Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) (16 page)

"No. Don't worry about it. I get it…"
He rubbed her back. "Come on. You look terrible."

For a moment she caught his sad smile
and found her heart lifted. "Thanks. You would too after two days
without a shower."

"Is that what I smell?" He wrinkled
his nose and exaggerated waving away a bad scent.

Now that was the Josh she knew—playful
and fun. For a little while, she could leave the room. Later, she
would return to be close to what remained of Elis. Josh was right
about one thing—Elis would want her to take care of herself. She
owed him that.

Josh's smile infected her, moving her
to stand with him and follow him out the door and down the
stairs.

"Mrs. Johnson?"

Nothing.

Josh peeked his head through the
doorway from the foyer to check the front sitting room. "Mrs.
Johnson…I'm taking her home."

"Very good, dear."

"I'll be back later…if that's all
right?" Raea stepped behind Josh and looked in to where the old
woman sat in her recliner near the front window, her cane on the
end table next to her. The brightness had diminished from her face,
replaced by a sorrow Raea hadn't seen since her husband Joe had
died several years ago. Elis had been a part of her family for two
years. She cared for him too.

Maybe Raea wasn't alone. Elis had
touched people, inspired hope, and given them new life. A part of
him lived on in his legacy, but she wanted the real him back.
Nothing could replace him.

Amid her tears, she let Josh usher her
out the front door and across the lawns to the blue-sided house
next door. Outside and vulnerable on a warm spring day with a
breeze cooling her wet cheeks. Outside, where the Risaal must have
been watching them.

Were they still there?

No strange vans or SUVs or any
vehicles parked along the curb of the quiet street, but in another
day or two, it would be full of vehicles, hopefully too many for
them to find a space. Thank goodness. How long until they returned
for her, though?

At the door with the oval pane of
decorative glass, he didn't knock but opened it and pressed on her
back to move her forward.

Inside, Buddy's bark echoed in the
open floor plan of vaulted ceilings with the laminate floor, his
nails clattering through the quiet of what seemed to be an empty
house in his rush to greet them. Where was everyone? Debbie
wouldn't have left the door unlocked if no one was home.

"See? Buddy missed you."

Okay, that was stretching it, but the
sentiment stifled her tears. "Buddy misses everyone if they're gone
one minute." Still, the chocolate lab's greeting seemed unusually
subdued, as if he sensed her grief, but was eager all the same. He
licked her hand and shoved his head underneath for attention, the
whole back end of his body wagging with his tail. She couldn't help
but to stroke the soft coat and feel some comfort in the dog's
appreciation.

Elis had thought the dog amusing,
having never seen one until he came to Earth. She hadn't known
until Debbie told her recently that Padina, Raea's mother, had been
attacked by a dog when she first arrived on Earth.

Buddy wasn't like that, though. Her
mother would have liked him. Elis had liked him.

Was she destined to lose everyone she
loved?

"Go on. I'll stay here…Someone has to
make sure you eat."

Okay, every
Inari
she
loved?

"I mean it. A shower would make you
feel better. And I'm sure it's been long enough since Dave used
it."

Oh, Josh. He knew just how to lift her
spirit. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of Dave losing
their daily battle because she had waited until the hot water
replenished.

After a last stroke of Buddy's soft
head, Raea left Josh with the dog. The house seemed so quiet and
eerie in the loneliness, like the void inside her.

It hurt so much. Damn it! It hurt like
nothing else. She'd never realized how close she'd grown to Elis.
She loved him more deeply than she thought possible and couldn't
imagine loving anyone like that again.

Nothing was the same.

She went through the motions of
getting in the shower and pulling off the wraps on her arms—the
pokes from the Risaal spikes no longer bled—each moment a painful
reminder that she was alone.

The scalding water of the shower
couldn't wash away her grief, but it cleaned the filth of the old,
musty bunker from her. She stood in the hot water for a long time
while scenes replayed through her mind, until the water cooled to
the point that no more hot water came.

With a towel around her hair and
another around her body, she rushed from the shower to her bedroom
to change. Josh had been right—the shower refreshed her. It
couldn't erase the stain of last night, but it reminded her that
she was alive.

But she wasn't hungry.

After changing clothes, she met Josh
down stairs in front of the television and curled up in the chair
by herself.

"Debbie called."

Probably checking up on her. For once,
she didn't mind.

"She wanted to be sure you were all
right. I told her I was staying with you."

"She went to work?" How could Debbie
think of working?

"I guess. She said she hasn't told
anyone about Elis yet and didn't know what she should say. She left
the door unlocked thinking you'd want to change clothes at
least."

"What day is it?"

"Thursday."

"Oh." Then she hadn't been a prisoner
of the Risaal long. It almost felt like a dream, a horrible, dark,
terrifying nightmare; like she could pick up the phone or run next
door and Elis would be there.

She was tempted, just to see if it was
all a lie.

"Hungry now?"

Not really, but maybe. "A little." It
felt wrong to even consider her needs when she hadn't been able to
do anything for Elis, and with her emotions twisting through her,
food was the last thing she wanted. Over half a day must have
passed since the Risaal had fed her. Her stomach protested a
little.

"Good. Come on." Josh stood before her
with a hand outstretched.

Did she have to? Knowing Josh, he'd
hound her until she did what he wanted. His obsession with Dark
Angel had been bad enough, until he learned the truth.

Tears burned in her eyes again, the
familiar lump of emotions clogging her throat. Elis was gone in
every form. If there was an afterlife, he would be the brightest
angel in heaven.

Josh lifted her to her feet and she
buried her face in his shoulder, wishing he stood a few inches
taller, like Elis. There was something more comforting in Elis's
arms and the fact that he stood so tall and strong with his quiet
demeanor.

Josh said nothing for a long time,
until she regained control of the pain inside and stepped back.
"Thanks." She sniffed and turned to the kitchen, unsure what she
even wanted to eat.

Josh stayed at her side until she made
a choice and sat with her at the table while she ate a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk. She hated him for
interfering but loved him for watching out for her.

Still, she needed time alone and
excused herself to her room. Josh followed her, insisting in his
annoying way that she needed company. Sometimes he went too far.
What part of alone didn't he understand?

After a small argument, he finally let
her close the door on him.

Her room was as empty as it had always
been, except when Elis had been there with her. She'd insisted they
could make out there just as well and annoy Dave at the same time.
Every moment together had been wonderful.

Now those moments were
gone.

No tears, not again.

But she couldn't help it.

She needed a distraction. Elis would
have continued the work of the Starfire.

As much as she didn't want to, she
would do it for him.

What did the Risaal want with the
monolith? Why had the Starfire reacted to her touching
it?

LISTEN. LEARN.

What?

Pain throbbed through her head. "Stop
it!" Not now. Why couldn’t the Starfire leave her alone like
Josh?

The pain sliced through her skull and
her knees wobbled. Raea stumbled back to her bed and fell on it to
writhe on the flower-print comforter.

In a flash, her room disappeared,
along with the pain.

One second, the monolith stood before
her in the chamber where the Risaal had kept them.

The next second, the scene melted away
in a flash of bright green-blue light, which crackled and erupted
and shrank into blackness like a portal.

[No!]
The voice shrieked from somewhere inside her and ended with
all of Raea's sensations vanishing.

In the
Beginning…

Through closed eyelids the brightness
of a new day filtered in to wake her. Raea stretched stiff arms and
legs, the cushion beneath her firm but soft enough for
side-sleeping. Aware of the wings on her back, she rolled onto her
stomach and pushed her pillow out of the way.

Just a little longer; that's all she
wanted. The meeting with the oversight committee for the
construction of the ocean city in honor of the renegotiated trade
agreement with the Ahben wasn't until midday.

Wait. That couldn't be right. Where
had those thoughts come from?

A chime sounded from somewhere
nearby.

Raea opened her eyes to a sight that
sent her heart racing in shock, or not. It should have, but she
felt calm if not a little irritated. A floral-patterned white trim
ran along the edge of the ceiling and walls of a blue and green
stone cut into mesmerizing patterns throughout the room. The few
amenities in the room possessed a delicate simplicity giving an
impression of wealth without the gaudiness of
aggrandizement.

She slept on a mat on the floor
surrounded by four pillars supporting sheer lavender drapes, which
separated her sleeping area from the rest of the room. A short
table on the outside of the drapes held a sparkling clear pitcher
of water and a glass.

["Enter."] The word came out
involuntarily, and the voice wasn't hers.

She caught sight of her hands and saw
no marks. What the hell was going on? Was she dreaming?

A door several strides from the foot
of her mat swung open and a small man in a dark brown waistcoat and
matching pants stepped in and knelt, his reddish-brown wings
relaxed at his back. ["Lady Atia, forgive my
intrusion."]

Lady Atia…from the vision Raea had?
She wasn't the lady. How was this possible? What was going
on?

["Your presence is requested by Lady
Mikael Akarin."]

Now what did her sister
want?

Damn, this was annoying. Raea had no
control over the thoughts passing through her mind. Was she dead?
Was she dreaming? Had she somehow gone back in time to now inhabit
the lady's body? None of this made sense.

["Send Suki in."]

["Yes, Lady."] He bowed and rose to
his feet. After he backed out, he pulled the door
closed.

To Ahben depths with her sister.
Akarin might be the oldest, but she had no right to control Atia or
denigrate her son Lantis to nothing more than a servant. A boy was
as capable as a girl of learning the intricate matters of guiding
their world, or even a province as Atia did.

Her light brown wings tightened at her
back. She should return to Cormullen, the farthest city from Kanaki
Palace, the heart of the Inari domain. She'd stayed too long in the
old palace. The fond memories of growing up with Akarin and risking
her mother's wrath for their pranks had faded with Akarin's
attitude about Lantis and the limited future ahead. Her own sister,
whom she had once admired for her intelligence while pitying her
for the albinism and its limits to her time in the sun, had shunned
the boy and her. Although Atia was older, the rule of Inar'Ahben
had gone to Akarin after she bore her first girl.

It was law.

To Ahben depths with the law! Atia had
never accepted it, shunning the genetic mating that would likely
have produced a strong girl in favor of the lover whose son she
bore instead.

Indignant, she threw off her covers
and rose in her sleeping gown a moment before the door chimed and a
female attendant with black hair and wings stepped in.

["You asked for me, Lady?"]

No, Raea wanted to say.

["My wardrobe, Suki."]

Definitely not Raea. Atia seemed
unaware of her, going through the motions of her life while Raea
experienced all her emotions and sensations like a passenger within
the same body.

The attendant stepped to a panel on
the wall and touched one of the odd shapes. The panel slid out
several feet with shelves of clothes.