Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) (25 page)

"What is your connection to
the
D'Nuvar
, your
'Starfire'?"

"DNA." To put it bluntly. Not what the
Risaal wanted, but Elis needed water before he could
explain.

Good. The Risaal stepped
away.

Elis closed his eyes and pictured Raea
a few weeks ago, the night she returned from Inar'Ahben. She'd worn
an outfit from the homeworld which flattered her figure and made
his breath catch in his throat, or maybe his breath had caught from
her telling him she didn't care about bonding, or that she wanted
to be with him, or from the kiss that followed. He could almost
taste her kiss on his lips.

The click of the door broke the
illusions of his memory.

He opened his eyes as the woman
approached with a bottle of water in her hands.

"Drink," the green Risaal said while
handing the bottle to Elis. "Then tell me everything about Keepers
and the Starfire."

After a painful attempt to sit up,
Elis let them help him. His chest ached so he had to drink in small
sips, not the gulps he desired, but he downed the full bottle
before he was ready to speak. After lying back down, he sighed away
the pain of the healing hole in his chest and caught his
breath.

He explained how the Inari had come by
the Starfire over six thousand Earth years ago. The entities were
in their universe to explore and record, but they destroyed other
species who abused their power. They had spared the Inari when that
power was to be abused once and, instead, shattered into the shards
to stop a potential catastrophe. In the process, that energy was
linked to Inari genetics to facilitate communication with the
entities of the shards. Those bearing the greatest power were
Keepers and bore the Starburst marks on the palms and backs of
their hands, which allowed them to release the energy for different
uses.

"I don't know how it returned to our
world." There, they knew about the crystal, except about the
disaster Heffin's Gate could cause, although he wondered if it
should be used to protect their world if species like the Risaal
threatened it.

"But it is scattered now."

"Yes." And they would never get their
hands on it. The closest shard was Raea's.

The Risaal stepped away into the
darkness with the woman he guessed to be the Risaal medic he had
awakened to. Their voices whispered in the strange
language.

Elis closed his eyes and listened, but
even with his interpretation skills, he could only translate a few
of the guttural sounds and clicks of the alien language, basic
forms used frequently. In time, he could learn their language, but
he didn't have time.

If only he could heal faster; but that
Raea had been able to save him had been enough. Now he needed to
delay them getting to her. Whether he survived or not didn't
matter, as long as she was safe. He had come to that world with the
order to protect Padina's child and he would give his life for
her.

The two quieted and their steps tapped
again and stopped nearby.

"You are considered angels by
humans."

And the Risaal would likely be seen as
demons. "You've done your homework."

"Yes. And from our research, your kind
appears throughout human history. How do you travel between
worlds?"

Not the question he'd hoped to answer.
"How did you?"

"We were caught in the Miru
slipstream. I can only guess they have allied themselves with
you."

Wrong summation, but it saved Elis
from revealing the greatest power of the Starfire.

Wait. They were caught in the Miru
slipstream? When was that?

At the image piecing together, his
heart thudded against his chest, which ached. They couldn't have
been on Earth all that time.

"When did you come?"
I have to know.

"Twelve thousand years ago,
we pursued the refugees from your world when we detected the
D'Nuvar
on the Miru
vessel. Our ship was not built for their slipstream or any such
travel. In a damaged vessel, we had no choice but to go into
hibernation for a year to reach Earth. We crashed and the system
never woke us, but your kind had the Miru to help you. Obviously,
the refugees returned, or some of them did."

They'd slept on Earth in some form of
stasis for twelve thousand years? That explained the intense
interest in the Atlantis monolith—it told the story of the refugees
they had pursued across the universe.

As for the Miru, he'd leave the Risaal
to believe what they wanted about that. The less he revealed about
the Starfire's capabilities, the better. They had seen
enough.

The slits on the Risaal's face widened
and narrowed. "I will explain nothing more. Tell me where the
shards on Earth are."

Shards? He couldn't have heard right.
"Raea has the only one."

The Risaal stepped away with the woman
and exchanged words with her in that strange language. From the
little he could decipher, Elis made out nothing that could help
him, except a word that sounded like eye.

He must have been thinking too much
about the Eye. First the reference to protectors and now the Eye?
It was all in his head, or he hoped it was. The Risaal couldn't
possibly know about the Eye. Could they?

The two hushed. While the Risaal
returned to his side, the woman left, the door clicking behind
her.

"What happened to the
pieces of the
D'Nuvar
?"

"The Starfire is safe. Its power will
never be misused again." Or so he hoped.

The Risaal let out a faint hiss and
stood tall. "You will tell me your secrets, Inari, if you care
about your mate."

Raea! They wouldn't. They needed her
to handle the crystal.

The four slits on the Risaal's face
opened wide and narrowed again. He disappeared into the shadows,
but the opening of the door briefly lit around his
profile.

Elis watched the light cut off and let
out a heavy sigh. "Raea." As soon as he could move, he'd find his
way back to her, hopefully before it was too late.

Feedback Clue

Raea opened her eyes, the last images
burned in her vision fading to darkness. A faint light highlighted
the features of a small bedroom. Feelings of warmth and comfort
rose with the familiarity of her surroundings. A computer hummed
softly on a desk in one corner and a full-length mirror took up the
other at that end of the room. A dresser with a few items on the
top stood on one side of the bed on which she lay, a corkboard
cluttered with pictures of her and her closest friends hanging on
the wall next to it. On the other side of the bed was the door a
couple steps away. Next to her bed, a clock on a small table with
glowing green digital numbers showed 6:35.

Was it real or a dream?

She pinched herself—ow. Possibly real.
Atlantis had felt real too, but it had been a memory of another
Inari. This was a memory of Raea Dahlrich. She was Raea. What had
happened to the lady? Had she even been real?

[I am here, and you are
not dreaming.]

Raea startled in her bed. Lady
Atia?

In her right hand on her pillow, she
held her crystal shard with the small black feather. A Starburst
mark splashed over her palm with rays winding to her fingertips and
wrist. That was her hand holding her shard.

Then she was home and awake in her own
room.

But that meant—

Vivid memories rushed back, sinking
her heart and threatening tears from the choke of emotions. Images
returned in distinct clarity of the night she escaped the Risaal.
Elis had…

Tears burned her eyes and she pressed
her face into her pillow to stifle the sobs.

No. He couldn't be gone. This was an
ordinary day.

Yes. Just another
day.
She sniffed and wiped away the
tears.
Clean up, get dressed, eat, and go
wake him. He'll be there…He must be.

Emotions clogged her throat, but she
willed her body to move from the bed.

A heartbeat after she stood, a wave of
dizziness made her sit down. Raea groaned and waited for it to pass
before trying again, this time rising more slowly.

That was weird, but given her
nightmares, not unexpected. If they were nightmares, why was she
dressed?

"It's not real," she whispered. It
couldn't be.

[I'm sorry,
Raea.]

"Shut up!" She didn't want it to be
real. She wanted to see him. She wanted her life to be
normal.

She opened her door to a silent house.
Not even her cousin Dave had awakened yet to steal the shower.
Good.

Raea crossed the hall to the bathroom
and locked the door with a sigh of relief. She had it all to
herself, and it felt good. For a while, she stepped into her old
routine and old mindset. She was Raea, preparing for another day of
school. Except she was done with school. She and Elis had been
excused from finals and she had to finish her speech.

Elis…
Damn. She must have gotten shampoo in her eyes; they stung.
The hot water couldn't wash it away. It couldn't wash away the
truth. This was
not
a normal day. Elis was dead.

Oh, God. He was dead. She would never
see him again.

Tears mixed with the water spraying
her face. He was gone.

She was alone.

Through the sobs, she somehow managed
to turn off the shower and dry herself.

The crying woman in the vanity mirror
wore a crystal with a small black feather. Raea wiped her eyes long
enough to stroke the wet feather. It had lost its fluff, but it had
not lost its meaning. She would never remove it, all that remained
of him.

Who knew what the Risaal would do with
his body.

She shuddered and secured the towel
around herself. They would likely return for her. She wasn't safe
there. She had to leave, to hide somewhere. But where? Anywhere she
went, she would be alone and miserable. Maybe it was best if she
gave the Risaal what they wanted, even if they killed her. It would
spare her the trouble of fighting the Shirukan.

[You must be
strong.]

"Shut up," she grumbled. This was her
life. She would make the decisions, not a long dead royal pain
stupid enough to think a crystal was worth her life.

[For him,
Raea.]

Dammit. She didn't need to hear that.
She knew already. "Leave me alone." A stinging vine of guilt
tightened around her grief, stealing her resolve. Atia had suffered
more than she and deserved sympathy, but it didn't take away the
pain of losing the person she loved more than anything.

Raea sniffed and wiped her eyes, her
wet hair cold on her bare shoulders. Upon opening the door, the
cold of the house sent a chill through her. She hurried to her
bedroom and shut the door.

Silence engulfed her, leaving her
alone with the images of that horrible night.

No. Leave me alone.
She needed something else to occupy her. She
needed a purpose.

Raea hurried to dress in clean clothes
and rushed down stairs, her feet hammering the steps.

"Huh?" A familiar head popped up from
the sofa, halting her tromp across the dining room.

"Josh?"

"Raea?" He blinked and jumped to his
feet, alert in an instant. "Oh, my gosh! Raea. You're awake." He
rushed to embrace her, his arms pinning hers to her
sides.

A disagreeable odor made her wrinkle
her nose. "I'm all right, Josh." She pushed him off and took a step
back, glad to be out of the air around him.

"Raea. I was so worried."

Her brain caught up to seeing him
there, and she wasn't surprised. He had insisted she come home from
Evelyn's to clean up and eat. "Thanks for looking after
me."

His smile warmed through
her. "I—
We
were all
afraid you would never wake up."

"Why? How long was I out?" How long
had she been dreaming of Atia?

"Over two days."

Two days? No wonder her stomach
grumbled fiercely. Still, she would have sworn more time had
passed. "And you stayed here all this time?"

"I didn't want to leave, but you were
like…catatonic or something. Not even Nare could wake you." He
lowered his voice and leaned close. "She tried through the
Starfire."

"Nare?" Elis's cousin had
come?

"What?" The groggy voice from the area
of the sofa sounded familiar.

A head of short, light blue hair
appeared. Nare.

Icy blue eyes blinked in surprise.
"She's awake?"

"Nare?"

She stood and stretched. "Yeah, it's
me. Debbie called and said you wouldn't wake up." She dropped her
arms, her hands covered by blue fingerless gloves like the black
ones Elis used to wear to cover his Starburst marks.