Free Fearless by Marianne Curley

little kids. I knew even then that Ebony was special. She didn’t want to stand out, but she did, especially at high school.’
    She turns to me, but still has that faraway look in her eyes. ‘People are so ignorant of anyone who doesn’t slot into their narrow idea of normal. Not me. I loved Ebony’s differences. Like the time I found a small white feather in my bathroom.’ She sniffs, drawing in a deep shuddering breath. ‘And now she’s not here and I’m … I’m … so alone.’
    â€˜She wanted you to take care of Shadow.’
    Her eyes refocus and light up like a sparkler. ‘She told you that?’
    â€˜Yep. In the cave before they took her. She said you were her family and she loved you.’
    She sighs. ‘For as long as I’ve known Ebony, this is the first time she really needs help, and no one, not even the angels, can do anything.’
    â€˜I know.’ Man, do I get it. I point to the seat belt. ‘We should get moving.’
    She starts latching it on, but before she finishes she spots my wrists and shrieks, ‘Oh hell, Jordan, your burns are so much worse! Those blisters will get infected if you don’t protect them.’ She pulls out her mobile phone. ‘I’m finding you a doctor up here.’
    â€˜I’m not going to a doctor tonight.’
    â€˜Yes, you are.’
    â€˜Amber, listen. We’re running late for the meeting, and I’m not missing that for anything.’
    She stares off into the darkness ahead, thrumming herfingers on the dashboard. ‘Will you let Nathaneal heal them?’
    â€˜No freakin’ way.’
    â€˜What about Jezelle?’
    Through clenched teeth I explain. ‘I don’t want a quick fix.’
    She gets me right away. She always does. Where Ebony can see images in my mind, Amber is hyper-aware of my voice and facial expressions. ‘You don’t deserve this.’ She slides her fingers beneath mine, linking our hands together. ‘What’s happened to Ebony is not your fault.’
    As good as her hand feels in mine, I pull away. ‘You don’t understand. The things I did were reprehensible.’
    â€˜That’s impossible. You love her too much.’
    â€˜I had my reasons.’
    â€˜Like what?’
    If I tell her she’ll hate me. But if she finds out from someone else, there’ll be no coming back from that amount of hate. ‘Prince Luca wanted Ebony to break up with Thane so no one could accuse him of committing the angelic crime of stealing another prince’s fiancée. He blackmailed me into making it happen, so I told Ebony lies and planted her head with doubts, amongst other things.’
    Amber’s look is intense. She stays silent, listening as I tell her about my covenant with the Dark Prince, how he told me the lie that my mother was alive and I was the only one who could save her. ‘If I could break up the lovebirds, Luca would release Mum. He said he’d bring her home. And for a while I believed him.’
    When I finish she peers up at the stars and the only sound in the Lambo is our breathing.
    â€˜Follow me, Jordan,’ she suddenly says.
    She heads to the house, waits for me to open the door, then goes straight to the downstairs bathroom and hunts around in cabinets until she finds some non-stick dressings, crêpe bandages and tape. ‘I also need sterile water and cling film.’
    â€˜Cling film’s in the kitchen. I don’t know about sterile water, but there’s always boiled water left in the kettle.’
    She runs out, returning with cling film and a glass bottle half full of water. She starts with my left wrist, rinsing it with the water, patting the wounds dry with the non-stick dressings.
    â€˜Looks like you’ve done this before.’
    She flicks me a dubious look. ‘Kind of.’ She wraps the cling film next, and tapes it.
    â€˜What does that