Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (11 page)

"How do you avoid being recognized?"

"Another time. Tonight, we fly."

Excitement raced through her, along with
trepidation. Again the pain. Did she want to go through that? The
resounding answer was "Yes." Otherwise she wouldn't have changed
coats. His hung on her like a gunny sack, but it had a faint
musky/outdoors scent she would forever associate as him. She
offered her hands, wishing it didn't have to be like this but
anxious for the end result. "Get it over with."

"You could try yourself." He pulled off his
gloves, in spite of his suggestion.

"No. I'm not ready." She could hardly
tolerate the pain when she wasn't in control. How would she manage
the pain
and
focusing on the resonance? Raea put her hands
to his.

"All right." The warmth of the resonance
passed from his hands through her and concentrated on her back. It
hurt. She clenched her teeth on the scream fighting to tear out of
her. Now was not the time to attract unwanted attention. The pain!
How did he do it?

It ended when she thought she couldn't take
it anymore. She adjusted her posture with the weight. How did he
stand upright?

["Start with simple movements. Stretch and
flex."]

Yeah, simple. Right. Raea had to use all her
concentration to make anything happen, like in her room yesterday.
She could do it, but the movements were uncoordinated.

["Good. I might think you've flown
before."]

["I think I did."] Raea paused as the vision
from yesterday returned, along with memories from before it. She
remembered woods, the smell of pine on a gentle breeze around her.
The flapping of wings...

["You can't catch me."] Her mother's giggle
came from above.

Raea laughed and flapped furiously to catch
up to the woman with brown and white wings gliding away from her.
Panic swept through her as the woman drew further away. ["Momma.
Back. My want. My want momma."] Tears stung Raea's eyes. She grew
tired from flapping her wings and couldn't catch up. Her mother
would leave her.

Padina turned sharply and dove for her,
sweeping her into the comfort of her arms to soothe her tears.
["Sssh. I'm here, my darling. It's all right. Oh, Raea. I wouldn't
leave you."] The flap of giant wings faded as they lowered to the
ground, to Scott waiting.

The memories wrapped her heart in grief and
squeezed as if to wring out her tears. Her mother had left her a
couple years later. ["Yeah, I did, before she hid my wings. I
thought it was a dream."]

["Do you remember how?"]

Something in her remembered. She swallowed
her grief. Damned be the memories that never faded. The Starfire
didn't help that matter.

Arching the wings up and straightening them
to push down lifted her feet from the ground a few inches. She
touched down again a second later. That was easier than she
expected.

["Excellent."]

His smile filled her with confidence and
chased away the grief.

It didn't take long for her to gain
altitude. Elis flew close beside her and insisted on going high
above to avoid attention. Avoiding attention she agreed with. The
altitude she could do without. But the rush of the wind chased away
her hesitations. They flew over the countryside, practicing gliding
and diving. The feeling of complete freedom rushed through her,
clearing out any lingering acrophobia. They flew over slushy fields
and around the naked shelterbelts of farmsteads. She didn't want to
quit, but the fatigue of her muscles forced her to end the night's
session after less than an hour.

Elis landed near her. ["You did great."]

["Let's just hope no one saw that last
dive."] When she lost the air currents and tumbled a few seconds
before regaining her bearings. She swore her heart had stopped.

["It happens to practiced fliers. The winds
can change unexpectedly."]

["Yeah?"] He just said that to make her feel
better. It worked. She stretched her wings to loosen the ache of
her back. She was going to be sore tomorrow. ["What's that smile
for?"] She felt the warmth rising inside her. Why couldn't he look
away? Like playing chicken, she didn't want to give up, but
self-consciousness made her give first.

["Tomorrow night?"]

["Yes!"]
Don't sound so excited.
It
was only Elis. ["I mean, if the weather's good."]

His marks glowed and the black wings shrank
to nothing. He made it look easy, or less painful. Either way,
those wings disappeared without him showing much for it.

["Ready?"]

She hated this part. ["Do it."]
Get it
over with.

He took her hands and helped her through the
transformation. It hurt no less than before, but now she knew what
to expect.

Afterwards, she breathed deeply and the pain
faded.

Her coat hung on the fence post where she
had left it. Swapping was another story. It had chilled in the
winter air.

["Find the resonance. Let it warm you."] He
pulled his fingerless, black gloves on, hiding the Starburst marks
again.

Good idea. Her Starburst marks glowed for
the few seconds it took to generate extra warmth. ["Wow. This is
useful."]

["Be careful. Too much energy built up is
dangerous. You'll learn to release it, though, and control what you
need."]

["Oh? What can you do with it?"]

["Almost anything you can imagine. It's pure
energy, Raea. That's what the Starfire entities are."]

What had Miss Russet said about healing
hands? ["Can it be used to heal?"]

["That's actually one of the reasons Keepers
are called on most often."]

["Really? That Nina Russet said the marks on
my hands remind her of some primitive art about healing
hands."]

Elis shrugged. ["I wouldn't doubt it.
Keepers have been coming to Earth for thousands of years. We've
been deified by many cultures...Angels?"]

["Yeah. That. All right, Mister 'Dark
Angel'—"]

His laugh was exactly what she expected from
her joke, from any of her friends. Coming from him was strange. He
never laughed at school. She liked it on him. "Let's get home. I'm
tired and sore. But promise me you'll teach me how to heal?"

"In time, you'll learn everything. With the
help of the Starfire, you'll probably pass my knowledge."

Right. As if that could happen.

On the walk home, she thought back to every
nuance of flying and what she had learned. The last two days were
better than anything she could remember, except for her mother.
Memories hurt. Now, the only thing that would make it totally
better would be to see Pallin again. The phone was hers
tonight.

* * *

Raea frowned at the pillow of gray overhead.
Great. More snow. That's all she needed on a Sunday afternoon with
Pallin. At least she was with Pallin now.

And for now, she had some time away from
Josh and—Ugh—Nina Russet. That woman grated on her nerves.

Don't think of her. She's not here.
Unfortunately, she could swoop in at any second and question her.
Not what Raea needed while out walking with Pallin. What would he
think?

What
did
he think? He hadn't said a
word about her hands, but he also made no move to touch them.
Unlike every single other person she had ever met, he acted as if
he saw nothing. Maybe he was just being polite. That had to be
it.

He had met her at the school, arriving by
shuttle from the hotel. Debbie insisted she stick to the
neighborhood, especially since Raea walked. Her back ached from
last night, but not enough to keep her from seeing Pallin again.
Monday would have been too long to wait.

"You like new coat?" Pallin glanced down at
the black and gray nylon coat. "It is keeping me much warm."

She adored that accent and the flaws in his
English. "It's very nice on you."

"Hmm...We walk in cold. I being not used to
cold." He shivered.

"It's a chance to talk. How long are you
staying?"

"A couple weeks."

"Oh." That's all? Why couldn't he stay to
the end of the year? Graduation was only two months away, if that.
"Then you'll go somewhere else and forget about me."

"No. Not to be forgetting."

Not forgetting her? But what
would
happen? "Sure you will. You'll go to a new school, make new
friends..."

"No. Not like here. Not like you." His smile
made her knees weaken. She had to walk to stay on her feet.

"So, what did you do yesterday?" Did he meet
anyone else? Was she only one girl of many he intended to see?
No. Don't think that way.
Besides, she would have heard
rumors at school.

"I do homework at hotel...and think."

"About what?"

"About you, about other night."

He thought about her. Raea bit her lip to
keep from squealing with glee.

"I wonder if not to be talking to you."

"Why?" There went her excitement like a lead
brick in her gut.

"Other man say not to be seeing you?"

"Other man?"

"Special friend man."

"But I don't..." Elis wouldn't. He
couldn't.
"Know anyone."

Would he? No. He couldn't have. Why would he
interfere? Why would he confront Pallin? The answer was simple—he
was there to protect her. It made sense now. But she had to be
sure. For all she knew, it could have been Josh. That's something
he would do. Maybe. But Josh knew how much she liked Pallin, and
Josh liked Pallin. It had to be Elis.

"Did he have sort of messy black hair that
hung over dark eyes? Kind of on the tall, lean side?" Anger bit at
the edge of her voice. Elis—no one—had any right interfering in her
relationships.

"Yes. This is friend?"

"No."

Pallin's lips curved up into a smirk. "Then
I should listening not of him?"

"No. It's
my
life." She would have a
strict talk with Elis later about the boundaries he couldn't cross,
this being one of them. "What did he say?"

"Not to hurting you. He watching will
me."

"Oh. He will, will he?" She glanced behind.
No one.
Was
Elis watching her with Pallin? She so wanted to
catch him and give him a piece of her mind then and there.

No one was out. Well, there was that. She
had her privacy for now.

"Something is not right?"

"No. Sorry. I'm a little pissed right now at
him. That's all."

"I am glad not to being with not free girl.
He is being not with you in school. This is good."

"Oh, I'm free...free to choose my own
friends. He's not one of them, not like you think."

"Then I can be enjoying time."

"Yes, you can. Let's enjoy the time we
have." And she would take out her fury later.

The late morning passed quickly. While Raea
would have liked to invite Pallin for lunch, she didn't want anyone
bothering him yet. She wasn't ready for him to meet her family,
especially Dave. Pallin excused himself, saying he had a lot of
work to finish before night anyway, which she could understand
since he was playing catch up while there.

Raea walked home
alone and scowled at the yellow house next door, as if she could
burn Elis with her thoughts. It had been him. But he wouldn't get
away with this insult. Just because she needed him to teach her how
to control the Starfire didn't mean she had to like him.

Whose white car sat out front? She'd
never…She
had
seen it before. Last night.

The sticker on it displayed the logo of a
rental company. It was a borrowed car.

Oh, no. Not now. Which house were they in?
Nina Russet would not corner her again. Raea's best bet to avoid
her lay in heading straight to Evelyn's. But that thought sparked
her anger. Elis would be there. Right now she was in no mood to be
reasonable.

She had no choice. She hated Miss Russet
more.

Dammit, Elis.
Why did he have to go
and try to scare off Pallin? He had a lot of explaining to do.

She marched up the steps. Before she lifted
her hand to knock, he opened the door.

"You were watching me."

"Get in."

She hated the situation, but stepped inside
quickly. He shut the door behind her.

"You bastard." The smack of her palm against
his cheek gave her some satisfaction. The bewilderment on his face
added to it. That felt good. "How dare you tell Pallin to stay away
from me!"

"I was trying to protect you."

"Don't."
And don't give me that hurt
look.

With his left cheek reddening, he left her
for the sitting room. He wasn't getting away from her that easily.
She wanted an explanation; and—by God—she was going to get it.
"What makes you think I need protecting?"

"Debbie." Elis sat down on the couch in
front of the television.

Debbie? What did she have to do with this?
Raea waited for him to explain.

"She asked me to make sure you were all
right." He spoke in a calm voice, free of any anger.

Why couldn't he argue with her?
Damn it,
Elis.
Why did he have to be calm about this? It cooled the
anger she wanted to feel. She hated that.

"She was worried, and so was I." The look on
his face begged forgiveness. Raea fought to keep her anger. "But I
watched him and...there's something...I'm not sure yet."

"What? What don't you like about him?"

"I think he may be Shirukan."

"What?" Had he landed on his head? What was
he thinking? "He's foreign, not alien."

"You don't know that. The Shirukan have
Starfire in their genes but no Starburst marks on their hands. He
acted like he didn't know what I was saying when I spoke Inari, but
his accent is too much like mine was."

Pallin, Shirukan? No. Elis was paranoid.
That's all it was. He had no proof.

"And his black coat...The style is like the
uniform of the Shirukan."