Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (27 page)

"Hey! Raea!" Josh shoved through the
students to meet her. "Tell Elis I hope to see him soon."

"Thanks, Josh." No prejudice there. She
could count on that from him, though. He might be odd at times, but
Josh was good to everyone. "He's healing fast and should be back by
next week."

"Awesome. Come on. Let's get out of this
dump."

Exactly her thought. They stepped into the
flow and stayed with it out to a brisk day that made her shiver and
zip up her jacket. "I want spring."

"No kidding."

They hurried past the busses chugging fumes
at the curb near the front doors. When they reached the end of the
block and left the school behind, Raea looked up the street and
hesitated. "Oh, no."

"What? Oh."

Nina Russet's rental car.

"She's leaving in a couple days," Josh said.
"Then things'll be normal again."

What was normal anymore? Her life certainly
wasn't.

Maybe he was right. Or at least, she could
put things close to normal. If she at least could put Saturday
night behind her, she could move on with a "normal" life, or at
least her life. Things might feel normal without that bothering
her.

But she still had other things to worry
about.

"Don't worry. She's just a pest. That's
all."

If only he knew. Someday she would tell him,
but not now. She wasn't ready to share her secret. And she wasn't
ready to explain the Starfire. She could just imagine what the U.S.
military would do with it and with her and Elis.

That secret Nina threatened to spill. What
if she did have Elis on tape? What would happen once it aired?
There would go everything "normal".

They continued with little talk. Where they
parted, Josh gave her a hug. "I'm sorry I got you into this with
her. I'll find a way to make it up."

Good old Josh. Raea returned his hug and
smiled. "Thanks. I might hold you to that."

"I'm sure you will. Good luck." He left her
to walk alone. Now she really wished she had Elis with her. He
helped her escape Nina once. Without him yesterday, she struggled
to escape the leech, unlike the other time he'd been there to block
her.

How would she get away this time?

She couldn't avoid it.
Might as well get
it over with.
She and Elis had a couple days yet to decide on
whether to take the woman's threat seriously. All she needed to say
was they were thinking about it and hadn't decided.

Raea walked to the end of that last block at
the edge of town. As expected, Nina met her on the sidewalk.

"Go away."

Nina stayed in step beside Raea on the path
to Evelyn's door. "I don't think so, hon. You see, I've decided to
up the stakes. You tell me what I want to know or I'll take this up
a level, directly to the U.S. government as a threat to national
security, to world security."

Cold dread washed through her, freezing her
in her tracks. Nina would do it. The woman would do anything. Raea
was certain of it.

"Whatever you're hiding, I want the full
story, or I'll take what I know to them. Think about that."

The bitch. Raea watched her retreat to the
car. Exposing them as a threat to this world? Her life would be
ruined.

Nina knew it.

Raea couldn't let that happen. She hurried
into the house, dropped her books, slipped off her shoes, and
thumped up the stairs before Evelyn asked who came in.

"Elis." Raea found him at his computer. He
looked so much better today than yesterday.

He looked up as she burst in, a
long-sleeved, dark green shirt hiding the bandage on his ribs, but
no wings. How had he managed that?

Raea shook off the distraction. "Nina caught
me again. This time she threatened to go to the government. Our
lives will be ruined."

The tight lines of worry softened away.
"Would they?"

"What?" Was this a joke? Didn't he
understand?

"We haven't done anything wrong. Who's gonna
believe her?"

"But what about the Starburst marks? That's
pretty obvious. Or if they look closely? Or what about them taking
a video of you?" Talk about the end of her life. She might as well
walk into Pallin's hands. It might be easier than subjecting
herself to whatever the government might do.

"Take it easy." He took her hands in his and
coaxed her to sit with him, or rather across his lap. "She hasn't
done anything yet."

His touch calmed her. She laid her head on
his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her. His shoulder rose
and fell with each breath he took. Man, he smelled good, and felt
good. She could sit there all day. The world slid away with her
worries when she was with him. Maybe things would be okay. Maybe no
one would believe Nina.

"Maybe. I'll have to think about it."
Mmm...His gentle squeeze chased away the last of her troubles.

"Don't let Nina scare you. I'm not
worried."

How could he be so calm? Even the gentle
expression on his face left no room for argument. Oh, God. She
loved that about him. If only she could accept things the way he
did.

"It's Pallin I'm worried about. Sooner or
later, he's going to try again. I don't think he was injured like
me."

Not Pallin. Raea grimaced and stood up. Now
she knew why Elis wasn't worried about Nina. The wicked witch was
nothing compared to the devil Pallin was. "What do you think he'll
do?"

"He'll want to take you back to sacrifice
the Starfire to Heffin's Gate. He can't just take the crystal."

She remembered the vision of it accepting
her mother and what happened when it rejected someone. Too bad
Pallin didn't try to take it. Let the Starfire have him. Raea
looked down at the crystal hanging at her chest. All that trouble
for one seemingly insignificant gem. Far too powerful for its own
good was more like it. If not for the Starfire, none of these
problems would exist, although they probably wouldn't exist since
history would be different.

But she couldn't change history, nor did she
want to. Rather, she wanted to survive the present. She had
accepted this.

"So, he'll come after me?" Scary thought.
She could just imagine how bad it might be. Or she couldn't. She
didn't even know what he was capable of doing.

"It's not like you'll fall for his trick
again."

"No. Definitely not." She moved to the bed
and looked up as Elis joined her. "So, what'll we do?"

"We can't do much but be prepared. And if
we're together, we have a better chance."

"I think I can handle that." Yeah. Elis and
her. He had rescued her from Pallin. She had all the confidence in
him.

"You're ready to practice controlling the
energy?"

Raea nodded and focused on the tasks he set
for her—fine-tuning her control by adjusting how much energy she
built up.

After a quick supper, they returned to his
room. By the later hours, she let the Starfire energy radiate from
her hands in a weak discharge like a light bulb.

["You're learning faster than I could have
imagined."]

["Lately I've been able to hear the
Starfire, to sort of feel their guidance. It's like they're showing
me what to do and I only have to keep the connection through the
resonance to let them work through me."]

What was that look for? He looked like the
cat that swallowed the canary. He knew.

["You're opening yourself up. That's good.
Then the Starfire's doing all the training."] He paused and that
self-satisfied grin melted away. ["Do you think you're ready to let
them show you Saturday night?"]

Was she? Raea hadn't thought about it that
day. Now, after achieving a modest level of control, her confidence
rose. Still, the idea, the possibility, oozed like slime poured
over her. She would never escape it, nor could she forget. But she
did not want to go there. Maybe Pallin did nothing. She could get
it over with and be done. Finished. No more worrying. No more
doubts.

But she hesitated. What if he had...raped
her? The thought sickened her.

No. Get it over with. Nothing
happened.
Pallin couldn't have. The day was almost done. She
could go to bed without any questions hanging over her head. Only
Nina would linger.

"All right." She turned to face Elis and put
her hands out. Sure, she could probably do it herself now, but she
wanted his presence, just in case. He held her hands, his touch
reassuring. "Let's do it."

They focused on the resonance together. It
warmed through her and images coalesced.

Pallin knelt over her and smirked. ["You'll
never get away. And Elis will be long gone before you know what's
happened. This was much easier than I expected. But we have some
time. How would you like to spend it, Raea? Should I take what I
can, as you Keepers do? So high and mighty, worshipped and adored.
You don't deserve it."]

He leaned in close, his black-sleeved arm
moved to the side of the view and slid down. His face shifted out
of view and the scene bounced and shifted. Soon he reappeared, his
face close with his body over hers.

Tears burned in her eyes. It couldn't be
true. She couldn't believe what she saw. The Starfire lied to her.
It had to be.

Elis let her hands go and pulled her close.
"I'm sorry. So sorry."

Sobs trembled through her. Why had she
chosen to see it? She should have let it go.

She couldn't. Not knowing and forever
wondering would have been intolerable. She had wanted to see
nothing and ignored all the logic pointing to the worst conclusion.
That scene would be with her forever. A part of her memories.
Nothing could erase it. Like the scenes with her mother, this
horror would stay with her, all because of the stupid Starfire.

Raea grabbed the crystal. The stupid
crystal. She hated it. All this was their fault. Everything.

A firm grip on her hand stopped her from
yanking it off. "Don't."

"Let go, Elis." She pushed away and tried to
pry his hand off hers. "I hate it! Let him have it. I don't want
this anymore. I'm sick of it controlling my life."

"Raea." He struggled with her until he held
her so tight he pinned both her arms between them so she couldn't
move. "Raea, stop. This isn't the Starfire. It's Pallin. He made
the choice to hurt you. Not the Starfire."

"But—"
Damn, it Elis. Let me go.
He
held firm. "He hurt me because of this." She might have been
unconscious and not directly experienced it, but she had seen as an
observer what he had done to her body.
Her
body. The filth
of that realization could never be washed away.

"Don't give it up. You can't. You're
stronger than this, Raea. I know you are. You know it, too. Your
mother wouldn't have given up, and she wouldn't want you to give
up."

Why did he have to bring up her mother?

"Every Keeper has some memories they'd like
to forget but never will. It's the nature of the Starfire in us to
record events and experiences, good or bad. But don't give up the
Starfire. They chose you and trust you. The responsibility is an
honor. And you can't undo knowing what happened, but you can
prevent him and others like him from these crimes on others."

She sniffed and made a half-hearted effort
to pull free. His arms held her tight. Why did he have to sound
reasonable? Didn't he realize what this meant? How much it
hurt?

Pallin had...had...done it without her even
being able to object. She didn't want any of it. Although she
hadn't felt anything, but had observed it through the view of the
Starfire crystal, she had been the victim.

Elis's warm breath blew softly through her
hair. For a moment she could forget. A moment that sparked logic
from the turmoil of her emotions. She would have those memories for
many years, not because of the crystal, but because of the part of
that crystal within her. She couldn't escape that. It was a part of
her.

And if she gave up, Pallin and his Shirukan
won.

Raea took a deep breath and relaxed, despite
the tears. "You're right. I hate it, but you're right."

His arms relaxed. She wiped her eyes and
buried her face in his chest. Why did this happen to her? Why
couldn't she have just called Pallin? Or let Josh come along? Why
did she have to trust him?

Why couldn't she have listened to Elis?

Elis. He was always there for her.

His gentle rubbing of her shoulder and back
soothed away the last tears and the images. She closed her eyes and
focused on him. Elis. Gentle, quiet Elis. He would never hurt her.
He cared for her, protected her, maybe even loved her
.

Fatal
Ultimatum

After a while, Raea noticed a tension
hardening Elis's arms. His fingers gripped her shoulders rather
than rubbed. Raea sat back. The air about him seemed to have
chilled and thickened into something impenetrable. He smiled at
her, though. She knew better. Something wasn't right.

"You'll be all right?" he asked.

Oh, how that soft caress could melt her
troubles away, but not this time. His touch was different. She
didn't know how, but it wasn't the same. "Yeah."

"Practice focusing on your wings for a
while." He stood up and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"This is something you need to do
alone."

"But—"

"Don't worry. Practice." He left before she
could question him.

This wasn't right. He wasn't the Elis she
knew. He was upset.

Upset at Pallin.

Pallin!

Raea jumped to her feet and rushed
downstairs. Where had Elis gone? The beep of the phone in the
kitchen drew her. Elis hung up the phone and headed for the back
door, his coat and shoes on already.

"Where are you going?"

He halted in the middle of the dark kitchen.
"To get some air."