Tani's Destiny (Hearts of ICARUS Book 2) Read online

  Tani’s Destiny

  The Hearts of ICARUS Book Two

  by

  Laura Jo Phillips

  Copyright © 2014 by Kathleen Honsinger

  Cover art/design Copyright © 2014 by Kathleen Honsinger

  All rights reserved.

  DEDICATION

  For my family. This has been a long year of sadness and loss for us all. As this year closes it’s getting a bit easier to look back with more joy than loss. Day by day we heal, as is right. Those we’ve loved and lost will forever have a place in our hearts, and thus live on through us, never to be forgotten.

  For Mom. My best friend, biggest fan, constant supporter, and the best listener ever, not to mention the best Mom anyone could ever ask for.

  I love all of you, and appreciate each of you every single day.

  And, as always, for Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma---Thank you all for the creativity you passed along to me, as well as the heart to do something with it. There is a little bit of each of you in these books, just as there is a little bit of each of you in me

  Look for previews and coming release announcements at:

  Website:

  www.laurajophillips.com

  Facebook:

  facebook.com/laurajophillipsauthor

  Other Books by Laura Jo Phillips

  The Dracons’ Woman

  Book One of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Lobos’ HeartSong

  Book Two of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Katres’ Summer

  Book Three of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Bearens’ Hope

  Book Four of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Gryphon’s Dream

  Book Five of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Vulpiran’s Honor

  Book Six of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Falcorans’ Faith

  Book Seven of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Tigrens’ Glory

  Book Eight of the Soul-Linked Saga

  Quest for the Moon Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book One

  Quest for the Sun Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book Two

  Quest for the Heart Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book Three

  Secrets Kept

  Mixed Blood, Book One

  (Available under the name Kathleen Honsinger)

  Secrets Told

  Mixed Blood, Book Two

  Nica’s Legacy

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book One

  Tani’s Destiny

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book Two

  Coming Soon

  Rayne’s Story (Not yet titled)

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book Three

  Books by Harvey Phillips and Paul Honsinger

  To Honor You Call Us

  Man of War, Book One

  For Honor We Stand

  Man of War, Book Two

  Visit the home of the Soul-Linked Saga online at:

  www.laurajophillips.com

  or email Laura Jo at:

  [email protected]

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue 1

  Epilogue 2

  Prologue

  21 years earlier

  Caree, daughter of Riata, an Alverian Empath Healer much honored by the Jasani, left the guest room of the Dracons’ home where her mother’s body was being prepared for transport to Alveria. She walked slowly up the hallway to the living room where Princess Lariah Dracon sat on a sofa with a sleeping infant in her arms, the biggest dog Caree had ever seen at her feet, and two more infants sleeping in a cradle within arm’s reach. Caree took a moment to absorb some of the peace, love, and tranquility that filled the room before stepping into view, pressing her hands together, and bowing politely.

  “Greetings, Highness,” she said, then quickly shook her head when she saw Lariah start to rise. “Please, do not get up.”

  Lariah relaxed with a grateful smile. “Greetings, Caree. Will you sit with me?”

  “For a few moments, yes, if I’m not disturbing you.”

  “No, you’re not disturbing me,” Lariah said wryly. “I just got all three mini-monsters to sleep so I should have as much as two, maybe even three minutes to myself.”

  Caree laughed softly as she selected a chair close to Lariah and sat down. “Highness, as happy as you are with your new daughters, I also sense the depth of your sadness at the loss of your friend.”

  Lariah’s green eyes brightened with tears. “Yes,” she said, nodding. “I miss Riata so much, as I’m sure you do, as well.”

  “Yes, I miss her, of course, and I always shall,” Caree said. “She was a wonderful mother, and an exceptional woman. But she lived a very long and highly fulfilling life on this plane, doing what she loved. Riata has not ended, Highness. She simply no longer walks where we walk. And, as I believe you know, her work is not yet finished.”

  “Yes, I do know that,” Lariah said. “She is Spirit Guide to my friend Saige Lobo.” Caree smiled enigmatically, an expression Lariah had seen so often on Riata’s lips that for a moment she almost thought she could see her friend sitting across from her.

  “Princess Lariah, at the request of my mother, I am about to share with you a secret that none save Alverians know. Therefore, I must first ask for your promise that you will never reveal this secret, or even its existence, with another.”

  “The promise is given,” Lariah said without hesitation. Then she smiled. “If you’ll agree to call me Lariah.”

  Caree pressed her palms together and bowed her head in acknowledgment. “I thank you, Lariah.” She straightened, sending her senses out to be sure they were alone. When she was sure they could not be overheard except by Tiny the dog and the sleeping babies, she began to speak softly. “When an Alverian dies, we are granted the opportunity to visit and speak with one person one last time.”

  “That’s a priceless gift,” Lariah said softly.

  “Indeed,” Caree agreed. “We guard this secret vigilantly because so many Alverians travel to distant worlds, and in their work learn secrets of other peoples. We think it best that those peoples have no cause to worry that we will share their secrets from the beyond.”

  “Wise,” Lariah said.

  “Yes, I believe so,” Caree said with another smile. “My purpose in disclosing this to you is so that you will understand my meaning when I say that my mother visited me the night of her passing. She made a point of telling me that she was greatly moved by your generosity and thoughtfulness in naming one of your daughters for her.”

  “No,” Lariah said, her eyes stinging with tears, “I couldn’t name her Riata as I wanted. But I did name her Tanjelia, in honor of Riata. It means angel.”

  “Yes, I know, as does my mother,” Caree said, smiling gently. “It is more than enough.”

  “I’m glad she knows,” Lariah said, looking down at the sleeping face of the daughter she held in her arms.

  “More than that, she has taken a vested interest in her namesake’s future,” Caree said. Lariah looked at her in surprise that quickly became curiosity. Caree shook her head. “I do not know anything about that future, Lariah. Some things are not for we, the living, to know. But, my mother did bid me to do one thing in particular. That is my purpose now.”

  Caree reached into a pocket of the sweater she wore and withdrew a necklace of red and gold. Th
e pendant was a carving of a creature that Lariah couldn’t quite make out because of the way Caree held it, though she suspected that the red stone was a ruby because of the way the sunlight coming in from the windows seemed to set it on fire.

  “For as long as I can remember, this necklace belonged to my mother,” Caree said. “I know nothing of how she came to have it, though I do know that it was precious to her, and that it’s quite ancient. It’s also a reliquary, a place to keep a relic or a treasured memento.”

  Lariah frowned doubtfully at the pendant which was only about an inch high and an inch and a half wide. “There is a small well carved into its center, and a tiny stopper here, on the back,” Caree said, tilting the pendant so that Lariah could see it. “In accordance with Riata’s instructions, I have taken a feather from her head and burned it to ash, then placed the ashes within the reliquary and sealed the stopper so that it cannot be opened.”

  “But…why?”

  “I know only that it is my mother’s wish that her namesake be presented with this gift on the twenty first anniversary of her birth. You needn’t keep the necklace secret, or that what I’ve told you comes directly from Riata. You need keep secret only what I have told you of the Final Visit. With that in mind, Lariah, will you agree to be the caretaker of this bequest on behalf of myself and my mother?”

  “I would be honored,” Lariah replied.

  Caree held the necklace out and Lariah accepted it. It was surprisingly heavy. The chain was a thick, flexible rope of gold so smooth that it felt silky beneath her fingertips. Now that the pendant was in her hand, she could see that her guess had been right. It had been carved from what must have been a truly enormous ruby. Then she turned the carving over in her palm and her smile slipped. “Is this a…I mean…um, Caree, this isn’t a dracon, is it?”

  “No, Lariah, it is not,” Caree replied. “It is a dragon, as you can clearly see by the scales carved into the stone. I understand the Jasani’s feelings toward the Narrastian versions of the reptilian giants, but I assure you that not all dragons…not even most dragons…are related to the Narrasti in any way.”

  Lariah nodded as she closed her fingers over the pendant. “Prejudice is a virulent poison, is it not?”

  “Yes, it is,” Caree agreed, handing Lariah a small black velvet pouch to put the necklace in. “Do you still agree to pass this legacy to your daughter on Riata’s behalf? If you have any doubts, please tell me now, and I will not consider your word broken.”

  “No, Caree,” Lariah said, slipping the necklace into the bag and closing it. “I will do this for Riata. On this you have my solemn vow. I shall even amend my will to provide that Tani will receive this necklace if I die before she reaches her twenty-first birthday. No matter what happens, whatever the future holds, Riata’s request will be honored.”

  Chapter 1

  Tanjelia Dracon, youngest of the Dracon triplets, closed the carton holding the last of her belongings and sealed it. She stood up and looked around at the now bare room that she’d shared with her sisters for the past four years. Graduation had taken place six weeks earlier, but they’d stayed on for the summer session as tutors. Now the summer session was over, the campus nearly deserted, and they were about to embark on the two week journey between college and home for the final time.

  “Are you finished packing, Tani?” Salene called from the living room of their dorm apartment.

  “Yep, this is the last of it,” Tani called back, dragging the carton into the living room and adding it to the small mountain of cartons that represented all of their belongings save for the three suitcases by the door.

  “It’s kind of hard to believe that we’re finally going home to stay,” Rayne said as she finished wiping down the inside of the chiller.

  “No kidding,” Salene said. “I got a message from my guys. They’re throwing a party for us when we get home.”

  “You’re so lucky, Salene,” Rayne said with a sigh. “Gryphons. And really cute ones, too.”

  “They’re great guys, but I don’t think they’d appreciate being called cute,” Salene said, then stopped talking as she took in Rayne’s expression. She crossed the room to give her a hug. “Don’t worry, you’ll find your Rami soon. Or they’ll find you. We only just turned twenty one, Rayne. There’s plenty of time.”

  “I’ll probably have to go to Arima House,” Rayne said, hugging Salene back. She shrugged. “I’m not knocking it, it’s a good place. But there’s nothing at all romantic about putting your hormones on display in the Hidden City for everyone to sniff.”

  Tani cleared her throat. “I need to run down to the music hall for my guitar.”

  Salene and Rayne turned to look at her with matching expressions of pity in their eyes which they immediately tried to hide. “We’re sorry, Tani,” Salene said.

  “Don’t be,” Tani said. “You should be happy to be going home to your Gryphons, Salene, and I certainly don’t want you to hide that from me. I don’t begrudge your happiness, I promise.”

  “I know you don’t, Tani,” Salene said, then bit her lip to keep from saying anything else, knowing it would just make Tani feel worse.

  “You’d better hurry,” Rayne said, changing the subject for all their sakes. “The cab will be here in an hour.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll go straight there and back, I promise,” Tani said. She went to the counter where her purse sat, reached in for her wallet, and left the apartment. She opened the wallet while she walked down the long corridor, removed her student pass so she’d have it handy for gaining access to the music hall, then put both the wallet and the pass in her jeans pockets.

  She pushed through the swinging door at the end of the hall, crossed the dorm lobby, and went through the security door, glad that she had a good reason to get away for a few minutes. She tsked herself for forgetting her guitar, though. It was a very special instrument that her favorite honorary uncles, the Bearens, had commissioned to be custom made for her small hands by the best guitar maker in seven systems. It was a valuable instrument, but to Tani it was priceless because her uncles had given it to her.

  Once outside, she turned left toward the music hall, walking quickly. A few blocks and three turns later, a tall, slender woman with chin length black hair and golden skin came around the next corner. Tani slowed her step and grinned.

  ***

  Ganzorig Khaan, Steel to all who knew him, left his private bunk and headed for the Stray’s control room. He was anxious, nervous and tense, emotions that, up until a year earlier, he’d rarely experienced. Now they were his constant companions. All that changed these days was the level of intensity and today that level was very high. So much depended on Astra’s success. If she failed, all hope of outside help would die. Without help, what remained of his people would die, along with it.

  After making sure that Astra had been safely transported down to EDU-12, he’d gone to his private quarters for a hot shower, hoping it would relax him. It hadn’t worked, but it was better than sitting around watching the images from the micro cam on Astra’s collar while she ran around New Oxford’s nearly deserted campus.

  “Steel, get your ass in here!” Khurda shouted over the ship’s comm. “Hurry!”

  Steel flinched at the sudden, unexpected shout that was so loud it hurt his ears. Then he broke into a full out run.

  ***

  “Astra,” Tani said. “This is a surprise! When did you get here?”

  “About an hour ago,” Astra replied, barely returning Tani’s smile as she hurried toward her. “I need to talk to you, Tani.”

  “All right,” Tani said, her smile fading as they both came to a stop on the sidewalk. “What’s the matter?”

  “Can we go somewhere more private?”

  “I don’t have very much time,” Tani said apologetically. “We’re leaving in about an hour. I’m on my way to the music hall right now to get my guitar. Do you want to walk with me?”

  Before Tani finished speaking, her eyes
went to two identical men who were rounding the corner behind Astra. Astra turned to follow Tani’s gaze, then gasped. She reached out, grabbed Tani’s hand and started pulling her back in the direction Tani had just come from. “Come on Tani, run!”

  Tani didn’t waste time asking questions. She just started running, following Astra as she raced down the quiet street, around the next corner, and into an alley. They ran to the end of the alley and stopped, finding themselves at a dead end.

  ***

  “What is it?” Steel demanded as he burst into the control room.

  “Nomen!” Khurda said tensely without looking away from the view screen which was currently split to show images from two different cam feeds.

  “Demii!” Steel swore, stopping behind Khurda’s chair. The right side of the screen displayed an overhead view of two bald men walking side by side down a sidewalk, taken from orbit by the external surveillance cam on the Stray’s hull. The left side of the screen displayed the view from Astra’s micro cam, which currently showed her rounding a corner, then hurrying toward a petite woman in jeans and a sweater with short, wayward red hair.

  “Is that her?” Steel asked, a strange sensation running down his spine when he saw the soft gray eyes and warm smile that filled half the view screen.

  “I think so,” Khurda said. “We should’ve waited until I got the stars-be-damned sound fixed!”

  “We didn’t have time for that, Khurda,” Steel said. “How far away are the Nomen?” No answer was necessary since he looked away from Astra’s view to the overhead cam view in time to see the Nomen round the corner behind Astra. He looked back to Astra’s view, relieved to see that she was already running.