Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (6 page)

"You should have told
me...before...
this.
" She threw up her hands, trembling in
anger.

"Believe me, I wanted to, but Padina made me
promise that if something happened to her—"

"Shut up!" No excuses. Nothing could make up
for what had happened to her. "Leave me alone! GET OUT!" The wings
lifted behind her and bumped the light globe on the ceiling.

As soon as Debbie backed out, Raea slammed
the door. How could her aunt have lied to her? Debbie knew all
along that she was supposed to have wings? Was she an angel or
something else? She didn't feel unusual, though she wouldn't know
what to expect. Why didn't Debbie rip out her heart and stomp on it
while she was at it? Someone she loved had purposely lied to her
about who she was, or rather,
what
she was. She wasn't even
normal. Not human.

She didn't try to stop the tears but buried
them in her pillow. Debbie's words cut through her heart. Why would
they do this to her? And who, besides her mother, could possibly
help her now?

Why did she have to be different?

["I'm sorry, Raea. No more flying. Someday,
maybe we can return home and you can fly all over, but now we must
be human."] Padina gripped the girl's hands in hers, the marks on
both their hands glowing with a faint light.

The topless child cried as her brown wings
shrank to nothing. Her shrieks rang through the room. Tears
streaked down Padina's cheeks also.

When the wings disappeared, Padina held the
girl close and wept with her. Soon the child quieted and wiggled to
run free, but Padina held her, until Scott entered the room and
embraced her and the child raced off.

"It had to be done," he said.

"I know. I can't hide her forever. What kind
of life would that be?"

"None at all."

Raea wiped away her tears with the backs of
her hands. The marks. Those strange marks were the key. How did her
mother make them glow? If she could tap into whatever power her
mother had used, maybe she could return to normal.

She had no idea how.

"Raea." Debbie poked her head in the door.
"There's someone here to help you."

"I don't need help." Least of all from
Debbie or anyone Debbie knew. Debbie had known all along and didn't
tell her or prepare her in any way. She, Raea, would figure this
out by herself, somehow. It might take a while, but one way or
another, she'd solve the problem and reclaim her life.

Debbie slipped out and closed the door.
"Maybe you should come back later. She's upset, and I can't say I
blame her." The door didn't muffle her voice much—she stood just
outside.

"This is the best time. Now that she knows
of this, she should know everything. I've waited long enough to
teach her." By the pitch of that other voice, it was a man. Who
else could possibly know?

"It was her mother's wishes."

"I understand, but now the Starfire forced
it on her. The sooner she learns to control its power, the better
she'll be at protecting herself if the Shirukan come."
Determination hardened his voice.

"I did what Padina asked."

"It doesn't matter. I was sent to teach
Padina's child to master the Starfire's power. Now that she knows
the truth, nothing else matters."

After a moment, Debbie's voice lowered.
"You're right. But she's not going to listen."

"I've gotten used to being ignored."

"All right. Good luck."

Debbie opened the door and stepped
aside.

No way! No. Effing. Way. Raea didn't believe
it. A moment later, anger seethed inside her. "You! You made this
happen."

Elis shook his head.

How dare he deny it! "When you rubbed my
neck yesterday, you must have done something."

"I only told the Starfire not to bother
you." He said that way too calmly.

"How do I know you didn't tell it—this
Starfire—to do this to me?"

"Please, Raea, just listen to what he has to
say."

Raea ignored her aunt's pleading and crossed
her arms.

"That's why I'm here," Elis said. "I'm
surprised by this too. It takes a lot of effort to change form. The
Starfire must have had a reason for forcing it."

"How would you know?" He sure acted all
confident of himself suddenly. He'd never been that way any other
time.

He pulled the gloves off.

What the hell! His hands bore the same marks
as hers, but smaller. Okay, now everything was too weird.
Wake
up, Raea. This is all just a dream, a very,
very
weird
dream.

"I know, because I also bear the Starburst
marks. We're called Keepers, a symbiosis of Inari and Starfire to
keep it safe. Your mother's shard chose you to bear it, just as my
father was chosen."

Her mother's shard, as in a crystal shard?
Her crystal? Raea lifted the pendant. All this time she wondered
why her mother had said not to remove it for anything. Had this
caused her wings to grow out? It couldn't have. It was just a
crystal. Wasn't it?

"When I heard you tell Josh about your
dreams, I knew they were trying to communicate."

She grimaced in shame; he had overheard. She
had been rude to him, especially when he said nothing about it. At
the time, though, she didn't know any better. "They? This crystal?"
He was joking. Right? Crystals didn't communicate.

"The crystal is an intelligent collective of
entities. They came to explore our universe, but can only survive
in this form, this crystal we call the Starfire. They observe and
store those observations. From what I've been told, they can
project them into the bearer's mind, which is what I suspect your
dreams are."

"No, this can't be real. This is all some
big joke on me." Debbie could jump in any time to agree...Anytime.
Much to Raea's disappointment, her aunt shook her head.

"It's no joke," Elis said. "You are Inari.
Our kind come from another world, another galaxy."

"Right. Maybe you are, but I was born
here
. This world—Earth—is my home." She couldn't believe it;
refused to believe it. No way was she an alien or angel or whatever
excuse they made, despite the proof on her back.

["Your parents came from Inar'Ahben. You are
the daughter of Cattalon Jerantis and Shartrael Padina. Both were
Keepers, but Padina was also one of four Crystal Keepers. They fled
when the Shirukan invaded their city, but Jerantis died protecting
Padina's escape to Earth."] He spoke in her mother's language,
making it hard to deny his story.

Her dreams flashed back in vivid detail,
tearing through her emotions with what she knew to be the truth.
Her dreams had been the last images of...her real father?
"What?"

["She taught you to speak Inari?"]

["Yes."]

["Then you understand?"]

Too well. She wiped the moisture from her
eyes, wishing he was wrong, that the dreams were all wrong. All
this because of a stupid little pendant.

["I'm sorry, Raea."]

["What would you know?"]

His cheek twitched and his eyes dropped for
a moment, his whole mood transforming into the somber darkness he
usually wore at school. ["They killed my family, too. The Shirukan
grabbed my sister and her mate and my parents and tortured and
killed them all. My father was a Crystal Keeper, like your mother.
If I hadn't been at Starfire Tower in training..."] He left the
statement unfinished as a cloud settled over his mood.

What? He would have died too? So what? She
hated him for having anything to do with this, but she didn't. She
also regretted judging him as her classmates had now that she knew
the reason for it. If all this was real, then he had lost more than
she had.

["But I was sent here to find you and train
you."] A smile alighted on his face, erasing the grief that had
fallen over him. For a change, he actually looked pleasant. Despite
the smile, sorrow lingered yet in his eyes behind the wild black
locks. ["I waited only to satisfy your mother's wishes, but the
entities want you to learn what you really are. We are Inari, but
until you master the Starfire's power, I can help you to be
human
, to continue your hiding."]

["How?"] If she could be human again… That's
all she wanted.

"Give me your hands."

He planned to touch her again. She
hesitated. The last couple of times had brought on visions and the
voices. What would happen this time?

"Trust me."

Trust him? She barely knew him. Still, his
moment of openness washed away some of her hesitations. "What will
you do?"

"Shrink your wings until you're ready to
fly."

She recalled the vision right before he
showed up. As a child, she had cried when her mother shrank her
wings. "It'll hurt, won't it."

"Yes, it does."

Raea looked at Debbie, who shrugged. What
did she know?

"Will this happen again? Can these wings
come out any time?" Raea put her hands out, palms up. If she wanted
to return to her life, she had no other choice. But would the
Starfire choose a more inconvenient time to make her wings grow,
like when she was in public?

"It shouldn't. They usually have a purpose
for what they do. I suspect in this case, they wanted you to know
what you are. You've hidden too long on this world, believing
you're human. I can teach you what it means to be Inari…if you'll
let me." He clasped each of her hands in his. "Ready?"

"No." She would never be ready for the pain,
but she wanted to be normal again. "But get it over with."

Elis closed his eyes and the marks on their
hands glowed. Warmth flooded through Raea. The voices organized
into one coherent thought, but the searing pain across her back
stole her attention from whatever that thought was.
It hurts. It
hurts. It hurts...
She breathed quickly, the mantra running
through her head.

Soon, it ended, and Elis let go. She
immediately reached around. Only two rips in the back of her gown
remained. Her back was flat again. He did it. She could go out in
public. She could see her friends. She could go to Linds'
birthday.

And she could see Pallin. Was he worried
that she wasn't in school?

Sweat beaded on Elis's forehead. A few of
the wild, black strands stuck to his face. He looked like he had
run a marathon and breathed hard too.

"Was that difficult?" she asked.

"I've only done it once before...in
training. It's easier—
much
easier—changing myself."

Himself? Elis with wings. Something stuck in
her head. It couldn't be. But she had to know. "Can you show
me?"

"Not now." He swiped his forehead with the
back of his sleeve. "We'll have plenty of time later, when you
learn to fly."

"Fly?" She trembled at the thought, but with
an excitement she hadn't expected. She had plenty of dreams of
flying.

Still, the idea of learning from Elis made
her uncomfortable. Ever since he arrived, he had never opened up
and quietly went about his way, the reason Chad started calling him
Creeper. The name stuck. Now that she understood why, it didn't
feel right to think of him that way. However, while she was
grateful for his help, she found it difficult to accept the idea of
learning from him. She wasn't that comfortable with him.

"You need to learn. It's who you are."

Raea sighed, seeing no other choice. "All
right. Fine. When I have time."

"Speaking of time."

She had forgotten about Debbie.

"Shouldn't you two be getting to
school?"

Great. Raea could see the questions now.
Turning up with Elis would look suspicious. What would Pallin
think?

"You'll be okay?" Elis asked.

She nodded. "Just go. I still have to get
cleaned up and eat. So what if I miss a couple of classes." And the
sooner he left her, the better. Besides, at least if Elis showed up
separately from her, it wouldn't look like they came together. She
could salvage the day yet.

"Be careful on the ice." Elis smiled, his
eyes sparkling—a purple that made her look twice—and he walked
out.

Her cheeks warmed. No. She didn't just
blush. Just because he helped her this time was no reason for her
to feel embarrassed. So, she had taken a misstep yesterday and he
caught her. So what?

Debbie's eyebrows lifted but she said
nothing and closed the door behind them.

Life would never be normal again.

Double Date

"So, what happened this morning? Someone
said you were sick?" Linds took a bite of her hamburger.

Sick? Must have been Dave who said it. What
else did her bratty cousin say about her?

"Actually, I had back problems." Nothing
like hiding the truth within a truth. Raea still couldn't believe
she had sprouted wings, or that she wasn't human.
Or
that
Elis was the same. Elis of all people. Her friends would never
believe it. She hardly believed it. But she didn't intend to tell
anyone.

"So, not sick then." Jess grinned and
brushed aside wavy layers of brown-blonde hair from her face. Raea
knew what she thought. "Then you're good for a date. Speak of the
devil."

She turned to follow Jess's gaze, and her
heart stopped. Pallin smiled from the lunch line. Good thing she
was already sitting. Her knees would have given out.

"So, has he asked you out yet?" Linds
said.

"What?" Her friend's question caught up to
her. "Oh. No, not yet."

"You do plan to stay in public areas, I
hope?" Josh, the religious conservative of their group, always
tried to keep the rest of them respectable, but sometimes he
bordered on annoying.

"Of course. I'm not stupid." Her only
problem now was getting away from Elis to see Pallin.

Elis didn't pay any attention to her at the
moment, or at least seemed not to. He had overheard her
conversation with Josh about her dreams, but that was on a quiet
street. The noise in the lunchroom should keep him from hearing. He
had no right to tell her what to do, any more than the Starfire,
but the entities gave her no choice. If it was a part of her, a
true symbiosis, she couldn't escape it.