Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (25 page)

"This isn't about last night." His soft
voice calmed the emotions. "Is it."

She pulled her hand away to wipe her eyes
and shook her head. No. It was so much more that she couldn't put
to words. Why wouldn't he say what he felt? Why did he only show it
when she was unconscious? Or had it been a lie?

A warm touch on her cheek soothed away the
confusion inside.
Don't let go, Elis.
She put her hand up
over his and leaned into his touch. Nothing else felt so right. He
must
have felt the same to touch her like that. "I know you
would never hurt me. This last week has shown me that. And I like
the lessons...spending time with you."

His hand dropped away from her cheek. What
did she say? She looked up as he stared, dumbfounded. A second
later, a sheepish grin spread across his face.

Gah! Raea chuckled at his sudden embrace
that lifted her off her feet, and she flung her arms around his
neck. Elis. He did like her. Why had it been so difficult to
say?

Black wings rose behind him. Her Dark
Angel.

He held onto her for a long time, but she
didn't care. He held her. He wanted her, as she wanted him. Now she
knew. Josh was right. Josh was
so
right.

"Thank you." The warmth of his breath in her
hair sent ripples of pleasure down her back.

"For what?"

He shrugged, the rise of his shoulders
lifting her head up. She leaned away to see his smile as he set her
down. Wait. He looked like he was about to cry. Did it mean that
much? Or was he hiding his pain from the wound?

"For this chance," he said. "I've waited a
long time."

No way. All this time? For her? "Why didn't
you speak up?"

"Would you have listened?"

"No." She couldn't deny the truth,
especially when she had admitted it not long ago. "I'm so sorry. I
had no idea how you felt. You never
said
anything."

"It was hard. Fitting into a new world, much
less among a different species..."

"Yeah." Her face warmed. "I think I
understand."

"And finding a beautiful woman of my own
kind."

Man. He knew how to make her blush. She felt
that. But this time she didn't care or try to hide it. "Okay.
That
I wouldn't know about."

He laughed. Then winced.

"Sorry."

"Elis! Lunch is ready." Evelyn was home
already.

"We'll be down soon," he called back.

"Is Raea up there?"

"Yes, she is." He called the words to
Evelyn, but stared at her. At Raea.

Oh, man; oh, man! She
loved—
loved
—that smile. It chased away all her problems. And
the way his eyes sparkled when he looked at her—his whole demeanor
changed. Now,
that
was a transformation.

"Let's go." She led him by the hand out the
door.

"After lunch, we'll work on that skip in the
vision. I want to know what the Starfire is hiding."

Raea stopped. She had a bad feeling about
why the vision skipped. She didn't want to see it. "Why?"

"I won't hold back next time I see
Pallin."

The sudden hard lines of his face chilled
her. He was serious.

Two Worlds, A
Part

Pallin finished fastening his pants as Nina
shut the door behind her. Revealing his true form had given him
more than an ally. She would be useful, for a while. While she
expressed a desire for justice against the dangerous Keepers,
somewhere in her devious little mind she was only in it for her
story. He'd give her the story she wanted, but it would never be
seen. He wouldn't let her expose the others.

Prime Commander Loran Tarolis could ensure
that never happened.

Pallin picked up the phone and called.
Tarolis had chastised him the first time he contacted him by
tri-comm and advised Pallin how to behave on that world, and he had
set up an account to fund his stay. Since then, Pallin had only
contacted him once by phone at his office at NeoGen Labs, a company
Loran had started to fund the work he and the others did on that
world. Tarolis was a scientist, and the work he did wasn't
tolerated on Inar'Ahben and nearly impossible with Keepers around;
and some of it involved the humans.

Pallin had no intention of staying long term
like the others. In a few days, he'd be gone and the Crystal Keeper
with him.

The phone clicked. "Loran here."

["Commander Montran Pallin reporting,
sir."]

["You have something?"]

["Yes, sir. The Keeper escaped, but I know
how to finish the job."]

["You'd better, Commander. I can't help you.
Make certain he stays out of the way, any way you have to."]

["Actually, sir, you can help me. I've
revealed to one human my identity and she's agreed to help. She
understands that the Keepers are dangerous and is willing to play a
part in their capture."]

["Then you'll leave another problem here for
us."] Tarolis growled the statement.

Pallin flinched. ["That's where I need you.
She's agreed to help in exchange for full coverage of the Keeper in
his natural form."]

["Coverage? You collaborated with a
reporter
? You're a fool, Commander. Kill her. End this now
before it skyrockets. I'll have no such idiocy."]

["But she can provide a distraction. The
Keeper will do all he can to avoid her identifying him on video.
That threat can work to our advantage, my advantage. But in the end
all evidence must be destroyed."]

["You're damn well right it must be."]

Surely the prime commander could see reason.
Pallin had to convince him. ["You can be sure of that. She's Nina
Russet of the
Xplorer Channel's
Miracles and Other
Wonders
series. I'll take care of what I can here, after my use
for her is done, but there will be details to clean up."]

["So, you want me to clean up after your
mess?"]

["In the end it won't matter. Soon we'll
have three of the shards. Saffir can't hold out forever. Once we
have the fourth, we'll have all the power of the Starfire. After
Inar'Ahben, Earth will be nothing. The Keepers will have no place
to hide, and we'll know peace under one rule, without their
interference."] No longer would the Keepers dictate to the Inari
people how to live their lives by threat of withdrawing their
"services". The Inari people had lived without them once, and they
would learn to live without them again. The Shirukan would clean up
their world, so the people could choose for themselves how to
live.

["All right. I'll get someone on it. Her
story will never see airtime. Do
not
fail, Commander."]

["No, sir."] Pallin's breath froze. The
punishment for failure of this magnitude would be death. He had
been the executioner a few times. He had no intention of turning
the role around. ["Commander Montran Pallin out."]

* * *

This was so wrong. Raea shouldn't be at
school. Elis suffered because of her. But Linds...

Could her friend ever forgive her? What if
Pallin had raped her? Had Linds done the medical tests to find
out?

Raea couldn't do it. Not only did she not
want to know, but she didn't want to let any doctors figure out she
wasn't human. She had never been in a hospital for any reason, and
Debbie had never taken her to a doctor, which was why she wasn't
allowed in sports. Now, she understood that her aunt had protected
her. Raea wasn't about to change that.

She still hadn't been able to get past the
skip in the crystal's memories, even with Elis's help. She didn't
want to see if Pallin had done anything so despicable to her. Nor
did she want to see him that day. Would he show up? If he didn't
have to be there, would he continue his charade since he exposed
the truth to her?

"Raea."

She jumped.
Whoa. Slow down heart. It's
only Josh.

"Raea. Are you okay? What happened? I waited
at the corner this morning, but I didn't see you."

"I'm...fine. How's Linds Have you seen
her?"

"Yeah. She's good. She said Elis rescued
her. What happened on Saturday?"

"Pallin's an ass. A dirty, filthy
sonofabitch. I never want to see him. Ever!" She threw her books in
her locker with excessive force and one bounced out and slammed to
the floor. She had been
so
stupid.

Too bad the locker wasn't bigger, or she
could hide in it.

"Geez, Raea. What did he do? I heard you
both passed out and Elis came."

"Yeah. Something like that." She picked up
her book and finished putting things away.

"Do you remember anything?"

"No. Just...don't ask me any more questions.
I already told the police what I know. Nothing. I was
unconscious."

"I'm sorry." He glanced around. "Where's
Elis?"

"Injured."

"How?"

"What is this, the Inquisition?" She let out
a heavy sigh and turned to face him. "I'm sorry. It's just...I have
a lot on my mind right now. Can we not talk about anything related
to Saturday or Pallin? If he shows up today, I don't know what I'll
do."

"Okay, but does this count?" He started
unfolding a newspaper clipping.

Oh, no. Not another one. "Not even your
'Dark Angel'." It only made her think of Elis and how much she
wished he was there.

He folded the article away. "That's okay. It
just says that there were two angels seen Saturday. And Nina Russet
reported having some video footage of Dark Angel."

No. Elis! Her heart raced.
Calm down. It
might be nothing.
"Did she get a clear shot?"

"Nothing that wasn't blurry or too dark. She
said he attacked their SUV with some sort of beam that melted their
tires."

So far, so good. Elis had only damaged the
vehicle. "He didn't hurt anyone."

"No. I called her at the hotel and she said
they pursued him out into the country somewhere. Apparently he
didn't want to be followed."

Elis must have been chasing Pallin down to
rescue her. He didn't want any witnesses to their secret. She could
ask him later to be sure, but a fair guess that's why he did it.
"Did Miss Russet say anything else?"

"Nah. Just wondered how you were."

Yeah, right. Just wondered how she was. A
million to one, Nina Russet was prying to confirm what she
suspected.

Raea finished putting away her coat and
gloves and gathered her books for first period. At least Elis's
secret was safe. But how long did they have until Miss Russet put
the pieces together? How long until her crew got a clear shot of
his face?

He couldn't risk flying. Not until they
left. Probably not an issue since he was hiding out while he
recovered from his wounds.

"How much longer will she be in town?"

"Just a few more days, I guess. Not
sure."

A few days more? Why her?

The warning bell rang.

"I'll see ya in class," Josh said.

"Whatever." Mondays sucked.

* * *

The first chance she saw Linds after first
period, Raea pulled her close at their lockers. An easy catch when
they had chosen lockers next to each other.

"Are you, like, mad at me?" Raea asked.

"No. Why? Did someone say I was?"

"No. I was afraid after what happened. You
know?"

Linds reached out and embraced her. "God,
no, Raea. I was so worried about you. I had no idea that he would
be so devious. I'm glad he didn't do something bad to you. That's
why I went with, to be there in case he tried something. I feel bad
insisting on trusting him for a drink. I didn't even think he might
have drugged it. It was unopened."

"Thanks." She returned the hug and stood
back. "You talked to the cops?"

"Yeah. I didn't have much to say, but I was
so worried about you. If it hadn't been for Elis, who knows what
Pallin might have done if he came back. Mom insisted I get to the
emergency room and get checked out right away."

"Did you?"

"Don't worry. He didn't do anything. What
about you?"

"No." At least he had left Linds alone. Some
of Raea's tension melted away.

"No, you didn't go; or no, he didn't do
anything?"

Raea looked away. "I didn't go."

"Why? It's not painful or anything. Maybe a
little uncomfortable."

Raea shrugged and played with a corner of
her notebook. How could she tell Linds?
What
could she tell
Linds? Maybe if he hadn't touched Linds, he hadn't touched her
either. Raea could hope. "I didn't think of it and had a shower
before the cop came. So I kinda figured, why go?" She looked up to
Linds shaking her head.
Don't give me that. I
know
I
should have. But you wouldn't understand. I'm not like you. I'm
so
not like you and the others.

"Don't you want to see him in jail after
what he did?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to think of it
anymore. I just wanted to be sure he didn't hurt you."

Linds frowned. "I called yesterday. Debbie
must have forgot to tell you. She said you were with Elis."

Warmth rose to Raea's cheeks. "Yeah...um...I
kinda broke the ice between us."

"As in..." The suspicious, leading
voice.

"As in we're kinda...like...well, we like
each other."

"Oh, my God! When did this happen?"

Raea shrugged. There was one secret out. "I
think I knew a while ago but I didn't want to accept it."

"Wow! I mean, really, it's a surprise, but
after last week, it's not really. I make no sense. Do the others
know?"

"Josh does."

"Why does everyone go to him first?"

Raea shrugged. She knew, but she wouldn't
say it. Besides, the question was more hypothetical than
rhetorical.

"Anyway, we better get to class." Linds
glanced at her watch. "Less than a minute. We'll talk at lunch."
She started off through the mostly empty halls. "I'm glad you're
all right."