Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) Read Online Free

don't know."
    "I know." His hand in hers calmed her.
He knew, but he'd suffered too. He understood.
    They opened the door and closed it
tight behind them. ["Don't say anything to Evelyn,"] he
whispered.
    Why not Evelyn? Elis
surprised her with that. ["What if someone comes looking for us,
for you ?"]
Shouldn't the old widow have some preparation? Elis was the one
with the knowledge about the Eye.
    After he kicked his shoes off into the
foyer closet, she stepped out of hers and closed the closet door.
Now to go back to something better, she hoped. He locked his
fingers through hers and led her up the stairs.
    "Elis?" The age-cracked voice came
from the front sitting room.
    Damn.
    He paused on the squeaky step with a
wince. "Yes, it's us."
    "Is everything all right,
dear?"
    "Nothing to worry about."
    The steady tap of the cane announced
the old widow's approach before she appeared from the direction of
the dining room. "All right. Dinner will be ready soon."
    Food! Exactly what Raea's stomach
needed, if she could tolerate eating. Between Elis's unfinished
business and the news of Torres and Stein, it seemed more inclined
to knot up than accept food. Any other girl would love to have
Raea's appetite, or lack thereof, but other girls didn't go out
flying nearly every night or burn off those calories using Starfire
energy faster than one could blink. There were some advantages to
being a Keeper.
    "Thanks, Evelyn." Elis gave her a
quick smile and led Raea up the stairs to the bedroom, where he
closed the door—perfect—and took the desk chair at the
computer—bummer.
    If she thought something was wrong
before, that was nothing to now. He was in seriously distracted
mode. "You better not be searching again for information about
Pallin's contacts." She shuddered at the memory, disgusted that she
had ever fallen for those good looks and charm. Thank goodness for
Elis being there to save her.
    Elis said nothing, his eyes on the
computer monitor.
    "Elis?"
    Not even a glance, but those inviting
lips she'd rather have against hers pressed together so they
paled.
    You know you're in
trouble. She crossed the room to see what
held his attention and recognized the image on the monitor—one of
the most famous bridges in the world. That was definitely San
Francisco.
    Not again. Couldn't he let it go for
now? Just because the PO Box for Pallin's contact had been in San
Francisco was no reason to obsess about it, especially not now.
They had bigger problems in the present.
    The landmarks on the monitor
changed.
    Okay. Now he confused her. "What are
you looking for?"
    In the light of the monitor, his cheek
muscles tightened for a second. Typical Elis—kept his thoughts to
himself until he was ready, like with his interruption to their
make out session earlier, or when he knew she might be
upset.
    On the screen, images of landmarks
scrolled up, past an ancient city in ruins to something she
recognized. Who wouldn't recognize the pyramids? "What are you
looking for there?" Definitely not Atlantis. Sand dunes, maybe, but
not a lost Inari city.
    "You're going to practice opening a
portal tonight."
    Raea blinked and staggered back. What?
"Why?"
    A second thought caught her breath and
set her heart racing. "Are we going home?" Inar'Ahben! She missed
the homeworld and she'd only spent a few days there her first and
only time. At least she knew how to find the shifting currents
traced by the Starfire in previous portals, mostly as a means to
return home if the Shirukan came again. All she needed was an
excuse to go. She could open a portal to the homeworld with hardly
a thought now.
    "Not this time."
    Her excitement deflated. "Then why?"
She didn't like that look on his face; it meant he worried, and
when Elis worried, something really was wrong. Suspicions gnawed in
her mind when this came on the heels of the message about Stein and
Torres.
    "Because it's harder to create a
portal to another point on the same world."
    On the same world? On Earth? He