Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

and
exploded outward into a spiraling black hole. Her hands glowed
yet.
    ["Hurry!"] Jerantis shouted.
    Padina focused on the void until it grew in
diameter to three times her height. There it ceased its growth.
    ["It's done. The portal is ready. Let's
go."]
    ["You go. I'll be right behind."]
    She hesitated and flew close to him. The
black formation split apart. Some held back while the others moved
around them.
    ["Go. Now,"] he said.
    ["I won't leave you!"]
    He flew close and kissed her.
["Padina. You are the one they seek. You must protect the
Starfire. It's your duty as a Crystal Keeper."] He glanced around
them at the closing circle of soldiers. ["Go on. I'll make sure the
portal is closing before I go through, so they can't follow.
Hurry."] He pushed her away.
    She flew to the portal but hesitated at the
brink and turned.
    Shots flashed from two of the flyers.
    ["Jerantis!"] For a moment, she fell with
the stiffening of her wings.
    After recovering from the plummeting of the
man, she turned and fled into the darkness.
     
    The dream again. Raea tried to take control
as Josh had suggested, but the voices admonished her, or seemed to.
They forced her to watch. She could change nothing. When her mother
disappeared into the void, or portal, she gasped.
    The voices roared in her head like a crowd
at a concert. I can't understand you. Stop shouting at the same
time!
    In answer, a burning pain shot through her,
ripping out her back. Raea screamed in agony. Tears of pain stung
her eyes. What are you doing to me? What do you want?
    The voices lowered, whispering among
themselves as the pain subsided.
    Raea blinked at the dark of night and wiped
her eyes. Wetness cooled her fingertips. Tears. Then it hadn't been
a dream. She had really been crying.
    What about the pain? She shifted but
something blocked her from rolling over. She was stuck, but not
completely. A dark shape hovered over her, blocking out the faint
light from her window.
    In the dimness, she made out the outline of
a large wing. Where'd that come from?
    Suspicions drove through her mind. It
couldn't be real. "It was only a dream. It had to be." Wasn't
it?
    To be sure, she reached around her side.
Fingertips brushed soft feathers from a bulk of muscles on her
back. The wings came out of her. This was impossible!
    What would Debbie—
    Debbie couldn't see this. No one could.
    Raea jumped up, intending to lock her
bedroom door, and staggered back. The wings added some weight to
her back, though she'd manage. On a second try, she reached the
door and pressed the button. The lock clicked. There. Now, she
could keep everyone from seeing what a freak she really was while
she tried to make sense of this.
    But what could she do? She couldn't go to
school like this.
    She'd have to stay home sick and wait for
everyone to leave before she could go out. Then what? She couldn't
stay in her bedroom the rest of her life. What kind of existence
was that?
    It wasn't. She had to figure out a way to
undo this.
    She had no idea. Nothing.
    Her life was over.
    But there had to be a way. She just had to
figure something out. Raea sat down on her bed. If she went out in
public, she'd be a spectacle. She didn't want that. Everyone would
make fun of her. Oh, Josh would love it, but he'd be the only
one.
    What about Pallin? Why now? She was so close
to the possibility of a real boyfriend. After all this time being
teased as a freak, now she really was one.
    She buried her face in her hands. The wings
shifted behind her. She hated this. Damn voices. Whoever you
are, I hope you're happy now for making my life miserable.
    She laid down and pulled the comforter over
the wings and her head. Maybe she could go back to sleep and they
would disappear. How had these wings sprouted from her back in the
middle of a dream in the first place?
    The answer hid within her, with those
voices. She wished they would speak clearly. Who were they? What
were they?
    What the hell—or heaven—was happening