Free Broken by Marianne Curley Page A

to have her for the whole of eternity, so why shouldn’t I have her for a few years first? And the other is Prince Luca, who wants her too, and who blackmailed me into helping him.
    My mother is the innocent one in the middle of all this. She’s the one who’s suffering right now, imprisoned in Prince Luca’s palace. He gave me the chance to free her. If I break the lovebirds up my mother can be where she belongs – back on Earth, living out the rest of her life as she should.
    But my love for Ebony won’t let me just hand her over. So how do I break the lovebirds up – and consequently free my mum – while keeping Ebony safe from Prince Luca?
    Only one solution comes to mind.
    Get Ebony to fall in love with me .
    ‘Is there something you should be telling me, Jordan?’
    I reach for the car keys hanging on the wall. ‘You know, Ebony, Thane has an amazing physical presence – when he’s here , but without him as a constant reminder that this other dimension exists, all the supernatural stuff seems surreal. Even a tad unreal .’
    She follows me down the hall to the garage. ‘I don’t know what you mean. Angels exist. That’s a fact.’
    I try a different approach. ‘He promised he’d be back, didn’t he?’
    ‘Yeah, so?’
    ‘I’m sure he doesn’t want your memories fading to the point that his world feels like a dream.’
    ‘Nathaneal will never feel like a dream to me.’
    She would say that.
    We get into the Lambo and when I reverse out Ebony gazes into her lap. ‘I’m sorry, Jordan, I don’t mean to mention his name every five minutes.’
    ‘It’s every four, but who’s counting.’
    We glance at each other and grin.
    ‘Thane’s absence will pass before you know it.’ I really wish Thane would stay away longer. I could do with three weeks to win Ebony over. ‘What about those wings of yours? Any signs they’re emerging yet, ’cause that would be proof, right?’
    ‘Wings would definitely be proof, but there’s no new sign . . . yet.’ She shakes her head and frowns. ‘And since no one except Amber saw those first growths I can’t confirm what they were. I have no evidence to take to a lab for testing.’
    I throw my head back and laugh, imagining a feather in a sterile container. ‘I’m not sure a lab would be helpful. But, hey, you must have freaked out when you saw them.’
    ‘They were just bumps of tough skin. I thought I had a disease.’
    ‘Your wings have to appear before you turn eighteen, don’t they?’
    ‘Yeah, or apparently I’ll never be able to fly.’
    ‘Living on Avena and being the only one permanently grounded, man, that would suck big time. Can you even make the trip through the Crossing without wings?’
    ‘They have to put you inside a kind of bag made from impenetrable fabric they call a lamorak and carry you, at least until they find solid ground.’ She sighs and opens her window, letting the wind blow her hair back. ‘Anyway, I have heaps more training to do before I can go there.’
    ‘Before you leave, you mean.’
    ‘Pardon me?’
    I point out the difference. ‘When you say “go there” you mean “leave Earth forever”.’
    ‘That’s harsh, Jordan. I could always return through the Crossing for a visit.’
    ‘Immortals don’t count time. They don’t use calendars. They don’t grow older than eighteen. They never look older than twenty-something. Think about it, Ebony: months, years, decades could pass that you wouldn’t be aware of, up there in your love nest.’
    ‘Jordan!’
    ‘What? You think this is going to be easy on your friends, on your horses, on your parents when they return? When you remember to visit us mortals, we could be really old. I’ll probably be dead. Amber could fall off a horse, or get cancer and die,’ I chuck in for good measure.
    Her eyes become stunningly violet just before she turns her face back into the wind.
    I pull over to the roadside where a small parking bay gives some great valley views.