the top of my head, its black talons as long as fingers. Thane groans and, with no choice but to turn and fight, he lowers me to the ground. He spins around to face the Aracals, making sure the two of us remain behind him.

Thane peels off his coat and tosses it to Ebony. He’s wearing the same battle clothes as the other angels – black trousers and top with silver shoulder armour and a wide belt. I catch Ebony staring with her mouth open, her eyebrows elevated, eyes wide. She swallows and moistens her lips with her tongue. No guesses what she thinks of his
look. With his glowing body giving off enough soft light to see by, he releases his wings. This is the second time I’ve seen them and they’re still every bit as amazing, but Ebony is in awe.

We watch as he leaps into the air and grabs the two demons by their throats, smashes their heads together as he lands, then flings them into the treetops where they sizzle and burn up. Their remains dribble to the ground like heavy raindrops.

Thane spins around to check we’re OK. Ebony holds out his coat. He sees she’s trembling and he wraps it around her shoulders. ‘Your wings are so beautiful,’ she murmurs, reaching up and touching one, caressing it with her fingertips. ‘You really are … You’re an angel. You’re all angels. Angels do exist.’

He smiles and looks at her as if his heart is melting. I feel like a third wheel on a bicycle. ‘Yeah, well, I’m impressed too, if anyone cares,’ I mutter, ‘with your slick move, that is.’ Imitating his move, I smash my fists together. ‘Wham! That was awesome. You gotta teach me how to do that.’

‘I have every intention,’ Thane replies.

Just as he’s about to get us running again, I spot a pair of glowing orange eyes.

‘Incoming!’

But the Aracal disappears suddenly, leaving us wondering. Thane turns his own body light off and peers into the darkness. Then his eyes widen suddenly. ‘Go.
Run!
’ he shouts.

We don’t get far before the Aracal swoops down on to Thane’s back with a deafening shriek. Her wings, larger
than they ought to be for her size, wrap around his arms, immobilising him, her beak tearing into his flesh. Thane gets to his feet and rams his back into a tree to try to dislodge her, but the Aracal is strong and doesn’t budge.

Ebony, meanwhile, pulls down a branch and races back to attack the Aracal. She begins belting her to little effect.

‘Her eyes!’ Thane yells out as he stumbles around trying to throw her off. He must be in excruciating pain.

‘You poke while I drag her off,’ Ebony yells to me.

I grab a stick, and aim for a bull’s eye first time, but as if she knows exactly what I’m about to do, the Aracal goes feral, snapping at my hands. I pull back and scour the ground for a longer stick.

‘Just do it, Jordan!’ Ebony yells.

Finally I lunge, stabbing the Aracal in her right eye. She screams and wails mournfully, in a way that will alert the flock to our position for sure.

But Ebony pounces, shutting the demon up with hands around her throat. Then in one wilful tug she yanks the Aracal off Thane’s back. The creature’s neck snaps. I hear the crack. Ebony does too and gets a sickened look on her face, then hurls the Aracal into the canopy like Thane did.

The Aracal hits a tree and drops on to a lower branch with a thud, where it ignites into a fireball and dribbles down in a rain of ash.

‘Thank you,’ Thane says tightly, in obvious pain as he takes a quick look at his wound. ‘It’s not so bad it won’t heal by itself. At least she didn’t break through to the marrow.’

Ebony takes a look and gasps. ‘And this will heal itself?’

‘It will take a few minutes.’

I find a log to sit on and wonder at the pain
I’m
suddenly feeling. It’s only then I realise my hand is bleeding. Thane hears my thoughts and comes over. Getting down on his haunches, he takes a look, then, slowly, sits back on his heels. He seems concerned.

Ebony frowns at his reaction and takes a look at my wound. She studies it, then looks at my face. ‘It’s not as bad as Thane’s, nowhere near as deep.’

I glance at the wound and shrug. ‘It’s just a scratch.’

Thane shakes his head.

‘Nathaneal, what is it?’ Ebony figures it out and grabs his hand to make him look up at her. ‘What is going on? Is … is Jordan going to die from this?’

Nathaneal swallows deeply and gets to his feet. ‘It needs cleaning quickly. As a human, Jordan is vulnerable to the demon bacteria in the saliva. It needs to be cleaned out. I can’t do it while I have demon saliva in my own blood.’ He looks at me then, his eyes clear and intense. ‘We need to get you to Jezelle.’

We start moving, but with Thane’s arm still healing he can’t carry me, and it’s becoming difficult to stay upright. So now we’re down to walking pace with the scent of my blood advertising our position.

‘You’re proving to be quite invincible, Jordan, so try not to worry too much.’

‘I’m not immortal, Thane.’

Ebony slides in under my shoulder, lifting me off the ground, and we’re running again.

Jordan is dying. I can feel his life force slinking away as sure as I can feel the thud of my own heart beating faster than it should. We prop him in a sitting position, supported between the wide roots of a giant fig tree. We’re near Nathaneal’s house, but still deep enough inside the forest not to be seen.

I don’t want to leave Jordan, but Nathaneal is positive Jezelle is nearby. He needs to know what’s going on and he won’t leave me in the forest without protection. ‘The house is just through there.’ I peer through a bunch of trees, bushes, ferns and vines, finally glimpsing a portion of a structure with multiple levels, walls almost entirely of glass, and a ceiling that looks like a pair of outstretched eagle’s wings illuminated by a bright full moon.

‘It’s beautiful,’ I whisper.

He smiles and we take off. Fortunately we don’t get far before Jezelle finds us, with Isaac and Shae right behind her. Shae’s eyes go straight to mine. She scans me up and down, then nods, looking relieved. But there’s no relief on the other two angels’ faces and Jezelle starts to relate her report. ‘The house is surrounded by Prodigies. Prince Luca and his
two lieutenants were first, and ever since they have been arriving in pairs –’

Nathaneal looks stricken but urges her on. ‘Hurry, Jez, Jordan needs your help.’

Alarm at this news has her speaking faster. ‘Prince Luca is standing on your front deck as if he owns the place, but as far as I can tell he’s not managed to break through your barriers to enter the house.’

‘He’s taunting you,’ Isaac says. He appears to want to say more but a sharp look from Jezelle has him closing his mouth.

She jumps straight back in. ‘He has two of his Prodigies up on the deck, one on either side of him, six are maintaining a perimeter approximately one hundred metres out from the house, with four more who have just arrived taking positions on your front lawn. What happened to Jordan? Where is he? Where do I go?’

Nathaneal directs her to the tree where we left him, briefly describing his injury. Jezelle’s eyes widen as she listens. Before Nathaneal finishes she’s off and running so fast she appears as a black blur disappearing into even blacker forest.

Then Shae says, ‘There are Aracals on your lawn, picking out insects and worms.’

‘Any word from Michael and Gabriel?’

Isaac nods. ‘They’re coming now with the Brothers.’

The dark angels are in black uniforms, with helmets from the eyes up and front chest armour, with swords in scabbards by their sides. They surround Nathaneal’s
house, just as Jezelle described, with two standing out in front and another two at the base of the deck. I’m watching them through a thatch of trees grown so close together they form a kind of screen. Seeing them sends a chill along my spine. They’ve come here for me, and I’m pretty sure they won’t care how much blood is spilled to achieve their goal.

But does blood have to spill tonight? If I choose to go with Prince Luca, this all stops; no one has to die. But if I choose Nathaneal, or refuse to go with either, there will be a confrontation and people will die. At least three already have.

Jordan is mortally injured; what if he dies? I can’t stand the thought of that! How would I live with myself knowing I could have stopped all this?

Wise, wise girl! I applaud your rational thinking – and under such prodigious duress
.

The voice in my head is not my own. I recognise the perfectly modulated smoky tones as the voice from the dream I can’t forget. The memory of the alluring winged man is still so clear I can see him now leaning over me, the intoxication of his desire in his penetrating green eyes.

Come with me now and end the bloodshed. Choose of your own Free Will and they will not stop you. Young Prince Nathaneal doesn’t love you enough to break a code. But there is no code in any universe that would stop
me.

Why do you want me? I’m just a schoolgirl who can run fast
.

Ah, but you have hidden talents, my lady, talents that complement mine. Your future, foretold during the formation of the stars, is to become a queen. I intend to make you Queen of
Skade. I will even give you a province of your own to govern one day
.

If I hadn’t met Nathaneal, and if I didn’t know that evil lies at this prince’s core, it’s possible I could fall for his hypnotic charm. But if I really am immortal, I can’t think of anything more abhorrent than to spend eternity at this dark creature’s side.

I regret to advise you that I decline your invitation
.

To govern?

To everything
.

Perhaps there is room to negotiate
.

Go on
, I say reluctantly.

His response is to laugh.
Come with me now, and, as well as no more bloodshed, I will return your parents unscathed
.

You
took my parents
?

They broke their vow of silence. We had a contract which they ignored. But, just to show how generous I can be, to make up for destroying the disgusting pile of filth they called a home, not only will I release them, I will ensure their good fortune continues through to their old age
.

Why would you burn our house down?

I gave them the means to make themselves wealthy so they could raise you in an environment befitting your future status, and they provided you with nothing but bare essentials while their neighbours surrounded themselves with luxuries. They also promised to keep your true origins secret, to avoid causing you undue … distress
.

I was a happy child who grew up in a loving environment
.

That much I concede, my lady
.

How do I know you’re not lying? How do I know my parents are still alive?

They’re no use to me dead!

Your word isn’t enough
.

Come and see for yourself. I’ll have them brought to the gates and give you one night together. You can tell them what a loving environment they provided for you, keeping in mind that they agreed to hand you over to my lieutenant in perfect condition on the eve of your eighteenth birthday
.

I want to deny it, but there’s a ring of truth in his words.

What if I don’t come with you tonight?

Need you ask?
He finds my question amusing and chuckles.
Your human caretakers remain in their cells until I grow tired of their screams and incessant wailing of how unfair I am
.

You’re evil!

I accept your compliment with thanks, my lady. And by the way, being evil is more fun than being good. You’ll grow used to it. You may surprise yourself and discover you enjoy it
.

A moment of silence feels like a blissful reprieve. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. When I open them, Michael and Gabriel have arrived with a small band of reinforcements, every one tall and incredibly beautiful, from their shimmering hair to their strong bodies in battle uniform to their slender boot-clad feet. It makes me wonder about their homeland and if it’s as perfect as its inhabitants are. I wiggle my toes, recalling how uncoordinated I am. I’m nothing like these people, and yet, they’re willing to spill blood to keep me safe.