Broken Wings

by Melanie Nilles

  The temperature spiked in the room. Raea met Josh's eyes for a moment; his smile hinted of amusement rather than alarm. "No. No-no-no. Josh has been a friend since first grade. It's not like that. He, like…He came to see Elis. Josh lives a few blocks away. We usually walk home part way together."

  "Ah. Gotcha. I suppose you want me to go get him?"

  In other words, did Raea want to see Elis? Yes and no. Not having him at school helped her survive that day without breaking down. She had no idea how she'd react to seeing him again. But she'd been worried all that time too and seeing him would put her mind at ease.

  "Sure."

  Nare's eyebrows lifted in question, and Raea nodded. Nare hurried up the stairs and around the corner of the rail and pounded on the door of his room. "Elis! You have company."

  A few seconds later, the music cut off.

  Here he came. Raea's pulse raced. She hooked her fingers in her belt loops to keep her hands still.

  The door clicked and her heart stopped.

  "Who is it?"

  Damn the wall. She couldn't see him.

  "A couple friends."

  Josh leaned towards the stairs and waved.

  So tempting! Oh, God. Just a few inches closer to Josh. Stand still. Just wait.

  "Hey, Elis," Josh said.

  A long pause answered. Raea held her breath. What took him so long?

  Nare stepped into view on the landing outside her room, her eyes aside.

  Elis stopped at the top of the stairs in jeans and a dark blue tee shirt and his black, fingerless gloves. The strands of hair over his eyes gave him that familiar dark, brooding appearance that transformed with the recognition on his face.

  Her mouth went dry, but she managed a "Hi."

  After a moment of no reaction, he hurried down the stairs. His purple eyes fixed on her through that wild black hair. She used to think he didn't comb it, but found out for herself that it refused to be tamed.

  "I'm…glad to see you." Talk about an understatement!

  He moved towards her and she put a hand out. "Not now. Not yet."

  Not again. He looked ready to cry. Her heart gave a tiny whimper of sympathy.

  "I…um…thought you might like—" Say something, Josh! He wasn't helping. "To hang out with Josh for tonight. You know—man to man. While I hang out with Nare." She gave Josh an obvious elbow in the ribs.

  "Yeah. It'd be cool." Took Josh long enough. He rubbed his side and flashed her with a dirty look. Whatever. "We could, like, talk about Dark Angel, or something."

  Elis gave her a questioning look.

  She shook her head minutely. No, Josh didn't know.

  Elis took a deep breath and let it out, his shoulders dropping. "That's fine. Your house or here?"

  Oh, no. She wasn't falling for the pleading expression or the reading between the lines.

  "Um…" Josh looked at her too.

  Good grief. They couldn't make any decisions without her? "Your house. Trust me. You don't want to be around when girls talk."

  Josh's eyes widened with recognition and his lip curled in disgust. Yeah, Josh. That kind of talk. The same kind of talk that had turned his face into a ruby when he walked in on Jess and Linds discussing their periods once. Only once. He'd learned his lesson. The two had planned it that way to get back at him for talking about the dark angel so much.

  "I got it. My house it is."

  "After dark?"

  Those deep purple eyes she loved stared through her. Her knees threatened to give out with the racing of her pulse. She was worse than last night.

  "I suppose. That's when he usually appears." Josh glanced from Elis to her.

  "I'll be there." Elis's gaze never wavered from her.

  It beckoned to her desire to be close. Just a couple steps. That's all it would take to be secure in his arms. A couple steps…

  Nare thumped down the stairs, hitting the squeaky one on her way. "So, we're on for tonight, Raea?"

  The muscles in Elis's jaw clenched and his face hardened. "Was this your idea?"

  "I have no idea what you're talking about." Nare shoved him aside and stepped between him and Raea. ["Stay strong,"] she whispered close.

  Nare stood back with a smile. "I'll see you later. Nice to meet you, Josh."

  "Sure." Josh put his hand on the storm door handle and looked to Raea. "Coming?"

  "Yeah. Yeah…um. See you later."

  Nare smiled.

  Behind her, Elis met her eyes for a moment.

  No, she couldn't give in. Nare was right. She had to stay strong, until she figured out exactly if this was what she wanted. This was harder than she expected.

  Raea ducked out behind Josh and fought the urge to look back for a hopeful glimpse of Elis. The inner door scraped closed behind them with the hiss and click of the storm door.

  Where the cement walk to the front door met the sidewalk, Josh stopped. "I guess I'll see you later. Or not. Maybe I'll call afterwards."

  She'd like that—hearing about him and Elis, especially Elis. "Thanks, for everything."

  She gave Josh a quick hug before he hurried down the street to head home. Raea caught sight of her cousins on the walk from school a couple blocks away—Dave had to wait for Eric at the elementary school to walk him home.

  Raea rushed through the front door of the blue house to reach her room, where Dave especially wouldn't see her tears.

  __________

  Dark Angel

  Of all the nights he could have been out flying, Elis had to keep Josh occupied. Meanwhile Nare and Raea flew in the perfect weather, except for the clouds and the chilly air, but the resonance would keep them warm. Hopefully Raea led Nare away. They'd left before him, to get a head start so Josh wouldn't see them, while he sat with Josh in the backyard on a rusty patio chair, using the resonance to warm him in the chilly night.

  Elis blamed Nare for this, for everything. If she hadn't mentioned bonding, everything might be fine with him and Raea.

  No. He couldn't blame her. He wished he could. But the whole situation was his fault. He should have told her, but he just couldn't. It was so hard, and then it didn't seem important to tell her. He'd been wrong, though. It was important, more important than anything. He should have told her in the beginning, before the relationship progressed, as part of her early training.

  Upon seeing Raea earlier, he'd wanted to hold her, but she pushed him away. She couldn't have wanted that distance, not by the look on her face. And what business did Nare have whispering conspiracies to her? What had she said to Raea at the school?

  Sure, Nare told him that Raea said she loved him but needed a break from him, but Nare held something back. His second cousin had babysat him when they were younger—she being five years older—but he never forgot how she put him down at every opportunity.

  This was no different. If Raea never came back to him, he'd blame Nare. She didn't understand what it was like to lose everything she loved, only to find penitence in true love and have it nearly taken away. Raea was more precious to him than his own life. He would do anything for her.

  But Nare didn't understand. Instead, she was flying with Raea, putting thoughts in her head about leaving him, while he sat with Josh.

  For now, he could do nothing if he wanted to keep from pushing Raea further away. Instead, he sat with Josh, who watched for the Dark Angel while not realizing he sat there with him. Humans held some odd superstitions.

  Josh watched the sky intently through his binoculars.

  "Looks like it might rain," Elis said. The clouds had threatened moisture all day without releasing anything. With the night growing cold as it was, freezing rain could fall; not unheard of in April but not normal either. But at least rain would bring Nare and Raea home, where he could listen to whatever Nare told Raea, unless they went next door to Raea's house.

  If only Josh would call it a night, so he could return home to the warmth of the house. Evelyn liked her house warm. So did Elis. Inari didn't do well
in the cold.

  But he couldn't tell Josh that; he'd promised Raea to say nothing. And he'd do anything for her, especially to win back her trust.

  "This is nothing." Josh aimed his binoculars at a different part of the sky.

  So much for that thought. Sitting outside in the chilly night could have been worse. It would have been, if not for the warmth of the resonance. Luckily, the full gloves hid the glow of the Starburst marks on his hands.

  "I think I see something, but it's so far away." Josh adjusted the binoculars, his face contorting beneath them. "I'd swear I saw something pale. Not our angel, but something."

  Probably Nare. Elis had warned her that her wings would be easy to see, but, as with everything he ever said to her, she had brushed his warning aside. "Definitely not the dark angel." He's right here with you!

  Oh, to say it. What would Josh do?

  Elis couldn't. He'd promised Raea that he'd leave it to her when she was ready. Bad enough if she found out what he had told Josh of what he "knew", the little that was that wouldn't expose him.

  "Any idea what Raea and Nare are doing?"

  "No." He hated lying, especially after Raea's accusations made that point clear. A lie of omission was still a lie. He'd known, but it had been so easy to ignore the issue when she needed consoling through the horrors she'd experienced more than worries about attachments to him.

  Josh sat in silence, completely focused on the night sky.

  "So, like, what exactly is going on with you and Raea? She just said that she needed some time apart. She wouldn't go into details, but I know it bothers her. I worry about her. You know? Especially when she cried this morning."

  Had he heard right? "She cried?"

  "Not much, but she probably would've cried more if we weren't at school." Josh offered the binoculars, but Elis shook his head. He didn't want to watch the sky. Seeing Nare would be like her taunting him. He wanted to be up there with Raea.

  Raea had cried? Why? So many reasons and possibilities circled that statement. He wanted to grab Josh and shake the answer out of him. Instead, Elis took a deep breath to calm himself.

  Josh watched him expectantly. "Why is she upset?"

  "It's complicated." If that wasn't an understatement, nothing was.

  "Complicated? What's so complicated about a relationship? Did you do something or say something to upset her?"

  "No…maybe…It's hard to explain."

  "Try me."

  "I can't."

  "Can't or won't?" Josh's accusation could have been a slap on his face.

  Anger flared from the embers of frustration. Frustration from not being able to touch Raea. Frustration from not knowing what she might decide. Frustration from everyone blaming him. And frustration that Raea had made him promise not to say anything to Josh about the truth of what the media called Dark Angel, which would have made everything easier to explain. "I can't. I promised Raea."

  Josh dropped his eyes. "Sorry. I—I know it's not my business, but I just can't believe how fast it happened. I mean, one day she was all excited about Pallin. Then, before he even did anything wrong, she was asking me for advice about what to say to you, and now she's not sure what she wants."

  "She did?" Raea hadn't said she talked to Josh, but as close as she was to the guy, Elis should have expected it. Had she said anything to Jess or Linds? Why would she tell Josh and not one of her girl friends?

  "Yeah. It was weird. I have no idea what happened between you while you were teaching her about her mother and stuff—totally between the two of you. But, like, she was so sure she liked you better than Pallin and didn't want to screw it up. She thought since I'm a guy I might—you know—like, know what was in your head. I mean, come on. How was I to know? You know?"

  "What did you say?"

  Josh shrugged. "Not much, just that we, like, get scared to say anything and sometimes the girl has to make a move."

  Had Josh hoped that move would be for himself? If he liked Raea but was afraid to say anything to her, they had more in common than Elis expected. Or was this Josh's way of testing him, to see if Josh could now steal Raea? That thought gnawed at Elis's gut, twisting and biting like a thrashing beast.

  "Apparently I was right."

  Yes, he was, but Elis wouldn't stand by and let Josh take Raea away from him. He'd waited too long for the right time and given her his heart. He wouldn't lose her without a fight.

  The faint rush of the breeze filled the void of silence between them.

  A minute passed before Elis spoke. "I don't think you're going to see any angels tonight."

  "Probably not, but I kinda wanted to talk with you anyway. I mean, after what happened with Pallin, I don't want anyone hurting her again."

  Josh would never fully understand, even after hearing the story of what happened that awful night a month ago. Elis had seen Pallin rape Raea through the vision from the Starfire that she shared with him. It sickened and angered him, eating away at the last of his control. Knowing the smug bastard was free after drugging and abducting Raea and was Shirukan, like the soldiers who killed his family, snapped something inside him. He had relinquished control to a dark monster seeking vengeance but also a need to protect the most precious part of his life.

  "I'll never hurt her." He was there to protect her. If anything, he had failed and was more determined to keep Raea safe, part of the reason he disliked being stuck there while she was out flying. Nare didn't know the land like he did. If something happened…

  "I thought that about Pallin too."

  Josh sounded wary, with every right, but it still annoyed Elis. "So, you'd rather have me out of her life?"

  "No. No, I didn’t say that."

  "But you were thinking it."

  Josh sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just that, after everything… After you told me what Pallin did and how you went after him, you know, I…kind of…um…I wonder…I'm a little skeptical. I mean, you're like so quiet most of the time, and you just went off after Pallin. And now Raea needs distance from you?"

  He hadn't thought of it that way. Josh made it sound like he was unstable, but at the time he had been. After figuring out Pallin was one of those he most hated and had hurt Raea in a way that could never be undone. The only resolution he saw at the time had been to hurt Pallin as he'd hurt Raea. He'd never experienced that kind of hatred before. "What would you have done if you knew the man who raped someone you loved was alive and free to hurt her again?"

  "I don't know. You said she killed him in self defense. I never could have done that."

  Elis could have and wanted to, not only for Raea but also for his family. Pallin had come as an undercover Shirukan, sent to take Raea back to surrender her Starfire shard and kill her afterwards. Pallin had been more dangerous alive than Josh would ever know.

  Maybe he should know. He deserves to meet his Dark Angel, and maybe he'd realize the truth about Raea and realize she deserves to be with her own kind. Damn his promise to her! He bit his tongue on saying anything to Josh. "He was far more dangerous than you realize."

  "Oh?" Josh set his binoculars down.

  "Pallin was…" He couldn't break his word to Raea. Crystal fire. "He wasn't what he said he was." There. He didn't say it.

  "I know…I checked at school, you know. I had to know, just because I couldn't stand him getting away with that. There's no record of his parents ever being there. Supposedly they registered over the phone. The papers were sent to an address in California, signed, and mailed back."

  Elis's breath froze in his chest. An address on Earth. Who would have pretended to be Pallin's parents? Did they know what Pallin was? "What was the address?"

  "The school wouldn't give it to me. That information's confidential. Does it matter?"

  "It might." Especially if someone else was helping Pallin. If they were also Shirukan, Raea was in real trouble. But why wouldn't they have acted sooner? It didn't make sense. They were up to something. But what?

  He had to track
down whoever pretended to be Pallin's parents. That address would be a start. He should have thought of it sooner, but he had other things to worry about, like taking care of Raea. Now, he had nothing else to do, and it would keep his mind off Raea, until she came back.

  His heart raced with anxiety, warming him against the cold.

  No. Not anxiety. The warmth increased throughout his body, all the way to his fingers. The resonance. The Starfire! But Josh's questions had distracted him from using the resonance.

  If he didn't, then… No! Only a Starfire portal could call to the Starfire in Keepers from a distance. Raea! He had to reach her immediately.

  "What's with the wind?" Josh looked around at the tree in the backyard waving in the sudden wind stirred up by the portal in the atmosphere.

  Elis had to get up there. Raea and Nare needed him. He looked aside at Josh. There wasn't time to waste.

  But he had promised Raea.

  Keep her promise or protect her? He knew the answer without thinking. "Where'd you see the pale wings?"

  Josh pointed to the northwest. "That way. Wait." He lifted the binoculars. "Whoa! There's—"

  "Thanks." Elis found the resonance inside him and directed its burning power to grow the wings. He clenched his teeth on the pain of muscle, bone, sinew, and feathers in rapid growth through the hidden folds Evelyn had sewn into his jacket, until he stretched his wings. Now to get up there.

  "Oh, jeez!" Josh startled and fell over his chair backwards.

  Elis helped him stand. "Careful."

  Josh stumbled back. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. No way! This. Is so not real. You're the Dark Angel?"

  "I don't have time to explain. Raea's in trouble." Josh would have to accept it, but Elis didn't have time to answer questions. "She didn't want you to know. She doesn't want anyone to know." Elis stepped back and spread his wings.

  Josh ducked at the wind of black wings flapping. With luck, Elis would return to clear everything with Josh later. For now, he had to race to catch up to Nare and Raea so far out of town. The black maw of the Starfire portal spit out a few faint dark shapes against the backdrop of moonlit clouds.

  No. Not yet! He fought against the winds stirred by the forces of the portal. He'd never make it in time.