Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (16 page)

Elis slipped off his shoes and coat. He had
proven nothing about Pallin or a Shirukan in the area, and Raea
forbid him from saying anything more. He couldn't push the subject
on her without proof. Bad enough that she left him with her coat
with hardly a word. In fact, she'd hardly spoken after the close
call at the farm house.

Elis hung up both his coats in the closet,
which reminded him of the pantry. Standing in the tight space of
the pantry with her had presented a unique opportunity for the kind
of closeness he had only hoped for since seeing her the first day
he arrived in that town.

For nearly two Earth years, he had longed to
talk to Raea, but never knew what to say, which only made her avoid
him. Like the human students around her, she ignored him soon after
he started attending their local high school. Debbie's arrangements
with the school allowed him to attend to watch over her, and
Debbie's arrangements with Evelyn gave him a close place to
live.

Now, Raea had trouble accepting his
friendship. He saw it in the way she kept her distance. With the
training, though, he hoped she would allow him in as someone she
trusted, and maybe someone closer. For a brief time in that pantry,
she had relaxed next to him. He could have stood there forever if
she would have stayed. Every cell in his body found peace holding
her. He hoped she would choose him to bond as a mate, but it seemed
she had no intention of accepting him.

Only on landing in a new field a little
further away from home than where they had taken off had she
allowed him close again. And then it had only been to help her to
pull the broken feathers, and afterwards to shrink her wings. She
said little to him on the walk back through the snow.

What did he have to do to prove himself to
her? The Starfire had brought this opportunity to be close in
teaching her about what she was. He didn't know what else to do.
Almost two years of silence and letting the students of McClarron
High stick him with a negative label would be hard to break.

Some days he longed for home, despite the
dangers. Earth could be much worse, even cruel, in many ways.

Elis sighed and closed the closet. Silence
filled the house. Evelyn had gone to bed already. He respected her
sleep, and he loved her as family. Her faith in her God inspired
him. Maybe Earth wasn't so bad. And he had his cousin to talk
to.

Nare. Maybe she could help him. He hurried
up to his room, squeezing to the far left on the loose step to
avoid making it squeak. From the desk in the corner, the computer
fan hummed quietly. But he had another means to contact her.

He closed the door and pulled out the
tri-comm from his jeans pocket. He carried it with him everywhere
but didn't like to use it in public. Besides, while he liked to see
who he spoke to, having that image move while he moved—because the
signal connected to his optic nerve along with his auditory
nerve—could be disorienting.

On the side of the flat, oblong device, he
entered a code on the tiny buttons, the code for Nare's tri-comm.
Unlike telephones, the devices had no need of a relay station when
used within a few thousand miles of the tri-comm they dialed. No
satellites or towers to relay messages. Inar'Ahben's orbit was far
less cluttered than Earth's, except for the trading station.

He set the tri-comm on a line along his
cheek from near his ear to his mouth and hit the transmit button.
Now he could only wait.

While he waited, he could search. The
monitor on the desk brightened with a click of a key. It had taken
some time, but he had learned to type. His skills might not match
others, but they were sufficient.

After some time—still no answer from
Nare—and calls to the hotel, he had nothing on Pallin Montran, not
even a birth record. The internet had anything on almost everyone
in the world. Surely a man born to any U.S. military officer at
least had a record with the government, if not a passport. Even he,
Elis, had to jump through hoops, which he cleared thanks to
Debbie's contacts through the office her brother Scott had worked
in. He couldn't keep it all straight. The paperwork had given him a
headache. She had done all the real work. What a mess. Humans had
redundancies on top of redundancies.

Pallin had nothing.

Nothing. He might be able to use that.

No answer from Nare came after an hour. She
had her reasons, or so he hoped. No worries there. She could take
care of herself.

Elis removed the tri-comm and changed for
the night. Debbie probably still knew enough people in the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Service.

* * *

The girl had evaded her again.

Nina growled and let the door of her hotel
room slam shut. Hearing it knocked out some of the curses built up
inside. The night had grown too late and too cold. She couldn't sit
in that car forever. In summer, maybe; but winter, no. Where had
Raea gone with that boyfriend? No one had seen them since
supper.

You're good. I'll give you that. But you
can't hide from me forever.
Sooner or later, she would catch
Raea. Questions piled up, demanding answers. She had to know. If
Raea had nothing odd about her, why did she continue to hide?
Something was up.

At least one good thing had come from her
visit—feathers. Brown and black. Some had skated across the snow,
blown by the wind, but she caught all she could. The black had to
be from the mysterious Dark Angel. But who was the other? She could
have sworn the two wore regular clothes. Why would beings supposed
to be supernatural leave tracks in the snow, or need to dress
warm?

There's more to this than I thought.
Something doesn't add up. Where's the connection? I'm missing
something obvious.

She held up the five feathers she had
collected. In the light of the hotel room, faint mini rainbows
shimmered across the brown and black when she turned them at a
particular angle. Beautiful.

* * *

"Look who just showed up for lunch." Linds
gaped at the figure that approached the lunch line.

Pallin. His morning call had sent shivers of
anticipation through Raea, and pity as he explained the trouble
with homework. When she took the chance to visit with him that
morning before class, Pallin agreed to join Raea to go out for
lunch.

"You are ready for food?" Pallin glanced
about at the others. "I being not late?"

"Nope. In the nick of time," Josh said. "So,
where're we going?" Josh's interest in Pallin switched to his
stomach fast.

"Let's get out of here. We can decide in the
car," Linds said.

"Agreed." Jess led them to the nearest
door.

"How 'bout Pizza?" Linds asked.

"Sounds good," Josh said.

The quick lunch at the gas station cafe
turned out more pleasant than Raea expected. Pallin said nothing
about Elis, which disappointed her in a way. Shouldn't he be
jealous? He had been yesterday. Or had the fact that he wouldn't be
there long made him give up any hope of continuing a long-distance
relationship?

During their conversation, he and Raea both
reached for a napkin. When her hand brushed his, a jolt seized
through her. Pain crushed her skull.

What the hell...
Not now.
What
happened this time? The voices cried in discord. That damned
Starfire. Why did it do this? First Elis. Now Pallin.

"Raea, are you all right?"

"No." She spoke through clenched teeth.
Someone make it stop.
"Shut up!"

"Sor-ry," Jess said.

"Not you." Raea gasped and held her head.
Quiet! I can't understand. Leave me alone!

"Where's Elis when you need him?"

Josh said it. For once, she agreed. She
could use that magic touch again. How did he quiet the Starfire's
voices?
Go away. It's too much.
If they'd just leave her
alone. What did she have to do to shut them off?

The voices faded, taking the headache with
them. Good riddance. She had to find a way to keep them silent. For
now, they went away without much trouble, and the headache
faded.

"You okay?" Linds put a hand on Raea's
shoulder.

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

"What happened?"

Raea looked up at Jess. "Just a sudden
headache. It's gone now."

"Shit, Raea. That's the second time in a
week. I'd get it checked out if I were you."

"Ahem..." Josh gave Linds that look. The
look that warned them to watch their language.

"Whatever."

Raea agreed with Linds. 'Whatever' said it
best. None of them cared about his preaching.

"This is not normal?" Pallin asked.

"No, but I'm fine."
Now. No thanks to the
Starfire.
What set them off this time? She glanced aside at
Pallin's hand on the table. He had never touched her before then.
What were the entities trying to tell her? That they didn't want
her to be with Pallin? Did they know something, like when Elis had
touched her to ease her headache last week? So, they liked Elis and
not Pallin. No one controlled her life. Period. End of story. She
would decide.

But the headache made her wonder. Was he a
threat? Is that what they tried to tell her?

If they really wanted her to understand, the
least the entities could do was tell her clearly.

She returned to the school with her friends
before the warning bell. The sun warmed her and melted the snow.
Raea stood outside with Pallin, her friends giggling on their way
into the school to give her some time alone.

"So...um...it wasn't much, but I'm glad you
came." That sounded stupid.

"It was nice. I can have time
later...alone?"

Another date outside of school. Another
chance to find out if she was wrong or right. "Of course. Yeah. I'd
like, like that." So, why didn't the proposition excite her like it
did a few days ago?

"Good. I like also."

"Yeah." Now what?

Silence fell between them.
Say
something.
"We should get back to school."

"Yes. It is…much work. You will be done
soon?"

"No. A couple months. Then graduation.
Then
I'm all done, but of course there's college in the
fall." Or would there be? What would happen with her not being
human? What if Nina found out?
Don't think of that.
She
would have a future, and she would live a human life, like her
friends.

The bell rang. "We better get to class. Call
me later?"

"I will call."

She waited, hoping he might offer a hug or
something more, or at the least to hold her hand, but he never
reached for her. He never touched her. Maybe Elis had frightened
him off.

She'd kill him.

"Well…um…We should get going." She reached
out, but he pulled his hand away. All right. So, that was weird.
Had he felt the shock? This wasn't going as she hoped. Everything
was wrong.

She hurried to the doors with him, where she
caught Elis watching. Damn him. Why did he have to keep this up?
Pallin wasn't there for her crystal. In fact, he had never asked
about it, or her hands. And he'd been a gentleman the whole time.
If Elis continued his wild goose chase and turned off Pallin, she'd
never forgive him.

The afternoon brightened for her with
questions about her man from some classmates and dirty looks from
others. Those others could be jealous all they wanted. Pallin liked
her
, or so she wanted to believe. They weren't getting any
part of him.

It all ended with the walk home. Elis said
nothing about Pallin, and Josh said plenty, mostly complaining
about the unfairness of Mister Carter's Government test. Raea
hardly listened. From down the street, she spotted the dreaded
white rental car driven by Nina Russet. Oh, no. Raea had nowhere to
hide. None. Caught in the open. A deer in the headlights.

To hell with that woman. No more hiding.
Raea could face her without giving away her secret. She just had to
act like nothing was strange.

Great. That'll go over like a lead
balloon.
She was doomed.

Two of a Kind

Here they came. Finally. Nina started to
think the girl would find another way to elude her. Not this time.
Raea and her boyfriend parted with Josh and headed straight to
her.

Nina no longer needed the kid. He'd been
helpful, but she could manage on her own. Besides, she'd contacted
all the local witnesses and arranged interviews. And D.C. and the
crew would likely arrive tomorrow, in time for the weekend. They
could start taping the interviews.

In the meantime, Raea's turn. Nina had
questions yet to dig up answers to.

Nina stepped out of the car into a puddle.
Goddam snow. How did people live in this? If the snow wasn't bad
enough, the melting afterwards turned everything to a sloppy, soggy
mess. She couldn't wait to get home.

"Raea." Cold water soaked her feet. Her best
shoes, ruined.

The girl turned pale and averted her eyes at
Nina's approach near the house.

"I've been meaning to talk to you while I
can. If it's not too much, I have a few questions."

The girl lengthened her steps to the patio
of the house. She wasn't getting away that easily. Nina stuck like
glue. She had come for a story, and by hell or high water, she was
going to get it; but she could do without the high water, at least
the ice cold water that ruined her shoes.

"Your mother had the same marks on her
hands, didn't she?"

Raea faltered at the bottom of the steps.
Got her!

The tall boyfriend stepped between them.
"That's not polite to ask."

"It's perfectly acceptable. If Raea's
inherited her mother's marks, I'd like to know how." She rounded
him to meet Raea on the steps. "What caused them? Did your mother
ever show you anything unusual?"