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

into nothing.

A New Threat
     
    {"Get them in the van."}
    Kalas stood at the open side door of
the van and watched as Silur in his natural form moved like a
shadow assisting Rik to lift the male. Both Inari lay unconscious
on the road but would soon be on the way to their base, which
they'd moved to a remote area of North Dakota to be closer to their
target. How convenient that most of the area was remote. Even
better that the two had left the town for the countryside. It made
his job almost too easy.
    The darts proved the two were Inari,
although the wings had confirmed it. Inari physiology was sensitive
to certain substances common on many worlds, including Earth. The
alcohol would knock them out for several hours, sufficient for
their purposes, and it had been readily available. Humans consumed
the substance in large quantities with little effect, quite the
contrast to the Inari sensitivity.
    The two Risaal rolled the male over in
the van and returned to retrieve the female. After his underlings
dumped her inside with the male, Kalas stepped in with the others
and closed the back doors.
    He sat down near the female's body
while the others took their positions within the vehicle. {"Take
off."}
    Silur buckled into the driver seat and
drove off into the night.
    Amid the mild bouncing, Kalas looked
down through the dim light of the van's storage area. Interesting
that these two had been able to shrink their wings. It explained
how they hid among the humans. Did all Inari have that ability? Was
that why they couldn't find them? How many more could there be on
that world?
    And what of the marks on the female's
hands?
    Under the glow of the interior light
of the van, Kalas bent over the girl and lifted one of her hands
while Rik secured the male's hands in thick binders.
    Odd. The aquamarine marks looked like
something had exploded in her palms through the back. They tapered
into winding rays ending at her fingertips and just past her
wrists. Had all Inari developed this or was it some tattoo or
individual mark of this one?
    The male wore gloves, but gloves could
be removed. Kalas had to satisfy his curiosity.
    After Rik finished shackling the
male's wrists, they switched places in the tight confines of the
van's cargo area. Kalas pulled the gloves down from the wrists. The
cool of a moment of shock breaking his human camouflage passed with
regained control. The male had the marks too.
    Rik paused before fastening the
shackles on the female. {"What is it?"}
    {"I don't know."} Kalas grabbed the
female's hand and compared it to the male's where he pulled the
glove back. Not identical but very similar. What did it
mean?
    {"Get her secure."} Kalas let go of
the hand so the young officer could finish his task.
    After securing her hands, Rik's eyes
went to the female's face, or something near it. {"What's
this?"}
    He reached a human-looking hand
towards the pendant.
    The moment his fingers touched it, it
shone with an intense glow and Rik shrieked, his human camouflage
failing to his natural Risaal form.
    {"What are you doing?"} Silur peered
back over his shoulder.
    The van swerved, throwing Rik against
the door, where he lay unconscious. Thrown by the sudden swerve,
Kalas fell over the couple.
    Tires screeched to a halt and Silur
unbuckled from the driver seat. Standing hunched over between the
driver and passenger seats at the front, he searched the scene
until his eyes fixed on Rik. He stepped over the Inari couple's
feet and checked for life signs in his colleague.
    {"He's alive."} He turned to study the
couple. {"What happened?"}
    Good question. Kalas regained his
balance next to the couple and clicked the shackle into place
around the female's wrists to secure her. They wouldn't be escaping
any time soon. How had they attacked Rik? All he did was touch the
crystal.
    He touched the crystal, and the
crystal reacted.
    Impossible. That kind of power had
only been observed in one crystal and this…this was far too small
to be the