Not important? But— What was he going to tell her? That he wanted a break? That couldn't be right. Did his cousin Nare get to him and make him more cautious? Was the idea of bonding to her now wrong? Was she moving too fast for him? What?
Elis sat up and pulled her up next to him. "You better take the call."
"Debbie can wait." Besides, it was probably another call to check up on whether she planned to come home for the night as an excuse to talk her out of sleeping with him. Sure, she'd stayed a few nights, but nothing had happened, at least nothing that involved clothes coming off. And it wasn't anyone else's business if something did. She was eighteen and done with high school, technically. A few more days and a stupid speech and she would be completely free, at least from school.
Debbie would still be there.
A wry smile crooked up his face—so cute on him she wanted to forget everything else. Elis might not be the hottest guy in that town, but he was cute and loved her, or at least she hoped that's what he was trying to say. He'd never had any trouble before. Geez, each time he kissed her was like it was their last breath.
Maybe it was. No. No. No! Don't think that.
"No, she won't. You know that."
Raea huffed out her frustration and stood. Damn. She hated that he was right. He was always right.
This checking up on her by her aunt had to end. She wasn't a child anymore; she controlled her own life. "Fine." This was the last time her aunt would interfere; then he would finish what he intended to say.
His hand grasped hers, stopping her from storming down the stairs. To her relief, he stood with her, a calm look on his face. Her anger melted—he'd always had a soothing effect on her—and she led him by the hand out the room and down the stairs with her. Maybe she wouldn't be so hard on Debbie. Maybe.
Leaning on her cane for support, Evelyn stood at the bottom of the stairs with the cordless handset. Her cheeks sagged with age and her back hunched from years of osteoarthritis. The short curls of gray outlined a friendly face inspiring guilt in Raea for her anger.
Evelyn put the phone to her cheek. "She's right here, dear," she said and handed it Raea.
Raea took the handset and lifted it to her face, glancing at Elis a step behind her for the calm strength he offered. His fingers tightened within hers momentarily and relaxed, releasing her frustrations.
"Debbie."
"Oh, good. Raea. I'm glad you're all right."
Her aunt sounded relieved, as if she'd been deeply worried. Not good. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I know; you're with Elis. But the message on the machine—"
Uh, oh. Her stomach knotted. "What message?"
"He said he called on behalf of a Matthew Stein. He sounded out of breath as if he'd been working out…or running."
Raea grimaced and looked to Elis. Matthew Stein had been the bodyguard of Mister Torres, the protector. Elis had used the abilities of the Starfire to link to Torres's mind for the secrets of the Eye, an amulet protecting a fifth shard of the Starfire crystal from detection.
"What did he say?"
"I think you should hear it for yourself…both of you. He mentioned you and Elis. Raea, you're not in trouble, are you? I mean, besides the Shirukan?"
"I don't know. We'll be right over."
"Good. Hurry, before Mike gets home. You know how he feels about all this."
Yeah, did she ever know. Her uncle Mike had never thought much of her, usually ignoring her and favoring his own two boys. He had become grouchy since all the attention by Nina Russet, the reporter who had nearly exposed her secret two months ago. Mike knew nothing about what Raea was, and she'd prefer to keep it that way.
"Be there in a few." Raea clicked off the phone and handed it to Elis, freeing her hands to open the foyer closet. In one hand, she lifted her cheap slip-ons and in the other Elis's sneakers.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Evelyn stood in the doorway between the foyer and the sitting room.
Elis took his shoes and sat down at the bottom of the steps to put them on. Raea slipped her feet into her shoes while he was still tying his laces.
"I don't know. Nothing we didn't expect, I guess, but it could be trouble." Torres and Stein had come to them because they had lost contact with other protectors of the Eye. They didn't want the knowledge of its location lost. Elis now possessed all of Torres's knowledge. If someone knew he had visited them…
This could be trouble. Big trouble.
Eye of God
Elis followed Raea across the short lawn of adjacent yards to the blue-sided house next door.
Across the quiet street, a couple cars parked at the curb in front of the gray house. An unfamiliar dark van across the street gave her the creeps.
Raea caught it in a glance as she ran up the cement steps to the front porch and the door with the full-length oval pane of decorated glass and matching sidelights. Anxious to get away from the creepy van, she yanked open the door and entered the main floor with the vaulted ceiling.
Buddy's nails clicked on the laminate in his excitement to meet her, his long tail whipping behind him. The chocolate lab skidded to a halt and squatted, his tail sweeping the floor. She reached down to rub his head and to stop him from jumping up on her. "Hey, boy."
"Raea." Across the main floor, Debbie stood by the answering machine next to the stainless steel fridge. She sounded almost relieved.
Raea slipped off her shoes and hurried to meet her aunt. "Did Dave or Eric hear the message?" Although she and Elis had been exempt from finals, like many of their senior class, it was after school hours. Her cousins could be home at any time.
"No. Dave's still at track practice and Eric's with him."
Good. She didn't need them overhearing.
Debbie pressed a few buttons on the machine and a raspy voice echoed from the speaker: "Raea. I hope this is the right number. My name is Jeff Richards. I'm a friend of Matthew Stein. He said to call if anything happened to him." He let out a shaky breath. "I don't know how to say this…They found his body last night…He and his friend, Doctor Torres, disappeared several days ago. He worried someone was watching them. I…I can't believe…" His deep breath blew over the speaker. "I don't know how you're involved, but if you know something, please call me…"
"Already got it." Debbie handed her a paper with his name and number.
The voice on the machine ended and the recording clicked off.
Raea stared at the paper in disbelief. Torres was right—someone was after him, the tall Hispanic man who had come to them as a protector bearing the location of a fifth shard of the Starfire on Earth. Stein had been his body guard. Who could have done this to them?
They'd only found Stein and he was dead. What happened to Torres?
"Raea, what's going on?" The worried look on her aunt's face shifted from her to Elis. Those perfectly plucked brows pinched together in concern. Oh, man. She hated keeping secrets from Debbie, even if her aunt had kept a very big secret from her. This wasn't the same, though.
"I…It's…" Dear God. What could she say?
"You're better off not knowing," Elis said calmly.
Exactly. Thank goodness he could think on his feet.
But those crossed arms were bad. Debbie wasn't buying it. The worry was there, but overshadowed by the household boss. So not good. Raea swore her insides turned to gel.
"Trust me," Elis said.
Debbie looked from one of them to the other, her lips twitching indecisively until her eyes fixed on Elis. "All right. I know you have your reasons, but please be careful."
So, she took Elis's word over Raea's? Figures. The two had been in collusion not to tell Raea what she really was until the Starfire made her wings grow out two months ago. This was so unfair, but it wasn't worth arguing.
"We will," Raea said with more confidence than she felt and tucked the paper into her jeans pocket. Elis's hand on her waist gave her a boost and she put a hand over his.
A sudden knock on the door stole he
r breath. Man, she was jumpy. Calm down. Just to be on the safe side, she reached for the machine and held the delete key until the computer voice announced, "All old messages deleted."
A moment later, another knock on the door nearly stopped her heart. Damn, talk about paranoid.
While Debbie crossed the open floor to the door, Raea glanced down and caught a sight that made her heart jump from her chest. "Elis!" He'd forgotten the fingerless gloves to hide his Starburst marks. If word got out that they had the same marks, there might be some uncomfortable questions.
He slid his hands into his jeans pockets and met her eyes with a smooth grin as Debbie reached the door. That was close.
Debbie peered out the sidelight with a frown a few seconds before opening the front door. "Oh. Anita."
Anita? As in Anita Cross who lived a block west and south in the old Seidel house? Anita Cross who hardly talked to anyone, who was hardly ever seen because she was always on some business trip or another? For that matter, why did she even bother with a small town in the middle of nowhere? Airfares were much better out of the bigger cities and the closest airport was fifty miles away.
With her arm looped through Elis's, Raea led him across the floor to satisfy her curiosity.
"Debbie. Sorry to bother you, but I thought with the valedictorian under your roof, you might want some help for Sunday."
"Oh. Ah…thanks for the offer, but we should be good. You're certainly welcome to join us, though."
"Really, it's no problem. I thought I'd at least offer some of my folding chairs."
With Elis beside her, Raea stopped a few feet behind Debbie and waited.
The woman at the door was Anita Cross. Raea had seen her a few times around town. Like those other times, Anita smiled, her angular features seeming to blend in strict lines matching the pressed business suit and short blonde hair. A hint of crows' feet showed her age in the outer corners of dark blue eyes.
"Raea. Congratulations!" Those eyes shifted up to Elis and the smile never faltered. "And Elis Jasheir. This is a pleasure. Congratulations to both of you on your achievements."
"Thank you." Awkward. Raea looked up but Elis showed no hesitation or discomfort. It was a well known fact that they were co-valedictorians. Still, Raea wanted out of there. They had unfinished business requiring privacy. Not to mention if she had to hear any more details about the graduation party Debbie planned she was going to hurl; she just wanted to hang out with her friends.
"Thank you," Elis said.
Anita glanced down, the corner of her lips twitching up in a sly grin. "Birds of a feather…You two seem perfect together."
Okay, now things were getting weird. That old saying was too coincidental, or maybe it was just part of her paranoia.
"Anyway." Anita's attention refocused on Debbie. "May I come in? I'd really like to talk to you about helping out. In fact, I insist."
"I, ah…" Debbie's voice trailed off as Anita stepped past without an invitation.
Sheesh! Talk about pushy; nearly as bad as Nina Russet pushy. The memories of that woman ate at Raea's patience, stifling her in annoyance. Anita's step inside left her and Elis an opening, and she had to get out before she lost her patience.
"Excuse us, please." All the aggravation the reporter had caused only made her want to scream. Anita probably didn't mean to be intrusive, but who knew what she wanted. Raea didn't need to embarrass herself being rude, not to mention enduring the lecture Debbie would probably give her on hospitality and respect. Anita wasn't Nina, or so she tried to tell herself.
"Really, I want to do all I can to help." The look she gave Debbie made Raea uneasy. Time to split. "We'll go so you can talk."
Elis said nothing but pushed the storm door open.
Idiot. After a poke in the ribs from her, he shoved his hand back into his pocket, leaving her to shut the door behind them.
Her eyes caught Anita's, but the woman still smiled pleasantly and stepped inside with Debbie, closing the door between them.
Too close, and something about it made her wary.
With Elis's hand clasped in hers, they hurried back across the lawns to the old yellow house. She couldn't wait until the graduation hassle was over and they could go back to their semi-normal lives. By Sunday, that whole street would be full, mostly with Debbie's family coming to congratulate Raea.
Elis leaned close. "You're worried."
What? Oh. "Yeah." Thanks for stating the obvious. She bit her tongue on the retort. He wasn't the one to snap at. That woman was. She'd only encountered Anita a few times and she'd always been pleasant. So what made Raea uneasy about this time? "I'm probably jumping at shadows. All that's happened and stuff. It just…I don't know."
"I know." His hand in hers calmed her. He knew, but he'd suffered too. He understood.
They opened the door and closed it tight behind them. ["Don't say anything to Evelyn,"] he whispered.
Why not Evelyn? Elis surprised her with that. ["What if someone comes looking for us, for you?"] Shouldn't the old widow have some preparation? Elis was the one with the knowledge about the Eye.
After he kicked his shoes off into the foyer closet, she stepped out of hers and closed the closet door. Now to go back to something better, she hoped. He locked his fingers through hers and led her up the stairs.
"Elis?" The age-cracked voice came from the front sitting room.
Damn.
He paused on the squeaky step with a wince. "Yes, it's us."
"Is everything all right, dear?"
"Nothing to worry about."
The steady tap of the cane announced the old widow's approach before she appeared from the direction of the dining room. "All right. Dinner will be ready soon."
Food! Exactly what Raea's stomach needed, if she could tolerate eating. Between Elis's unfinished business and the news of Torres and Stein, it seemed more inclined to knot up than accept food. Any other girl would love to have Raea's appetite, or lack thereof, but other girls didn't go out flying nearly every night or burn off those calories using Starfire energy faster than one could blink. There were some advantages to being a Keeper.
"Thanks, Evelyn." Elis gave her a quick smile and led Raea up the stairs to the bedroom, where he closed the door—perfect—and took the desk chair at the computer—bummer.
If she thought something was wrong before, that was nothing to now. He was in seriously distracted mode. "You better not be searching again for information about Pallin's contacts." She shuddered at the memory, disgusted that she had ever fallen for those good looks and charm. Thank goodness for Elis being there to save her.
Elis said nothing, his eyes on the computer monitor.
"Elis?"
Not even a glance, but those inviting lips she'd rather have against hers pressed together so they paled.
You know you're in trouble. She crossed the room to see what held his attention and recognized the image on the monitor—one of the most famous bridges in the world. That was definitely San Francisco.
Not again. Couldn't he let it go for now? Just because the PO Box for Pallin's contact had been in San Francisco was no reason to obsess about it, especially not now. They had bigger problems in the present.
The landmarks on the monitor changed.
Okay. Now he confused her. "What are you looking for?"
In the light of the monitor, his cheek muscles tightened for a second. Typical Elis—kept his thoughts to himself until he was ready, like with his interruption to their make out session earlier, or when he knew she might be upset.
On the screen, images of landmarks scrolled up, past an ancient city in ruins to something she recognized. Who wouldn't recognize the pyramids? "What are you looking for there?" Definitely not Atlantis. Sand dunes, maybe, but not a lost Inari city.
"You're going to practice opening a portal tonight."
Raea blinked and staggered back. What? "Why?"
A second thought caught her breath and set her heart racing. "Are we going home
?" Inar'Ahben! She missed the homeworld and she'd only spent a few days there her first and only time. At least she knew how to find the shifting currents traced by the Starfire in previous portals, mostly as a means to return home if the Shirukan came again. All she needed was an excuse to go. She could open a portal to the homeworld with hardly a thought now.
"Not this time."
Her excitement deflated. "Then why?" She didn't like that look on his face; it meant he worried, and when Elis worried, something really was wrong. Suspicions gnawed in her mind when this came on the heels of the message about Stein and Torres.
"Because it's harder to create a portal to another point on the same world."
On the same world? On Earth? He must have been kidding. Right?
No. She knew that determined look he wore.
And the image on the monitor told her where. "Giza?"
"It's the closest landmark, something easy to focus on."
She sat down on the bed, her head racing with ideas of why he would want to go to Egypt. Only one answer fit, but she had to hear it from him. "To what?"
He swiveled in the desk chair. ["The Eye is in the desert. I want to find it before anyone else does. Sooner or later, one of the protectors may break. If not…"]
["I know."] He didn't have to finish, even when speaking Inari. "If not" possibilities made her nauseous again. That mission almost five thousand years ago should never have left a Starfire shard hidden on Earth.
Yet she couldn't argue that either. It had been safe for almost five thousand years; four thousand seven hundred and some odd Earth years to be more precise. The Inari had fought over the power of the Starfire throughout their history, so stashing pieces on other worlds was logical.
["It's been moved over time. In his mind, Torres thought it was originally given to the Scandinavians, but it traveled south and fell into the hands of the Romans and from the Roman Empire ended up in Egypt. Somewhere along the line it went from being known as the Eye of Odin to the Eye of Horus."]
Odin… The Norse God. Of course! That was it! Scandinavia was where the Inari mission to Earth had taken the Starfire shard in the amulet when they were attacked by humans at their original destination. And she thought Inari hated the cold. Maybe not so much, or maybe they used that to deter anyone who came after the Eye. ["Vodin! General Jakoru Vodin, from my vision…Vodin. Odin."]
Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) Page 2
