I take Ebony’s hand to tug her up, when I notice the picture. She holds it out for us to see. It’s a photo of three people. The older woman looks constipated. The girl in the middle bears a strong resemblance to Ebony but with darker, browner hair and a big baby belly. The older boy is definitely Mr Zee.
The photo looks like the real thing. Knowing Ebony she’ll test it herself. All she needs is a good microscope and she can check for things like conflicting illuminations, shadows that aren’t right, pixel differences and paper aging. If it proves fake, it’s the one thing that could blow Mr Zee’s credibility. I doubt she’d tell him, so I bring it up myself, ‘Hey, would you mind if I borrowed that photo? I won’t need it for long.’ I turn it over; make it look like I’m searching for a date or something.
‘Sure,’ she says.
Mr Zee catches on. ‘Don’t concern yourself if something happens to it, my dear, I have the original stored in my safe.’
Amber’s dagger eyes shift from me to Mr Zee and back again. She must have been thinking of doing the same thing ’cause she’s looking really pissed off now.
The outside light drops again and this time I grab Ebony’s hand and keep it. ‘We’re leaving now.’
She glances through a window and jumps straight up. ‘Let’s go.’
Mr Zee follows us out. ‘Next time you should stay for dinner.’
‘Keep moving,’ I whisper. ‘No small talk, OK?’
On the veranda, Ebony notices thick grey clouds swooping in and looks for Amber, finding her at the door drilling Mr Zee. ‘Oh-ho.’
‘Keep going. I’ll get Amber.’
I literally pick Amber up by the waist and drag her away in the middle of her sentence. ‘Hey, moron, what’s your problem? I almost caught him in a big fat lie, which is a lot more than you did in there. By the way, what were you playing at? You sounded like the devil’s advocate!’
‘I have to get Ebony home before dark. Nathaneal’s orders.’
She hits her forehead with an open palm, making a loud smacking noise. ‘Oh my God!’
As soon as we’re outta Mr Zee’s sight, we sprint to the car.
18
Jordan
Nobody complains at the high speed I drive on the way home. It’s mostly straight road and an easy run. At the corner of? Teralba and Gunalda Roads I pull up to let Amber out. She insists on walking the last one and a half kilometres to save us time, but I don’t like leaving her alone on an isolated country road with sunset approaching.
She notices my hesitation and slaps the Lambo’s rump with an open palm. ‘Get going – you still have a mountain to climb!’
She’s right. It’s still ten kilometres just to the town centre before the climb up Mountain Way. Forty minutes would be a dream home run. Thane would do it in half that time, but I’m no angel with supernatural handling skills.
I keep my eye on Amber through my mirrors until she’s outta sight. Ebony notices, and makes a big deal out of it. ‘You’re checking out Amber!’
‘Don’t insult me.’
‘Well, what was that all about?’
‘I’d do the same if I left a dog on that corner.’
She gasps and goes quiet. After a minute I shrug. ‘She’s your friend, that’s all. Besides,’ I say under my breath, ‘she can’t stand the sight of me.’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that,’ she murmurs.
We get a good run right through to the last roundabout heading past the town centre, but as we leave the valley behind street lights flicker on. ‘Shit!’
‘What is it?’
‘Lights.’ I point them out with my chin. ‘Sunset is mere minutes away.’
As always, Ebony is more optimistic. ‘Nathaneal didn’t say demons would come out precisely at sunset. It could be closer to midnight, or three in the morning, if at all.’
‘You know, that makes sense.’ The knots inside me loosen up a bit, but I still keep alert just in case.
‘He was just being cautious,’ she says, but her eyes remain as glued to the windows as mine do. ‘You should switch our lights on now.’
But that would be admitting they’re necessary, so I wait until I really have to.
We catch up to a struggling bus, attempting to drive up a steep incline on Mountain Way. Grey smoke pumps out of its exhausts and blows all over us each time it changes gears or accelerates.
I thump the horn. ‘Move it, will ya!’
A space opens up on the passenger’s side. I glance into my mirrors, then overtake the bus on the narrow shoulder. It’s not a smart move. Not even legal.
But getting Ebony home fast is my only concern right now.
With a clear road in front, I breathe easier. The familiar landscape changes shape around us as shadows lengthen and darkness closes in, but we’re more than halfway now, and before long I’ll have Ebony tucked safely inside Thane’s glass fortress. Obviously he knew what he was doing when he built that place, nestled right next door to the Holy Cross Monastery on grounds still within the monastery’s protective stone walls.
Ignoring speed limits, and hazard signs warning of loose rock walls and kangaroos leaping in front of cars at dusk, I concentrate on staying on the road as every steep hill, every twisting, turning climb, brings us closer to the summit.
As we approach the turn on to Ridge Road, my heart starts slowing down and a sense of euphoria begins to kick in. I damp it down. We’re only minutes away from home, but we’re not there yet.
‘Can you hear that?’ Ebony cocks her head to one side.
‘Hear what?’
It takes a few more seconds before I hear the siren. ‘You gotta be kidding me.’
‘It’s a police car and it’s moving really fast,’ she says.
‘Aw, crap.’
‘Hey, who says they’re after us?’
I glance at her sideways. ‘With my luck?’
With her lips pressed together, she gives me a pitying smile. Damn, I hate that! I try to sound more positive. ‘OK, so they’re cops. Doesn’t mean they’re after us.’
She smiles. ‘That’s better.’
And, strangely, it does feel better. It’s as if by saying it aloud I convince my brain to believe it. Making the turn, I slide the Lambo quickly through the gears, picking up acceleration to a hundred in just a few seconds. If cops are after us, they’ll have to catch us first.
The bus driver probably called them, but I suppose anyone who saw us tearing up Mountain Way could have ratted me out.
‘They’re catching up.’
‘I’m not pulling over. I’m taking you home.’ I give Ebony an encouraging look. ‘They’re not going to catch us.’ I see their blue lights flashing in my mirrors, but as my eyes adjust, I spot something big and dark zooming up behind them. ‘What’s that?’ I peer into the rear-view mirror until my eyes blur. ‘Ebony?’
‘I see it.’
A shiver goes through me, leaving the hairs on both my arms standing on end. ‘What in God’s name is that?’
Ebony twists her upper body round to look through the rear window, but doesn’t answer.
Impatient for her opinion, and freaking out at what I thought I saw, I ask again, ‘Ebony?’
She slowly shifts her eyes to mine. ‘I have no idea what that is.’
I look again and notice flashes of electric currents sparking here and there, like lightning bolts. ‘Shit, Ebony. It’s bigger and faster than anything I’ve ever seen move on land before that wasn’t mechanical.’
‘It moves like a storm cloud. The whole bottom half is a swirling tornado,’ she murmurs.
‘But it’s not a tornado, is it?’
‘No.’
I need her to say it. ‘How do you know? I mean, we hear about tornadoes hitting the mountain sometimes.’
‘It’s not a tornado, Jordan. It’s not a storm or a cloud. It’s a living thing. I mean . . . it’s breathing,’ she says, looking closer. ‘And it has a beating heart with lungs filling up with oxygen.’
/>
‘What?’
She nods.
‘And?’
‘And I see a head with an upper body. Massive arms. Fingers. It’s like it’s still forming its shape.’ She glances at me. ‘I know. It’s bizarre.’
By now the cops are so close their headlights blind my rear vision, but at the same time their lights reveal massive amounts of debris in the air. ‘Could it be a demon?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve only ever seen Aracals,’ she says.
I force myself to concentrate on the road. There aren’t many properties up here, and once Ridge Road turns into Monastery Lane Thane’s driveway will be close. I can’t miss it. That would be a disaster. The monastery is approaching fast on our right, then it’s Thane’s place, then the national park, which is forest land all the way to the ridge’s abrupt cliff end.
Ebony shields her eyes with her hand as she continues watching the strange dark force looming behind the cop car. Suddenly, she calls out, ‘Go faster, Jordan.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘Just go faster! Hurry, Jordy!’
‘I’m trying! I am! What did you see?’
‘I . . . I’m not sure.’
‘I’m going as fast as I can. I don’t want to miss the lane.’
‘It’s gaining on us. It’s going to catch us!’
‘What’s gonna catch us?’
‘I don’t know exactly, but I’m hearing it now too. It has the roar of thunder booming out of it. And . . .’
‘And what?’
She turns back fleetingly, ‘The tornado half is taking the road with it, lifting it up and spitting it out in crushed pieces.’ She looks back and I hear her suck in a deep gasping breath. ‘Shit! No way!’
I look into my mirror and gawk at the cop car in the air. This powerful dark force picks it up with its giant hands and holds it over the top of us. ‘Are you seeing this?’
The cop car seems to hover above us, its wheels spinning in the air. ‘What the hell is that thing?’
While not in slow motion, it seems like the longest few seconds of my life when the hands toss the cop car to the right. It’s now I realise this force is after us. The cops were just in the way.
I blink hard to clear my eyes when suddenly Ebony screams. The cop car comes down on the right side of the road at the same time as the stone monastery walls swing into sight. We’re driving so fast we pass the monastery’s main buildings in a blink. But the cops don’t gain control in time. The car hits the road hard, rolling twice before smashing into the wall, where it explodes instantly.
The burst of flames from the collision shoots across the road after we pass, but we don’t escape the shockwave. It hits us with so much force it shoves us clear off the road. We miss the unfenced cliff edge by mere centimetres, then skid on loose gravel for about fifty metres more, before finally gaining the road again.
And now our speed has slowed to half.
Ebony checks our rear and yells, ‘It’s still there! It’s coming after us!’
‘Sh-i-t!’ Like a Tsunami outta nowhere, this powerful, living, breathing force folds over the top of us.
‘Floor it, Jordan! Faster! It’s reaching out to pick us up!’
Our rear wheels suddenly leave the surface as the lane’s top layer breaks up beneath us and the dark force catches the car’s rear in its hands. And then we’re being lifted into the air. ‘This is not happening. It’s not happening.’
‘There!’ Ebony spots the first natural marker, the tree left bare by lightning, its right-angled branches pointing to Thane’s driveway.
‘Good work,’ I murmur, concentrating hard on turning, but the dark force is still tilting us higher.
Ebony shouts through the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. ‘Go, Jordan. Go!’
My pulse jumps as adrenalin pumps through my body. Acting on impulse, I switch off our lights. Using only the front tyres, that, incredibly, are still gripping the road, I push the power button Thane told me was for extreme emergencies only. With the steering wheel held firmly in my hands, the Lambo bursts forward at a speed that would rival a Rolls Royce jet engine, shooting flames from the rear exhausts.
The dark force drops us.
Released from its hold, our tail end drops with a grating, grinding thud just as the piano rock, the second marker signifying we’re about to pass Thane’s driveway, flashes into view. But with four wheels on the ground now, I finish making the turn. The gates open with the dashboard’s remote-control switch, closing fast behind us.
‘Phew!’ I swing round in time to see the dark force’s lower tornado half chewing up Monastery Lane as it passes Thane’s property. Hopefully, it will roll right off the ridge, crash into the rocks at the cliff base far below, and die.
‘Do you think it will notice we’re not on the road any more?’ Ebony asks.
‘By then we’ll be safe inside.’
‘Hurry, Jordan. Please hurry.’
With no headlights, the driveway seems to take too long. We both keep checking behind us. Ebony starts to tremble. But once we hit the clearing, the house swings into sight. Ebony depresses the garage door remote switch and I drive straight in, hitting the brakes hard and stopping just in time to prevent us slamming into the opposite internal wall. I hold my breath until the garage door automatically closes behind us.
Exhausted and shaken, we sit in the dark and just breathe.
19
Ebony
We escaped death tonight because of Jordan’s remarkable driving skills. But the police officers’ tragedy had nothing to do with skill or lack of it. I can’t see how they could have survived that explosion. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught up in something bigger than them, bigger than the laws of this world. I can’t help feeling responsible. Though I don’t know what that dark force was, I know it was after me.
If the police come looking for answers, I’m afraid of what I will tell them.
I had dealings with detectives when my house burned down and my parents went missing. They ask the most intrusive questions, trying to catch you in a lie. I don’t lie. I can’t seem to even when I want to, but I learned that to tell the whole truth sometimes isn’t wise, and can cause more harm than good.
There are nasty storms up here, history will attest to that, but will anyone believe a tornado touched down on Ridge Road and tore up most of Monastery Lane? Maybe the Brothers saw something that could help explain what happened.
And where is it now?
Sitting in the Lambo in the dark, locked in our own thoughts, neither of us seems in a hurry to go inside. I just saw two people slam into a wall and explode. The image will give me nightmares for a long time. ‘Oh, Jordy, what a terrible thing to happen.’
‘I know,’ he says, his voice thick. ‘Come here.’ He reaches for me and I shimmy over. He cradles the back of my head with his hand, murmuring caring words and stroking my hair in a steady rhythm. After a few minutes our hearts settle down from their wild, adrenalin-fuelled ride and he pulls back to peer at my face even though it’s too dark for him to really see it. He holds my face in his two hands and kisses my forehead. ‘I’m so relieved. Thank God you’re OK.’
It feels amazing being this close to Jordan. It’s like this is what I was made for. I lay my head on his chest and he goes back to holding me and stroking the back of my head.
And for the first time since we met I’m not worried he’ll misread our physical closeness for something it’s not.
After what we just experienced, nobody would.
Suddenly, blinding white light floods the garage. The shock makes us jump apart. We stare out of the front windscreen where the source of this blazing light appears to be coming from, waiting in silence as it slowly loses intensity and our eyes adjust. Knowing that only an angel can make a room light up like this, my pulse races as I think for a second it might be Nathaneal.
Except the warmth and serenity Nathaneal emanates is clearly absent. Instead, an icy chill leaves
my skin tingling with cold.
As soon as Jordan recognises Nathaneal’s brother, Prince Gabriel, he grins and jumps out. ‘Hey, dude, am I glad to see you.’ He offers his hand. ‘You have no idea what just chased us . . .’
Gabriel stares down his statuesque nose at Jordan, lips curling in a sneer, and ignores the offered hand with a look that has Jordan stopping in his tracks.
Even from here I can tell Gabriel is livid.
I suppose he would be. We didn’t make it home before sunset. Before he left, Nathaneal made sure we understood how important that rule was to our safety. And now two people are dead.
I take the photograph Mr Zavier gave me, slot it inside my skirt pocket and collect our backpacks. ‘Hello, Gabriel.’
He nods at me, then makes a short sharp motion with his head towards the living room. ‘In there. Now. Both of you. We need to talk.’
I know Gabriel doesn’t like me. He made that clear the last time we saw each other. That Nathaneal chose to stay with me on Earth only made Gabriel’s aversion more obvious.
As soon as the internal garage door closes behind us, Gabriel turns on Jordan. Though he’s still big, he’s more slender than I remember, in figure-hugging black trousers, long grey jacket with white shirt underneath. He cuts an elegant, commanding figure, especially with his yellow hair slicked back in a ponytail at the base of his head. If he came to my school, girls would swoon; guys would step out of his way.
‘Do you have any idea what you’ve done? How could you remain out after dark when my brother’s explicit instructions were to have Ebony inside before sunset?’
‘I know I stuffed up. I’m sorry. Gabe, I’m really sorry.’
‘Nathaneal trusts you. We don’t understand how or why he has such faith in a human teenager, but there you have it.’
‘Gabriel, is this necessary?’ I ask, but his need to reprimand Jordan has turned this angel’s ears to stone.
‘Is his trust in you warranted, boy? And, after what I just witnessed in my brother’s own car, I need to ask you straight out –’ he leans down until their faces are only millimetres apart – ‘are you keeping Ebony safe for him?’