Rex Aftermath (Elei's Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and Hera. Change the plan.
    “We have a list of places in mind,” Alendra said, leaning forward, eyes shining. “You could tell us which you could get us into.” She swallowed. “Please.”
    “Ah, see, that’s what I mean. Being nice.” Iliathan grinned, showing yellowed teeth. “Call me Ilia. And give me your list.”
     Alendra went to stand beside him. Leaning against his chair, she began running through the locations they had in mind, her voice crisp. Her blond head glowed in the light of the monitor and her sweater hugged the curves of her waist and hips.
    Elei shook himself and turned to Kalaes. “We need to talk.”
    Kalaes lifted a brow but let Elei draw him to the corner of the room. “What is it?”
    “Kal...” Shit, he wasn’t good at this but he couldn’t stand the knot in his chest any longer. “You promised you’d tell me if you were sick again.” Elei’s hands shook and he shoved them into his pant pockets.
    “Sick?” A frown darkened Kalaes’ face. “Who says I’m sick?”
    Elei opened his mouth and closed it again. “You... aren’t talking much,” he offered lamely.
    Hells. He wished Rex would take over, pouring adrenaline into him, but Rex always retreated when Kalaes was near. With Kalaes he felt safe.
    Silence stretched.
    Then the frown melted from Kalaes’ face. “So I can’t shut my big mouth for five minutes before you think I’m sick and dying?” He grinned, reaching out to ruffle Elei’s hair.
    Elei ducked just in time and glared. He knew Kalaes well enough to realize when he was avoiding an issue. “So you’re not sick, but...?”
    “It’s nothing.”
    “Yeah, right.” Elei glanced at Alendra’s silhouette, cut in silver against the monitor’s glow. “Is it Dain? Bad memories?”
    “No, I... I’m good, fe. Honest to the gods.” Kalaes rubbed the back of his neck, and Elei wasn’t buying it for a second.
    “Then what is it?”
    “You won’t let up until you know, will you?” Kalaes rolled his eyes but didn’t seem overly put out. “I really am okay. Just having some troubles with Rex, that’s all.”
    If that was really all... Elei nodded, relieved. “Is it the double vision?” Kalaes had complained of nausea back at their building. “Is it making you dizzy?” 
    Kalaes’ smile faded. “Okay, fine, I give in. The double vision is a bitch, but that’s not it. Hells, I thought I could beat this on my own, but maybe you’ve got some advice for me.” He made a wry face.
    Elei frowned, uneasy. Something else? What else was there?
    “The flashes.” Kalaes sighed. “On everything.”
    Elei blinked. “Flashes?”
    Tension returned to Kalaes’ face. “You know, when Rex starts reacting, pounding in my eye like a pissing machine gun, and the colors come.”
    Ah, the colors. Elei nodded encouragingly, finally on familiar ground. “And the sweeps? Red, orange, blue...” He trailed off at Kalaes’ wide eyes. Oh crap.
    “No clue what in the hells you’re talking about.” Kalaes’ voice shook a little. “I see red on people’s chests. When Gultur are out and about, I get these demon faces leering at me. Told you.”
    “Yeah.” Like on Hera’s face when she’d attacked them at Abydos. Elei swallowed hard. But then...?
    “I mean the bright flashes.” Kalaes waved a hand about, frowning. “Like a glow on things, like golden fingerprints, trails of them on a person’s skin, on the walls, the doors...”
    What? “Fingerprints?”
    “They look like it. Each trail is different, different color, texture, intensity... Hard to describe. You know what I’m talking about, right?”
    Elei turned away, tried to hide his shock. Okay, the doctor had said the bonding of Rex with a parasite other than telmion might develop differently, and Kalaes had palantin. It made sense his body would respond in another way.
    Right?
    But what did these flashes mean? Was it a good or a bad thing? Was it a useful power or a nasty side effect?
    And Kalaes was