Broken Wings (21 page)

Always the expressive one. In a way,
he reminded Raea of Josh, but Josh was too conservative with his
religious beliefs. Cris just plain didn't care what anyone
thought.

["You may be in luck, if you'll be
staying for dinner."] Kayan pulled a plate out of a top
cupboard.

Cris sat up. ["Don't tease me. We may
just have to stay one more night for that. I mean, if you don't
mind."]

Kayan poured some of the contents of
the pan onto the plate, her mouth twitching with unspoken
words.

Was she worried? Didn't
Kayan want them to stay? Raea could only guess the answer was no,
but Kayan wouldn't say it out of a sense of hospitality. It made
sense for her to feel that way. ["We don't want to impose. I don't
want the Shirukan catching us here."]
And
neither should you, Cris.
She kicked him
under the table.

["All right. I get your point…That
hurt."]

Good.

Raea sat back and welcomed the
steaming plate of a stir fried blend of strange items. Kayan had
proven last night her culinary talents. Raea wasn't about to start
doubting, at least not when her stomach rumbled in
protest.

Kayan set another plate for Cris and
sat down with her own. They barely finished when a boy about ten
ran in yelling excitedly, his brown and gold highlighted wings
lifting behind him. Soon, the whole house filled with the commotion
of three boys, the first having been the middle child.

Raea hurried to finish and escape
their questions with Cris close behind. He shut the door after
them, cutting off the noise.

In the sun outside, she found Leksel
focused on a holographic display above a square device in his
hands. The center of the translucent display looked like an island
with a bottom that sank to a point. Around the bottom tangled heavy
roots, which tapered up to the top edge.

Raea didn't have to recognize it to
know from Elis's description when he taught her about Inar'Ahben
that this was a searoot island. The only dry land on Inar'Ahben
were the floating islands. She'd never seen it, except for her
brief encounter yesterday, but she had imagined when he described
the world in detail.

She stopped close to Leksel and
studied the image. Just an island; nothing else. But Leksel stared
intently. ["What is it?"]

["Nothing. Yet."] He glanced aside at
her.

Now what? The warmth that
flowed up to her face made her look away. No way. Leksel was so far
beyond what she liked in a guy. But what if she didn't make it back
to Elis? No. She couldn't think like that. She
would
return to Elis and
Earth.

["We escaped the Shirukan, Leks."]
Cris waved his hand through the image.

Leksel's face hardened into the
familiar scowl. ["Don't be so sure. We're not far from
Naviketan."]

Cris crossed his arms. ["Crystal fire.
Why not get something to eat? Relax a little."]

["No."]

["For once in your life, would you
relax?"]

["Like you?"]

["Maybe. It's a start."]

Leksel rolled his eyes and stepped
away from them. ["Stay close, you two."]

["How? You just walk
away."]

Leksel said nothing, but the muscles
of his jaw twitched.

They acted like children sometimes.
Cris taunting and Leksel trying to ignore him, until Cris screwed
up.

Enough of this. Raea wanted to slap
them both. ["You need food too. Go inside and eat, quickly if you
must. You won't miss much, I'm sure. You're no good to us if you're
starving."]

Leksel searched the blue sky around
them.

["She's right."]

If looks could kill, Cris would be
dead. That scowl softened when Leksel offered her the palm-sized
device from his gloved hands. Cris was right; he should relax a
little. Fully clothed in the Shirukan uniform just to spend time on
an island. Uptight much?

Raea took the device.

["It's keyed into the island's
scanners, but your eyes are just as important. Let me know if you
see anything."]

["Sure."]

Was that a hint of a smile before he
walked away?

Nope. The dark look he gave Cris on
passing erased any traces of it.

Good thing he turned his back. Cris
would have been pulverized for his mockery after Leksel passed. The
big man had restrained himself so far, but she didn't doubt that
sooner or later he'd burst. She hoped she wasn't around to see
it.

Now to watch the sky. Leksel had
entrusted her with watching for Shirukan. She'd only known him a
day or two, but she didn't want to disappoint him. After all they'd
been through, though, it felt like months.

She'd lost track of time. Was it
Sunday back home, or maybe Monday or Tuesday? What was everyone
doing? How was Elis? If she were home, she could be sitting with
him, snuggled close, his arms around her and the comforting warmth
of his body next to her. He never pressured her for anything—Nare
had been so wrong about him. He'd only been there when she needed
him, always willing to give up his needs for her. She needed him
now more than ever, but he was galaxies away.

All of this was her fault. If she had
trusted her feelings, she would have been with him. Her dear, sweet
Elis with those deep purple eyes. Oh, she loved those eyes. So much
depth and emotion locked into a beautiful color.

She swallowed the lump forming in her
throat and sniffed away the tears threatening.

["Are you all right? I didn't think
Leks—"]

["It's not him."]

["Me?"] Cris actually sounded
worried.

["No. Never mind."] She didn't want to
talk about it. ["It's nothing."]

She knew that look—he didn't believe
her—but he didn't say anything and let it slide. Raea focused on
the holographic image and the clear sky far around the tiny island
in the center.

["I know. How about a little flying? I
could use the exercise."] Cris spread his wings.

["But what about watching for
Shirukan?"]

He waved away her question. ["It's
clear skies. We'll see them long before they can reach us. Besides,
we won't go far."]

["I don't know. Leksel seemed to think
they might come."] Otherwise he wouldn't have been watching with
unwavering attention, or so she assumed.

["Just a quick flight, before he gets
done. You'll feel better."]

She wanted to. Really wanted to, just
to see the whole island once, up close and real.

["Come on, Raea. You know you want
to."]

Damn him. The urge to spread her wings
drove her curiosity to see the island into a frenzy. ["All right.
Just a quick flight."]

["Don't worry. We'll be back before he
can notice."]

He stepped back and spread his wings
to their fullest, and, with a few flaps, he lifted. Raea followed,
welcoming the feel of the wind beneath her wings. The projector in
her hand showed two dots in the sky over the island. The island
itself remained stationary in the center while their dots moved,
tracking their positions relative to the island.

Now to see this searoot island. An
entire floating island. Elis had said the roots grew beneath the
ocean floor, spreading over hundreds of years and filling with
gases. Tectonic activity loosened them sometimes before they gained
much size. In other places, the roots went on for miles, twisting
and growing sometimes for a thousand years under the ocean bed.
Once they separated the rocky base from the ocean floor, the island
would float to the surface and drift with the water currents. After
some time of continued growth, the roots increased in size and
converted enough gas to lift them into the sky. Once in the sky,
they stayed for hundreds of years—often more than a thousand—until
something punctured the roots, which hardened in the open
air.

She thought it too amazing to be true,
but here she was.

And there was the underside and the
roots. The thickest, at the bottom point, were the size of a house
in diameter. They tangled and twisted around each other, vying for
a way to the upper edge. She never imagined anything like
that.

On the projector, another dot
appeared. Uh, oh. Leksel or someone else? Did she hear her name
called?

Raea's stomach twisted. Maybe Leksel
hadn't trusted them, or maybe the Shirukan had found them, or maybe
Corsa had returned. ["I think we better go back."]

["If you insist."]

["I do."] Maybe the image would prove
it.

Cris's lip twisted when she pointed to
the third dot.

He grumbled under his breath. She
didn't hear what he said; neither of them wore their tri-comms and
the wind carried away their voices.

Raea caught an updraft that lifted her
over the edge of the island, where a grove of dark purple stalks
topped by an umbrella of pink, fanlike leaves waved in the breeze.
Beneath the pink "leaves" grew grapelike clusters of orange and
purple fist-sized balls of some kind.

The dot now at the opposite end of the
island switched direction. Leksel was going to be
pissed.

Cris hung in the air behind her. He
knew he was in trouble. She couldn't imagine how mad Leksel was.
She didn't want to imagine it, much less see it. But see it she
would. Who else could it be?

The black shape in the sky darted at
them, looking far too familiar. Raea lowered to land on the soft
plants of the island topside. Solid ground beneath her feet gave
her some confidence. Leksel landed close by, but rather than a
scowl, he studied her with a look of concern. ["Are you all
right?"]

He didn't wait for an answer but
hurried past her, his wings tight to his back. ["What in Ahben's
depths were you thinking!"]

Cris backed away, but not fast enough.
Leksel caught him by the collar and shook him. ["I had no way to
track you. No way to know where you went. I thought the Shirukan
had taken you, both of you!"]

Ouch. Raea flinched at the scowl that
caught her for just a moment.

["Back off!"] Cris slammed his arms up
against Leksel's to knock him off. ["We just went for a little
flying."]

["No flying! You stay here. You stay
where I tell you!"]

Oh, God. She didn't like
where this was headed.
Say
something!
["Nothing happened."]

["It could have."] His eyes
never left Cris. ["And I'm sure it was
his
idea."]

["So what?"] Cris shoved Leksel in the
chest.

What the hell? Was he trying to
provoke him? Leksel possessed an air of lethal capability about
him. She'd bet he was a skilled fighter. Cris had to know that
better than her.

["I'm sick of you always
telling me what to do. It's never good enough.
I'm
never good enough… That's it,
isn't it? You blame me for everything. Look in a mirror, Leks.
There's the real problem."]

Uh, oh. Cris did it now. Raea had seen
that look on guys at school before that she saw on Leksel now, just
before they took the first swing.

It happened before she blinked. Cris
stumbled back against a wall of rock. Pale, snakelike vines ducked
inside their holes.

["It's about time."] Cris touched his
jaw tenderly and flinched. ["Come on, Leks. Don't stop there."] He
took a stance that expected an attack.

["Don't—"] She spoke up too
late.

Leksel lunged for Cris and caught his
arm as he twisted away. The two wrestled on the ground and pulled
apart to circle like vultures. Cris taunted him with a
smile.

Leksel lifted his wings, his eyes
never wavering from Cris. A second later, he tucked his wings and
whirled in a dizzying kick that knocked Cris back. Cris hurried to
his feet in time to meet another kick.

["You wanted this. Now fight like you
mean it!"] Leksel didn't wait for any response but lifted his wings
and himself to kick Cris in the chest, but Cris whirled
away.

["Stop it!"]

Neither one acknowledged her, their
eyes focused on each other.

This couldn't be happening! What were
they thinking? Clearly Leksel had the advantage.

She had to stop this, somehow. She
needed help.

Dargilis!

Keeping a wide radius around them, she
raced to the home in the rocky ledge across the middle of the
island. Someone stepped out, but she didn't recognize the woman
with the slender body and yellow hair and wings. ["What's going
on?"] the woman asked.

["They'll kill each other."] Or,
rather, Leksel would kill Cris.

Or not. A line of blood trailed from
Leksel's lip. Maybe Cris wasn't as hopeless as she thought. Still,
someone had to stop them before they knocked each other
senseless.

["Wait here."] The woman disappeared
back inside. They'd come up on the opposite end of the island. The
metal structure in the center was on the other side of the ridge
from where they'd started, or rather, she viewed it from a
different perspective. This wasn't the door she thought it
was.