Broken Wings (33 page)

Emotions choked him, spilling out in
tears that blurred his vision. Elis wiped them away, flying for the
brown wings. She was alive.

* * *

Raea hesitated. Elis didn't seem to be
slowing down. A midair collision was not her idea of a homecoming.
"Elis!"

Okay. That didn't slow him. In fact,
he seemed to speed up. Did he wear his tri-comm? Duh. Big help that
would be if he wasn't on the same frequency. There had to be
another way to stop him.

The warmth of the resonance faded,
leaving her chilled. Raea held her wings out in a glide and glanced
back. The black disk shrank away. No one followed, nor could they
now. A few Shirukan had pursued her on the other side, but the
flyers from the larger ship had intercepted them a few seconds
before she passed through the portal.

She hoped Cris and Leksel would be all
right. Leksel was a big guy for his smaller brother to fly with,
but Cris had seemed to manage through sheer determination in what
he lacked for strength.

The winds died with the disappearance
of the portal, leaving a calm night. So much peace. She'd
forgotten.

She'd also let her herself get
distracted from Elis until he bumped into her, but not the hard
slam she expected. Rather, his body knocked her gently, and his
arms wrapped tight around her bare back. The faint musky scent she
caught from him fueled an onslaught of fond memories. Oh, God.
She'd missed him.

"Raea." He sniffed. "You're
alive."

"Yeah." She had survived, and in his
arms, she felt more alive than any of the time she had run for her
life. Her eyes watered with tears, but she had no time to cry. He
flew carrying her, but he couldn't keep that up long.

A ways off, Nare's bright wings stood
out against the dark sky. She flew away towards the lights of town,
which called Raea home.

Elis didn't let her go while circling
back, and Raea held on tight, her chin on his shoulder. She took a
deep breath and noticed fresh air. Prairie air. Not the fishy,
ocean smell of Inar'Ahben. So much better, although a bit
chilly.

Elis landed in their field east of
town, flapping to slow his descent with her in his arms. This was
where she belonged. With him. In his arms. Forever.

He felt the same as she remembered.
His unsteady breath blew warmly through her hair. Tickles ran down
her spine with a shiver from the cold air. He trembled next to her,
but she snuggled close, her arms beneath his coat to keep warm as
much as to be close. Her hands brushed the feathers of his wings on
his back, like the small feather with her crystal.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Please,
don't leave again."

"Never again." She swallowed and
lifted her head. The faint light of the streetlights touched those
deep purple eyes. She loved that color, but not the redness around
them.

He lifted a hand from her back to wipe
his eyes. "I thought…" He sniffed, fresh tears shining from his
eyes. "I thought you were dead."

He did? She hadn't thought of that. It
made sense that he would consider her dead. The Shirukan intended
that.

Raea cleared her throat. "The rebels
rescued me. They helped me reach Saffir." She could tell him the
details later. Right now she could barely talk through the emotions
choking her.

His lips trembled, and he bit
them.

"I'm sorry. I never meant
to hurt you. I'm so
so
sorry, Elis." Seeing him cry made her weepy. He shouldn't be
crying. It was wrong on him. She wanted to soothe his tears, to see
that beautiful smile.

Raea lifted a hand to his face to
brush the black hair that fell in his eyes. She missed everything
about him, even the wild hair that refused to stay out of his face.
Her hand slid to his cheek and he held it there with a hand over
hers.

"I missed you so much it hurt…I don’t
care about bonding. I—" She inhaled and let it out slowly to steady
her breathing and the rush of her pulse when he leaned down with
his forehead next to hers. Her insides fluttered in anticipation.
"I'll never leave you. Whatever happens, let it. I can't imagine my
life without you."

Black wings lifted, cutting off the
light from the street lamps.

The touch of his fingertips
on the skin of her back sent shivers of pleasure though her. His
touch had always inspired her, but not like this. It stopped the
tears. She wanted more. She always had.
Just do it, Elis.
He was afraid now,
although she knew he wanted to. He brushed her hair from her
face.

Enough already. Raea slid her arms
around his neck and pulled him close. The touch of his lips stole
her breath and sent a ripple through her body that lifted her
wings. He pressed against her, his arms tightening so she couldn’t
have escaped if she wanted to. She didn't want to.

Those few seconds couldn't make up for
several days lost apart, but it evaporated the time.

It couldn't go on forever
though. He lifted his head, the sparkle returning to his eyes with
a hint of a smile. Now
that
was the Elis she knew.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too."

That crooked smile infected her. But
she wanted more closeness, especially to warm her bare back,
although the wings helped there.

No objections came from him when she
slid her arms around his body and laid her head against his chest,
except for one thing. She'd almost forgotten the tri-comm. Raea
pulled it from her cheek and pressed against him. His heart pounded
in her ear. Life was perfect again.

"
Now
can I interrupt?"

Raea tensed. She knew that
voice.

"I think you just did."

Raea stood up on her toes and peeked
over Elis's shoulder and the black wings now against his back.
"Josh!" He stepped away from Nare.

Elis turned with her to face them, his
arm around her waist.

"Where'd you come from?"
He'd seen her,
all
of them.

"Well, that's a lovely greeting after
we've been worrying about you for four days."

She pulled her wings tight. Too little
too late. His face said as much; he didn't look surprised in the
least. Wasn't he the smallest bit excited about seeing Elis with
wings, his Dark Angel, which had fascinated him so much?

Something was up.

Josh's eyes looked past her. "My
turn?"

Elis's hand vanished from her
back.

Okay. What was going on? Not that she
wasn’t glad to see Josh. But what the hell was going on? They were
both way too calm about this.

Josh embraced her without hesitation.
Now she was really confused. Still, it wouldn't be home without her
friends. She welcomed his hug.

He stepped back with a big
grin. Now
that
was
the Josh she expected.

"Elis told me, or showed
me."

He did? What else happened while she
was gone?

And only a shrug from Mister Dark
Angel himself.

"You're not mad I didn't tell
you?"

"That's all right. I
understand. Really." His eyes lit up. "But this is still wicked
cool, Raea. You gotta admit. I mean, you have
wings!
"

His enthusiasm made her laugh, partly
because she agreed, but mostly because she was ready to smile and
laugh after all the fear and worry about returning. "It is pretty
cool, but that's not the half of it."

"You
have
to tell me about the other world.
You were on another planet!"

"I know, but can it wait? I'll tell
you some other time."

"Sure. No problem, but
you
are
going to
tell me."

Raea grabbed the finger he pointed at
her and laughed with Josh.

Beyond Josh, Nare's wings shrank
behind her, a good idea.

"Now, I just want to go home." If she
could get past shrinking her wings. She hadn't done it in several
days. Living without the pain of transformation had been the least
of her concerns. Living without the wings, she would appreciate for
a while.

At a thought, she found the
resonance and focused the heat of it on her back. Pain seized her
body from the quick degeneration of bone and tissues. Just when she
had gotten used to
not
having to change. Oh, well. The price of being home was worth
it.

None too soon, it ended. Raea took a
deep breath and shivered, rubbing her hands on her arms for
warmth.

Until a warm coat settled over her
shoulders and back. The familiar scent made her smile. Elis
returned her smile, his arm sliding around her waist.

"Thanks." She slipped her arms in the
oversized sleeves and wrapped an arm around his back. "Let's go
home."

Josh walked with Nare ahead, leaving
her alone with Elis. She leaned against him on their walk. It was
over, at least for now. She was home and doubted Saffir would be
captured. Starfire Tower seemed to have some good
defenses.

At the crest of the hill, she stopped
and stared at the sleepy town dotted with lights for the night.
McClarron. Her aunt's and uncle's house stood at the end of the
street sloping down to the school. In all the houses, one or more
windows glowed with the soft lights of occupancy. The streets ran
into the distance, mostly empty and quiet but for the few cars
parked along the curbsides.

Josh's and Nare's unintelligible
voices carried through the quiet to them. They reached the road at
the edge of town and crossed.

"Nothing's changed," Elis
said.

"I have." More than she expected. This
place felt strange now. In all her years, she'd never experienced
that. "These last few days I saw more wonders than I would expect
in a lifetime."

"Inar'Ahben?"

She recognized the smile in his
voice.

Mmm. The light squeeze around her
waist chased away any doubts about Elis. He loved her; that would
never change. A lifetime with him wouldn't be enough for her to
make it up to him, but she would cherish every moment
trying.

"You'll have to tell me about it." His
breath blew through her hair a moment before his arm pressed her
forward.

The night was perfect. And with Josh
aware of her secret, a weight had lifted from her mind. "You showed
Josh the truth, huh?"

"Yes."

"What'd he do?" Oh, to have been
there!

"Fell over."

She could imagine it. A perfect
comedic Josh moment. Raea giggled. "I wish I could have seen
it!"

"Me too. I wish you could have been
there to see it." His voice dropped. "That was the night you were
taken."

Oh. That night. Guilt had a horrible
way of returning.

Raea bit her tongue, staring ahead at
the sobering memories. Josh and Nare passed the yellow house. Nare
must have decided to walk Josh home. He lived only a few blocks
away and the night was perfect for a walk.

After a few steps, she shook away the
guilt and asked, "Anything happen while I was away?"

"Not much."

"That's good. I guess."

They walked in silence. At the paved
road, Elis tensed next to her. She saw nothing to alarm
her.

Then again, maybe there was
something—the silhouettes of two people in the car parked across
the street from her house.

Both front doors of the car opened.
Two men stepped out and into the glow of the streetlights, one tall
and dark haired, the other short and stout, his head glaring a bit
in the light.

The men who had watched her from the
car parked across from the school! Raea pressed against
Elis.

"They've been asking about you." The
dark tone of Elis's voice meant trouble.

"What do they want?" This wasn't the
homecoming she had anticipated. She didn't want any more
trouble.

The short man met them on the sidewalk
in front of her house. "Raea Dahlrich?"

He didn't look dangerous, but his
companion possessed the arrogant calm of a professional something,
almost like a doctor. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk." His eyes flicked up
to Elis. "Alone."

Elis's arm around her waist tightened.
Good. He thought the same thing she did. No one separated
them.

"Why?"

The look they gave her exposed hand
bothered her. She let Elis's long coat sleeve cover the nearest
hand.

"There's something you need to know,"
the shorter man said.

"
I
need to know?"

"Just you."

After what she'd been through with
Corsa's betrayal, she didn't trust anyone, except the people she
cared about.