“Rayne?” Landor asked, bending over her with worry in his eyes. “Are you all right?”
Rayne looked around to see Con and Ari standing close by, their worry as deep as Landor’s.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Better than fine.”
“What happened?” Ari asked. “You were running along fine and then you just fell.”
“I got…distracted,” she said as she struggled to her feet. “And surprised.”
“What surprised you?” Landor asked softly while noticing at the same moment that she had a tiny smile playing around her mouth. He reached for her feelings. “You’re excited about something.”
Con and Ari looked at Landor, then reached for Rayne themselves. They found what Landor was talking about just before she clapped her hands together and laughed. “Yes, I’m excited,” she said. “Very excited, but you have to guess why!”
Ari and Con shook their heads even as they smiled at her antics, but Landor’s expression went from curiosity to speculation to shock. “Are you sure?” he whispered.
“Positive!” Rayne exclaimed then leapt into his arms so fast he nearly failed to catch her.
“Let us in on this, please,” Ari asked, then stilled as an idea blossomed in his mind. “Oh,” he whispered. “Really?” Rayne laughed again, nodding at him, her eyes sparkling. Ari threw his head back and let out a wordless shout of joy. Then he looked at Con, who was beginning to look a bit testy.
“We’re going to be fathers, Con,” he said. “We’re going to have babies to love and care for and teach and raise. We’re going to be a family.”
Con’s mouth dropped open, then he reached over and pulled Rayne from Landor’s arms. He spun her around in circles before pulling her close against his body and wrapping his arms around her. “I love you so much, Rayne,” he said into her hair. “So very much. Thank you for this.”
She leaned back and looked into his eyes, then stretched up to kiss him. “I love you, too, Con. I love all of you. After linking with you, this is the happiest moment of my life, but you needn’t thank me. As I recall, we were all there at the time.”
“A triad pregnancy,” Ari said, holding his arms out to her when Con released her. He didn’t spin her around because he could feel her lingering dizziness and didn’t want to make her sick. He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes as their hearts beat in tandem. When he released her she laughed and clapped her hands again, hardly able to decide what to do with herself.
“Rayne, how do you know?” Landor asked, then shook his head. “Never mind, I know the answer. Your bearenca told you.”
“Yes, she did,” Rayne agreed, placing her hands gently on her lower abdomen. “Girls. We’re going to have girls.”
***
Later that afternoon Rayne took the follicle restorer to Salene’s room up the hall from the master suite, the same room she’d used, and started to knock. She paused, then reached out with her senses for Salene, something she’d gotten much better at over the past week with the Bearen-Hirus. She felt her sister sleeping, so she turned and went back down the corridor to the music room instead.
She went inside and took a moment to just stare at the piano in admiration. Then she pulled the bench out and seated herself before opening the fall, revealing the long row of black and white keys. Once again she had a bit of music repeating itself over and over in her mind that she couldn’t place. With all of the other exciting events of the day she’d been able to shunt it aside several times, but as soon as her men left after lunch to attend to some duties, it had come back again. It didn’t belong with the concerto she’d written, that much she was certain of. But, at the same time, she couldn’t help feeling that she’d written it during her time with the Doftle. So it should have been part of the concerto.
She shook her head, set the confusing thoughts aside and reached up to the little electronic control panel setting on top of the piano and turned on the recorder. Then she placed her hands lightly on the cool, glossy keys, closed her eyes, and played the snippet that had been repeating itself to her on a seemingly endless loop. She played it twice before something in her mind seemed to click, and then the music began to flow through her fingers to the piano. While she played, images began to roll through her mind, choppy and disjointed at first, but gaining clarity as the music unlocked one final memory. By the time she finished the finale and the last notes faded into silence, her face was wet with tears.
“There’s a story there,” Salene said knowingly, startling her. She wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweater, then turned around to see her sister sitting on the edge of a chair near the door, and her Rami standing near her with expressions of worry on their faces. She gave them a watery smile then took a moment to study Salene. She wasn’t looking very good. The burn on her cheek was an angry red, contrasting sharply with her pale complexion, and there were dark circles of pain and worry under her golden eyes.
“Should you be up running around?”
“I’m a long way from running,” Salene said dryly.
“How did you know I was in here?”
“I felt you, of course,” Salene said. “And your sadness.”
“It’s an old sadness,” Rayne said, glancing at Landor, Con, and Ari as she spoke. “I just uncovered one last memory.”
Salene nodded, then pushed herself to her feet with effort. “I can see this is going to be a private conversation, so I’ll just take myself back to bed.” She walked slowly to the door, then paused to look back for a moment. “That was really beautiful, Rayne. Heart-rending, but beautiful.” Then she opened the door and was gone.
Rayne stood up, turned around and pushed the bench back in place, then closed the fall and turned off the recorder. While she did that, she felt her men approach so that when she turned around again, they were right in front of her. “Salene’s right,” Landor said. “It was beautiful. And sad. Do you want to tell us about it?”
“Of course I do,” Rayne said, smiling up at them. “I want to share all things with you guys. Don’t you know that?”
“We do, but it’s nice to hear anyway,” Ari said.
“You remembered hearing us on the mesa the night the Doftle took you,” Con guessed.
“How’d you know?”
“The music told us.”
Rayne nodded, then stepped closer to Landor. He picked her up, understanding what she needed because he needed the same thing. He cradled her in his arms so that Ari and Con could crowd close. When they were all touching each other, she spoke. “The first week or so that they had me, I focused every scrap of energy I had sending out mental calls for you day and night. I knew it was useless, I knew you’d never hear me, and I knew help wasn’t going to come. But at the same time, it gave me something to do. Something to think about and hope for. After a few days I realized that I needed to get a grip on myself. I couldn’t stop sending out calls, because that would feel too much like giving up. So I put a limit on myself as to the number of times I could call, and how often. That worked out all right as far as it went, but I needed something else to occupy my mind while I was waiting for time to pass between calls. That’s when I first got the idea to write music and memorize it, and that piece I just played was what I wrote.”
“We didn’t hear the entire thing,” Ari said, “but we felt what we did hear.”
“I didn’t remember more than a few bars before I started playing it, so I recorded it.”
“We’ll listen to it later,” Landor said. “Right now I’m more concerned with how you feel after regaining that memory.”
Rayne smiled up at him, then stretched up to kiss him quickly. “You guys told me what happened on the mesa that night, and you were honest and thorough. Because of that, it wasn’t the big shock to me it would otherwise have been, and I’m very grateful to you for that. It was sad to remember how I felt when I wrote that particular bit of music, but I don’t feel that way now.”
“You should publish it,” Ari said.
“I think it might be the best thing you’ve ever written.”
“Really?” Rayne asked. He nodded. “I was just focusing on the memories and remembering the music, so I don’t really know. I’ll listen to it later. Now, what are you guys up to?”
“We came down because we felt your sadness, but we need to go back to work for a couple of hours,” Landor said. “What about you?”
“I intended to visit Salene but she was sleeping, so I came in here instead. I guess I’ll go have that visit now.”
“We’ll walk you,” Landor offered, setting her on her feet.
***
Rayne waited until her men were gone, then knocked on Salene’s door. A moment later her sister answered, appearing even more pale and tired than she had in the music room. But her eyes lit up when she saw Rayne and they hugged each other tightly. Then Rayne stepped inside and closed the door.
“Your hair is back to its normal color and it’s curly again,” Salene said. “It looks great and oh my goodness! You’re lau-lotu are so beautiful! Why didn’t I notice them in the music room? Were you hiding them?”
“No,” Rayne said, holding her arms out so she could see Con and Ari. “I can’t quite believe how lucky I am to have them so I haven’t even considered hiding them yet.”
“It’s not luck, Rayne,” Salene said solemnly, her smile fading. “I know a little of what you went through. Enough to know that you bought and paid for every single moment of happiness you have now, or will have in the future. I can’t tell you how happy I am for you, or how proud of you I am.”
“Thank you, Salene,” Rayne said, then hugged her again, careful of her injuries.
“Okay, enough with the weepy,” Salene said, leading the way to the sitting area of the room where they both sat down in overstuffed chairs. “By the way, thanks for the clothes.”
“You’re welcome, of course. If you need anything else, let me know, okay?”
“I can’t think of anything, but thanks.”
Rayne reached into her back pocket and pulled out the hair wand. “I thought I’d start work on your hair,” she said. “But I’m not so sure you’re up for it.”
“I’m just a little tired is all, and you should be spending time with your Rami right now, not fussing over me or my hair.”
“They’re working,” Rayne said. “And they know where to find me if they want me.” She turned the hair wand on and got up, moving to stand behind Salene. Using gentle, slow strokes she began running the device over her sister’s scalp. “Now, tell me how you really feel, please.”
“I’m tired and the burns hurt, but the salve keeps the pain from being too bothersome,” Salene said. “Please, tell me what you know about my guys. Are we still following them?”
“Yes, we are, and my understanding is that we’re not too far behind them. I don’t know whether you’re aware of this or not, but this ship has Blind Sight now, just like the Doftle have. They don’t know we’re following them, and they won’t know until we suddenly show up and take your men back. In the meantime, maybe just one day in a healing tank would make a difference for you.”
“No, Rayne,” Salene said, shaking her head. “What if they change direction? Or stop? The only way to know where they are is for me to feel them, and I’m not taking any risks with their lives.”
“I understand,” Rayne said. “I don’t blame you, either. I’d do the same thing. I’m just worried about you.”
“I’m being well taken care of by Pip and his med techs, particularly that one named Blake. Which reminds me. What’s going on with Pip? He won’t even enter the same room with me. I’ve spoken to him on the comm a couple of times, but when I asked him what was going on he put me off.”
“Pip has a Controller,” Rayne said, shocking Salene. “Landor, Con, and Ari have given it orders to shut down, but Pip is worried that it might kick in and do something that he can’t prevent. He’s keeping tabs on everything from a vid-terminal, but won’t actually enter a room with a patient. On top of that, he’s asked Landor to assign Clan guards to watch him around the clock. He’s really afraid of the Controller taking over. For good reason, too.”
“Why do you say that?” Salene asked.
“It’s a very long story,” Rayne replied. “You up to hearing it right now?”
“Sure,” Salene said. “But first, are you going to make your hair long again?”
“Yes, I am,” she replied. “Well, Landor, Ari, and Con will, to be specific. They returned the color and curl before lunch and said they’ll do the length tonight.”
“That’s a relief,” Salene said. “You didn’t look bad or anything, but it was weird to look at you and not recognize you.”
“It was weird to look in the mirror and not recognize myself,” Rayne said with a smile. While she continued to run the hair wand over Salene’s head, she told her most of what had happened to her in the past year, and the past week, too. When she was finished Salene had several inches of curly red gold hair, and they both decided that was enough for one day.
“I’m sorry about your dragon friend,” Salene said when Rayne sat back down. “The Doftle have so much to answer for.”
“They do,” Rayne agreed.
“I have a couple of questions,” she said. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” Rayne replied.
“Mom said that you needed to reach the Facility in eight days, but that you didn’t know why. Did you do whatever it was you had to do?”
“Yes, and no,” Rayne said. This was one of the things she hadn’t mentioned yet, and she was glad Salene brought it up. “I remembered, finally, that the reason I had to reach the Facility in eight days or less was so that I could destroy it before the order went out to abduct you.”
“Oh,” Salene said, frowning. “But they attacked us two days after we left Garza, not eight.”
“How long did they have you at the Facility?”
“I’m not entirely certain, but I think it was a day.”
Rayne nodded. That was what Wolef had told her. “Some things got changed by my return to the past.”
“Changed how?”
“Just before I was sent back a year, I stumbled across you lying in a cell, connected to a bunch of machines that were keeping you alive. You’d been shot in the head, and you were brain dead. The only way I could think of to save you was to destroy the Facility before the order for your abduction went out, which would have happened eight days after my abduction, which is tomorrow, actually.”
“How did things get changed?” Salene asked.
“When I was sent back, I took my soul and my conscious mind with me. That left the Doftle with a version of me that was, essentially, an empty shell. My guess is that, since they couldn’t try to force an empty shell to shift, or to reveal a psychic ability, they decided to abduct you sooner than they otherwise would have. I’m sorry, Salene. It’s my fault you suffered as you did.”
“Nonsense,” Salene said. “I much prefer what I went through to being brain dead, and besides, I know you suffered in their hands for an entire year. Thanks to you, I only had to put up with it for a day, which I’m grateful for. I am curious about the Gryphons though. Were they taken the first time, too?”
“I don’t know what, if anything, happened to the Gryphons in the first future, but since your original plan was to return to Jasan with Mom and the Dads, I kind of doubt it. I asked that your plans be changed on a hunch, though at the time I didn’t know why. I don’t know if my interference caused them to be abducted when they otherwise wouldn’t have been, but I think it did.”
“Rayne, you didn’t cause any of this,” Salene said gently. “Since we’ll never know, there’s no point in speculation.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” Rayne said. “When I came to the Facility to get you yesterday, I brought back four hand terminals. Three of them are from this timeline that we’re in now. The other is from the other future. They’ll tell us what happened in both timelines.
If I’m responsible for the Gryphons being taken, I’m sorry.”
“Stop that,” Salene said, her voice soft, but her golden eyes letting Rayne know how serious she was. “The Doftle are responsible for all of this, not you. Please, don’t ever think that again.”
“I’ll try,” Rayne said. “Thanks, Salene.”
“It’s me that thanks you, Rayne,” she said, leaning her head back against the chair. “You saved my life and right now your Rami are trying to save my men’s lives.” She grimaced and sat up straighter. “Please tell me that the one with the metal legs was in that space station when it was destroyed.”
“I wish I could,” Rayne said. “Unfortunately, he got away and, even more unfortunately, he’s the one we’re chasing now.”
“He’s got my men,” Salene said slowly, her face paling. “Well, since the alternative to that would be for them to have been destroyed along with the Facility, I suppose it’s…well, I can’t bring myself to say it’s good.”
“No, I wouldn’t be able to say that either,” Rayne said. “How about the lesser of two evils?”
“That works,” Salene agreed. “That one with the metal legs. He’s very scary. There’s something really messed up about him.”
“There’s something messed up about all of them,” Rayne said. “But him more than the others, I agree. I want him dead, and I never imagined that I could want another living being dead before.”
“If it helps, you’re not alone,” Salene said. “I want him dead, too. And it’s not all about revenge either. He’s a very dangerous creature.”
“That’s an understatement if ever I’ve heard one,” Rayne agreed. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.
“Do you want to tell me about that music you were playing?” Salene asked, breaking the silence.
“I wrote it when I was first abducted,” Rayne said, hoping Salene would leave it at that.
“I think it’s the best thing you’ve ever written,” Salene said. “So far.”
“Ari said that too. Maybe when this is all over and we get back home I’ll think about publishing it.”
Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3) Page 31