Rikki's Star (Hearts of ICARUS Book 8) Read online

  Rikki’s Star

  The Hearts of ICARUS Book Eight

  by

  Laura Jo Phillips

  Copyright © 2017 by Kathleen Honsinger

  Cover art/design Copyright © 2017 by Kathleen Honsinger

  All rights reserved.

  Look for previews and coming release announcements at:

  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

  Rayne’s Return

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book Three

  Salene’s Secrets

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book Four

  Vari’s Choices

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book Five

  Ria’s Visions

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book Six

  Bean’s Heart

  Hearts of ICARUS, Book Seven

  Jenna’s Cowboys

  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

  Brothers In Valor

  Man of War, Book Three

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Six months earlier…

  Rikki Bearen grabbed her toiletries case and started for the door, then spun back when she remembered the hair wand. She paused, momentarily forgetting where’d she’d put it.

  “Gamó gamó gamó,” she muttered softly, one finger tapping impatiently on the countertop, thinking. She smiled, then opened a drawer.

  “Come on, Rikki,” Suzen called impatiently from the bedroom.

  “I’m coming,” Rikki replied, hurrying out of the bathroom with the hair wand and her toiletries case.

  “I’m glad you remembered that hair thing,” Suzen said, running her fingers over her short black hair. “I’d forgotten all about it, and if I show up at home with my hair like this, my mom will probably cry.”

  “Don’t worry,” Rikki said, smiling. “These hair wands are amazing. It’ll only take a couple of hours or so to get it back to your old length.” She shoved the hair wand and the toiletries case into her duffle, closed it up, then grabbed a leather portfolio holding some paper, pencils, and other necessary drawing materials.

  “I’m ready,” she said to her best friend and roommate, so excited she was nearly bouncing on her toes. Suzen laughed and led the way out of the dorm building to the cab at the curb. They tossed their bags into the trunk, then climbed into the back seat.

  “Spaceport, please,” Suzen said to the driver. After the car pulled away she turned to Rikki. “I’m glad you’re excited, Rikki, but I’m a little worried, too.”

  “Worried?” Rikki asked, her natural good cheer fading just a little.

  “I think we’ll have a fantastic time this summer, but I’m worried your expectations might be a bit high. Our house is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and it’s just me and my parents. I know you’re used to a houseful of brothers and sisters and lots of extended family within walking distance, and I just don’t have that.

  “Not that I’m complaining. My parents are really great, and there’re a lot of fun things for us to do in Ari, which is only twelve miles away. Argon is home, and I love it, but it’s not that exciting.”

  “I’m just happy to be going somewhere new, Suzen,” Rikki said, smile restored. “Jasan is home and I love it as you love Argon, but I’ve never spent a summer break anywhere but home. I’m looking forward to the fun of a new experience.”

  “That’s a relief,” Suzen said, her expression going from worried to pensive. “By the way, Rikki, thank you for not saying I told you so. About Kevin, I mean. And for getting the hair wand.”

  “I’d never say that, Suzen. For one thing, I don’t have any experience with the opposite sex, so it’s not like I have room to talk. For another thing, you were the victim of the worst gamiménos trick I’ve ever heard of.” Suzen arched a brow. “Fucking,” Rikki translated with a brief grin. “Anyway, the blame is on him. Not you. There’s nothing for anyone to say I told you so about.”

  “You’re the best friend ever, Rikki,” Suzen said. “Thank you.”

  “That’s very kind of you to say,” Rikki said. “Now then, you’ve thanked me enough. From this point on we should pretend there is no such person as that person, and that cutting your hair was a spur of the moment choice you made all on your own, just for kicks, and then changed your mind about. Period.”

  “Sounds like an excellent plan to me,” Suzen said with a much brighter smile.

  “By the way, your parents don’t know Greek by any chance, do they?”

  “Nobody knows Greek, Rikki,” Suzen said, rolling her eyes.

  “That’s not true,” Rikki argued with a little grin. “My Mom knows it, too. Where do you think I learned it from?”

  “I have a hard time imagining your mom swearing the way you do in any language.”

  “You might be surprised, although I never said she taught me to swear. That’s the last I’m saying about that. Swearing in Greek is my one true vice, and the only reason I get away with it is that no one knows what I’m saying.”

  “That’s true. I’ve spent hours, days even, trying to find translations for some of the things you say with no success whatsoever.”

  “I always tell you what I’m saying if you ask.”

  “I know, but I was trying to cross-reference a couple of words like kólasi and gamó. Just to see what I could come up with.”

  “You were trying to cross reference hell and fuck?” Rikki asked, amused.

  “Well, those are the only two words I can ever remember. I’m strictly a one language girl, I’m afraid.” br />
  “Did you have any luck?”

  “Not a bit. I probably wasn’t even spelling them right.”

  Rikki’s hand terminal chimed and she pulled it out of her handbag. She turned it on and checked incoming messages. Her smile dimmed again and she glanced over at Suzen worriedly.

  “What?”

  “Grades,” Rikki said without opening the message.

  “Already?” Suzen asked nervously. “Of course already,” she answered herself with a sigh. “The one time I don’t want them to come early, they do.”

  “Do you really think they’re that bad?”

  “Yes, I really do.”

  “Will your parents be angry?”

  “Not angry, no,” Suzen said as she dug in her own handbag for her hand terminal. “They’ll be disappointed, though, which is worse.”

  “Maybe it’s not such a good idea for me to come home with you for the summer after all,” Rikki said. “Maybe it would be better if you come home with me again.”

  “Maybe, but I’ve already told them we’re coming, and they’re looking forward to meeting the great Rikki Bearen.”

  Rikki’s smile vanished completely. “I’m not the great anything, Suzen. I’m just me. That’s all.”

  “I’m sorry, Rikki,” Suzen said contritely, knowing how much her friend disliked that sort of attention even if she didn’t understand why. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “It’s okay,” Rikki replied, accepting the apology at once. “But…um…is that why they agreed to let me visit?”

  “Nope,” Suzen said, reaching over to pat Rikki’s hand. “They didn’t even know who you were. I mean, they know your name of course, and that you’re my roommate and best friend and all of that, and they spoke to your parents a few times when I went to Jasan with you for spring break. They just didn’t put it together with your art. I think they assumed that Rikki Bearen was much older.”

  “So how did they find out?”

  “The school exhibition visited Argon last month and, even though I told them there was nothing of mine in the exhibit, they went anyway. Afterward they went on and on about one artist whose drawings impressed them particularly, as well as the crowd gathered around them, but whose identity was listed as Private.

  “I knew it was your art they were talking about, so I told them. I also asked them not to tell anyone, their friends I mean. Not until after the summer, at least. They understood and agreed, of course.”

  “Thanks, Suzen,” Rikki said, relieved. She loved art. She loved to create it, she loved to view it, and she loved to learn all about new techniques as well as old ones. But while she wasn’t particularly shy, she didn’t like the spotlight.

  She wished she’d known that when she let her work get put into an exhibit when she was sixteen, but she hadn’t. She’d learned fast, though.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t want people to see and like her work. She just wanted their attention to stay on the art. Not on her. Which was why she agreed to let her work be included in the art school’s annual student exhibits only on the condition that her name not be used.

  “So, what are your grades?” Suzen asked, changing the subject.

  Rikki opened the message and scrolled through the list quickly. Inwardly she was very excited to find she’d gotten such good marks. She had artistic talent, but that didn’t mean anything when it came to subjects like Interstellar Art History, Modernism vs. Impressionism, Color Theory in the Insectoid Approach to Pointillism and other like classes. She had to work as hard as anyone else, and was proud that her efforts had paid off so well. But with her best friend being so worried about her own grades, she didn’t want to say that, so she just shrugged.

  “I did okay. How about you?”

  Suzen smiled. “Rikki, if there’s anyone who knows how hard you work for your grades, it’s me. I’ve been your roommate for three years now. You don’t need to be afraid to admit you did well.”

  “Thanks, Suzen,” Rikki said, squeezing her friend’s hand gently. “Your grades?”

  “Better than I thought they’d be,” Suzen said with a wistful smile. “But not great.”

  “I know how hard you work, too, Suzen,” Rikki said. “You couldn’t possibly try harder.”

  “I know,” Suzen said with a sigh. “That’s the problem. I work as hard as I can, and I’m still struggling to keep my head above water. I’ve been thinking of quitting art school.”

  “Quitting?” Rikki asked in surprise. “Your grades aren’t that bad, surely.” Suzen handed over the hand terminal and Rikki looked through the grades.

  “You’re not failing, Suzen,” she said. “You’re not even below average in any of your classes. And you have talent. Fantastic talent.”

  “I’m not even sure of that any more.”

  “Malakíes.”

  Suzen arched a brow at her.

  “Bullshit,” Rikki translated without mentioning the vast number of times she’d translated the word before. Suzen really did have a terrible memory for such things.

  “I’ve been around art my whole life, Suzen. My mother never missed a chance to visit an art gallery or museum wherever we went, even when we were really little. Between that and three years of art school, I know a thing or two about art and your watercolors are among the best I’ve ever seen.

  “I know these other classes are hard, especially when all you really want to do is paint. I feel the same way. But we’re both so close, Suzen. Just one more year. One more year and you have your degree and you never need to worry about this other stuff again. Please please give this more thought before you quit.”

  “I will, Rikki,” Suzen said, smiling. “I promise.”

  “Good,” Rikki said, handing the hand terminal back just as the ground car pulled up to the spaceport. They got out, collected their luggage, and went inside.

  Chapter 2

  Present…

  Jackson Bearen suddenly appeared in an area of the skyport designated specifically for speed travelers. He was surprised, confused, and concerned about the vox call Hope had received from their youngest daughter, Rikki.

  Why she was in the Jasani skyport instead of at art school attending classes had been his initial question. That had quickly taken a back seat to the news that Rikki had a baby. Singular. Not triplets as was the norm for Klanaren.

  It was possible she’d been with a human male, of course, and if that was the case it was certainly her choice to make. She was coming up on her twenty first birthday, after all. But why hadn’t she told them sooner? Why had she waited so long to come home? And why was she traveling alone with a baby? Where was the father? Who was the father?

  He set the questions swirling through his mind aside as he entered the lounge Hope had directed him to and looked around for Rikki. He didn’t spot her at first, which surprised him. Their daughters were petite, but they all had white blond hair which wasn’t all that common. He walked through the lounge, wondering if she’d gone to the restroom. He stopped, turned around, and scanned the area for her again. When he finally spotted her, he stopped dead in his tracks.

  She was sound asleep in a chair, arms wrapped protectively around the child sleeping in a carrier strapped to her chest. She was so thin that it frightened him. What the kólasi had happened to her?

  He approached quietly and knelt on the floor in front of her, even more worried now that he saw her close up. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her natural light olive tan complexion was sallow and unhealthy.

  He leaned over to the side and peeked down at the baby’s face, then frowned. He was familiar enough with babies to know this child had to be at least four months old. They’d seen Rikki seven months earlier and she definitely hadn’t been six months pregnant at the time. Two maybe, three months possibly although as small as their daughters were, even with a single pregnancy, it could go either way. But not six. Of course, it was possible he was misjudging the child’s age, but he didn’t think so.

  The
re’s no sense speculating, he decided. Rikki would explain things later. Right now, he just wanted to get them both home. He hesitated, not wanting to wake her, but he couldn’t speed travel her while she was in a sitting position.

  “Rikki?” he said softly, placing one hand lightly on her shoulder. “Wake up now, sweets.”

  ***

  Rikki sat beneath an enormous shade tree, a drawing board in her lap, a box of colored pencils beside her in the grass. A light breeze rustled the leaves overhead and she tilted her head back to let it cool her face and throat while she smiled up at the pale lavender sky.

  She loved Jasan. Loved being home. Loved the ranch. Loved the peace and quiet, the wide-open spaces, the herds of cattle grazing on the thick blue grass in the distance. She even loved the smell of the air.

  She smiled happily before returning her attention to her drawing. She’d only made a few strokes with her pencil when she caught a scent she didn’t recognize. She closed her eyes and focused intently on it.

  Bay leaf. Black pepper. A touch of citrus. And something else she didn’t recognize. Whatever it was, it was easily the most delicious scent she’d ever come across in her life. She breathed in deeply, shocked by the shiver of arousal that ran through her body. She’d never felt anything remotely like it before and was eager to find the source. She opened her eyes and looked around.

  Three men dressed in faded jeans and white t-shirts stood on the gravel path fifty yards away from where she sat, their eyes fixed on her. They were powerfully built with broad shoulders, strong necks, and biceps bigger around than her thighs. They each had long, chestnut hair that glinted in the bright sunshine, but they were too far away for her to make out the colors of their eyes. Their faces were lightly tanned, with strong jaw lines and bold noses.