Heart Fortune (Celta) 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

  Heart Search

  “Will have readers on the edge of their seats . . . 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

  Heart Journey

  “Sexy, emotionally intense, and laced with humor . . . Draws readers into one of the more imaginative otherworldly cultures.”

  —Library Journal

  “[A] skillfully crafted read for any lover of futuristic or light paranormal romance.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “It is no secret that I love Ms. Owens’s Heart series . . . [A] wonderful piece of fantasy, science fiction, romance, and a dash of mystery. Heart Journey is no different, a delight to read.”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  Heart Change

  “The story accelerates as new dangers to Avellana crop up, and the relationship between Signet and Cratag develops, making for a satisfying read.”

  —Booklist

  “Each story is as fresh and new as the first one was. I am always delighted when a new Heart book is published!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “A satisfying return to an intriguing world. Cratag and Signet will leave you wanting more.”

  —The Romance Reader

  Heart Fate

  “A true delight to read, and it should garner new fans for this unique and enjoyable series.”

  —Booklist

  “[This] emotionally rich tale blends paranormal abilities, family dynamics, and politics; adds a serious dash of violence; and dusts it all with humor and whimsy.”

  —Library Journal

  “A wonderfully delightful story . . . The author’s creativity shines.”

  —Darque Reviews

  Heart Dance

  “[A] superior series.”

  —The Best Reviews

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

  —Fresh Fiction

  “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

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

  —The Romance Readers Connection

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

  —Library Journal

  Heart Duel

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

  —Booklist

  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, author of The Lost Night

  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 The Gift

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

  —Anne Avery, author of A Distant Star

  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

  Anthologies

  WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

  (with Sherrilyn Kenyon and Rebecca York)

  HEARTS AND SWORDS

  Heart Fortune

  Robin D. Owens

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

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

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

  For more information about the Penguin Group, visit penguin.com.

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

  Copyright © 2013 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 Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.

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

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

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-60493-9

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Owens, Robin D.

  Heart fortune / Robin D. Owens.—Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition.

  pages cm

  ISBN 978-0-425-26393-8

  I. Title.

  PS3615.W478H447 2013

  813'.6—dc23

  2013014511

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / August 2013

  Cover art by Tony Mauro. Cover hand lettering by Ron Zinn.

  Cover design by George Long.

  Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario.

  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.

  Contents

  Cover

  Praise

  Also by Robin D. Owens

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Contents

  Dedication

  Character List

  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

  Thirty-nine

  Forty

  Forty-one

  To my long-term beta readers Fred and Kay. You always help.

  Characters

  Jace Bayrum: Adventurer, leather worker, hero.

  Zem: Jace’s animal Familiar companion.

  Glyssa Licorice: SecondLevel PublicLibrarian, GrandMistrys.

  Lepid: Glyssa’s animal Familiar companion.

  In Druida City:

  GreatLord Laev T’Hawthorn: Entrepreneur. (Heart Search)

  GreatLady Camellia Darjeeling D’Hawthorn: One of Glyssa’s best friends, HeartMate to Laev, teashop/restaurant owner. (Heart Search)

  The Licorice Family:

  FirstLevel PublicLibrarian, GrandLady D’Licorice: Rhiza Licorice, Glyssa’s mother.

  FirstLevel PublicLibrarian, GrandLord T’Licorice: Fasic Almond Licorice, Glyssa’s father.

  FirstLevel PublicLibrarian, GrandMistrys: Enata Licorice, Glyssa’s older sister.

  Short Appearances:

  T’Ash (HeartMate)

  Danith D’Ash (HeartMate)

  Zanth: Premier CatFam of Celta. (HeartMate)

  Tiana Mugwort: SecondLevel Priestess, one of Glyssa’s best friends.

  Artemisia Primross: Healer. (Heart Secret)

  Garrett Primross: Private investigator. (Heart Secret)

  At the Excavation of the Starship,

  Lugh’s Spear:

  Andic Sanicle: Adventurer, frenemy to Jace.

  Funa Twinevine: Adventuress, current lover of Andic, former lover of Jace.

  Trago: Healer.

  Symphyta: Healer.

  Myrtus Stopper: Primary cook.

  GrandLady Helena (Del) Elecampane: Owner of the project, cartographer. (Heart Journey)

  Shunuk: GrandLady Helena’s FamFox. (Heart Journey)

  GrandLord Raz Cherry Elecampane: Owner of the project, actor. (Heart Journey)

  Rosemary: GrandLord Raz’s FamCat. (Heart Journey)

  Maxima Elecampane: Helena and Raz’s daughter.

  Carolinia: Maxima’s FamCat.

  One

  EXCAVATION OF LUGH’S SPEAR, THE LOST STARSHIP,

  421 Years After Colonization,

  End of Summer

  Adventure beckoned in the form of a girder angling down into the brown earth. The whole excavation of the ruin of the starship Lugh’s Spear was a challenge, an adventure. And Jace Bayrum was always up for one.

  This project had it all, physical challenges: Yeah, he’d dug, and operated machinery to uncover that girder, along with the rest of the camp. There were intriguing mysteries: One of the three starships that had brought the colonists from Earth to Celta lay under his feet. The ground had collapsed under it only days after landing. Who knew what treasures were inside—knowledge, that data bank of the colonists’ genetic psi traits—but ancient artifacts, too. And he got a cut. The pay was acceptable, if not great.

  Good people to work with, though sometimes, like now, when ten different people checked out that very intriguing beam angling down into the rough man-sized hole, they seemed too damn slow for him. They all wanted to get into the ship. He wanted to be first. He’d volunteered and won the right.

  Everyone in the camp was standing around, staring at the cleared and dusty area, talking. Sweating lightly, like he was, in the hot and humid summer air, under the bright blue sky.

  This job came with the spice of danger that got a man’s blood pumping.

  And it came with a whiff of fame. Fame—though he wasn’t too interested in fame, at least not the go-down-in-the-history-book kind. The past didn’t matter—well, only the past he was digging up right now, the project, the adventure. The future didn’t matter much as long as he had enough gilt to take care of himself. The now, and what was happening, and enjoying himself, that was more important than all the rest. Though he did like the buy-you-a-drink-at-the-bar kind of fame.

  As they opened more of the hole, he itched to walk along that wide girder, go down into the bowels of the midsection of the starship. He shifted his feet, wanting to go already, explore. See things no one had for centuries, that was a rush. Aces high. He wanted to do, not hang around with the rest of the expedition everlastingly talking.

  He’d objected to the physical harness, not wanting the chance of getting tangled in something down there, but was now layered with enough spellshields that his entire body itched at the feel of them, including his eyes.

  “Go!” said the owner.

  Jace stepped onto the piece of metal two-thirds of a meter wide, felt the settling as it took his weight. Light-footed, he headed toward the opening.

  The beam moved under his feet, threw him off balance, and he fell. Shouts from watchers. The earth giving way beneath him. Dust. Rocks pounding him. Plummeting down.

  He thumped hard enough that his breath went from his body. He fought passing out and remained conscious by the skin of his teeth. He’d fallen under the beam, and rock crowded around him but didn’t crush him. Hard to tell how big the pocket of air he was in was . . . maybe enough that he wouldn’t die, even without the spellshields.

  It was colder down here, and he shivered. The whole thing made him recall the first time he cheated death. Shudders racked him at the memory.

  He and his father and mother had gone over to the nearest city to purchase some fancy worked metal box his mother had insisted on having—one both he and his father had worked hard to give her the gilt for. Not that his father had cared about that; he blindly adored his wife.

  Jace had been almost seventeen, close to becoming an adult and not so blind to his mother’s greed.

  Evening was turning into night when they reached the river. The box had cost enough that they didn’t have gilt for the return ferry, but there was a free rope across the river and a raft to pull along. His and his father’s massive muscles should be enough to get them across with help from his mother’s small Flair.

  They’d been in the middle of the river when the guide rope had broken.

  His mother had screamed, turned white-faced, and clutched her box to her. Her gaze went to Jace’s father, skimmed across Jace, looked to the opposite shore. “I can do it!” she cried. “I can teleport there if you bond with me and give me your energy. I can see the bank well enough, but it has to be quick. If you love me, link with me! Save me!”

  “Of course, Marian.” Jace’s father set his one hand on her shoulder, held out the other to Jace. “We will save you.” His voice, deep, calm, as he confronted his and Jace’s own danger in heading down the rapid river on an old raft.

  “I—” Mind frantically scrambling, Jace took his father’s hand.

  “One, two, three!” his mother screamed and Jace’s strength, his energy, got yanked out of him to fund her teleportation.

  His father fell to his knees, toppled sideways, breaking Jace’s hold. More sucking of . . . Flair? . . . from Jace, ripping from him.

  And the raft . . . the Flair keeping the raft together fell apart, siphoned by his mother.

  The shock of the cold and tumbling water took Jace’s breath. He strove to stay close to his papa.

  His father’s
head turned. “She. Made. It.” He sighed out, looking gray, wasted.

  Jace grabbed his father’s great hand, panic and wild grief and fury crashing through him in great swaths of emotion. He tried to swim, swallowed water. Reached for a better grip on the man, ripped his thin, worn shirt.

  “Papa!”

  Slowly, slowly his father’s lips moved. “Take. Care. Of. Your. Mother.”

  His eyes glazed, his whole body released, and his last words were, “Marian, love.” He let go of Jace’s hand and rolled facedown into the water, swept away.

  Great emotions can trigger a dreamquest Passage, releasing inner psi power, Flair. That happened, though Jace didn’t figure that out until later. A huge burst of fever-heat flashed through him, lifted and threw him to the riverbank his mother had landed on.

  He didn’t see her. She and her box were already away and not looking back.

  So he didn’t either. He huddled under tall bushes that night and in the morning walked away to find work on a caravan heading for the northern continent a few days later.

  He’d heard she’d remarried.

  So much for love.

  Now Jace shuddered so hard his body banged against rock. He couldn’t breathe. Darkness threatened, and with each shallow breath he struggled for better memories. Hell if he was going out recalling the worst day of his life.

  The face of a woman flashed before him.

  He’d had the best sex with her . . .

  Everything went dark.

  DRUIDA CITY

  Her HeartMate was in danger! The vicious jerk on the minuscule bond between them blew it wide open. Yanking on Glyssa’s strength, demanding she pour energy into him—into shields surrounding him—to save him. She did, crumpling where she stood, watching in horror as time seemed to slow and the crate of ancient glass recordspheres—priceless books and journals—fell to the unforgiving marble floor of the PublicLibrary. Twenty-four original colonist tales to be shattered and she couldn’t lift a finger to help.

  The cost for her HeartMate’s life.

  Instant tears blurred her vision as she panted a prayer to the Lady and Lord to save the spheres. In the slowness of fear, caught between microseconds, she saw the spheres hit a small, thick rug that Glyssa had completely forgotten was there, bequeathed by a former patron. Sheer luck.