Raea hurried up the stairs ahead of Elis, turning around the banister along the top to reach his room. There, she flopped down on the bed and let out a heavy sigh. Her whole body welcomed the softness and calm. It felt so good. No noise. No people. No one threatening to kill them. Just them and the quiet of the old house.
Finally.
At the snick of the door lock, she smiled at Elis. "I'll bet you're glad to be out of there."
He stepped to the bed and stood over her while removing the black fingerless gloves hiding his Starburst marks. "You know me too well."
"Maybe. You surprised me with your survival." Curiosity prompted her to stand up next to him. "You were dead, Elis. I saw you die."
Purple eyes held her suspended on the memory haunting her. She would never forget his blood on her hands and dissolving of their future together.
His hand warmed her cheek. "I was close…You saved me. The Risaal might have healed me, but they could never have given me a chance without what you did."
Dear God. Don't stop. His caress on her cheek touched deep inside so her insides quivered with anticipation. She'd missed that tender touch, their time alone together learning about each other and growing closer. And she'd almost lost it.
"But you were dead."
"No. You stopped that. You used the Starfire to heal me. I felt it and I connected to you through it to share where the Eye was…because I thought I would die. Obviously, it worked, both ways."
That's what she thought. "One problem—now Nare guards it."
"That can't be helped. You did what you had to do."
True. And Nare hadn't said anything more at the party next door. In fact, she'd come to their rescue to divert Anita's attention while they slipped away. Still, the shard should have been his.
"She can be useful."
A smile curved up his face, brightening his whole demeanor. "Maybe."
While facing him, another thought struck her. "How is the injury?" She pulled his shirt up.
Elis lifted his arms and slipped it off all the way, standing bare-chested before her. That's what some part of her wanted. Her pulse quickened as it did the nights she'd stayed with him, snuggling because she didn't want to be alone. She'd wanted more on many occasions, but he'd never asked or he had backed off, and then she'd thought they'd had all the time in the world. Obviously, they didn't.
The wound had healed completely but left a scar smaller than a quarter and slightly off center to his left. Exactly where…
Raea put a hand to her chest. She hadn't thought about it since last night; she'd been too focused on the fact that he was alive. "That was it. Wasn't it?"
"What?"
"The bonding. I was feeling your pain. Right here." She patted her chest, which corresponded to the exact place of the wound on him. In the bonding process, they would share each other's pain and pleasure. She had realized it when his leg had been injured last night, but not before. Of course that was it—the pain in her chest. It was his pain, but their shared pain. "You were alive and I…I didn't even realize."
His cheeks twitched with the clamping of his jaw, his face grim. "It's progressed more quickly than I expected. I'm sorry."
"No. Don't apologize." He always apologized for nothing, but she had been the one to want to be close, the reason it had progressed so quickly.
She put a hand to his cheek. "I'm sorry I didn't understand, but I'm not afraid, Elis."
His brows pinched. "You're not?"
"Not with you. I told you three weeks ago." When she'd returned from Inar'Ahben. Had he forgotten so soon, her dear sweet Elis? "I don't care what anyone thinks should be. I know what's right for me."
His hands tightened at her waist, stealing her breath in a wave of excitement.
"I thought…" He leaned over her, his body pressing closer. Oh, God. Her heart raced to catch up with her breath he stole. "I mean I…I didn't think it was what you wanted, so fast."
"I was never afraid with you." The words came out in what breath she could catch. It all happened so fast, but she had to make him understand—she didn't want him to stop.
"After all that happened, I thought you needed time."
"Time is so precious," she whispered.
"You're not afraid?"
Silly boy. Didn't she already say that? "No."
His warm breath invited her to close the gap in a sweet kiss intended to make things clear. For a few fleeting seconds, he held her tight, his mouth pressed hard to hers in a kiss that banished all doubts. But this was Elis and he restrained himself, despite the clear physical desire to be close.
He breathed hard but didn't fully pull away. "I was afraid. After what happened when you learned about bonding and what he did to you, I wasn't sure..."
"Is that what it was all about? Is that what you were trying to tell me?" That night here in his room, before they went out flying and the Risaal caught them.
"Yes."
She almost laughed, but the confusion on his face tugged at her sympathy. "Elis…Don't be." While her pulse raced, she slid a hand down the hard muscles of his body, down to the thin scar on his lower side from Pallin's knife. "Don't…hold back." Man, she felt the desire inside her, but was it her or him? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but giving in to the overwhelming need to be close spreading like a wild fire from within her.
His arms pulling her against him drew her eyes up. She gently brushed aside the black hairs from his face and the reflection of her desires burning in his eyes. "I said I'd let it happen. However much time we have or not, I will never waste another second loving you." The last came out in a whisper before he kissed her.
Reprisal
Prime Commander Alshouan Valdas pulled her dark brown wings tight to her back in agitation and tapped her fingers on her black sleeve. Her eyes focused on the image projected into her optical nerve of Prime Commander Loran Tarolis in his dark blue suit, the uniform of a human business man. On Earth, he was the owner of the privately held NeoGen Laboratories. In reality, he was there to finish the genetics research ordered by Empress Shirat Marin.
A loose strand of auburn hair fell into her face and, with a fingertip, she combed it aside. Her finger slid down along her cheek and passed over the small bump of a scar. She hadn't asked to have it removed but kept it as a reminder of what she had endured. Twice she had escaped death, once at the hands of the rebel who had helped the Earth-born Crystal Keeper and again when Empress Shirat Marin had spared her life.
Marin's judgment. She had faced Marin's judgment after the Crystal Keeper from Earth escaped and the Kerannis defeated their efforts to recapture her. After losing the Crystal Keeper, she had called off the battle. Even with their three ships, they had been outgunned. She quit while she was ahead. Their objective hadn't been an open firefight, only the capture of the Crystal Keeper; and once the girl slipped past the Shirukan forces, there was no reason to stay. The open warfare to unite their world would come when Heffin's Gate was at full power.
She would not fail a third time.
Tarolis casually brushed something off his sleeve as if his report was no more important than a speck of dust. ["After a portal reported in Sector Oros two-four, the region humans call the Middle East, I sent Lieutenant Oranil to investigate. She observed two Keepers visiting with some humans. After they left through a portal, she proceeded to interrogate the humans. The Keepers returned to their local region, after requesting an interesting artifact—an Eye. According to the human who talked, it held a crystal point."]
Valdas swore her heart jumped to her throat. Her wings ruffled behind her involuntarily with her shock. ["A fifth shard?"] How could they have missed it?
Tarolis shrugged. ["Perhaps. The humans died before Oranil could obtain more. They were weak."]
Interrogation methods could be brutal, but it was a risk worth taking. They might have another shard on Earth to capture. But if there was a fifth shard, there might be more. Where were they? How many were there?
; Saffir would know. More than ever, the desire to capture Starfire Tower burned through her veins. The fortress of the Keepers and the traitor who gave Valdas that scar sat behind those walls thinking they were safe. No more. The time would soon come to finish what Lieutenant Sandral had started.
She glanced aside at the yellow-haired woman and caught her amber eyes in the glow from the control board. Tarolis didn't know she was there, but she couldn't hear his side of the conversation.
["They gave us enough. We have a new threat on Earth, Prime Commander. A new Crystal Keeper to capture. Learn the name and location so we may plan to extract them."]
His eyes radiated defiance with the hardened expression. He might be equal in rank, but his job was to support her from Earth. He despised taking orders from her.
["As you wish."]
["I do. You have forty-two hours. Prime Commander Alshouan out."]
["Yes, ma'am."] He reached up to the tri-comm on his cheek and his image disappeared. Abrupt but better than harassing a fellow officer of the Shirukan.
Alshouan pulled the tri-comm from her cheek and turned to face the lieutenant. Corsa's yellow wings tightened at her back. ["They have a fifth shard on Earth."]
Corsa's jaw dropped. ["I thought there were only four."]
["We all did…Very clever. Heffin's Gate could never be at full power, even with Raea's and Saffir's shards."] Their plans would never have been complete. Saffir must have known. She knew everything about the Keepers' history. If she didn't know, perhaps it was listed in the database, but that was locked, accessible only through the computer in Starfire Tower. ["We need access to Starfire Tower."]
Corsa's lips curved up. ["I'll have it soon. While I had access, I left a little gift in the main computer. I don't think Leksel found it."]
Traitor! The name left a bitter taste in her mouth. That a Shirukan could betray his own kind to help their enemy churned her stomach, the bile rising to burn her throat. Corsa's report had given her one more reason to hate the man who scarred her. She would bring him to justice, along with the Keepers who thought they were safe.
["How long until you have access?"]
Corsa's lip twisted into a grimace. ["The remote security algorithm changes every time I decipher the first character. It may require direct access."]
Clever Keepers. Too bad they wouldn't last long. The stain on their world would be rubbed out as their empress rightly sought.
["Then we continue with our plans. Continue your work."]
["Yes, ma'am."] Corsa's words carried the respect for her that Tarolis had denied.
The yellow-winged Shirukan spun on her heel and marched through the door as another black-uniformed Shirukan entered, also of yellow-wings and amber eyes. The hiss of the door closing cut off the clap of Corsa's boots on the black stone lining the corridors of the machine known as Heffin's Gate.
He halted just inside the door and, in rigid precision, momentarily crossed both arms over his chest with tight fists inside black gloves. His arms fell to his sides and he stood proud before her.
He looked up and, in the glare of one of the overhead lights, a dark determination flared in his eyes.
["You look well, Commander, considering what happened."]
A snarl curled his lip, and she understood the reason. Rather than take offense, she agreed with his right to display such emotions—his fury being directed at the Keepers rather than her. After more than a month in intensive recovery from his burns, he'd spent the last three quarters returning for treatments to repair the sealed feather follicles. Obviously, it had worked; his golden wings displayed full plumage, although not yet as long as necessary to perform the rigid maneuvers required of someone of his rank. That would come soon enough.
["My body is mending from its wounds, but my loyalty has never broken,"] he said, his voice cold and menacing.
["Your determination is inspiring. Are you prepared to return to your former duties?"] His every twitch fell under her scrutiny, but he never faltered from that cold, harsh gaze. She had been right to choose him, despite what General Maenast might think. He would never betray her.
A dark grin stretched up to crease that beautiful face so meticulously reconstructed. ["Yes, ma'am."]
["Good. I have special plans for you, given your prior experience, Commander Montran Pallin."]
About the Author
Melanie Nilles grew up on a western North Dakota cattle ranch and farm. Along with her interest in horses, she always had a fascination with science fiction and fantasy. She currently resides in central North Dakota with her family, which includes her husband and kids, and three cats. Her published works include the STARFIRE ANGELS series and the LEGEND OF THE WHITE DRAGON epic. Besides writing, she also trains and shows her horse. For updates, visit her website at www.melanienilles.com.
Other available books and ebooks by Melanie Nilles:
STARFIRE ANGELS
BROKEN WINGS
(Starfire Angels Book 2)
WHEN ANGELS CRY
(a Starfire Angels novella)
A TURN OF CURSES
LEGEND OF THE WHITE DRAGON: LEGENDS
LEGEND OF THE WHITE DRAGON: LEGACIES
LEGEND OF THE WHITE DRAGON: DESTINY
LEGEND OF THE WHITE DRAGON: LEGENDS, LEGACIES, DESTINY
(Three Complete Novels)
FIREBLOOD
(A Legend of the White Dragon Novel)
Coming Winter 2011:
ORIGINS OF DARK ANGEL (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3.5)
Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) Page 26