Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (23 page)

Someone pounded on the door. Not again.
Couldn't that woman leave him alone? "Go away."

"Pallin?"

Any other time he might welcome her
intrusion. He needed the touch of a female, just as any man did. At
least with humans, he didn't have to worry about bonding. That only
happened between two Inari, although the occasional single nights
with his own kind weren't a problem.

But these human women—or was it just this
one?—could be tenacious. Nina Russet could make herself a pest.

"Pallin. I want to talk about last night.
What happened with you and Elis? And those two girls, Pallin. What
were you doing with them? Please. Open the door so we can
talk?"

Crystal fire. Maybe he should have stayed at
the house. But that would have looked more suspicious. He had tried
to trap Elis to kill him but failed. Had he succeeded, he could
have let Raea go until the portal opened. Taking her back would
have been no problem with Elis out of the way, especially when she
would have no memory of what happened. Now, he still had to figure
out how to take the Keeper out of the picture, or at least keep him
from interfering.

Maybe Nina could help. She was there to
learn about her "Dark Angel". Maybe the truth could work to his
advantage.

If not, one more death before he left would
be one less problem for Prime Commander Loran and the others on
that world.

He rolled out of bed, tucking his yellow
wings close to him. He still wore the black flight suit and coat
but no gloves. He stood behind the door and opened it, peering
around. Good. Nina was alone. "Come in."

"I'm so glad you're okay."

He closed the door immediately after she
stepped in.

"But— What the hell?" She stumbled back.

Pallin stepped away from the wall and opened
his wings.

"What are you? You're one of them! Why
didn't you— I mean, why are you here? Why now? What's going
on?"

With a light hand, he guided her to the bed
and sat her down. "I am here, a soldier of Inar'Ahben, to
capture...criminals. Raea and Elis."

"What? I
knew
something was going on.
They were the angels I saw. But how did you hide those wings? I
mean, we were both naked. How do
they
hide?"

"It is special ability. They...have crystal
I need. Padina stole from our world and gave to Raea." He pulled
the wings tight behind him, making them all but invisible from the
front. That brought her attention to his face. "Crystal is power.
Keepers have all power." All the power they didn't deserve. They
hadn't earned it. They were born with it and the crystal keepers
hoarded it amongst themselves rather than let Heffin's Gate manage
it to the benefit of all Inari.

"Do you mean that crystal Raea wears?"

"Yes. It is Starfire. It is danger to
destroy many worlds."

"So...you're not angels? You're aliens, like
real extraterrestrial aliens?"

"Yes."

"This is
incredible!
Tell me
everything."

Pallin didn't hold back his grin. He
explained how Keepers had been coming to Earth and interfering with
human lives. He told her about his empress and her desire to unite
their world and to one day expose their kind to the governments of
Earth, when humans were ready. As he expected, Nina asked for
details on everything. Some he couldn't give. Others were mundane
topics about his world.

Then she returned to the matter. "Elis is
this Dark Angel figure. But if he's dangerous, why did he help
people?"

"Keepers make humans believe in angels. It
is lie. He has powers to kill."

"Yeah. I've seen it." For a few seconds, she
stared into her own thoughts. "But where was he going last
night?"

"I take Raea to trap him. He tried to kill
me, but I lived."

"I'm glad you survived. Now, tell me from
start to finish what happened last night?"

He told her what he had done, after
discovering the effects of alcohol on their systems, and how he had
disabled Raea's friend to keep her safe while he lured Elis out to
an abandoned house in the country. When he described the fight, she
never blinked but listened with undivided attention to his every
word. He showed her the burned wrist, which she studied in
detail.

"Unbelievable. He seems so calm."

"You say nothing to anyone? This is mission
I must finish. They know now I am Shirukan. I have two days and
difficult. Must heal first."

"I suppose. Maybe I can help."

Her enthusiasm matched his expectations.
Now, to pull her in with a plan.

Where Angels
Live

"Raea. Come downstairs, please."

Now what? She'd barely showered and dressed.
The boys weren't even awake to get ready for church. Raea hoped for
more time alone. Too many ideas floated around her head. Mostly,
she had to figure out what to do about Elis.

"What is it?" Raea shuffled to the stairs,
where she could look out over the whole main floor. Debbie stood at
the door with a police officer.

"Deputy Sandaman would like to get a
statement from you."

The cops. This had to be about last night.
What could she tell them? Nothing, really. She'd been
unconscious.

"Coming." Better to get this over with so
she could get on with her life. She stopped in the entry with
Debbie.

"Miss Dahlrich?"

"Yes?"

"I need some information from you. I'd like
your statement about what happened last night."

"Okay. But I was unconscious most of the
time."

"
Most
of the time? What do you
remember, Miss Dahlrich?"

He flipped a sheet on his pad and stood
ready with a pen. She told him what she knew.

"That's it? You don't remember anything
after the drink? Nothing at all?"

"No. Not until I woke up at a friend's."

"How did you get there?"

"I was unconscious. How would I know?"

"Who is this friend and where is their
residence?" He waited with pen in hand.

"Elis Jasheir. He lives in the yellow house
next door. Why?"

"Did this Pallin do anything to you?"

"I don't know."

"Would you be willing to submit to medical
testing?"

"Why?" She didn't like the sound of that.
What was he getting at? She looked at her aunt, who shrugged.

"Ma'am, not to be insensitive, but in these
cases, we like to be sure we're not also dealing with rape. If,
while you were unconscious, he committed any sexual misconduct, we
would like to have physical evidence. Have you showered today?"

"Yes."

He made a note on his pad. "That makes
things more difficult."

The thought of being raped while unconscious
left Raea with a dirty feeling. What if Pallin had done something?
A few hours had passed before Elis rescued her.

No. She didn't want to think about it. She
hated the suggestion. "I don't want to know." She wanted to forget
the officer even suggested it. Pallin wouldn't do anything like
that. He just wanted the Starfire crystal.

"You're sure? If there's anything, we can
put this guy away. If not, I don't have much to hold him. It's your
choice, but without trying, you give that up. Do you want
that?"

Debbie's arm around her pulled her close.
Raea buried her face in her aunt's shoulder. Pallin couldn't have
touched her like that. Could he? Oh, God. She didn't want to think
about it. She needed another shower now. The very idea made her
sick.

The thought of him getting let off on a
lesser charge scared her, but she didn't want to know if he did
anything. "No. I won't. I can't."

"Are you sure, Raea?" Debbie's quiet voice
did nothing to calm her. "If he molested you, this is your chance
for justice, and to put him away where he can't hurt you."

"No. I don't want to know." And she didn't
want anyone to figure out she wasn't human.

Deputy Sandaman closed his pad. "All right.
I can't force you. I'm sorry for what happened. Thank you for your
time, Miss Dahlrich. Mrs. Logan." He tipped his head to Debbie and
let himself out.

"You all right?" Debbie hugged her
tightly.

"Yeah, but...what if that Deputy Sandaman
was right? What if Pallin did something like…rape me? I wouldn't
even know." She shuddered to say it.

"Don't think about it."

How could she not think about it? Not until
Pallin and all his Shirukan were gone and left her alone could she
forget.

More than ever, Raea needed Elis. She hadn't
been raped. Pallin couldn't have.

Raea wanted to forget the last ten days. Had
it only been ten? It seemed like a lifetime had passed. She had
changed so much in that time that a lifetime could have passed. She
felt like she lived another life, someone else's. This wasn't her
life.

That life was so much easier. Thinking Elis
was creepy and avoiding him. Believing without a doubt she was
human. Having no secrets to hide, or nosy reporters to avoid. Never
meeting Pallin.

She hurried to her room and shoved her face
into her pillow. This was Pallin's fault. And the Starfire's. She
wished she'd never met him, that her mother had never passed the
crystal to her. That she'd never been born.

Everything had gone to hell. She'd take
Chad's teasing just to live her old life again.

What about Elis? She hoped he felt better.
He suffered because of her. Why did he risk so much for her? She
could call him. In fact, she wanted to see him, to know if he had
feelings for her. She needed him now more than ever. What would she
say, though? What could she do?

She was afraid to find out he didn't.
Just do it.
Elis was wounded rescuing her, but his job was
to protect and train her. That's all. Or was it? He said Pallin
drugged her and knocked out Linds. But why hadn't he brought her
home?

His wings.

Right. He couldn't expose his wings. He had
done nothing to hurt her in the last week. Elis had been a
gentleman. He was a friend and a teacher.

Dammitall! She wouldn't have any peace of
mind until she talked to him, until she found out. She wished that
officer had never suggested the possibility of rape. It made her
need Elis more than any other time, for the comfort and peace he
brought to her. But he might not want to give her that comfort.

Raea picked up the phone in her room and
dialed. Here went everything.

After a few rings, Evelyn answered.
"Hello?"

"Yeah. How's Elis?"

"Is this Raea?"

"Yes."

"Let me check, dear."

Raea bit her lip and listened. Over the
phone she heard Evelyn's muffled call to him.
Hurry up, before I
lose my nerve.

After what seemed an eternity, Evelyn's
cheerful voice came back. "He's coming, dear. Hold on."

"Thanks." She waited, her nerves snapping
like live wires.

"Hello?" His voice was coarse, like he'd
just waken up.

"Elis? How are you doing?" She swallowed her
heart back down.

"Better. Still sore. How are you?"

"Fine."

"Good, then the healing is complete. I
forgot to ask earlier, but you ran out so fast."

"Healing? What healing?" Had she been
injured?

"Pallin had you hanging by your wrists from
the floor supports in the basement of the Lake house."

"He did?"

"He didn't care how beat up you were, by the
looks of things."

"Um...yeah. I was wondering about that. Do
you think he might have...um..." She cleared her throat to free the
words that stuck there. "Like...raped me while I was unconscious."
The last words rushed out before she could stop herself.

Silence hung on the phone, broken only by a
heavy breath. "There's one way to know." He sounded bitter. ["Find
the resonance and use it to contact the Starfire. Think back to
last night and let it fill in the gaps after you were unconscious.
And let me know."]

The Starfire? Could it show her what
happened? It
had
shown her scenes of her mother's life. Did
she want to know the truth?

Yes. Maybe. If Pallin had done anything to
her, she
should
know. But part of her didn't want to think
of him raping her, or see it happen. If she saw it, she would
always remember. She didn't want to remember anything like
that.

["I'll try."]

["Do it!"]

Yikes. She'd never heard him so upset
before. "Okay. I'll work on it."

"I'm sorry; I'm not mad at you. It's Pallin
and his kind."

"I understand." The Shirukan had killed his
family. Finding one of them here and not being able to do much
about it without bringing attention on himself must have really
hurt.

"I'll let you go to work on it."

So much for asking about how he felt. But he
cared enough to be mad about Pallin possibly doing worse to her. He
cared. "Thanks, Elis."

"You're welcome."

She clicked off the phone. What had Pallin
done? Had he really hung her by her wrists?

Raea examined her wrists but saw nothing.
Elis had healed her, at least physically.

What if Pallin
had
raped her? No. He
couldn't have. Could he?

Raea sat back against the head of her bed
and stuffed a pillow in her lap. The Starfire could show her what
happened. If Pallin had done nothing, they could reassure her. But
if he had, she didn't want to know.

She had to try. If nothing else, it might
bring her closer to understanding the Starfire entities.

Raea took a deep breath and sat up. The
resonance came with little effort. Her whole body vibrated with a
faint pitch, or so it felt like. She closed her eyes and let it
rise with the heat.

Voices formed in unison from the perfect
harmony:
WE HEAR YOU.

Raea gasped and lost the resonance. The
words came as a feeling rather than as spoken words, but with a
meaning. She had never heard them like that. The times they had
risen up had always been in discord.