Now, Raea had trouble accepting his friendship. He saw it in the way she kept her distance. With the training, though, he hoped she would allow him in as someone she trusted, and maybe someone closer. For a brief time in that pantry, she had relaxed next to him. He could have stood there forever if she would have stayed. Every cell in his body found peace holding her. He hoped she would choose him to bond as a mate, but it seemed she had no intention of accepting him.
Only on landing in a new field a little further away from home than where they had taken off had she allowed him close again. And then it had only been to help her to pull the broken feathers, and afterwards to shrink her wings. She said little to him on the walk back through the snow.
What did he have to do to prove himself to her? The Starfire had brought this opportunity to be close in teaching her about what she was. He didn't know what else to do. Almost two years of silence and letting the students of McClarron High stick him with a negative label would be hard to break.
Some days he longed for home, despite the dangers. Earth could be much worse, even cruel, in many ways.
Elis sighed and closed the closet. Silence filled the house. Evelyn had gone to bed already. He respected her sleep, and he loved her as family. Her faith in her God inspired him. Maybe Earth wasn't so bad. And he had his cousin to talk to.
Nare. Maybe she could help him. He hurried up to his room, squeezing to the far left on the loose step to avoid making it squeak. From the desk in the corner, the computer fan hummed quietly. But he had another means to contact her.
He closed the door and pulled out the tri-comm from his jeans pocket. He carried it with him everywhere but didn't like to use it in public. Besides, while he liked to see who he spoke to, having that image move while he moved—because the signal connected to his optic nerve along with his auditory nerve—could be disorienting.
On the side of the flat, oblong device, he entered a code on the tiny buttons, the code for Nare's tri-comm. Unlike telephones, the devices had no need of a relay station when used within a few thousand miles of the tri-comm they dialed. No satellites or towers to relay messages. Inar'Ahben's orbit was far less cluttered than Earth's, except for the trading station.
He set the tri-comm on a line along his cheek from near his ear to his mouth and hit the transmit button. Now he could only wait.
While he waited, he could search. The monitor on the desk brightened with a click of a key. It had taken some time, but he had learned to type. His skills might not match others, but they were sufficient.
After some time—still no answer from Nare—and calls to the hotel, he had nothing on Pallin Montran, not even a birth record. The internet had anything on almost everyone in the world. Surely a man born to any U.S. military officer at least had a record with the government, if not a passport. Even he, Elis, had to jump through hoops, which he cleared thanks to Debbie's contacts through the office her brother Scott had worked in. He couldn't keep it all straight. The paperwork had given him a headache. She had done all the real work. What a mess. Humans had redundancies on top of redundancies.
Pallin had nothing.
Nothing. He might be able to use that.
No answer from Nare came after an hour. She had her reasons, or so he hoped. No worries there. She could take care of herself.
Elis removed the tri-comm and changed for the night. Debbie probably still knew enough people in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.
* * *
The girl had evaded her again.
Nina growled and let the door of her hotel room slam shut. Hearing it knocked out some of the curses built up inside. The night had grown too late and too cold. She couldn't sit in that car forever. In summer, maybe; but winter, no. Where had Raea gone with that boyfriend? No one had seen them since supper.
You're good. I'll give you that. But you can't hide from me forever. Sooner or later, she would catch Raea. Questions piled up, demanding answers. She had to know. If Raea had nothing odd about her, why did she continue to hide? Something was up.
At least one good thing had come from her visit—feathers. Brown and black. Some had skated across the snow, blown by the wind, but she caught all she could. The black had to be from the mysterious Dark Angel. But who was the other? She could have sworn the two wore regular clothes. Why would beings supposed to be supernatural leave tracks in the snow, or need to dress warm?
There's more to this than I thought. Something doesn't add up. Where's the connection? I'm missing something obvious.
She held up the five feathers she had collected. In the light of the hotel room, faint mini rainbows shimmered across the brown and black when she turned them at a particular angle. Beautiful.
* * *
"Look who just showed up for lunch." Linds gaped at the figure that approached the lunch line.
Pallin. His morning call had sent shivers of anticipation through Raea, and pity as he explained the trouble with homework. When she took the chance to visit with him that morning before class, Pallin agreed to join Raea to go out for lunch.
"You are ready for food?" Pallin glanced about at the others. "I being not late?"
"Nope. In the nick of time," Josh said. "So, where're we going?" Josh's interest in Pallin switched to his stomach fast.
"Let's get out of here. We can decide in the car," Linds said.
"Agreed." Jess led them to the nearest door.
"How 'bout Pizza?" Linds asked.
"Sounds good," Josh said.
The quick lunch at the gas station cafe turned out more pleasant than Raea expected. Pallin said nothing about Elis, which disappointed her in a way. Shouldn't he be jealous? He had been yesterday. Or had the fact that he wouldn't be there long made him give up any hope of continuing a long-distance relationship?
During their conversation, he and Raea both reached for a napkin. When her hand brushed his, a jolt seized through her. Pain crushed her skull.
What the hell... Not now. What happened this time? The voices cried in discord. That damned Starfire. Why did it do this? First Elis. Now Pallin.
"Raea, are you all right?"
"No." She spoke through clenched teeth. Someone make it stop. "Shut up!"
"Sor-ry," Jess said.
"Not you." Raea gasped and held her head. Quiet! I can't understand. Leave me alone!
"Where's Elis when you need him?"
Josh said it. For once, she agreed. She could use that magic touch again. How did he quiet the Starfire's voices? Go away. It's too much. If they'd just leave her alone. What did she have to do to shut them off?
The voices faded, taking the headache with them. Good riddance. She had to find a way to keep them silent. For now, they went away without much trouble, and the headache faded.
"You okay?" Linds put a hand on Raea's shoulder.
"Yeah. I'll be fine."
"What happened?"
Raea looked up at Jess. "Just a sudden headache. It's gone now."
"Shit, Raea. That's the second time in a week. I'd get it checked out if I were you."
"Ahem..." Josh gave Linds that look. The look that warned them to watch their language.
"Whatever."
Raea agreed with Linds. 'Whatever' said it best. None of them cared about his preaching.
"This is not normal?" Pallin asked.
"No, but I'm fine." Now. No thanks to the Starfire. What set them off this time? She glanced aside at Pallin's hand on the table. He had never touched her before then. What were the entities trying to tell her? That they didn't want her to be with Pallin? Did they know something, like when Elis had touched her to ease her headache last week? So, they liked Elis and not Pallin. No one controlled her life. Period. End of story. She would decide.
But the headache made her wonder. Was he a threat? Is that what they tried to tell her?
If they really wanted her to understand, the least the entities could do was tell her clearly.
She returned to the school with her friends be
fore the warning bell. The sun warmed her and melted the snow. Raea stood outside with Pallin, her friends giggling on their way into the school to give her some time alone.
"So...um...it wasn't much, but I'm glad you came." That sounded stupid.
"It was nice. I can have time later...alone?"
Another date outside of school. Another chance to find out if she was wrong or right. "Of course. Yeah. I'd like, like that." So, why didn't the proposition excite her like it did a few days ago?
"Good. I like also."
"Yeah." Now what?
Silence fell between them. Say something. "We should get back to school."
"Yes. It is…much work. You will be done soon?"
"No. A couple months. Then graduation. Then I'm all done, but of course there's college in the fall." Or would there be? What would happen with her not being human? What if Nina found out? Don't think of that. She would have a future, and she would live a human life, like her friends.
The bell rang. "We better get to class. Call me later?"
"I will call."
She waited, hoping he might offer a hug or something more, or at the least to hold her hand, but he never reached for her. He never touched her. Maybe Elis had frightened him off.
She'd kill him.
"Well…um…We should get going." She reached out, but he pulled his hand away. All right. So, that was weird. Had he felt the shock? This wasn't going as she hoped. Everything was wrong.
She hurried to the doors with him, where she caught Elis watching. Damn him. Why did he have to keep this up? Pallin wasn't there for her crystal. In fact, he had never asked about it, or her hands. And he'd been a gentleman the whole time. If Elis continued his wild goose chase and turned off Pallin, she'd never forgive him.
The afternoon brightened for her with questions about her man from some classmates and dirty looks from others. Those others could be jealous all they wanted. Pallin liked her, or so she wanted to believe. They weren't getting any part of him.
It all ended with the walk home. Elis said nothing about Pallin, and Josh said plenty, mostly complaining about the unfairness of Mister Carter's Government test. Raea hardly listened. From down the street, she spotted the dreaded white rental car driven by Nina Russet. Oh, no. Raea had nowhere to hide. None. Caught in the open. A deer in the headlights.
To hell with that woman. No more hiding. Raea could face her without giving away her secret. She just had to act like nothing was strange.
Great. That'll go over like a lead balloon. She was doomed.
Two of a Kind
Here they came. Finally. Nina started to think the girl would find another way to elude her. Not this time. Raea and her boyfriend parted with Josh and headed straight to her.
Nina no longer needed the kid. He'd been helpful, but she could manage on her own. Besides, she'd contacted all the local witnesses and arranged interviews. And D.C. and the crew would likely arrive tomorrow, in time for the weekend. They could start taping the interviews.
In the meantime, Raea's turn. Nina had questions yet to dig up answers to.
Nina stepped out of the car into a puddle. Goddam snow. How did people live in this? If the snow wasn't bad enough, the melting afterwards turned everything to a sloppy, soggy mess. She couldn't wait to get home.
"Raea." Cold water soaked her feet. Her best shoes, ruined.
The girl turned pale and averted her eyes at Nina's approach near the house.
"I've been meaning to talk to you while I can. If it's not too much, I have a few questions."
The girl lengthened her steps to the patio of the house. She wasn't getting away that easily. Nina stuck like glue. She had come for a story, and by hell or high water, she was going to get it; but she could do without the high water, at least the ice cold water that ruined her shoes.
"Your mother had the same marks on her hands, didn't she?"
Raea faltered at the bottom of the steps. Got her!
The tall boyfriend stepped between them. "That's not polite to ask."
"It's perfectly acceptable. If Raea's inherited her mother's marks, I'd like to know how." She rounded him to meet Raea on the steps. "What caused them? Did your mother ever show you anything unusual?"
"Leave me alone."
She wasn't getting off the hook that easily. But it would take some sweet-talking. Now for the act and her most innocent voice. "I'm not here to harass you. I honestly want to know. This is an astounding breakthrough. If there's any chance that it's a family trait, you should consider the possibilities. You'd be an international star, a religious icon rivaling the Pope. The power to heal the world could end wars, save the sick, and bring hope to the needy. You have a gift, Raea. A gift this world needs."
"She wants none of that." Elis stepped in front of her, while Raea slipped to the door. "Aren't you here to pursue your Dark Angel?"
"Yes, but this is also a story. I'm already here and might as well make the most of my time."
There. Nina slipped past him and leaned on the door, blocking the girl's escape. "Think about it. Let me bring in some experts to study your hands, maybe run a few tests. They're so unique and so very much like the legends of ancient tribes. And a few reports have come in the last few years of others like you around the world."
Aha! Raea knew something. The drop of her jaw and wide-eyes gave it away. Nina was on the right track.
A firm hand on her shoulder pushed her away. "Not today, Miss Russet," Elis said.
Oh, no. Raea wasn't getting away this time. Boyfriend or not, he would not separate her from the girl.
"I suggest you return to your Dark Angel."
"But—"
He shoved her back and stepped in front of her with an outstretched palm, while Raea unlocked the door. The two exchanged words in a strange tongue.
But, his hands. The exposed fingertips had bits of the same jagged lines of aquamarine as on Raea's hands. Impossible. It couldn't be.
Yes. There were faint lines of aquamarine on the undersides of two of his fingers coming out of the black gloves. The conspiracy goes deeper. What are you two up to?
Now Nina knew they hid something. But he hid his hands inside those gloves. All. The. Time. And no wonder—who wouldn't ask questions if they saw the two of them with the same markings? Two of them working together. Suspicion gnawed at her mind.
Nolan might know something. He had served as a consultant on a few shows. He was more than willing to offer his expertise in this area.
"All right. You win." She'd find a way to expose them. Later, after she talked with Nolan.
Elis dropped his hand as Raea shut the door between them.
"I'll leave. I know when I'm not wanted."
His eyebrow lifted.
Yeah, Mister Innocent Protector Boyfriend. Play games all you want. In the end, I will win. They were two of a kind, Raea and Elis. Who were they really? Or should she be asking what were they?
Nina hurried to the car, anxious to reach some privacy for a phone call. She hit the speed dial on her cell for Nolan's office. With all luck, he'd still be in. When wasn't he in? The man lived out of his office, or it seemed that way. Even at an hour ahead, it wasn't five o'clock for him. On his short days, he didn't get out until after six.
The phone rang half a dozen times. He either had the machine off or set for a dozen rings. He preferred a chance to answer in person and had always said the machine was just back-up anyway. Besides, telemarketers often gave up after four or five rings, he had added.
On the seventh ring, he picked up. Superstitious bastard. "Hello?"
"Hey, Nolan, it's Nina."
"Hey, Nina. Where are you?" The scratchy, smoker's voice. He really should quit, but he always blew her off when she suggested it. If she could, he could. It would make her feel better about quitting.
Elis disappeared inside the yellow house. Good. At least he wasn't watching her. She started the car.
"You'd never guess."
"No. Probably not.
You get around to some of the oddest locations."
"All right, wiseguy. I'm in North Dakota, investigating those Dark Angel stories. But I have something else." She switched to speakerphone and drove off. "I discovered a girl, and maybe a guy too, with strange markings on her hands. They're not tattoos, that I can tell, or even that I've been told. And they're not like an odd birthmark—it's on both hands. As far as I know, birthmarks don't have that kind of symmetry."
"Not usually. No. What do these marks look like?"
"That's the odd thing. I know I've seen something like them before."
"Which is why you called me."
"Exactly." Good old Nolan. He knew what to expect from her.
"All right. I'll bite. What are they? What do you need from me?"
"I need you to send me everything—I mean everything, pictures, interpretations, everything—on these marks. I swear I've heard about others with them in recent times too, but I'm not sure.
"Anyway, they're a kind of greenish bluish color. It's like something dropped in the center of her hands and sprayed outward, on the palms and the backs, but less on the backs. Kind of like a topaz or aquamarine sun with squiggly rays coming out. Got anything like that?"
"Maybe. I'll see what I can come up with. When do you need it?"
"Right away. I don't want to make another trip to this place if I don't have to. The crew'll be here tomorrow and if I can get two stories in one trip, fantastic."
"That's kind of short notice. Don't you think?"
Yeah, well, that's the business. Nina bit her tongue. No sense upsetting Nolan, not if she wanted his cooperation. "I'm here now. It's just easier."
"For you." He grumbled the words but let out a sigh in the end. "All right. Send it to your email?"
"Thanks, Nolan. I owe you one."
"Yes, another one. I'll add it to your tab."
Ouch. That was a bit harsh. "Point made. I'll repay you when the time comes."
He cleared his throat, or so it seemed, although she swore she heard a "Yahright" in there. Someday, she would repay him for all the research. "Call me if you need anything else, Nina."
Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) Page 12
