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nostrils as if he’s bored. It’s something the beast would do. How much of Luca is angel, how much beast? I shake the vile image from my head and try to refocus.
    â€˜You can’t go back to Earth, Ebony. You will have to get used to living here.’
    â€˜Be assured, Luca, I will be leaving any minute now. There’s no way Nathaneal will leave me here with you for even one night.’
    He opens the door and calls Mela over. She stands awkwardly in the doorway, avoiding eye contact.
    â€˜What is it? Luca, what aren’t you telling me?’ Panic begins to make me breathe faster. ‘Luca, what have you done?’
    â€˜I have sealed the gates, Princess, so even I cannot open them. No one can. Not your shining white knight. Not even the highest king of all the realms can get in or out of Skade.’
    â€˜ What? Is that even possible?’
    â€˜It’s more than possible. It’s done.’
    â€˜No. No! For how long?’
    â€˜One hundred years.’
    His declaration throws me into turmoil. Inside, everything is spinning. Oh, Nathaneal, when will I see you again? I close my eyes, my head falls back and I take in a deep, deep breath while I sink into a dark swirling vortex inside. A glimmer of light I recognise as the core of my soul flickers like the flame of a candle, reminding me of my immortality. You’re still thinking like a human, where a hundred years equates a lifetime , the flame reminds me. And that’s true. I’m an angel. A hundred years will pass and I won’t be any older.Nathaneal will find a way. I know he will because I believe in him, and I believe in our love.
    I lift my head, open my eyes and pretend I’m not concerned. ‘You don’t know Nathaneal if you think sealed gates will stop him.’
    â€˜Oh, he’ll try. For a while. A month. A year. Perhaps even two. Eventually duty will call him away. And he’ll go and return. Try again. Fail. Try again. Three years will pass like that.’ He lifts his hand and clicks his fingers. ‘But by this time doubts will be taking hold. He may continue to fight them. Until …’
    I hate myself for asking. He’s just so convincing. ‘Until what?’
    â€˜The rumours.’
    â€˜What rumours?’
    â€˜That you are carrying my child.’
    And suddenly I can’t breathe. It’s as if Luca has sucked all the air out of the room with his poisonous words. ‘Nathaneal won’t believe any rumours started by you.’
    He smiles without parting his lips. ‘Perhaps not at first.’
    My eyes flick to Mela. She can’t hold my connection, and her glistening eyes tell me she’s buying into this. She can see it happening.
    â€˜Then he’ll hear that you’ve had a boy who looks just like his father.’
    â€˜No. No, Luca, he won’t believe that. Nathaneal knows your tricks . ’
    â€˜But, Princess, it won’t be a trick. That’s the day he will give up trying. By then he’ll know that you love me, and why would he want you then?’

6
    Jordan
    Ever since Amber found me sitting outside the entrance to the Crossing, waiting for Thane to bring Ebony back, she won’t leave. It’s been hours. I’ve given up the soft approach. I’ve had enough of being nice. I don’t want her company. I don’t want any company until Ebony is home safe.
    But like me, Amber is prepared to camp overnight. She nestles in beside me on the moist forest floor, resting her back on the same blackbutt tree. She’s not going to miss that first glimpse of Ebony coming home. Since that’s what I want too, I guess I can’t blame her. So I tell her what I know. ‘They had a battle.’
    â€˜What?’ She sits up straighter.
    â€˜Skinner told me. He reckons Prince Luca won the battle and took Ebony to Skade, but I don’t believe him. Thane won’t let anything happen to Ebony. It’s just that