Authors: Marianne Curley
‘My sister was too trusting,’ he continues. ‘She fell in love with a boy who attended boarding school, and whose parents wanted to broaden his horizons on a working farm for six weeks. Rachel worked weekends in the supply store in the village. They met on his first day when he came to pick up provisions.’
Whether it’s a load of crap or God’s honest truth, Ebony is starting to lean forward more and more.
‘Rachel knew she would never see the boy again once he left. He had plans to become a doctor like his grandfather. He had no mind for a pretty young country girl who dreamed of love.’
Amber catches my eye with a look that’s asking for my opinion. I wish I knew what to tell her. Is he lying? I don’t know! I can’t say for sure! But I don’t trust him. And as long as Prince Luca has my mother trapped in Skade I can’t do anything to discredit Mr Zee’s story. So I lean round Ebony’s back and whisper, ‘He sounds genuine, don’t you think so?’
Amber stares at me like I’m an escapee from a mental hospital.
‘They agreed they would never see each other again unless fate intervened,’ he says. ‘The boy was gone before Rachel learned she was pregnant.’
‘How
romantic
,’ Amber mutters. ‘But she knew his first name, right? Even a naive fifteen-year-old would get that out of a boy she’s having sex with for six weeks.’
When Mr Zee remains quiet, staring at Amber with cold eyes, Ebony sits up straighter like she’s waking from a dream. ‘What was his name, sir?’
He still doesn’t say anything.
‘What’s the problem, sir?’ Amber drills. ‘It’s a simple question.’
‘Maybe Mr Zavier wants to be sure of his facts before he releases any personal information.’ The words just roll out of my mouth. I don’t even know where they come from. Lying isn’t so hard after all. It just makes me feel dirty inside and out, like a pig rolling in mud and then eating it.
‘I made a mistake once before,’ he says, his gaze fixed on Ebony. ‘I don’t want to risk losing your trust because I didn’t validate the facts first.’
‘What-
ever
,’ Amber mutters, stabbing me with her eyes.
‘When I heard of your recent tragedy,’ he says, ‘I realised I needed to make contact. I never stopped thinking of you all those years. You are my niece by blood, and nothing is closer than that. I wanted to tell you everything that day we met at the burnt shell of your family home, but after seeing how distraught you were I decided to wait until you’d had time to adjust to your situation. In an attempt to set things right between us, I promise you that I am going to find your biological father, regardless of how long it takes.’
‘Really?’ Ebony says.
‘Please feel free to call me “Uncle”, except in the classroom,’ he adds, smiling with just the right degree of compassion.
This dude is smooth. But time is getting away from us. I tug on Ebony’s arm and point to my watch. ‘We should get going.’
She glances outside and frowns. ‘OK, but, um, I haven’t asked my questions yet. A few more minutes won’t hurt, will it?’
‘It’s winter. Today is shorter than yesterday.’
‘I won’t say a word if you speed all the way home.’
I scoff at this. Ebony is a speed freak. She begs me to drive faster. Amber, on the other hand,
will
freak and I sure don’t want to be driving home with
her
screaming in my ear. ‘It’s not
you
I’m worried about.’
She flicks Amber a look, smiling to herself.
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
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!
’