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

This could be trouble. Big
trouble.

Eye of God

Elis followed Raea across the short
lawn of adjacent yards to the blue-sided house next
door.

Across the quiet street, a couple cars
parked at the curb in front of the gray house. An unfamiliar dark
van across the street gave her the creeps.

Raea caught it in a glance as she ran
up the cement steps to the front porch and the door with the
full-length oval pane of decorated glass and matching sidelights.
Anxious to get away from the creepy van, she yanked open the door
and entered the main floor with the vaulted ceiling.

Buddy's nails clicked on the laminate
in his excitement to meet her, his long tail whipping behind him.
The chocolate lab skidded to a halt and squatted, his tail sweeping
the floor. She reached down to rub his head and to stop him from
jumping up on her. "Hey, boy."

"Raea." Across the main floor, Debbie
stood by the answering machine next to the stainless steel fridge.
She sounded almost relieved.

Raea slipped off her shoes and hurried
to meet her aunt. "Did Dave or Eric hear the message?" Although she
and Elis had been exempt from finals, like many of their senior
class, it was after school hours. Her cousins could be home at any
time.

"No. Dave's still at track practice
and Eric's with him."

Good. She didn't need them
overhearing.

Debbie pressed a few buttons on the
machine and a raspy voice echoed from the speaker: "Raea. I hope
this is the right number. My name is Jeff Richards. I'm a friend of
Matthew Stein. He said to call if anything happened to him." He let
out a shaky breath. "I don't know how to say this…They found his
body last night…He and his friend, Doctor Torres, disappeared
several days ago. He worried someone was watching them. I…I can't
believe…" His deep breath blew over the speaker. "I don't know how
you're involved, but if you know something, please call
me…"

"Already got it." Debbie handed her a
paper with his name and number.

The voice on the machine ended and the
recording clicked off.

Raea stared at the paper in disbelief.
Torres was right—someone was after him, the tall Hispanic man who
had come to them as a protector bearing the location of a fifth
shard of the Starfire on Earth. Stein had been his body guard. Who
could have done this to them?

They'd only found Stein and he was
dead. What happened to Torres?

"Raea, what's going on?" The worried
look on her aunt's face shifted from her to Elis. Those perfectly
plucked brows pinched together in concern. Oh, man. She hated
keeping secrets from Debbie, even if her aunt had kept a very big
secret from her. This wasn't the same, though.

"I…It's…" Dear God. What could she
say?

"You're better off not knowing," Elis
said calmly.

Exactly. Thank goodness he could think
on his feet.

But those crossed arms were bad.
Debbie wasn't buying it. The worry was there, but overshadowed by
the household boss. So not good. Raea swore her insides turned to
gel.

"Trust me," Elis said.

Debbie looked from one of
them to the other, her lips twitching indecisively until her eyes
fixed on Elis. "All right. I know you have your reasons, but
please
be
careful."

So, she took Elis's word
over Raea's?
Figures.
The two had been in collusion not to tell Raea what she really
was until the Starfire made her wings grow out two months ago. This
was so unfair, but it wasn't worth arguing.

"We will," Raea said with more
confidence than she felt and tucked the paper into her jeans
pocket. Elis's hand on her waist gave her a boost and she put a
hand over his.

A sudden knock on the door
stole her breath. Man, she was jumpy.
Calm
down.
Just to be on the safe side, she
reached for the machine and held the delete key until the computer
voice announced, "All old messages deleted."

A moment later, another knock on the
door nearly stopped her heart. Damn, talk about
paranoid.

While Debbie crossed the open floor to
the door, Raea glanced down and caught a sight that made her heart
jump from her chest. "Elis!" He'd forgotten the fingerless gloves
to hide his Starburst marks. If word got out that they had the same
marks, there might be some uncomfortable questions.

He slid his hands into his jeans
pockets and met her eyes with a smooth grin as Debbie reached the
door. That was close.

Debbie peered out the sidelight with a
frown a few seconds before opening the front door. "Oh.
Anita."

Anita? As in Anita Cross who lived a
block west and south in the old Seidel house? Anita Cross who
hardly talked to anyone, who was hardly ever seen because she was
always on some business trip or another? For that matter, why did
she even bother with a small town in the middle of nowhere?
Airfares were much better out of the bigger cities and the closest
airport was fifty miles away.

With her arm looped through Elis's,
Raea led him across the floor to satisfy her curiosity.

"Debbie. Sorry to bother you, but I
thought with the valedictorian under your roof, you might want some
help for Sunday."

"Oh. Ah…thanks for the offer, but we
should be good. You're certainly welcome to join us,
though."

"Really, it's no problem. I thought
I'd at least offer some of my folding chairs."

With Elis beside her, Raea stopped a
few feet behind Debbie and waited.

The woman at the
door
was
Anita
Cross. Raea had seen her a few times around town. Like those other
times, Anita smiled, her angular features seeming to blend in
strict lines matching the pressed business suit and short blonde
hair. A hint of crows' feet showed her age in the outer corners of
dark blue eyes.

"Raea. Congratulations!" Those eyes
shifted up to Elis and the smile never faltered. "And Elis Jasheir.
This is a pleasure. Congratulations to both of you on your
achievements."

"Thank you." Awkward. Raea looked up
but Elis showed no hesitation or discomfort. It was a well known
fact that they were co-valedictorians. Still, Raea wanted out of
there. They had unfinished business requiring privacy. Not to
mention if she had to hear any more details about the graduation
party Debbie planned she was going to hurl; she just wanted to hang
out with her friends.

"Thank you," Elis said.

Anita glanced down, the corner of her
lips twitching up in a sly grin. "Birds of a feather…You two seem
perfect together."

Okay, now things were getting weird.
That old saying was too coincidental, or maybe it was just part of
her paranoia.

"Anyway." Anita's attention refocused
on Debbie. "May I come in? I'd really like to talk to you about
helping out. In fact, I insist."

"I, ah…" Debbie's voice trailed off as
Anita stepped past without an invitation.

Sheesh! Talk about pushy; nearly as
bad as Nina Russet pushy. The memories of that woman ate at Raea's
patience, stifling her in annoyance. Anita's step inside left her
and Elis an opening, and she had to get out before she lost her
patience.

"Excuse us, please." All the
aggravation the reporter had caused only made her want to scream.
Anita probably didn't mean to be intrusive, but who knew what she
wanted. Raea didn't need to embarrass herself being rude, not to
mention enduring the lecture Debbie would probably give her on
hospitality and respect. Anita wasn't Nina, or so she tried to tell
herself.

"Really, I want to do all I can to
help." The look she gave Debbie made Raea uneasy. Time to split.
"We'll go so you can talk."

Elis said nothing but pushed the storm
door open.

Idiot. After a poke in the ribs from
her, he shoved his hand back into his pocket, leaving her to shut
the door behind them.

Her eyes caught Anita's, but the woman
still smiled pleasantly and stepped inside with Debbie, closing the
door between them.

Too close, and something about it made
her wary.

With Elis's hand clasped in hers, they
hurried back across the lawns to the old yellow house. She couldn't
wait until the graduation hassle was over and they could go back to
their semi-normal lives. By Sunday, that whole street would be
full, mostly with Debbie's family coming to congratulate
Raea.

Elis leaned close. "You're
worried."

What? Oh. "Yeah."
Thanks for stating the obvious.
She bit her tongue on the retort. He wasn't the
one to snap at. That woman was. She'd only encountered Anita a few
times and she'd always been pleasant. So what made Raea uneasy
about this time? "I'm probably jumping at shadows. All that's
happened and stuff. It just…I don't know."

"I know." His hand in hers calmed her.
He knew, but he'd suffered too. He understood.

They opened the door and closed it
tight behind them. ["Don't say anything to Evelyn,"] he
whispered.

Why not Evelyn? Elis
surprised her with that. ["What if someone comes looking for us,
for
you
?"]
Shouldn't the old widow have some preparation? Elis was the one
with the knowledge about the Eye.

After he kicked his shoes off into the
foyer closet, she stepped out of hers and closed the closet door.
Now to go back to something better, she hoped. He locked his
fingers through hers and led her up the stairs.

"Elis?" The age-cracked voice came
from the front sitting room.

Damn.

He paused on the squeaky step with a
wince. "Yes, it's us."

"Is everything all right,
dear?"

"Nothing to worry about."

The steady tap of the cane announced
the old widow's approach before she appeared from the direction of
the dining room. "All right. Dinner will be ready soon."

Food! Exactly what Raea's stomach
needed, if she could tolerate eating. Between Elis's unfinished
business and the news of Torres and Stein, it seemed more inclined
to knot up than accept food. Any other girl would love to have
Raea's appetite, or lack thereof, but other girls didn't go out
flying nearly every night or burn off those calories using Starfire
energy faster than one could blink. There were some advantages to
being a Keeper.

"Thanks, Evelyn." Elis gave her a
quick smile and led Raea up the stairs to the bedroom, where he
closed the door—perfect—and took the desk chair at the
computer—bummer.

If she thought something was wrong
before, that was nothing to now. He was in seriously distracted
mode. "You better not be searching again for information about
Pallin's contacts." She shuddered at the memory, disgusted that she
had ever fallen for those good looks and charm. Thank goodness for
Elis being there to save her.

Elis said nothing, his eyes on the
computer monitor.

"Elis?"

Not even a glance, but those inviting
lips she'd rather have against hers pressed together so they
paled.

You know you're in
trouble.
She crossed the room to see what
held his attention and recognized the image on the monitor—one of
the most famous bridges in the world. That was definitely San
Francisco.

Not again. Couldn't he let it go for
now? Just because the PO Box for Pallin's contact had been in San
Francisco was no reason to obsess about it, especially not now.
They had bigger problems in the present.

The landmarks on the monitor
changed.

Okay. Now he confused her. "What are
you looking for?"

In the light of the monitor, his cheek
muscles tightened for a second. Typical Elis—kept his thoughts to
himself until he was ready, like with his interruption to their
make out session earlier, or when he knew she might be
upset.

On the screen, images of landmarks
scrolled up, past an ancient city in ruins to something she
recognized. Who wouldn't recognize the pyramids? "What are you
looking for there?" Definitely not Atlantis. Sand dunes, maybe, but
not a lost Inari city.

"You're going to practice opening a
portal tonight."

Raea blinked and staggered back. What?
"Why?"

A second thought caught her breath and
set her heart racing. "Are we going home?" Inar'Ahben! She missed
the homeworld and she'd only spent a few days there her first and
only time. At least she knew how to find the shifting currents
traced by the Starfire in previous portals, mostly as a means to
return home if the Shirukan came again. All she needed was an
excuse to go. She could open a portal to the homeworld with hardly
a thought now.

"Not this time."

Her excitement deflated. "Then why?"
She didn't like that look on his face; it meant he worried, and
when Elis worried, something really was wrong. Suspicions gnawed in
her mind when this came on the heels of the message about Stein and
Torres.