I shake my head. ‘My parents are wonderful people, everybody loves them. Who would want to harm them?’
Dawn notices I’m becoming distressed and beckons Amber over. Sitting beside me, she leans over and hugs me. ‘Is there anything I can do?’
Nothing springs to mind, except … I stand up with the intention of catching the officers before they leave. ‘I’m going to file missing persons reports.’
I overhear Sergeant Sawyer talking to Dawn outside the front door, ‘We’ve been doing some checking into the family.’ The words tweak my interest. I stand still and focus on listening. ‘The only child registered to John and Heather Hawkins was a boy named Ben, who lived for –’ I hear paper rustling, and then – ‘forty-eight minutes.’
Detective Barrett says, ‘We followed this up by checking national adoption records and …’
Amber approaches the door and I hold my hand up to stop her. I want to hear the rest and quickly tune back in. ‘Since she’s in your care now, Mrs Lang, we thought you should know there are no records of Ebony Hawkins ever being adopted. We’re going to have to look into why this is the case and run a nationwide missing children’s search.’
‘Ebony is adopted? But Heather had twins.’ Dawn sounds bewildered.
It is bewildering!
‘No twins were born to Mrs Heather Hawkins. There are no birth records for Ebony Hawkins,’ Sergeant Sawyer insists. ‘We don’t know who she is, or where she comes from. But someone out there knows something, and we will continue digging until we solve this puzzle.’
22
Ebony
The fire chief calls on Wednesday afternoon to say the house is safe to enter now. I decide to ride over straight away. I have to see for myself what is left of my home.
‘Do you think that’s a good idea, Ebony?’ Dawn asks when I step out on to the back veranda to tell the family where I’m going.
Amber is sitting with her legs crossed on the lawn playing tug-of-war with Lucy, one of their three dogs. She jumps up. ‘Relax, Mum, I’m going with Ebony.’ She looks at me then. ‘Right?’
At my hesitation she comes up to me and whispers, ‘You’re not going on your own and that’s final.’
Quietly relieved, I give her a small smile and we head down to the stables and saddle up.
Riding Shadow goes a small way to relieve the pressure building inside my head. My whole life is in that house. Everything I own. Mum and Dad are – were – in that house the last time I saw them. What will I find? A clue that will tell me what happened to them?
As much as I try to prepare myself on the ride over, as soon as I’m on my front lawn looking at the blackened wreck, I understand what a futile exercise this was.
This used to be a two-storey house, but to look at it now, with most of the roof gone from the top floor, you would never know. Amber follows me as we head round the back for a look. The ground floor appears to have remained largely intact, with the kitchen managing to escape the worst of the ravaging flames. Dad’s study in the south corner, the garage alongside it, and the dining room walls still stand. The flooring on the ground level has also survived, along with the living room fireplace and a few internal walls, though most of what is left looks black and ruined. Upstairs is clearly a different story. There used to be two bedrooms on either side of the staircase. From what I can see from here, still in the saddle on Shadow with Amber beside me on Pandora, my bedroom at the rear appears to have retained a few floor beams, but the fire totally annihilated Mum and Dad’s room.
Watery eyes blur my vision momentarily and I sigh as an overwhelming sense of aloneness fills me.
‘Hey,’ Amber says as she reaches out for my hand, ‘how about I check out the barn and give the horses a drink?’
I nod and blink away the tears. Trust Amber to know when I need to be alone. ‘I’ll be back in a while,’ she says.
I climb off Shadow and nuzzle his neck before handing her the reins. Then, taking a deep breath, I walk towards the blackened remains of my front veranda.
Treading carefully over charred debris I pick my way to the lounge fireplace. I’m not sure what I’ll find, if anything, but something of Mum’s or Dad’s, a locket or keychain, anything that was dear to them, would be good.
But I find nothing except a button-sized portion of a mangled picture frame that once held our family portrait.
Tucking the piece of metal into my jeans pocket, I make my way to the area directly below my parents’ bedroom, but there’s nothing but blue sky above and the blackened floor of the living room below. I then head over to the area beneath my bedroom. I am standing still for a moment when a nearby sound makes me think I might not be here alone. I swing my gaze outside to the barn and catch sight of Amber pouring water into a trough where she’s tethered the horses.
Hmm.
I listen for a heartbeat and sure enough hear one with the slow steady pace of mine. I look around with the fleeting hope that somehow this is Mum or … ‘Dad? Dad!’
There’s no reply because the reality is my parents are not here.
I glance around at the debris, the smell of burnt timber still strong in the air.
And then a young man in an immaculate black suit and hat steps out from what’s left of the stairwell. At a guess, and though his clothes say otherwise, I would put him in his early to mid-twenties. My first thought is, What an unlikely looter.
For a moment we simply stare at each other, until I remember this is my place. ‘You’re on private property, mister.’
‘I beg your pardon,’ he says politely and in a rich accent, though not one I recognise. ‘I apologise for startling you, Miss Hawkins. I assure you, I am not a looter.’
Did I mention that aloud?
Though I can’t be sure, I think his eyes widen, but he maintains eye contact and that’s hard to do if you have something to hide.
‘Do you want to tell me what you’re doing here?’ As he steps towards me I contain a sudden urge to run. ‘That’s close enough.’
He stops and raises both hands with his palms out.
The man is good-looking, though his appearance does nothing for me.
I take a quick inventory – tall, broad shoulders, nice tan with brown eyes and flawless presentation right down to his shiny black shoes.
And then it hits me, and the skin on my arms breaks out in goosebumps. This man has stood inside my home before.
‘I’m very sorry for your tragic loss, Ebony.’
I consider replying but choose to watch him instead, hoping he’ll squirm under my stare and start to fess up his reason for being here. But he doesn’t squirm, not even slightly.
‘How do you know my name?’
‘That’s not important.’
‘How do you know what’s important to me?’
‘I understand how my appearance here must be confusing to you. If it helps, I knew your parents.’
‘And they just happened to introduce me?’
‘Something like that.’
‘What if I don’t believe you, Mr Zavier?’
He smiles and nods. ‘Since you know who I am, then you know I am your uncle.’
‘Aren’t you a little young to be my uncle?’
Looking directly into my eyes, he says, ‘Everyone in our family holds their age well. It must be in our genes. Tell me, Ebony, which one cracked first?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Which one of your parents told you about your birth?’
‘Why do you want to know that?’
‘It’s important.’
‘Why? Do you know where they are?’
His big brown eyes narrow and darken, and suddenly a cold breeze blows in my face and the smell of burning timber fills my senses as ash from all around me stirs and lifts into the air. ‘Are you really my uncle?’
He nods so deeply the brim of his hat momentarily conceals his eyes. ‘Indeed I am.’
‘Did you have anything to do with this fire?’
/>
He shakes his head and his eyes remain clear. ‘I did not.’
‘Do you know who my biological father is?’
‘I’m afraid my sister kept the boy’s name secret from everyone.’
‘How do I know you’re telling me the truth, Mr Zavier? Can you offer me any proof that your sister really was my biological mother? Would you be willing to submit to a blood test to prove it?’
‘I would.’
He sounds as if he’s telling the truth, but there’s something not quite right about this. He told my parents that my biological mother died on his lounge floor while giving birth to me, but …
‘This is hardly the appropriate place to hold this conversation,’ he suddenly says, his eyes drifting over my shoulder.
I look back through blackened beams and shattered windows to see Amber approaching on foot. My instincts tell me I should probably run for the nearest police station rather than find a quiet place to talk with this man. But I have questions that need answers.
I take a deep breath. My questions can’t resolve themselves. ‘All right. Where?’
‘I have a house. You know where it is. You visited recently.’
It’s an effort not to react, though my reddening face is a dead giveaway. ‘Time?’
‘When you are ready to know who you are,’ he says ambiguously, then turns and walks away.
‘Hey! How will I contact you?’ I follow him into the other side of the house, but there’s no sign of him. I exit through the kitchen and look for a car, but there is none.
‘There you are,’ Amber says after walking right through the house after me. ‘What’s wrong, hon? You look as if you just saw a ghost.’ She gasps. ‘Sorry, Ebony, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.’
‘It’s fine, Amber,’ I reassure her, taking a final wide look around. ‘But I think you might be right about that ghost.’
23
Jordan
When I wake on Thursday morning, all the muscles in my body are aching. Three days of training with Thane is killing me. He insists on making the most of every waking minute of the day, with morning sessions in the gym on one machine after another, followed by twelve-kilometre runs before we even break for lunch. The afternoons are taken up with teaching me how to fight in every style known to man, from ancient grappling to modern-day cage fighting. I didn’t know there were so many ways to choke a person.
It sucks because the only time I get to think about the girl with the violet eyes is in my dreams. But with school back in on Monday, I’m hoping that when I do see them again, they’ll be as amazing as I remember. Maybe it’s time to stop burying my head in the back row. But then I wonder if Thane’s quest means I won’t be going.
After dragging myself into the shower, the hot spray loosens my aching muscles and I head down to the gym, where Thane is waiting on the mats, ready to start my warm-ups. By now I know the routine and climb straight on the mini-trampoline for a light jog. ‘School’s back in a few days and I was wondering –’
‘Of course you’ll be going.’ Thane answers my unasked question. ‘I would have a problem with Lillie if you didn’t. Besides, I’m hoping Ebrielle attends your school.’
‘Dude, what makes you think that?’
‘The other schools in the area are both religion-based, correct?’
‘Yep. Why?’
His eyes shift to me and hold for a second as if he can’t believe some of the things I say. ‘She wouldn’t have been sent to a religious-based school. She may not attend school at all, of course. Most likely she’s being home-schooled, but we need to be thorough about this, and your school is a good place to start.’
I give my memory cells a jolt. ‘She doesn’t go to Cedar Oakes High.’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘Ebrielle’s not a name I would easily forget.’
Nathaneal shakes his head. ‘I think we can assume the kidnappers changed her name.’
‘OK, just tell me what to look for.’
Thane smirks. ‘We may have to rely on your reaction to her.’
‘Dude, I react to all pretty girls, and since she’s an angel I assume she would fall in to that category.’
He glances out the window and stares across the lush green lawn to where the forest begins. This is the look that makes me think he’s keeping something from me. ‘What is it? Is something going to happen when I meet my Guardian Angel for the first time? Are the stars going to fall from the sky or something?’
He laughs, but his eyes remain serious. ‘Humans aren’t supposed to exist in the same world as their Guardian. The bond will draw you to each other, especially when you are in close physical proximity.’
‘And … ?’
‘It should be intense and memorable.’
I laugh. ‘Dude, that’s hardly abnormal. It’s a male thing, if you know what I mean.’ It’s not really a question – I’m not asking about Thane’s love life, though, come to think of it … ?
‘Not open for discussion.’
‘Oh come on! You’re twenty-three and well-travelled, there must have been someone somewhere?’
Bringing his knees up, he wraps his arms around them and glances at me from the corner of his eye as I continue jogging lightly. ‘It’s different with angels because of our immortality. We have one partner for ever, almost always chosen for us by a council of extremely knowledgeable and skilled angels who can see into a couple’s future. They don’t make mistakes because they’re thorough. They don’t rush their decisions.’
‘But it’s for ever! How do you know a bunch of strangers has picked the right one?’
‘This is difficult to comprehend, but once a couple has the chance to mind-link together, they can see their future and feel the truth themselves. It’s the ultimate confirmation a couple can have. After that, they have no reason to doubt.’
‘I can’t believe these dudes never get it wrong.’
He smiles to himself in the way people do when they know stuff you could never understand. I suppose he’s right. ‘Well?’ I lift my eyebrows. ‘Have they picked anyone for you yet, or are you too young? I mean, when there’s an eternity ahead, what’s twenty-three years?’
‘They have chosen someone.’
I stop jogging and just bounce. ‘Really?’ I can’t help smiling. He’s so much fun to tease. He points to the trampoline and I start jogging again. ‘You have a wife back in Avena, huh?’
‘We’re not married yet.’
‘Oh, I get it. You have to finish this quest before you settle down, stop gallivanting around the universe.’
‘More or less.’
‘That sucks.’
‘Yes, it does.’
‘Well, that’s incentive to find your missing angel, if ever there was any.’
‘Yes, it is. So let’s get back to doing just that.’
‘OK. I don’t suppose Ebrielle has a birthmark?’
‘The birthing chamber burned to the ground so rapidly the midwife Myrinda recalled only the infant being snatched from her arms by a monster she’d never seen before. It was most likely a disguised Prodigy.’
‘A what?’
‘Prodigies are an elite division of dark angels who are superbly trained.’
‘Well, isn’t that wonderful news.’
He gets my sarcasm and spits out a laugh.
I try to explain how difficult this is going to be, ‘Dude, I don’t think you realise how many girls go to my school. This could take time. The more identifying features you can give me, the better, you know?’
‘Myrinda noticed a smattering of dark red hair.’
‘That’s a start.’ Then a thought occurs to me. ‘Hey, Thane, do angels resemble their parents?’
He nods and smiles with one half of his mouth. ‘It’s safe to assume she’ll be tall with medium skin colouring like her mother.’
I laugh sarcastically.
He swings his face up to me. ‘What’s so amusing?’
‘You?
??ve just described about half the girls at my school.’
He gets up off the mat. ‘She’ll have distinctive eyes.’
‘Yeah? Like how? Like yours?’
He nods. ‘Yes, but sapphire like her mother’s, or … mahogany like the commander’s.’
I shake my head. ‘Are you sure they’re not green or orange?’
He flashes me a look that says he doesn’t appreciate my humour. ‘She’ll be intelligent with superior senses, and exceptionally athletic.’
‘Good at everything possible, though probably reluctant to show it.’
He frowns at me and I explain, ‘No one likes to stand out at school.’
Softly he says, ‘She will be so beautiful you won’t be able to take your eyes off her.’
‘Not everyone sees beauty the same way.’
‘Wisely spoken, Jordan, but with Ebrielle, her beauty won’t be all about her physical appearance.’
‘That takes time to see.’
‘Not if you’re observant.’
‘I suppose, but … Are you sure you haven’t seen this girl before?’
Keeping his eyes down he says, ‘I see her every night in my dreams, when she tells me about her day, what she did, where she went, who she met, if she’s happy.’
I stare at him. ‘Man, you don’t tell your fiancée back in Avena this stuff, do you?’
He laughs but doesn’t answer.
‘Oh, man, we have to find this girl fast.’
He looks up, frowning. ‘Why do you sound so concerned suddenly? Has something just occurred to you?’
‘Yep.’
‘Explain.’
I step off the trampoline and shake my head because he doesn’t get it. ‘You’re obsessed with this girl. Finding her has been your whole life and, dude, that’s just unhealthy. Your fiancée must be one tolerant lady.’
Again, he doesn’t answer, except for the strange little smile playing around the edge of his mouth. And I know he’s not telling me something.
24
Ebony
On Thursday evening, while sitting at the dinner table with Amber, Dawn and Reuben, eating vegetable lasagne, the conversation swings around to school returning on Tuesday.