Broken Wings (22 page)

After a few seconds, Raea couldn't
wait. She returned to them. There had to be a way, she just had to
find it. ["Stop this! Both of you!"]

Leksel grunted from Cris's elbow into
his ribs but caught him and flipped him over. In size, Cris was no
match for Leksel. Why did he insist on fighting? He might be
quicker, but eventually he would lose.

["Leksel. Cris. Both of you. Stop!"]
She screamed to no effect. Damn them!

Tears burned her eyes. If they killed
each other, who would help her? All their trouble rescuing her
would be for nothing. She'd never see Elis, much less apologize for
hurting him. And she didn't want either of them hurt.

["Just stop! Damn it!"] Both of them
bled now, their uniforms battered and smudged with their blood
mixed with dirt from rolling on the ground. Feathers lay scattered
and bent over the ground.

They acted deaf to her pleas. Why was
this happening? All she wanted was to go home.

This was almost as bad as seeing Elis
take on Pallin.

Something happened while she wiped her
eyes—they moved too quickly. One second they circled, the next,
Leksel knelt over Cris, who laid on his back with his arms over his
face.

Leksel pounded him.

Oh, God! She couldn't stand this. A
few people had emerged from their homes, but no one tried to stop
them. ["Stop it, Leksel!"] She shrieked the command, but he
continued punching Cris, who struggled to free himself; but the
moment he moved his arm, Leksel took a shot at his face.

She had to do something. But what?
Cris couldn't take much more by the blood and bruising and his slow
reactions to defend himself. Seeing no other choice, Raea ran at
Leksel and jumped on his back, her arms around his neck. ["Stop it.
You're killing him. Stop! Please stop."] Tears burned down her
cheeks.

What the hell was she thinking? She
was no match for Leksel.

He pulled his arm back.

["No. Don't. Stop fighting."] Her
voice choked. She squeezed around his neck, afraid of hurting him
but afraid of him hurting Cris more.

His muscles slackened. Had he finally
listened?

No. He punched down.

But not at Cris. Instead, his fist
slammed into the ground near Cris's head. Leksel's back rose and
fell with his rapid breathing and his wings fell limp.

["No more,"] she begged.

Leksel shifted and sat back. He pried
her arms off his neck. No way. Not if he was going to pick up where
he left off. Not until Cris was out from beneath him.

A couple of men, including Dargilis,
helped Cris crawl away. Raea let go, sniffing and wiping the tears
from her face. ["Idiot."]

Leksel watched Cris stumble away with
Dargilis's support. After a few seconds, Leksel took a
step.

Oh, no. Raea stepped in front of him,
her hand out at his chest to stop him. Not again. Never again.
She'd seen enough. ["Don't you dare."] What could she do if he was
determined, though? She was no match for Leksel. So what. Cris
might be a pain, but he didn't deserve the thrashing. ["I've had
enough of this. Stay. Away."]

His cut and bruised lips twitched, but
no words formed.

If that's how he wanted it, fine. She
was tired of it all, but she wouldn't stand by and let them kill
each other.

Raea stepped away, wary of him
following. When he didn't, she hurried to help Cris.

Man, Leksel did a number on him.
Bruises formed on his face, and his left eye swelled shut. Blood
trickled from a cut in his bottom lip and another by his ear. He
walked, or at least moved his feet, but Dargilis did most of the
walking.

She took his other arm around her
neck.

["Thanks."]

Raea swallowed the emotions choking
her.

["I mean it…for stopping
him."]

Not again. She couldn't stop crying
and wiped her eyes. "What the hell were you thinking!" Like he
understood English. She took a deep breath to calm herself. ["Why
did you provoke him?"]

["I don't know. Maybe I needed to…It
was coming sooner or later. I guess now was a good time to get it
out."]

She wanted to hit him but refrained;
he'd taken enough of a beating. ["What kind of answer is that? Are
you insane?"]

The unbruised corner of his mouth
lifted. ["Maybe."]

Maybe nothing. He must have been to
take on Leksel like that.

["You think you can use some of that
Keeper healing on me?"]

She could only wish. She hadn't
progressed far enough in her training with Elis, especially while
distracted by wanting to be with him and struggling to create a
portal. ["I…haven't learned that yet."]

["Oh."] Cris dropped his head and let
his shoulders drop. Did he expect an instant healing? Was that why
he took on Leksel, because she was there to fix any damage? The
idiot.

["I'm sorry."]

His silence stung. They passed
unfamiliar faces staring at them. Not them; her. Or rather, her
hands. She was a Keeper in Shirukan uniform. That should give them
something to talk about.

The numbers of people piqued her
curiosity about something. ["How many people live on this
island?"]

Dargilis glanced past her to the
people, his neighbors. ["This island is home to twenty families. We
share the farm work, support each other."]

["That sounds…pleasant,"] Cris
said.

["Far different than the cities, I
hear."]

Pleasant? It sounded like a commune.
What could be pleasant about that? Raea bit her tongue. This was
Inar'Ahben, not Earth. Besides, wasn't her small hometown kind of
that way—people helping people?

They reached the house and helped Cris
into a room with a wide bed mat on the floor with pillows,
blankets, and strange but familiar objects—toys?—strewn about. They
laid him on the mat on his front and set a pillow under his head.
Cris winced with each movement and finally relaxed when he lay flat
on his stomach.

Odd. She hadn't thought about it, but
the muscles on the back to support the wings would make laying on
his back uncomfortable on more than a thin mat.

["Do you need anything?"] First he
annoyed her, now the fight. But she couldn't stand seeing anyone
beat up. There had to be more to it. He and Leksel must have known
each other a while if Cris expected this day to come. Even she had
felt the tension between them.

["Rest."]

If that's what he wanted, he could
have it. Raea followed Dargilis to the door.

["You don't have to leave,
though."]

Of course. Even when he was
down. His body might be beat up, but his mind wasn't. Too bad she
couldn't control the Starfire energy to heal. Although she disliked
the idea of Cris hitting on her, she'd feel better, since
she
had
accepted
his idea of flying. In some small way, this was as much her fault
as his.

She could try. Maybe the entities
would guide her.

What if she hurt him instead? She
couldn't live with herself. Killing Pallin had stripped her
confidence in trusting the Starfire. She couldn't risk hurting
Cris. He might be annoying, but he was a good person.

But they had yielded to her
will in the recyc center, and he was
meistal
. He could absorb some of the
power. She didn't know how to heal, but she knew how to control the
level of power. The entities had shown her that. And Elis had said
she learned fast with their help.

Would it be enough, though?

Raea bit her lip and stared at Cris,
who had closed his eyes. Did she dare risk it?

If she didn't try, it would take as
much as a week for him to recover, maybe longer, but Inari healed
faster than humans, according to Elis. She didn't want to leave
Cris behind, especially after losing Corsa, and be alone with
Leksel. Nor did she want to risk the Shirukan catching
Cris.

Only one option remained—she had to
try.

Raea knelt down by his head.
["Cris?"]

["Hmm? You stayed?"] He
smiled.

["Don't get any ideas. I…I want to try
to heal you."]

He said nothing for a few seconds, but
opened his healthy eye and stared at her. ["Try?"]

A single quote rose from
her memories.
Shut up, Yoda.
Josh and his favorite movies…["I've never done it,
but I've been helped by the Starfire entities in all my training.
I'm sure they'll help me with this."]

He took a deep breath and let it out
with a groan. ["Do it."]

["You're sure?"]

["As long as you are. I trust
you."]

Her heart thumped against her chest,
but she let out a deep breath to calm it. Raea sat cross-legged
next to him and sandwiched his closest hand between hers, and
closed her eyes. Finding the resonance came easy. After all her
practice, that feeling of a clarity of pitch trembled through
her.

I need to heal.
She focused on that thought and the warmth of
Cris's hand.

The resonance warmed through her. Her
hands tingled. That had never happened before. The warmth pulsed
through the Starburst marks, while the resonance continued to warm
her. The healing energy poured from her, until it washed out,
leaving her chilled.

She opened her eyes and shivered from
the cold aftereffect of releasing the energy.

Cris smiled and pulled his hand away.
["I knew you could."]

More confidence than I
had.
Maybe the Starfire was worth the
trouble it caused. It had helped her, besides making her a target.
She could do this.

He closed his eyes and let out a heavy
sigh. ["I'm sorry if I offended you."]

What?

Oh. Yes, he had, but she didn't want
to argue with him while he recovered. ["Don't worry about
it."]

["I won't."]

Of course. She left him lying there
and closed the door behind her. Leksel stood in the hall. Rage
boiled up inside her, but her fatigue stole it away. ["Come to
finish what you started?"]

["He started it, but no…I came to find
you."]

What? Her? Why? Confusion tangled
questions in her head, particularly at the gentle tone of his
voice. This wasn't the Leksel she'd come to know.

["I…Thank you."]

For what—healing Cris? ["I didn't know
if it would work. I mean, I've never healed anyone—"]

["No…Yes. But I meant for stopping
me."]

Oh.

He walked away without another word.
Okay, now she didn't know what to think.

The only thing she knew with certainty
was that she wanted to go home and leave all this
behind.

__________

Distractions

"Elis!"

Damn it, Nare. He covered his head
with the spare pillow. He could only hope Nare would take the
hint.

The pillow yanked from his grasp,
leaving her annoying face staring down at him. "Josh called. Are
you going to school or not? And what should he tell the others
about Raea?"

For once in his time there, he hated
Monday. Why should he go to school when he didn't have any reason
to be there without Raea?

Besides, Josh had pestered him enough
yesterday with more questions. They wouldn't leave him alone. Elis
barely had time to search online records for Matthew Stein, much
less for the post office box in San Francisco. Those searches would
take time. He'd wasted much of that time yesterday answering to
Nare and Josh. Even when he hinted that he was busy, they wouldn't
leave him alone.

He hoped to make up that time today,
especially since nothing had any record of the phone number on
Stein's business card, and he'd tried every reverse lookup he could
find. He'd have to use other resources, those only available by
calling during normal business hours.

First, he had to get rid of Nare. "I'm
not going."

"Won't that look suspicious? Do you
want people asking questions?"

He grabbed his pillow away and secured
it over his head with his arm. "Leave me alone, Nare."

"No. The best thing you can do right
now is to pretend nothing is wrong. Make an excuse. Raea hasn't
been gone long. I haven't given up hope. Neither should you, you
big…emo."

Was that the best insult she could
think of?

Probably not, but he'd bet she was
being polite in case Evelyn overheard. He'd scolded her already
about Evelyn's standards. It felt good, for a change, to have that
power.

She couldn't stand there all day.
Sooner or later she'd have to leave.

Sooner than he expected, her steps
faded out his door. Good. Now maybe he could get some
rest.

What's the worst that could happen if
he didn't go to school? Maybe someone called about Raea, and Debbie
said she wasn't home, or rather no one would answer the phone until
later since Debbie was at work. That might lead to questions about
where she went, which may lead some to wonder about why she was
gone and when or if she was coming back. Contradictory stories
might surface. It may lead to other questions.