Heart Fate Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Twenty-two

  Twenty-three

  Twenty-four

  Twenty-five

  Twenty-six

  Twenty-seven

  Twenty-eight

  Twenty-nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-one

  Thirty-two

  Thirty-three

  Thirty-four

  Thirty-five

  Thirty-six

  Thirty-seven

  Thirty-eight

  “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

  Praise for the futuristic fantasy of Robin D. Owens

  Heart Dance

  “The latest Heart fantasy is one of the best of this superior series . . . retaining the freshness of its heartfelt predecessors.”—The Best Reviews

  “I look forward to my yearly holiday in Celta, always a dangerous and fascinating trip.” —Fresh Fiction

  “The world of Celta is amazingly detailed, and readers will enjoy the bits of humor that the Fams provide. Sensual, riveting, and filled with the wonderful cast of characters from previous books, as well as some new ones, Heart Dance is exquisite in its presentation.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  Heart Choice

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

  “Character-driven story, brilliant dialogue . . . Terrific writing with a very realistic and sensual romance make Heart Choice a fantastic read.” —Romance Reviews Today

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

  —The Romance Reader

  “Well-written, humor-laced, intellectually and emotionally involving story which explores the true meaning of family and love.”

  —Library Journal

  “Heart Choice is a wonderful book to lose yourself in for a while! I’ll be anxiously awaiting the next book in this wonderfully imaginative series.” —Romance Junkies

  Heart Duel

  “[A] sexy story . . . Readers will enjoy revisiting this fantasy-like world filled with paranormal talents.” —Booklist

  “An exhilarating love story . . . The delightful story line is cleverly executed . . . Owens proves once again that she is among the top rung of fantasy romance authors with this fantastic tale.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “With engaging characters, Robin D. Owens takes readers back to the magical world of Celta . . . The characters are engaging, drawing the reader into the story and into their lives. They are multilayered and complex and grow into exceptional people.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  Heart Thief

  “I loved Heart Thief ! This is what futuristic romance is all about. Robin D. Owens writes the kind of futuristic romance we’ve all been waiting to read; certainly the kind that I’ve been waiting for. She 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

  “The complex plot and rich characterizations, not to mention the sexy passion . . . make this a must-read . . . I just wish Robin D. Owens wrote faster. I hope she’s got a huge pile of ideas for future Celtan stories, and I for one can’t wait to go back.” —The Romance Reader

  “Owens spins an entrancing tale . . . Although the setting is fresh and totally captivating, it is the well-developed characters, both human and animal, that make this story memorable. Crafty villains, honorable, resourceful protagonists, and sentient pets drive the plot of this fast-paced, often-suspenseful romantic adventure. As have others before her (e.g., Anne McCaffrey, Marion Zimmer Bradley), Owens has penned a stunning futuristic tale that reads like fantasy and is sure to have crossover appeal to both SF and fantasy fans.” —Library Journal

  “Owens has crafted a fine romance that is also a successful science fantasy yarn with terrific world building.” —Booklist

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

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

  —The Romance Reader

  “Fantasy romance with a touch of mystery . . . Readers from the different genres will want Ms. Owens to return to Celta for more tales of HeartMates.” —Midwest Book Review

  “HeartMate is a dazzling debut novel. Robin D. 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 A Moment in Time

  “A gem of a story . . . sure to tickle your fancy.”

  —Anne Avery, author of All’s Fair

  “It shines and fans will soon clamor for more . . . A definite keeper!”

  —The Bookdragon Review

  “This story is magical . . . Doubly delicious as it will appeal to both lovers of fantasy and futuristic romance. Much room has been left for sequels.” —Paranormal Romance Reviews

  Titles by Robin D. Owens

  HEARTMATE HEART THIEF HEART DUEL HEART CHOICE HEART QUEST HEART DANCE HEART FATE

  Anthologies

  WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (with Sherrilyn Kenyon and Rebecca York)

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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  South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

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

  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. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  HEART FAT
E

  Copyright © 2008 by Robin D. Owens

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without

  permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the

  author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  BERKLEY SENSATION is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  The “B” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  eISBN : 978-0-425-22367-3

  I. Title.

  PS3615.W478H445 2008

  813’.6-dc22 2008018067

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  To all my readers. Thank you.

  Characters

  Note: All previous heroes and heroines are HeartMates.

  Lahsin Burdock D’Yew, GrandLady D’Yew: Heroine of Heart Fate, married to Ioho Yew at fourteen, now seventeen (Fam Strother).

  Tinne Holly: Hero of Heart Fate, Second son of Passiflora and Holm Sr., will inherit the Green Knight Fencing and Fighting Salon (Fam Ilexa).

  Ioho Yew: GrandLord T’Yew, husband of Lahshin.

  Taxa Yew: Daughter of T’Yew, his Heir.

  Holm Holly (Jr.): Hero of Heart Duel, HollyHeir, warrior (Fam Meserv).

  Lark Holly: Heroine of Heart Duel, FirstLevel Healer (Fam Phyl). Passiflora Holly: Mother of Holm Jr., Composer.

  Holm Holly (Sr.): GreatLord, HeartMate of Passiflora, working to be Captain of the Councils.

  Genista Holly: Wife of Tinne Holly.

  Cratag Maytree: Chief guard of the Hawthorns.

  Saille T’Willow: Hero of Heart Dance, FirstFamilies GreatLord and premiere Matchmaker.

  Ruis Elder: Hero of Heart Thief, a Null who suppresses Flair, Captain of the starship Nuada’s Sword (Fam Samba).

  Ailim Elder: Heroine of Heart Thief, SupremeJudge of Druida, telempath (Fam Primrose).

  Rand T’Ash: Hero of HeartMate, jeweler, armorer (Fam Zanth). Danith D’Ash: Heroine of HeartMate, animal Healer, verifier of Fams (Cat Princess).

  Straif Blackthorn: Hero of Heart Choice, premiere tracker of Celta. Cousin to Tinne Holly (Fam Drina).

  Mitchell Clover Blackthorn: Heroine of Heart Choice, HeartMate of Straif.

  Holly/Blackthorn Family Tree

  HeartMate marriage

  * Lark’s full name: Mayblossom Larkspur Bélla Hawthorn Collinson (d) Deceased

  One

  DRUIDA CITY, CELTA

  406 Years After Colonization,

  Winter, Before Dawn

  Lahsin slid through the shadows of T’Yew Residence, escaping. Her husband. His Family. Her life. She was as unobtrusive and light-footed as a mouse. But she was used to being mouselike in this place since the very beginning of her marriage to the master, FirstFamily GrandLord T’Yew, at fourteen.

  He hadn’t ordered her to his bed tonight. She didn’t know why, only blessed the fact. She couldn’t expect him to miss another night of rutting this week, and she was sure her Passage—the fever dreams that would free her Flair, her psi powers—would come soon. Passage would debilitate her.

  She’d heard that Second Passage came like a fickle storm—first a strong wind and a spattering of rain, then dying down, then hitting with awesome force. Now at seventeen, the first dizzying eddy marking the start of her Second Passage had swept over her just yesterday. She thought. She hoped.

  Because with the first indication of Second Passage, a Celtan was legally an adult. She could legally go, now, and didn’t have to endure an underage marriage.

  She would go. Despite the vows they made, despite the physical connection made during sex, she wasn’t completely bound to T’Yew. Because she’d been wed at fourteen she could escape. She prayed that the laws had not changed since the old book she’d found was published.

  Most Noble children didn’t leave their homes when they were seventeen, but closer to twenty or twenty-two, if ever. Usually there was plenty of room for them in great houses.

  But she wasn’t a child, and this huge echoing castle was constricting her, stealing her air every minute. She could do nothing right in their eyes, T’Yew’s and his daughter Taxa’s. They often told her she was incompetent, helpless, useless. So she’d decided. To. Just. Leave.

  Her fingers barely touching the cold marble of the wide bannister, she trailed them down, keeping track of her progress, counting the sweeping steps.

  She should check on T’Yew. Her Flair was erratic and fluctuated in strength, but he and she were bound by sex and other links. She sent a spurt down the mental tie she kept as thready as possible.

  He snored in his bed, that huge, horrible, Master’s bed in the huge, horrible MasterSuite. Some woman was with him—the new servant from a distant branch of the Yews, here to work in the Family Residence.

  Good luck to her, because she was good luck to Lahsin. If her luck held, she’d be away from Druida City and north to Alfriston before the Yews and her own Family, the Burdocks, realized she’d run away. They wouldn’t look north. There was no reason for her to go in that direction. No Family holdings, and the land was cold and rough. Once they searched Druida, they’d continue southward, to Gael City.

  Alfriston was a long two-days’ walk away. She’d make it, she hoped. She had to be there, find shelter and work before her full Passage started and she’d be vulnerable for days. So far there had only been a half septhour of torment, enough to accelerate her plans to escape. She’d been useful to T’Yew as she was, after only one Passage, but if her Flair bloomed strongly, as both Families anticipated, they’d never let her go.

  If they caught her, her life would become worse. They’d keep her in nauseating depressFlair bracelets all the time except when they wanted to use her. It wouldn’t just be a punishment. Like the hours in the dark dungeon. Like her husband’s sweaty body straining and forcing into her.

  Don’t think of that, of him! If she did, panic would fill her and the terror would paralyze her. If she considered what they might do to her, she might simply shudder to death in horror.

  And what would they say publicly when they discovered she was missing? That she was mentally deficient? That she needed a loving home, loving arms to support her during her Passage? She had to clamp a hand over her mouth to stifle the bitter laugh, hold still a moment until it passed. And that cost her.

  So close to escape, her blood was pounding in her veins in anticipation and fear of discovery, and she knew by the soft quarter chiming of the antique clock that she was behind schedule. She’d planned on being through the entry hall and to the side door by now. Instead she was at the bottom of the stairs, facing the front door. She blinked, trying to make out the shapes of the few elegant pieces of furniture, the doorway to the right that would lead to the correct corridor.

  Do you leave, then, D’Yew?

  She flinched, froze in her tracks. It was the voice of the house itself, the great Residence, speaking in her mind. Of course she should have expected it to feel her movements, but she thought she was beneath its notice.

  I leave. My Second Passage comes. A thought occurred and giddiness swirled through her. A witness! The Residence was a witness! You are my first witness, she spoke to the house in her mind as well as in low, hissing words. “I, Lahsin Burdock, repudiate this marriage to Ioho Yew, GrandLord T’Yew. I, Lahsin Burdock, repudiate this marriage to Ioho Yew, GrandLord T’Yew. I, Lahsin Burdock, repudiate this marriage to Ioho Yew, GrandLord T’Yew.” As she said the words, several tiny spiderweb threads linking her to him shriveled.

  I hear you, the Residence replied coldly. I no longer recognize you as D’Yew. You are no longer mistress of this house.

  She snorted at that. She’d never been mistress of this Residence. Would the Residence rouse T’Yew? Taxa? Anyone else in the household? Not that anyone would help, all the servants were Yews, and they all would try to stop her. They knew Ioho liked her under his thumb.

  But I do not let you lea
ve. You are a wretched thing, but T’Yew wants you.

  A whimper caught in her throat, rippled from her. She wouldn’t give up. She grabbed her bundle and stumbled toward the door. The Residence didn’t send even a tiny glow to the lamps to light her way.

  She tested the door. Locked. A chuckle came in her brain, the Residence itself, playing with her, having too much fun to call T’Yew or Taxa. She muttered the password couplet and the physical locks snicked open. All the doors and windows had excellent spellshields, as was common to FirstFamilies.

  No choice. She’d always had a little Flair for spellshields, now she’d have to gather what she could, along with her courage, and test it. She would leave, even if she tempted death by trying to teleport, something she hadn’t mastered. Again her mind scrabbled, spellshields or teleportation?

  I do not let you leave, the Residence taunted. I do not let you leave or steal from the Family.

  Flinching, words stuttered from her. “I don’t have much. Only some clothes, old clothes, nothing jeweled. My, uh, the skycrystal necklace T’Yew gave me for my wedding. Before we married. He gave it to me, when I was Lahsin Burdock. It’s mine.” She wet her lips. “Some food. Bread and cheese and furrabeast travel sticks. I, uh, missed several meals lately. This food would have been given to me when I was, uh, D’Yew.”

  You have gilt.

  “Only a few coins. You know the NobleCouncil sends me a little monthly allowance. My Family gave me a dowry.” Just a token and less than the bribe T’Yew had given them. Did she forfeit that to T’Yew? She didn’t know. She nearly moaned.

  You have the Family marriage bands. Cowardly runaway thief.

  She’d nearly forgotten them. Gathering all her wispy Flair, she said the Unbinding Words she’d secretly learned and memorized. The arm-bands fell off and clanged on the marble threshold. Lahsin started.