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

by Melanie Nilles

  Raea rushed to the next door, which opened to the immaculately clean bedroom he had called his the last two years. She had started her Starfire training there. Later, they had snuggled together many nights on that bed.

  The bed. The comfort and warmth of the bed. She curled up on the comforter and, with her eyes closed and her head pressed into the pillow, could almost imagine he was there. Mmm... His scent lingered on the pillow and sheets. He was right there with her, sort of.

  The sobs lessened but her tears soaked into the pillowcase.

  "Elis. I miss you." She whispered the words and pulled the second pillow of the queen bed to her as if she could snuggle close to him. His scent lingered with vivid, clear memories full of sensations as if she lived in those lost moments again.

  But it wasn't the same. Life would never be the same again.

  A soft knock shattered the memory of their first kiss only four weeks ago. It calmed her but left her wishing for one more.

  "Raea?"

  She recognized the soft, feminine voice and twisted as Debbie's weight sank the edge of the bed near her.

  "Evelyn said you were back but…that you were upset."

  Raea sat up, the returning lump dissolving from the concerned expression on Debbie's face.

  "I was so worried about you." Were those tears in Debbie's eyes? She hoped not. That was the last thing Raea needed, but the embrace soothed her pain. She clung to Debbie, pinching her eyes closed to relieve the stinging tears.

  "I'm so glad you're all right," Debbie said. Although not the same as when Elis held her, the hug was what Raea needed.

  Raea sniffed and clutched her aunt, someone real who cared. Debbie had trusted Elis too. "He's gone, Debbie. They killed him." She hiccoughed on a sob and sniffed. "I couldn't save him."

  "I'm sorry."

  "I tried. He had…" She took a deep breath to quiet the trembling. "A hole in his chest. He wasn't breathing. There was no pulse…He's dead." The last word ignited her emotions into another storm of sobs, which Debbie soothed as she had done for Raea many times growing up, but this was different. Her heart ached as if torn from her chest.

  "It hurts," Raea choked out.

  "I know." Debbie sniffed and Raea's emotions subsided with her tears. Something about hearing Debbie cry gave her strength to fight her grief and comfort her aunt. "He was a great person. I wanted you to be happy together."

  So did she, but hearing it from Debbie warmed through her while her aunt trembled with sobs. After a few minutes of crying, Debbie took a deep breath and sat up to wipe her eyes now red and glazed with tears. "Who did this to you? What happened?"

  "They called themselves Risaal." Raea shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. She hated them, even talking about them. It was like she was calling them to her, and they scared her—they could show up anywhere and she wouldn't even know it. "They're chameleons. They can look human or blend into their surroundings."

  "More aliens? What do they want?"

  Raea bit her tongue on the retort of questioning what Debbie expected.

  Debbie sniffed and wiped her eyes with her fingertips. "The Starfire?"

  "Yes."

  "Why?"

  "I don't know." All the questions about them resurfaced, entangling Raea's emotions with the death of Elis. She hated the Risaal. Hated. Despised. Wanted to burn them and stomp their ashes into maggot-filled muck.

  "Will they be back?"

  "I hope not." But if they could find her and Elis, they could come after her again. If they did, she wouldn't hesitate to kill them. They wouldn't hurt anyone else. "We killed a lot of them trying to escape."

  "Good."

  What? She must have heard wrong. Debbie believed in giving everyone a chance, but Raea wouldn't question it. At least her aunt was on her side—no lectures about the value of life or anything.

  "Thanks, Debbie." Her aunt's support touched her inside, refueling a light threatening to extinguish.

  "You're my girl too, even if we're not related. I watched you grow up. You're a part of our family, and that will never change, no matter what David says."

  Her aunt was her mother but not. Their relationship had evolved into something like friendship. Debbie had never tried to be her mother, and Raea appreciated that but now she needed a mother and a friend.

  A small laugh escaped from Raea and granted her an oasis of relief from the sorrow overwhelming her. "Thanks for coming."

  "Are you coming home?"

  "Not yet." The bed was the closest she could be to Elis, and Raea wasn't ready to leave it as she had left him. Her vision blurred with the return of tears. "I need to be close to him."

  "I understand," Debbie quietly said and sniffed. "Don't stay away too long. All right? Or I might have to worry about you again."

  "I won't…Thanks."

  Debbie's weight lifted from the bed and her feet padded out of the room.

  Raea laid down again, catching the creak of the loose step when Debbie put her weight on it.

  The calming effect of the visit from Debbie after all the grief left Raea drained. Amid thoughts of Elis lying next to her, she drifted off to dreams of him.

  The Day After

  ["Elisha. Welcome home."]

  Into the scene stepped a white-winged woman in a light blue robe detailed in silver, her white hair pulled back from her face with an intricate, weblike silver ornament with a chain of tiny blue stones shimmering from her forehead. The poise with which she stood bore a confidence expected of someone so exquisite.

  Elisha with her blond locks bowed with the view source in her hands. The attendants on either side of her fell to one knee, their wings lifted behind them. ["Lady Akarin, I thank you."]

  ["You indicated in your transmission that talks with the Risaal did not go well."] The lady motioned with her hand.

  The scene shifted slightly with the rising of Elisha. ["They fight amongst themselves, separated by clan lines dominated by males."]

  A white eyebrow lifted over those intense blue eyes of Lady Akarin. ["They are a space-faring race."]

  ["Yes, Lady. I know not how they developed amid such rivalry, but I advise against trade until they can resolve their differences. They would not yield to my suggestions of clan equality."]

  ["Agreed. I will not condone aggression nor give the means to destroy to a species which cannot support their own. They would destroy themselves with any advancement we provide."] Her eyes dropped to the view source. ["It is forbidden by the Covenants of Jaerla to offer trade with a less developed society in which our knowledge may be used to subdue sentient species upon the same world or others…This is unfortunate. I had greater hopes when we discovered them."]

  A few seconds of silence passed.

  ["Lady, they do show some promise. One of the lesser clans offered this—"] She held up the view source. ["A gift with a message of hope that we will return."]

  The lady brought the view source closer. ["A very lovely specimen."] She let out a sigh and set the view source on a shelf along one wall, running her hand over what must have been a glass covering, since her hand never completely blotted the view. ["But it means nothing. Crystals are common finds and easy to grow with the right atomic stimulation. We will hold off trade until the Risaal are civilized. They are too young yet."] She turned her white wings to the view and stepped towards the ambassador, who pulled her wings tight and lowered her eyes.

  ["Yes, Lady."]

  ["You did well, Elisha."] The warmth in the woman's voice softened her whole demeanor. ["You've always served our world well."]

  Behind the ambassador, the double doors swung open. A small boy appearing to be three or four years opened his golden wings at the doorway and closed them again, his face reddening at the stern look from Akarin.

  [Thank you, Lady Akarin. It is my honor to serve."]

  ["Go now. We'll talk more later."]

  The ambassador departed with her escorts, passing the boy with a knowing smile. Behind him stepped a wo
man of sun-streaked brown hair and matching wings darker than the boy's with flecks of gold in her feathers.

  Two female guards in purple frock coats closed the doors behind them.

  ["Lady Akarin!"] With his wings slightly open, the boy ran to her. All formality aside, he jumped up and she caught him.

  ["Lantis!"] The woman behind him scolded.

  Akarin grinned. ["Calm yourself, Atia. He waited until we were alone."] Her smile brightened on the boy.

  ["You spoil him."]

  ["Of course. I'm his aunt. That's part of my duties."]

  Atia curled her lip for a moment and regained her composure. ["Making my duties more difficult."]

  ["The boy will never rule, so let him be a child."]

  Atia winced as if slapped. ["He is still of House Mikael and must learn restraint and decorum."]

  ["He's seven years, still a child."]

  ["My child, sister. Your word may rule this world but mine still rules my family. Someday he may represent us."]

  Akarin gazed at the boy in her arms with his legs around her waist. ["What do you think, Lantis?"]

  The fair features of his small face scrunched for a moment. ["Can I go fly with Rian and Mari?"]

  ["Maybe later. Your cousins are busy right now."]

  Disappointment painted his expression.

  Akarin smoothed back the blonde hairs from his delicate face. ["Why don't you go play? I need to speak with your mother."] She let him down and he ran to the door, which he opened to a man of small stature in a tan coat over a matching jumpsuit.

  A second later, he closed the door behind him, leaving the two women alone.

  ["So young and innocent,"] Akarin said.

  Atia glanced back at the door, her light brown wings tightening at her back. ["But of royal bloodlines. He may not be your daughters, but he is my son, a Mikael. His deeds will reflect upon our House."]

  Lady Akarin stepped back to the crystal, her deep blue eyes gazing into it as if staring into the watcher's soul, but a moment of sadness passed across her face. ["You worry too much, Atia."]

  ["Someone must."]

  A brief smile lifted the corners of her mouth but fell a moment before she turned to her sister. ["You have always been too forgiving of the men, too generous to them. They are weak, meant to serve and no more, and you know it."] Atia opened her mouth as if to protest, but Akarin raised a hand. ["I know your feelings and will not argue again on this. It has always been this way."]

  ["Someday that will change, Akarin."]

  ["But not this day."]

  .

  [Wake up.] The voice whispered through Raea's mind, drawing her from the vision of the Inari. Two of the names sprang to the forefront of her thoughts—Atia and Lantis.

  Atia and Lantis…

  Raea stretched, wings and all.

  Wings. She reached around her side. She still had her wings.

  Thoughts of Atia and Lantis faded to the background as images of last night flared into existence. The Risaal. Elis.

  Elis dying.

  Oh, God. They'd killed him. She'd flown home and fallen asleep on his bed, but he was gone forever. His room and memories were all she had left.

  Her heart whimpered from the pain tearing it apart. Sobs shook through her. He was gone forever.

  Only a touch on her shoulder broke through the cloud. Raea sniffed and twisted.

  Through the blur of tears, she made out familiar features. Wiping her eyes cleared her view of the round face with its gaunt cheeks and ocean blue eyes topped by messy dark brown hair.

  "Josh?"

  He sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, the stroke of his fingers brushing her hair from her cheek. "Debbie called last night. I wanted to come then, but she said you were sleeping already…I'm sorry, Raea."

  Josh, her dearest friend for twelve years. He would be the one to rush over, but Debbie could tell him the truth, because he knew what she and Elis were. No one else did. She'd been so afraid of him learning the truth, yet now a bright spot broke through to have him there when she needed someone most. Of all the people who could have comforted her, she was glad it was him.

  Raea stared at him, memories of the last twelve years flashing through her mind in a distraction from the grief. He'd always been there for her and the others. He'd always kept their secrets. Mostly, he'd always been a friend she could trust. Short, geeky, smart, and super religious Josh. He didn't even try to fit in with anyone at school but was content to be himself. And he was probably one of the nicest people in the whole town.

  He sat back, his hands on her legs. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you made it back all right."

  "Thanks." If only Elis had escaped with her.

  Her vision blurred and she closed her eyes, but that only made the images more vivid.

  "What happened to you?"

  What didn't happen? She wanted to tell him, but emotions clogged her throat.

  "I didn't see another portal after you closed it," he said.

  If only it had been the Shirukan. She knew how to deal with them.

  Raea swallowed and took a breath. "We landed and were surrounded. They hit us with something and…I woke up in a dark room with my hands cuffed…Elis thought we were taken to an old missile silo."

  "At least you were still on Earth, but what did they want?"

  She wasn't in the mood for this but somehow talking about it helped her feel better, if only slightly. She sniffed and wiped the moisture collecting in her eyes. "I don't know. They called themselves Risaal, an old enemy of the Inari."

  Josh's fingers tightened around her calf. "Risaal?"

  "Yes, they're aliens." She knew him well enough to know what he was thinking; the glint of excitement in his eyes, despite the loss of Elis, hinted of his intrigue. "Chameleons. Doppelgangers. They have these…spikes that shift and fit together and change color and texture, kind of like…like a wrap-around television screen, sort of. They can look human or blend into their surroundings." A shudder passed through her—they could be anywhere hiding if they held perfectly still or blend in as living, breathing humans. "It's awful, Josh. We had to kill a lot of them to escape…but it wasn't enough."

  The lump returned to her throat as the memory replayed of that final moment when Elis turned to fire on the Risaal who caught up to them, but they killed him. If only to gouge out her eyes to not see it. Elis was dead. Remembering that moment drove another stake through her heart, which reopened the fresh wound.

  "It happened so fast." She choked on the words, hardly comforted by the rubbing on her leg. "I couldn't do anything." Tears blurred her eyes and she pressed her face into the pillow.

  A light weight settled over her side, Josh's breath warm on the back of her neck reminding her of Elis, but his breath was different, hinting of spearmint—Elis hated spearmint. She could almost imagine him there, and it helped. Josh's hand found hers and she gripped it tight.

  "I'm so, so sorry, Raea," he whispered, his other hand rubbing her shoulders above the wings.

  For what seemed a long time he held her like that, until she had to shift and he sat up out of her way.

  Raea wiped her eyes and sniffed. The tears faded with the feeling that Josh cared enough to be there for her, a friend she could trust and rely on for support; and he knew her struggles the last two months and fully understood. She didn't have to hide anything.

  She turned and sat up next to him, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her jacket sleeve. "Thanks, Josh."

  "Any time." His fingers brushed her hair from her face. "But right now, I think you should go home, clean up, and get something to eat. Take care of yourself…That's what Elis would want."

  He was right, but it still hurt so much to hear him say it like that.

  "Come on. Hide the wings."

  Not yet. She couldn't leave behind that bed with its comforter now all wadded where she had laid, and those memories of the ghost she loved.

  "Do it, Raea," he said softly.
>
  Easy for him to say but so hard for her. She couldn't leave. Not yet.

  "Come on…for me…for Elis."

  "Shut up." She clamped her jaw. The words just burst out. "Just…I'm sorry. I—" Dammitall! Why did this have to happen?

  "I'm sorry. I don't mean to push you. It's all right. I…understand."

  The tears welled in her eyes again, but she wiped them away and focused on the resonance. He was right. Damn, he was right, but it was so hard to leave. With a thought, the resonance warmed through her and she focused the energy on shrinking her wings and the muscles to control them. The wings would only cause trouble anyway.

  Did it matter anymore? Her life was over without Elis. Maybe she should go back to Inar'Ahben and finish her training and fight the Shirukan.

  Not yet.

  Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow… Pain speared through her back, for a few seconds overpowering the heartache. When it ended, she let out a deep breath that calmed her emotions.

  "All right now?" Josh asked in a quiet voice as if afraid to upset her again.

  "I'm sorry."

  "No. Don't worry about it. I get it…" He rubbed her back. "Come on. You look terrible."

  For a moment she caught his sad smile and found her heart lifted. "Thanks. You would too after two days without a shower."

  "Is that what I smell?" He wrinkled his nose and exaggerated waving away a bad scent.

  Now that was the Josh she knew—playful and fun. For a little while, she could leave the room. Later, she would return to be close to what remained of Elis. Josh was right about one thing—Elis would want her to take care of herself. She owed him that.

  Josh's smile infected her, moving her to stand with him and follow him out the door and down the stairs.

  "Mrs. Johnson?"

  Nothing.

  Josh peeked his head through the doorway from the foyer to check the front sitting room. "Mrs. Johnson…I'm taking her home."

  "Very good, dear."

  "I'll be back later…if that's all right?" Raea stepped behind Josh and looked in to where the old woman sat in her recliner near the front window, her cane on the end table next to her. The brightness had diminished from her face, replaced by a sorrow Raea hadn't seen since her husband Joe had died several years ago. Elis had been a part of her family for two years. She cared for him too.