Heart Fire (Celta Book 13) Read online

  “I keep telling myself that she just can’t get much better, but with every book she amazes and surprises me!” —The Best Reviews

  Praise for the futuristic fantasy of

  Robin D. Owens

  Winner of the 2002 RITA Award for Best Paranormal Romance by the Romance Writers of America

  “Another terrific tale from the brilliant mind of Robin D. Owens. Don’t miss it.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “A taut mixture of suspense and action . . . that leaves you stunned.”

  —Smexy Books

  “Thank you, Ms. Owens, for this wonderful series.”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  “Sexy, emotionally intense, and laced with humor.”

  —Library Journal

  “Each story is as fresh and new as the first one was.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “[A] wonderfully imaginative series.”

  —Romance Junkies

  “The romance is passionate, the characters engaging, and the society and setting exquisitely crafted.”

  —Booklist

  “Maintaining the ‘world building’ for science fiction and character-driven plot for romance is near impossible. Owens does it brilliantly.”

  —TRRC Reading

  “[Owens] provides a wonderful, gripping mix of passion, exotic futuristic settings, and edgy suspense. If you’ve been waiting for someone to do futuristic romance right, you’re in luck, Robin D. Owens is the author for you.”

  —Jayne Castle, author of Deception Cove

  “Engaging characters, effortless world building, and a sizzling romance make this a novel that’s almost impossible to put down.”

  —The Romance Reader

  “Owens paints a world filled with characters who sweep readers into an unforgettable adventure with every delicious word, every breath, every beat of their hearts. Brava!”

  —Deb Stover, award-winning author of Almost an Angel

  Titles by Robin D. Owens

  HEARTMATE

  HEART THIEF

  HEART DUEL

  HEART CHOICE

  HEART QUEST

  HEART DANCE

  HEART FATE

  HEART CHANGE

  HEART JOURNEY

  HEART SEARCH

  HEART SECRET

  HEART FORTUNE

  HEART FIRE

  GHOST SEER

  GHOST LAYER

  Anthologies

  WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

  (with Sherrilyn Kenyon and Rebecca York)

  HEARTS AND SWORDS

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) LLC

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

  USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China

  penguin.com

  A Penguin Random House Company

  HEART FIRE

  This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

  Copyright © 2014 by Robin D. Owens.

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.

  BERKLEY SENSATION® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-60494-6

  An application to register this book for cataloging has been submitted to the Library of Congress.

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / November 2014

  Cover art by Cliff Nielsen.

  Cover design by George Long.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_1

  To all those who love Celta,

  thank you, you amaze me.

  Acknowledgments

  I want to thank here those who helped me compile a complete cast of characters of the series, and most particularly the speaking (or yowling) parts for the audio books on Audible, in random order: Erica Brown, Antonia Witt, Kelly Self, Frances May, Kathleen Mancini, Nykki Williams, Cathy O’Connor, Sandi Dreer, Megan Bamford, Faith Bodley, Kathleen Courtade Collins, Darla Maxwell, and Christy Aaron.

  And to my beta readers, including Crystal Jordan, friend and author, Michelle Kaye, and Sandra Kaye . . . the rest didn’t say they wanted named, so I am respecting their privacy. All wonderful and helpful!

  Contents

  Praise for Robin D. Owens

  Titles by Robin D. Owens

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Characters

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  Chapter Forty

  Characters

  Antenn Blackthorn-Moss: Hero, architect, Fam Pinky (a cat who became a Fam).

  Tiana Mugwort: Heroine, FamCat Felonerb.

  The Turquoise House (TQ): Intelligent House.

  Antenn Blackthorn-Moss’s Family:

  Mitchella Clover D’Blackthorn: Adopted mother, interior designer, FirstFamily GrandLady (heroine of Heart Choice).

  Straif T’Blackthorn: Adopted father, FirstFamily GrandLord, tracker (hero of Heart Choice).

  Ilex Winterberry: Cousin by marriage of Trif Clover Winterberry, Chief of all the Druida City guards (police), (hero of Heart Quest).

  Draeg Betony Blackthorn: Adopted cuz, warrior (upcoming hero of Heart Legacy).

  Tiana Mugwort’s Best Friends:

  Camellia Darjeeling D’Hawthorn: GreatLady D’Hawthorn, businesswoman/cook, owner of teashops (heroine of Heart Search), FamCat Mica.

  Glyssa Licorice Bayrum: FirstLevel Librarian (heroine of Heart Fortune).

  Tiana Mugwort’s Family:

  Artemisia Mugwort Primross: Sister, Healer (heroine of Heart Secret), FamRaccoon Randa.

  Quina Mugwort: Mother, devotee of the Intersection of Hope religio
n, Healer.

  Sinjin Mugwort: Father, former judge, writer of legal articles.

  Garrett Primross: Brother-in-law, private investigator (hero of Heart Secret), FamCat Rusby.

  The Temple People:

  High Priestess GrandLady Ulmaria Meadowsweet D’Sandalwood: Of GreatCircle Temple.

  High Priest GrandLord Alb T’Sandalwood: Of GreatCircle Temple.

  Lucida Gerania of GreatCircle Temple: FirstLevel priestess and rival of Tiana Mugwort.

  The Intersection of Hope Ministers:

  Chief Minister Younger: Reflecting the childlike self.

  Chief Minister Foreman: Reflecting the vital adult.

  Chief Minister Elderstone: Reflecting the older, wise guide.

  Chief Minister Custos: Reflecting the inner guardian spirit.

  Others, in order of appearance:

  GreatLord Muin (Vinni) T’Vine: Friend of Antenn, the prophet of Celta.

  GraceLord Hymale Equisetum: Enemy of the Mugworts, founder of the Traditionalist Stance movement.

  Mica: FamCat to GreatLady Camellia D’Hawthorn.

  Brazos: FamCat to GreatLord Laev T’Hawthorn.

  Rusby: FamCat to Garrett Primross.

  GreatLord Rand T’Ash: Jeweler/smith (hero of HeartMate), Fam-Cat Zanth.

  GreatLady Danith Mallow D’Ash: Animal Healer (heroine of HeartMate).

  Arvense Equisetum: Farmer, cuz to GraceLord Equisetum.

  GraceLord Majus T’Daisy: Newssheet owner and editor.

  GrandLord Walker T’Clover: Statesman (hero of the novella Noble Heart in the collection Hearts and Swords).

  GentleLady Avellana Hazel: Daughter of a FirstFamily House, artist, fiancé to Vinni T’Vine.

  GreatSir Tinne Holly: Owner of The Green Knight Fencing and Fighting Salon (hero of Heart Fate).

  GreatSir Nuin Ash: Eldest son of T’Ash and D’Ash, fire mage.

  One

  DRUIDA CITY, CELTA

  422 Years after Colonization

  Early Spring

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Three explosions shook the narrow two-story house, followed by an ominous whoosh and crackling.

  Pinky, Antenn Moss’s cat, yowled in terror. Antenn used all his twelve-year-old speed to snag the cat and run from the kitchen.

  Trif Clover met him in the hallway, her face pale with fear. “Fire. We can’t get out. Fire blocks both doors, windows, stairs.” Wrapping her arms around herself, she said, “I don’t know how to teleport.”

  “Me, either,” Antenn said. His voice was high but didn’t shake or crack. Good. “You have Flair, psi power. Yell mentally to EVERYONE. I will, too. Neighbors will call.” The space between his house and others was narrow.

  “I know the best place, this way.” He grabbed her hand and ran with her to a far corner of the mainspace, then put Pinky down. “There’s a little foundation crack here. Maybe we will be under the smoke.” He yanked Trif and tried to put her next to Pinky, but she was twenty and bigger and stronger. She pushed him down and curled around him like he did around Pinky.

  Using a little Flair, Antenn widened the crack, hoping to pull more air in just for them, and he prayed, and yelled with his mind.

  And listened to the fire eat its way to them.

  This was no natural fire. Must have been firebombs. Though he was only twelve, enemies wanted him dead for what his brother had done. Was this revenge?

  His home was gone. If he survived, he knew gut deep, bone deep, everything would change.

  * * *

  A rough tongue rasped over his face, prickling his beard, and Antenn’s eyelids whipped open to see too-close Pinky whiskers and teeth. He grabbed his plump Fam and sat, panting from the nightmare that had been the past.

  Bad dream, Pinky sent telepathically. He could do that now. The cat had transformed to a Fam.

  “Yeah.” Not surprising. That had been one of the most memorable experiences of Antenn’s life, and today, hopefully, would be another. He kicked off the covers and put Pinky down, not wanting any kneading paws on his lap. “Heading into the waterfall now.”

  The small Fam’s nose wrinkled. Time for breakfast!

  “Not quite,” Antenn said, but saw his Fam trot to the door in the wall and out.

  Padding to the waterfall room in his Family home, T’Blackthorn Residence, which he’d moved into the day after the fire, Antenn passed the tunic and trous he’d laid out for the day. Very professional cut, but sturdy enough and bespelled enough to handle tramping all over the site of the cathedral on the Varga Plateau.

  The cathedral. He dragged in a deep breath, caught the smell of panic-sweat the dream had coated him with, and grumbled. Not a good way to start the day.

  Very big day. If his clients signed the contract for the cathedral, Antenn would prove to all he was a valued member of Celtan society. His name would go down in history, Antenn Blackthorn-Moss, a FirstLevel Architect. He’d finally settled on Blackthorn-Moss instead of Moss-Blackthorn. Knew himself better.

  Knew bone deep that today, everything could change.

  * * *

  I know you desire my position, dear,” the High Priestess of GreatCircle Temple, the main priestess on the planet, said to Tiana Mugwort.

  Tiana stumbled over a small rock in the meditation path. Her mentor’s comment caught her off guard. She’d been concentrating on keeping her new, expensive, and white formal robe from catching on some of the twiggy bushes along the trail instead of watching where she was going.

  “Most FirstLevel Priestesses would be honored to have your position,” she said. No help for it, she’d have to use psi power, Flair, to coat her gown. She’d anticipated this career review would take place in an office instead of one of the winding paths near GreatCircle Temple.

  With a huge, hopefully discreet breath, she used nearly the last of her Flair to protect her robe for a half septhour. Surely that would be enough. She’d spent her psi energy recklessly this morning with several teleportations before the meeting.

  She’d thought there’d be tea and flatsweets. Instead she needed to catch up, both on the path and with the conversation.

  Of course she shouldn’t have expected her own ambition to become the High Priestess—no matter how masked behind a quiet manner—to have been overlooked by the savvy woman.

  “And despite the rumors, I am not ready to retire within the next few years.” The older woman, GrandLady Ulmaria D’Sandalwood, paused in their trek and smiled with good humor plumping her round cheeks, kindness showing in her sparkling dark-brown eyes. “I may never be ready to retire. Nonetheless, it is time to evaluate you for your next step up this career ladder you wish to pursue, yes?”

  Warning! Tiana began to sweat even in the shade of the thick trunks of blossoming trees blocking the morning sun.

  Ambition and spirituality didn’t often mix well, and everyone who’d chosen to become a priestess or priest knew it.

  With great care, Tiana smoothed her gown away from the wild underbrush, hoping her spell would work to keep her gown from tangling. The robe had cost a full month’s salary and was appropriate for her work in formal rituals more than anything else.

  Seeing the lady’s gaze on her, she straightened one of her long rectangular sleeves embroidered in gold with her rank as FirstLevel Priestess and her Family designation, mugwort leaves.

  The High Priestess’s robe showed embroidery of her birth Family and her HeartMate’s Family. Both of those Families had much more clout than Tiana’s disgraced one.

  That disgrace was a thorn in Tiana, spurring her need to reach the greatest pinnacle in their religion, one of the highest positions in their culture. She had to prove that she—and her Family—were honorable people. Her eyes stung as she glanced around the area that she wanted for her own—a permanent place in GreatCircle Temple. She’d wanted this ever since the Lady had come to her as a child, had walked with her in dreams, had called her to serve.

  Now she and the High Priestess walked along one of the looping trails in the
Temple environs, this one outside the manicured lawns and gardens, just beginning to show color. She knew the seasons of GreatCircle Temple and cherished them.

  Soon the tall trees overhead and the hearty bushes would give way to a broader path through tall, dense hedges that would accommodate three, though Tiana didn’t think the High Priestess’s HeartMate, the High Priest, would be joining them. Tiana hoped not; she felt more unprepared than she’d anticipated.

  Looking to her right she could see the Temple itself, her sanctuary, her heart’s home. “I don’t want to leave GreatCircle Temple and be transferred to another temple.” The statement spurted from her lips without passing her brain first, appalling her.

  GrandLady D’Sandalwood’s plump hand swept over a bush full of tiny spring flowers, releasing a gentle scent that soothed, as it was meant to, even as Tiana’s mind raced to amend her words and mitigate her mistake.