Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3) (2 page)

Her eyes widened in shock.  From all she’d heard, seen, and been taught, male-sets had a very difficult time staying away from their
berezi
once they identified her.  Judging by how long it had been since she’d seen them, they hadn’t had much trouble staying away from her, and that hurt.  That hurt a
lot
.  So much so that she deliberately reminded herself of what they’d said about her being immature, relieved to feel anger grow over the pain.

She remained on the mesa, alone, until the celebration below began to wind down.  By the time she stood up she’d made a decision.  If the Bearen-Hirus wanted to wait, then she’d give them something to wait for.  There was a spaceport midway between Garza and Jasan that her parents always stopped at because they had friends there.  When they reached it, she’d leave the
Ugaztun
and purchase a ticket to whatever destination looked good to her at the time. 

She saw that the Bearen-Hirus were still down in the valley, but there was no help for it.  She had to lower her shield before requesting transport to the
Ugaztun
or Jawn Lobo wouldn’t be able to get a fix on her.  She dropped her shield and pressed the transport button on her wrist band.  The Bearen-Hirus looked up at her just as a green light on her wrist band flashed, warning her that transportation would begin in five seconds.  Then she felt the disorienting sensation of being transported from one place to another, along with a healthy dose of relief to be out of the Bearen-Hirus’ sight. 

***

Landor, Con, and Ari were nearing the point of panic, an emotion none of them had ever experienced in their nearly three hundred years of existence.  They’d looked everywhere they could think to look twice over, but they found no sign of Rayne Dracon anywhere.  They couldn’t see her, smell her, or feel the persistent calm she always displayed no matter the situation, which became more and more troubling as the crowd thinned. 

They’d been careful to keep their distance from her for years, so their connection to her was practically nonexistent.  But they could feel her well enough that they should have been able to find her.  Just as they began to discuss raising an alarm, they were hit with a mix of strong emotions.  Sadness.  Hurt.  Anger.  They looked up in the direction the feelings were coming from and saw Rayne standing on the mesa, her long, red gold curls shining in the moonlight.

“She knows,” Ari said softly.

“Yes,” Landor agreed just as she transported, vanishing from sight.  “She must have overheard us.”

“But, how?” Con wondered.  “We checked.  There was no one else up there.”

“Yes, and we just spent the last hour searching for her and she was right there, on the mesa, probably the entire time,” Landor pointed out.  “Obviously she can shield herself.”

They all thought back to their conversation on the mesa, remembering what they’d said.  “I’m sorry she heard me,” Con said with a heavy sigh.  “I was frustrated, but that’s no excuse.  I shouldn’t have said what I did.” 

“I’m sorry that our words were so harsh too, and that she heard them,” Landor said.  “But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s not yet ready for us.  We’ve only reacted to her scent once, and that briefly.  In addition, her constant contentment is a clear sign of her immaturity.  Only children wander through the world unaffected as she does.”

“She’s certainly not unaffected now,” Con said.

“Actually, I can’t feel her at all now,” Ari said.  “She just transported up to the
Ugaztun
, but as strong as her emotions were, we should still be able to feel her.  Shouldn’t we?”

Landor and Con both reached for Rayne.  “She must have shielded herself again,” Con suggested a few moments later. 

“She must have,” Ari said slowly.  “But why would she shield herself on the
Ugaztun
?”  They stood thinking for a few moments, but none of them could come up with an answer to that question. 

“What I don’t understand is, even with a shield hiding her presence, why didn’t any of us catch her scent up there?” Con asked.

“Maybe she can hide her scent, too,” Landor suggested. 

“I’ve never heard of such a talent,” Con said. 

“She’s a Dracon Princess,” Landor pointed out.  “It shouldn’t be a surprise to find that she’s powerful.”

“Do you really think that’s possible?” Ari asked. 

“Yes, I do,” Landor replied.

“If that’s true, it could explain why we don’t react to her scent.”

“I’ll bet it does,” Con said with a hint of hope in his voice.  “The Dracons aren’t planning to return to Jasan for a few days.  Since she overheard us tonight anyway, we should just tell her she’s our
berezi
, and ask her if she’s shielding her scent.”

“You’re right, Con,” Landor said, nodding.  “That’s exactly what we’ll do.  She’s an adult now, and finished with her schooling, so there’s no reason for secrets anymore.”

“Excellent,” Ari and Con said together, then smiled.

“We might as well return to the
Armadura
now,” Landor said.  He raised one wrist to activate his transport beacon, then all three of them froze as they felt a fresh wave of emotions from Rayne.  This time it was chaotic and fragmented, consisting of so many different emotions it was impossible to know which was strongest.  Fear.  Determination.  Worry.  Confusion. 

They looked back up at the mesa and saw a figure standing where Rayne had stood just a couple of minutes earlier.  Oddly, even though their eyes told them it wasn’t Rayne, every other sense that they possessed told them that it was.  As they stood there trying to work through their confusion, the figure crumpled to the ground.

They immediately took off running across the valley and up the cliff face, dodging the few Khun who were still up and about, moving so fast that they were only a blur to the few people who noticed them at all.  When they reached the mesa, they gathered around the figure lying on the ground, so stunned by the sight before them that for a long moment they couldn’t do anything but stare.

It was definitely Rayne Dracon.  There was no longer any doubt of that.  How she came to be bald, emaciated, covered in wounds in various stages of healing, and dressed in nothing but a coarse, ill-fitting gray shift in less than three minutes was beyond their ability to comprehend.  Even her scent was different.  She still smelled like honeysuckle, but it was faint beneath the bitter scent of fear and the sour scent of weakness and poor health.  As they stared, her blue-green eyes opened and she looked up at them. 

“You are…the Bearen-Hirus,” she whispered, her eyes going slowly from Landor, to Con, and then to Ari.  “Is that right?”

“Yes,” Landor replied, kneeling down on the ground beside her.  “That’s right.”

“Where am I?”

Landor exchanged quick looks with his brothers who knelt down opposite him.  “On Garza,” he replied. 

“What day is it?”

Landor gave her the date and, on impulse, added, “This is the day of Tani’s wedding.”

Her eyes closed and they all felt the enormity of her relief.  “A full year,” she whispered.  “It really worked.”

“What worked?” Landor asked, though he had a good idea what she meant.  It was impossible, of course.  He knew that.  They all knew that.  But, impossible or not, Rayne Dracon was lying on the ground before them, looking very different from the Rayne Dracon of three minutes earlier.  A person did not undergo such changes in that short of a time without some serious technological or magical interference.

Her confused expression changed to one of fear as she looked past him at the dark, starry sky overhead.  “This isn’t safe,” she whispered, struggling to sit up. 

Landor reached out to help her into a sitting position.  “Not safe from what?” he asked, keeping his voice low and, he hoped, gentle.

“From
them
,” she replied with a hard shudder that would have knocked her flat if not for Landor’s support.  “Can you take me to my parents without anyone else seeing me?  That’s very important.  No one else can know I’m here.”

The very thought of letting Rayne out of their sight on top of their shock at her poor physical state, and the scent of her fear, nearly sent all three of them into a blood rage.  But it was those same factors, combined with their instinctive need to care for and protect her that allowed them to maintain an outward appearance of calm. 

“We could request transport to the
Ugaztun
,” Landor said, “but we could not do so without others seeing you.”

Her eyes filled with tears that she swiped at impatiently with a shaking hand.  “I’m sorry, but I don’t know where to go, or who to trust.”

Landor brushed her cheek lightly with his fingertips, a gesture filled with such warmth and tenderness that she blinked up at him in surprise.  “You can trust
us
, Rayne.  We’ll take you to the
Armadura
, and we’ll keep your presence a secret, on that you have our word.  Once you’re safe, warm, and comfortable, we can discuss what to do next.”

Rayne knew very little about the Bearen-Hirus.  She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen them.  But something inside of her urged her to trust them.  “All right,” she whispered, relief washing through her the moment she agreed.  “Thank you.”

Landor was so relieved by her agreement that he felt a little light headed.  He slipped one arm beneath her legs and the other around her back, then rose to his feet, lifting her with exquisite care.  She was so thin, so wounded and fragile in his arms that it nearly brought tears to his eyes.  “Con, go to the ship, clear the transport room, then bring us up.”

Con nodded, slowly reached out toward Rayne, then let his hand fall back to his side without touching her.  “Thank you for trusting us,” he said softly.  He pressed the transport key on his wrist band and, a few seconds later, vanished. 

“We should take you to the infirmary,” Ari said, moving close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body against her side.

“No one else can know I’m here,” she whispered tensely, looking up at Landor.  “You promised.”

“Don’t worry,” he said.  “We will do nothing without your agreement.”

“We could summon Tani,” Ari suggested.

“If this is her wedding day, it’s also her wedding night,” she whispered.  “Food.  That would help.  Can I have some food, please?”  The hopeful note in her voice put a lump in Ari’s throat, and made Landor want to roar.

“Of course,” Ari replied.  “You can have anything you want.”

“Broth and green tea?”   

“Of course.  As soon as we get to the ship I’ll get it for you.”

“Hold on, Rayne,” Landor warned.  “We’re transporting up now.”  She gave him a barely perceptible nod and checked her shield, stiffening when she realized it was all the way down.  She raised it enough to hide her fear, then closed her eyes just as the disorienting sensation of transportation hit all three of them.  A moment later they were in the transport room of the
Armadura
.  Landor looked around, relieved to find the room empty except for Con.

“Keep your eyes closed,” he said to Rayne.  “We’re going to move really fast now.”

Another tiny nod was her only response.  He took off with Con right in front of them, moving quickly enough that they were no more than a blur to anyone who might see them, making it impossible for anyone to spot Rayne let alone recognize her.  A minute later they stopped in front of Landor’s stateroom door.  Con opened it and Landor carried Rayne straight to his bed where he laid her down with as much care as he’d used in picking her up. 

“Where’s Ari?” Con asked.

“He went to get her broth and tea from the cafeteria,” Landor said as he studied the ugly gray shift that she wore.  Sleeveless and shapeless, it hung on her small frame like a coarse, stained sack reeking of fear and desperation.  He hated it.  “Rayne,” he said softly.  She opened her eyes and looked up at him.  “Would you mind changing into one of my shirts?  That thing you’re wearing is…it can’t be comfortable.”

She glanced down at herself and grimaced.  She couldn’t remember why she was wearing the rough gray garment, but she certainly had no objections to being rid of it.  “Not at all,” she said, then stilled.  “Wait, there’s something…,” she trailed off, her forehead wrinkled in thought.  “Don’t throw it away,” she said finally, unable to grasp the memory that had flitted through her mind.

“Why not?”

“I can’t remember,” she whispered. 

At first, Landor had thought she was whispering out of exhaustion, or fear, or both.  He now realized that there was something wrong with her voice.  It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her about it, but he held back, deciding to tackle one thing at a time. 

“We will not dispose of it,” he promised, even though he wanted to set fire to the thing, watch it burn, then blow the ashes out the airlock.  He crossed the room to a dresser built into the wall and opened a drawer.  A moment later he returned with a clean white t-shirt and shook it out.  “If you prefer, we can try to find something else for you to wear.”

“No, that’s fine.  Will you help me sit up, please?”

“Of course,” he replied, placing the shirt on the bed.  He reached for her, sliding his hands carefully beneath her shoulders.  She was so small and so weak that he could have snapped her bones with a simple twist of one hand, a thought that literally made him queasy.  When she was sitting up he released her slowly, half afraid that she’d topple over without support.

When he was sure she was steady, he reached for the hem of the rough, scratchy gray shift, promising himself that if he had anything to say about it, nothing like it would ever touch her skin again. “Ready?”

Rayne started to nod, then realized that she was sitting on a bed in a room with two men she barely knew, and was about to let one of them take off the only article of clothing she wore.  “I should do this myself,” she said.  “In private.”

Landor was startled that he hadn’t even considered her modesty.  He wondered why he hadn’t felt her embarrassment before she’d said anything, and automatically reached for her emotions.  All he sensed was the same calm contentment they’d always felt from her, which was confusing since she was anything but content.  It was then that he realized he could no longer smell her.  He started to wonder when she’d done that, and why, then gave his head a little shake as he set those questions aside for later.