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

same. But he had to know, preferably without risking his
life. {"Scanner."}
    Silur looked about and reached down
for the metal box, which had landed partly under Rik. He pulled it
out and handed it to Kalas.
    Careful not to touch the
crystal, Kalas held the device close to it and adjusted the
detectors. The readings matched those of the D'Nuvar they'd been searching for.
This was it.
    But it wasn't all of it.
The D'Nuvar was
said to be a cluster about the size of a fist and dangerous to the
touch. This was one point half the size of the girl's smallest
finger and she wore it like jewelry. What had happened to the
crystal and the Inari?
    He moved the scanner. While the
readings descended from their levels of the crystal itself, the
radiation signature was still there.
    {"Strange."}
    Silur leaned closer.
{"What?"}
    {"Drive. Let me worry about this. Get
us back to base."} Their xenobiologist could analyze this more
closely, but he suspected what she would say.
    The young Risaal in human form jerked
away and hurried back to the driver seat, obediently buckling in
without another word. A few seconds later, the rumble of the engine
changed and the movement of the van made Kalas push to keep his
position over the Inari couple against forces that wanted to leave
him behind.
    Kalas moved the scanner up and down
each body, but the crystal readings didn't change. That must have
been an error. According to what he saw, the Inari had absorbed the
crystal's energy. Maybe that would explain the phenomena they'd
witnessed while watching the pair flying. He'd have to discuss this
with their commander, yet neither of them was an expert. That was
Dar Lorel's position as the xenobiologist. She'd have her chance to
study these two.
    Kalas sat back at the rear of the van,
confused by the data but intrigued by the possibilities. The couple
was secure and the dose of alcohol would keep them out for a while.
He could relax, but he wouldn't. They had a two hour drive to their
destination, an old missile silo in a remote area of eastern North
Dakota. Until then, he would defend their prisoners with his life.
They were far more valuable than he had first suspected.
    Claws formed of the spines around his
fingertips, ready for slicing into the couple in the van. The
desire to exact his revenge for the crimes of the Inari's ancestors
ached within him.
    Not yet. They needed the
couple alive to explain what had happened to the D'Nuvar and the
Inari.
    Kalas was patient and could
wait until they had what they wanted. He was Rikku , the second in command. The time
would come after the Inari translated the writing and, with the discovery of
the crystal, answers about its fate. The Inari had obviously done
something to it.
    They had also learned some new tricks.
The strange phenomena in the sky had proven that.
    These two were no ordinary Inari. They
had evolved.
    But they would suffer for the crimes
of their ancestors.

Finding a L ost Past
     
    The monolith with its
concentric rings of Inari text stared at her, the central dome of
red glistening under the lights of its display. The image zoomed in
on the central ring of text. Certain characters clarified in the
view, a statement shimmering with blue-green.
    After some time, the image
blurred into a haze of color and light without focus but swirling
and twisting as if alive. Thoughts coalesced from the thick of
writhing colors, translated by an unconscious mind from the
vision.
    ALL OF US.
INTERCONNECTED.
    OTHER UNIVERSE, UNAWARE.
UNAWARE…
    AS IT SHOULD
BE.
    WHY?
    Through the colors in
light, scenes wavered, slipping past and slowing to reveal strange
worlds. A winged creature hovered in the air, a dozen tapering
tails hanging from it, seemingly unaware of the writhing colors
passing through and around it. A light flashed but the tails
tangled around a dot of another creature and pulled it to the
body.
    SO FLEETING.
SURREAL.
    WHAT IS IT?
    MORE COME.
    Flashes of light
continued, sometimes taking shapes lasting