Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) (28 page)

That sly smile returned. Man, Anita
gave the impression of someone taunting her with a secret. The
woman hid something more than what she explained.

"From our understanding, that crystal
is better off here than on your world. Earth is safer with it here.
So, I did offer my help with your graduation party, to keep the
impression of a normal life like Padina requested for you; but no,
that wasn't all of it. I told Debbie what I told you. I didn't
think you'd listen to my request to cease these portals and had
hoped you would listen to Debbie."

"Debbie didn't say anything. She
didn't have a chance." Raea and Elis had gone out to practice
connecting to Giza when the Risaal came.

"What agency are you with?" Nare's
eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"We're only a line item under the
Homeland Defense budget."

"Homeland Defense? You think we're
terrorists?" Great. Now Earth didn't want them.

"No. But that crystal is a threat in
the wrong hands. We allowed Padina to live freely in this country
as long as she presented no harm." Anita shrugged. "I understand
not just anyone can touch it, but you could do a lot of damage if
you wanted."

True. Raea had done a lot of damage,
but only to those who attacked her for it. "I have no intention of
hurting anyone." Not even Pallin—the entities of the Starfire had
done that.

"Raea's always the one getting hurt,"
Nare said.

The harsh lines of Anita's face
softened. "I know. I'm sorry I couldn't help you in either case,
although you can rest assured that all video evidence by the
Xplorer Channel crew was confiscated."

"In either case?" Raea couldn't
believe this. "What else do you know about me?"

"I know about the Shirukan who came
and took you away. I also know now that you disappeared a few
nights ago because of other aliens on this world seeking the
Starfire. Debbie said they call themselves Risaal."

Damn. Those sharp eyes
pierced her confidence. Raea wilted under that stare. No denying
it; she might as well tell Anita what she could. Maybe the woman
would actually, like,
help
. "That's right. Creepy, chameleon
things that can look like any person or blend into any
setting."

"Interesting. I need to know more
about them and where they are."

"Why?" Suspicions swept through her.
"What will you do?" What about the Starfire in the monolith? Anita
didn't know and Raea didn't want her to know. It wasn’t for
humans.

"I'm authorized to use any force
necessary to take them into custody."

Into custody?

"They won't bother you
again."

Small assurance that was. "What about
the next time or the time after that? Without Elis…" Emotions
burned inside her again, cooling only with the tears filling her
eyes. Damn. And she had done well for a while with the distraction
of the Starfire. A sympathetic touch from Nare calmed
her.

After a long silence, Anita said, "I'm
sorry about your friend. Debbie said you lost him."

"They were more than friends," Nare
said.

An awkward silence followed in which
Raea hoped Anita took a hint and left. She didn't need
this.

"I can help you, if you'll let me. I
don't want to see anyone gain that little crystal you wear. None of
us do."

"If it's so important to keep the
Starfire protected, why did you let anyone near us in the first
place? Where were your special agents or forces or whatever when
the Risaal found us?" Raea wiped her eyes and choked down the
accusations.

Shadows played on Anita's face with
the shifting of her jaw. "As I said, we're a line item. There are
only a handful of us. We can't be everywhere."

"Tell that to Elis. You should have
been there for him!" This was sounding worse by the moment.
Everything out of the woman's mouth inspired a new rage inside
Raea. Anita could have helped, but she hadn't.

"I'm sorry."

Whatever. Anita wasn't sorry. She was
just concerned about the crystal. She didn't care about anyone who
died.

"If you could tell me where to find
the Risaal, we'll make sure they leave you alone."

Alone. She was already alone without
Elis. Anita and her agency had failed.

["What about the
monolith?"]

Raea winced. Yeah, that. Nare would
remind her. She didn't want anyone taking it away from her chance
to free it or risk it falling into Shirukan or Risaal hands, or
even the wrong person on Earth. Freedom in the sky would be the
last freedom she would think about if that happened. She had a duty
to the Starfire as a Keeper.

What would Anita do if she knew about
it?

Why did she have to make these
decisions now?

Anita watched her with an intensity
that made her want to curl up and hide. She had to do something to
make the woman leave. "I don't know." And that was true about both
the issues. "It was dark and I was crying. I just flew and ended up
finding familiar landmarks to guide me home."

"Then it was close."

"I suppose." Damn, the woman was
quick.

["You can find it again?"] Nare spoke
in a low voice.

["Yes. I think. It's east of here
somewhere."]

Nare rolled her eyes and let out a
heavy breath. ["Can you retrace your flight?"]

["Maybe. I don't know. I wasn't even
looking where I was. Elis was dead. I was lucky to find my way
home."] Tears blurred her vision. Dammit, Nare. She of all people
could have shown a little more sympathy.

["I'm sorry. Maybe…Maybe we can detect
the crystal somehow."]

Raea wiped her eyes. ["It's shielded,
but it sensed my shard when I touched the stone. It connected with
me. But it's underground. I don't know…"] If there was any way,
maybe they could find it. ["We might need her help. If she knows
the locations of the old missile silos in the state..."]

Nare's lips twisted. ["A last resort.
First we find this other shard you mentioned. If it allows me as
its Keeper, maybe we can combine their powers to find the other
crystal."] Raea could only hope Nare was right.

Anita watched them, a
finely plucked eyebrow lifting in curiosity. Raea hated that.
Hated. Hated. Hated.
Hated
. The woman irritated her,
although at the back of her mind she knew the hatred came from the
loss of the man she loved more deeply than anyone.

Her chest ached again. She covered her
heart with her hand.

"Can you tell me more about where
these Risaal are?"

"No." Damn, her chest ached. Now she
knew what a broken heart was.

After a long pause, Anita said, "All
right. Call me if you think of anything else. Debbie has my
number."

Raea nodded, agreeing only so the
woman would leave.

After Anita closed the main door
behind her, Raea sat down on the steps. So much at once. Why did
she have to endure this? Why did Elis have to die? Why did there
have to be other aliens after the Starfire? She wanted to run away
and hide and cry like she needed to about Elis.

[I am sorry, but now the
stakes are higher. You must hurry in your quest.]

"Yeah, I know," she mumbled, a bit
surprised by Atia's input. Atia didn't have to remind her, though.
She'd finish the job eventually.

She was no fighter. Sure, she'd had to
fight the Shirukan, but that was different. At least she could fly
openly on Inar'Ahben and hadn't been trying to rescue a Starfire
shard. On Earth, she had to completely hide what she was and still
fight to save her life and protect the Starfire.

Her life totally sucked.

Nare's lip curled up in a hint of a
snarl. "That was annoying, but she could be useful."

"How?"

"I don't know. Information?" Nare
shrugged and rubbed Raea's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You're
not alone, Raea. I will help you…for Elis's sake. He might have
been a pain growing up, but he was my cousin and a good person. He
deserved to live."

A seed of gratitude sprouted to
overcome the grief. Raea embraced Nare, her eyes burning with fresh
tears form an emotion other than grief. "Thank you."

If all went well, that evening she and
Nare would visit Egypt.

If all went better, they might even
find the Risaal and end the whole problem that night. Tomorrow she
could mourn Elis.

Unexpected Ally

Crystal fire. His chest stung where
the injury healed, but he was tired of sitting still. If he didn't
get moving, the Risaal would kill him or recapture Raea. He had to
stop them. He had to regain his strength. Lying on his back would
get him nowhere.

He had to get moving.

Elis gasped, his wings tight to his
back as he sat up in the open pod where he had lain for too long.
The faint glow from the pod illuminated a room of humming machinery
and another pod on the opposite side, in use if the glow through
the glass meant anything.

The Risaal had fed him but they hadn't
offered any new clothes. He shivered in the chill of the
room.

If he was a real angel, none of this
would have been a concern, but he wasn't. He was mortal with
physical needs and weaknesses. In some ways, he wished he could
believe in real angels, like Josh and Evelyn and other humans
sought in times of need; but he had only himself.

And Raea had only him to protect her
from this new enemy. That meant getting up and getting out. When it
came to protecting Raea, he would do all he could to keep her alive
and safe.

He wouldn't fail her.

Damn, it hurt. The wound had scabbed
and now was only the size of a quarter in diameter. In a couple
days it would be closed. But the blast had burned the flesh down to
his bones, the only thing that had saved him from instant death.
Those bones had been damaged and now hurt with every movement. They
would take longer to heal than the soft tissues.

He slid his legs off and found the
floor to stand.

After lying on his back for several
days, standing made the room spin. Crystal fire.

He collapsed to his hands and knees,
his chest aching.

Raea…
He wouldn't fail her again. He wouldn't fail her like he had
failed his family. He would regain his strength and do what had to
be done.

Elis would claim the fifth shard and
use it to protect her.

Together, he and Raea would find the
Eye. She could open a portal to Egypt and take him with her, but he
could only hope the entities of that shard would accept him.
Together, they could stop the Risaal and maybe the Shirat Empire.
Then, they could live in peace.

He had to move. He had to
recover.

After the spinning sensation settled,
Elis pushed himself off the floor and stood, the ache in his chest
like someone tearing him apart. He stood on trembling legs, cold
sweat chilling him into shivers. He was up. That's all that
mattered.

He couldn't let the Risaal know how
fast he healed. He'd have to stay close to the pod until he was
strong enough to face them again and lie down before they saw him.
Another day, maybe two.

A few small steps felt like a big
achievement. So far so good.

The click of the door made him
whirl.

Too fast. The room continued spinning
after he stopped and he fell to his hands and knees.

"No. No. No." Feet padded quickly to
him and hands secured his shoulders. "You should be
resting."

He knew that voice, the one called Dar
Lorel, a neutral voice neither feminine nor masculine. Yet she
preferred the form of a woman; at least he assumed it was a she. In
their natural state, they all looked alike. In his mind, Dar Lorel
was a female.

If nothing else, she seemed to care
more than the other Risaal. At the moment, she tried to help him
up.

Unfortunately, the spinning room made
him nauseous to the point of lying on his side on the cold, hard
floor. Dar Lorel squatted next to him, waiting.

"You should not be up yet.
We're not ready.
Kan Rikku
Nakor Surik must not know of this."

Odd—she almost sounded concerned. "Why
do you care?" The words mumbled from his lips while he tried to
focus on making the room settle again.

"You will be bound and likely
tortured. He is Nakor, the cruel masters of our world…or were." Her
voice dropped into something bordering on regretful. "The clans
will never know peace, I fear."

He opened his eyes to her face
hovering near him and blinked to clear his vision. Her human face
gave nothing away, but her words hinted of something
more.

Hope filled him with strength to push
up from the floor, but it was her strength that lifted him to the
mat of the pod.

As he lay back, she adjusted his
wings. He settled into the mat again and breathed easier. Would she
help him as more than a medic?