Bean's Heart (Hearts of ICARUS Book 7)

by Phillips, Laura Jo

  “Go ahead, we’ll call your sisters,” Zach said.

  “Thanks,” she said, picking up the clothes she’d prepared and set out the day before. “Can one of you check on Iffon for me please? I ordered breakfast for him to be delivered but I want to be sure he had a chance to eat.”

  “I’ll do that,” Zain said, getting up. He stopped her for a moment to give her a gentle kiss, then let her go while he headed for the door.

  She dressed quickly and, after a moment’s thought, left her hair down just because her men liked it that way. When she looked at herself in the mirror she grimaced. She looked pale and a little tired. She opened a drawer, retrieved her make-up bag, and applied her usual make-up. When she was finished, she wasn’t satisfied. She looked…mild. That would not do.

  She reapplied her eye makeup, adding a dramatic flair that she’d never quite dared before. When she was finished she smiled into the mirror. Much better, she decided. She looked more confident, bolder and, somehow, the pearlescent feather accented that. She put her things away, and smiled at her reflection once more, satisfied.

  The moment she left the bathroom Iffon flew to her shoulder. “Did you eat?” she asked worriedly.

  “Yes, I did, don’t worry. How are you feeling?”

  “A little nervous, but otherwise fine. You?”

  “Frankly, I’m excited,” he said. “It’ll be nice to actually face a real flesh and blood enemy for a change.”

  “You look stunning, Bean,” Zander said, looking at her with pride shining in his eyes. “Beautiful, confident, and not the least bit meek or mild.”

  “I agree,” Zain said, then swallowed hard. “You’re always gorgeous. Right now though, you look…well…wow.”

  Bean laughed. “Thank you,” she said, her eyes sparkling at him.

  Zach cleared his throat. “I agree with my brothers, but I have to add that you look very…appealing…in that outfit.”

  Bean glanced down at the black kevlex top and pants Vari had given her to wear. It was simple and unadorned, so she didn’t quite understand what he meant.

  “Um, thank you,” she said, obviously perplexed.

  Zach chuckled, his eyes heating as he looked her up and down. “Tonight, when you get back, we’ll explain.”

  Her brows shot up as she began to understand his meaning. “I’ll look forward to that,” she said, smiling. Then she turned to Zander. “It’s time to get to Transport.”

  He nodded, then lifted her into his arms. He waited until Iffon melded, then they used Air to get to Transport within moments. From there they transported to the Bihotza, surprised to find the Dracon-Bats waiting with Pandora, but no Vari.

  “What’s wrong?” Bean asked before Zander even had a chance to set her down.

  “Nothing’s wrong, exactly,” Declan said, watching Iffon unmeld with interest. Vari was just transported away.

  “Without Pandora?”

  “I wasn’t here,” Pandora said anxiously. “I was a few seconds late.”

  “Don’t worry, Pandora,” Bean said soothingly. “I have an extra shoulder.”

  “Thank you, Bean,” Pandora said with relief. The second she landed on Bean’s shoulder, Bean felt herself being transported. She immediately regretted not giving her men one last kiss, then she cleared her mind.

  ***

  After Zander Falcoran’s call Vari immediately got dressed, making sure that the mission cam was securely attached to her kevlex top. She applied her make-up, including a good layer of light block on her eyelids, and brushed her shoulder length hair out until it shone. She was determined to face their enemy with as much confidence as she could muster and feeling like she was put together always helped in that regard.

  Satisfied with her appearance, she left the bathroom, went to the closet, and removed a thick leather weapons carrier. She put it on the table after moving the breakfast dishes aside and unfolded it. Inside were three sets of ordinary dairi, two belts that matched the one her godmother, Lariah Dracon, had given her with Kunian steel blades in the center of each link, and one set of special dairi that she’d designed and had made before leaving Jasan. They looked like her usual dairi, except that in place of the miniature lasers, each one held a small, narrow blade of Kunian steel.

  A flick of her wrist caused a thin Kunian steel shield to retract, exposing the razor-sharp blades. Unlike the chain belt, the blades only ran along one side of the dairi, but that was necessary in order to maintain the flexibility required for them to attach to her clothing. She’d practiced with them for months so that she could always throw, catch only in the center where there were no blades, and throw again while switching back and forth between the edge with the blades, and the edge without.

  She removed the dairi from their protective pouches and replaced her ordinary dairi with them. Then she closed it up and returned it to its place on the shelf.

  She turned at the sound of the door opening and smiled as Declan, Jay and Kai entered the room. “All set?” Declan asked.

  “Yes,” she said, crossing the room to them. “About as much as I can be.”

  Declan slipped a small velvet box from a pocket and handed it to her. “We had this made for you when we were on Jasan,” he said. “We planned to give it to you when we soul-link, but we want you to have it now. We can’t go with you, so we hoped this would help you to remember that we’re always with you, in our hearts if not our bodies.”

  “I already know that,” she said, smiling gently. She opened the box and saw one large, round sapphire hanging from a silver chain. Two more equally large sapphires flanked it, each on its own chain that was just a bit shorter than the center stone. The chains they hung from were attached to another, vertical chain, with other chains that she couldn’t quite figure out.

  “It’s beautiful, but I’m not sure what it is.”

  Kai laughed softly while Jay reached over to lift the chains out of the box. He placed the piece on her head, then waited while Kai and Declan made some adjustments before he secured it in place.

  “Perfect,” he said, smiling. Vari walked over to the mirror on the dresser and gasped softly. It was a headpiece of delicate chains connected in loops along the sides with the three sapphires lying on her forehead. The longest one rested just above the center of her eyebrows, the other two just slightly above it. The sapphires exactly matched the blue of her hair, and the silver chains glittered brightly in the light. It was unique and beautiful.

  “I love it,” she said, smiling happily. “Thank you so much.”

  “It suits you, Miraku,” Declan said.

  Vari stepped closer to Declan and wrapped her arms around him for a long, deep kiss. She kissed Jay, and then Kai before stepping back. “I love you, and I’ll thank you properly tonight, but I think we need to go now.”

  Declan smiled as he picked her up, doing his best to hide the fear that had been crawling through him for the past couple of days. The idea of sending Vari and her sisters into danger without them to guard their backs made him physically ill. But he knew, as they all did, that there was no help for it. Vari, Ria, and Bean had to fight this battle, and they had to send them off with confidence and pride, not fear and worry.

  Jay opened the door and within seconds they were in Transport. Just as he set Vari on her feet her eyes widened. “I forgot to call Pandora,” she gasped. “I can’t go without her, Declan.”

  Kay reached for his vox the moment she said Pandora’s name. A moment later he nodded to Vari. “She’ll be here in a few seconds.”

  “Too late,” Vari said when she felt herself surrounded by a bright light, and then tugged away. A few seconds later her feet landed gently on a firm surface and the bright light faded. She blinked, wondering where she was and how she’d gotten there.

  She immediately activated her mission cam, then checked to be sure she was wearing her transport disruptor bracelet, which she was. Either the Doftles had found a way to nullify it, or the Basulor had brought her here. She sincer
ely hoped it was the latter.

  She looked around, every sense alert. The room she was in was immense, circular, and strangely lit from no source she could readily identify. A glance up revealed nothing but darkness, and she wondered for a moment if she were on a ship or a planet.

  An odd, metallic tapping sound came from behind her, breaking the silence. Grasping the Kunian steel belt at her waist, she spun around and threw it in a blur of movement too fast for the eye to track.

  She summoned her dairi back as quickly as she’d thrown it, her mind already absorbing several facts. The first; that the Doftle half a dozen yards in front of her with ten Xanti-like legs, a mechanical arm and hand, and an overly large head was none other than Weeble. The second; that he wore a nearly transparent covering of Kunian steel mesh over his head, neck, and torso that did very little to hide his facial features, but had no trouble repelling her dairi with ease.

  “The Armonia,” he said with an evil grin. “I’m looking forward to playing with you very much.”

  “Since you’ll be no more than a blob of goo before the day is out, it’ll be my pleasure to disappoint you,” she said, feigning disinterest as she returned the dairi to her waist.

  Vari was pleased to see Weeble’s face darken to purple and hoped it meant he was furious. High emotion tended to spur people into making mistakes.

  “Hello, Bean,” she said when she sensed her sister’s arrival behind her. Along with Pandora and Iffon. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

  “That’s a relief,” Bean said lightly as she moved to stand beside her sister, reaching up to activate her mission cam as she’d promised. “I was worried you’d be upset with me for crashing in on your fun.”

  “I’m always happy to share with you, Ausreba,” Vari said with a grin, her eyes never leaving Weeble for a moment. “I’m glad you made it,” she said to Pandora silently.

  “As am I,” Pandora replied. She hovered over Vari’s shoulder to brush her neck with one tiny hand in a gesture of affection. Then she moved further to Vari’s right and took her true form.

  “Ausreba?” Bean asked suspiciously.

  “Brave sister. I like it, Bean. It suits you.”

  “You’ve been chatting with Kyrus,” Bean accused.

  “Girls, please, pay attention,” Pandora chided gently, speaking into their minds the way Star and Iffon did. This was necessary since her true form lacked the physical requirements for speech. “This is supposed to be serious.”

  “She’s right, Bean,” Iffon said, from somewhere above them. His mental voice was tinged with humor, just as Pandora’s had been.

  Vari flicked her eyes upward and laughed when she saw the enormous white raptor hovering overhead. “He’s bigger than you, Pandora.”

  “True,” Pandora agreed. “But I have more teeth.” Vari laughed.

  “I thought you were going to stay small until I dropped the shield,” Bean said silently.

  “I thought a larger presence would be more impressive,” Iffon said. “Since you don’t have to make the shield bigger to accommodate this size, I saw no harm in it.”

  “None at all,” Bean agreed. Then she leaned forward so she could see the sylph on the other side of Vari. Her eyes widened at the sight of the enormous, white scaled creature hovering a few yards above the floor. It had white eyes ringed in black, three-foot-long fangs, eight short legs, each ending in five curved talons nearly as long as her fangs, and long gleaming wings folded against her back. “Wow, Pandora, I’m impressed.”

  “Thank you, Bean,” Pandora said smugly.

  Even though they’d all been talking, they’d also been watching Weeble watch them as though mesmerized. When he drew a laser weapon and fired it, none of them flinched. The laser bounced harmlessly off the shield Bean had enclosed them in, as they’d known it would.

  “No matter,” Weeble said, tossing his weapon to the floor. Without warning he raced forward on all ten legs, then leapt up, aiming the points of the legs at the shield. Rather than dig in as he expected, the points bounced off, sending him crashing to the floor.

  “Tell us, Weeble, how many Doftles of the Lost Tentacle still live?” Vari asked. Weeble climbed awkwardly to his feet before throwing a poisonous look at her. She smiled as she plucked the answer from his head. “And how can we find their locations?” She paused, waiting for the answer he didn’t know he was giving her. “How about a master password for your mainframes?” She nodded. “That should do it.”

  Weeble’s lips curled. “Why would…,” he trailed off, then pressed his lips together.

  “Looks like he figured us out, Bean,” Vari said with a dramatic sigh. “Guess it’s time to put this thing out of our misery.”

  “Are you sure you can’t get anything more out of him, Vari?” Bean asked.

  “Maybe. What would you like to know?”

  “The location of all space stations holding prisoners, and how many of them are Jasani. Oh, and how many male Jasani have they put Controllers in?”

  “Got it, got it, and just the one male-set so far,” Vari said. “Not for lack of trying, though. They just haven’t been able to capture anyone else since we started using transport disrupters.”

  “Excellent. Thanks, Vari. Can we destroy this thing now?”

  Weeble laughed harshly. “You can’t hurt me, you pitiful bags of soft flesh.”

  “Now that’s just rude,” Bean said, using the same tone she used when one of her students misbehaved. “Honestly, you don’t hear us calling you a blue faced freakazoid with wanna-be Xanti legs and scrambled brains, now do you?”

  “I shall enjoy…,” Weeble began but Bean sighed again, flipped her curls back over her shoulder, then crossed her arms, cocked one hip, and rolled her eyes dismissively.

  “Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it before.” She looked up. “Iffon?”

  “Yep, on the way, Bean.”

  “Good, cause this freakazoid is mind-numbingly boring.”

  “Boring?” Weeble sputtered. He clicked something on his artificial arm and two doors opened in the curved wall behind him. A couple of dozen Doftles ran into the room. Vari growled softly, gaining Bean’s immediate attention.

  “What?” she asked in a low voice.

  “He’s got several ships searching for our ships,” Vari replied just as quietly. “He’ll destroy them in an instant the moment they’re found.”

  “He won’t get the chance,” Ria said from the other side of Bean. “He’s gonna be too busy running from us.”

  Vari and Bean glanced over and smiled to see Ria and Star standing together, calmly watching the Doftles. “Wobble is the big ugly one with the stupid looking spider legs, right?”

  “Yes, that’s him,” Bean replied, not bothering to correct Ria since she knew the mispronunciation was deliberate. “Hi Star.”

  “Hello, Bean,” Star replied, her eyes roaming over Pandora. “I like your true form, Pandora. Strong, and beautiful.”

  “Thank you, Star, that’s very kind of you to say.”

  “That goes double for me, Pandora,” Ria said. “Tell me, Sisters, what did you do to scare Wobble?”

  “He’s scared?” Vari asked with mild curiosity.

  “Definitely. I’m surprised Wobble hasn't started running yet.”

  “It’s Weeble you idiot!” Weeble screamed. “Not Wobble!”

  “Well, we laughed at him,” Bean said as though she hadn’t even heard his outburst. “Maybe that’s what did it.”

  “No, that wasn’t it,” Vari said. “We didn’t cower in fear or try to run away, or you know, die. He’s not used to that. I think new things and situations are difficult for him.”

  “Well, I’m not gonna die just to make that freakazoid happy,” Bean said, gesturing toward Weeble. “Ria, how many can you do at once?”

  “I don’t know,” Ria replied. “I never actually tried to do more than one.”

  “If you can only do one, I vote for the freakazoid,” Vari said.

  Weeb
le’s face was so dark now it was nearly black. “Stop calling me that!” he shouted furiously, rushing forward so fast that he pierced a couple of the Doftles surrounding him with his legs.

  “Kunian steel,” Bean said softly.

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter,” Ria said, placing one hand on Star’s neck as she focused on Weeble. He stopped suddenly just before hitting the shield, his oval black eyes fixing on Ria. Then he spun around and raced away. Just before he passed through the door and out of sight he stumbled, two of his long spidery legs collapsing beneath him. He caught himself against the door frame while screaming loud enough to shatter glass, then he was gone.

  “Kólasi,” Ria said.

  “You got him a little, didn’t you?” Bean asked.

  “Yes, a little, but not enough. Yuck, though. He’s so disgusting that calling him disgusting is a compliment.”

  “Just be careful not to absorb anything from him, Txikreba,” Vari warned.

  “I will be. We’re gonna have to go after him.”

  “We need to get rid of these annoyances first,” Vari said, drawing two dairi. “I don’t suppose you can just make a small opening in the shield, can you?”

  “I don’t think so, no,” Bean said. “What do you think, Iffon?”

  “It might be possible if you were to practice with it, but at the moment, no. You’ll have to drop the whole thing for any of us to get out.”

  “Let me try something first, please,” Ria said. “It’s a good time to make sure my little talent will work on them.”

  “Good idea,” Vari said. “Just don’t wear yourself out.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  Bean and Vari watched the Doftles in the room who weren’t doing anything more than standing in a line blocking the doorways. Suddenly three of them dropped the laser weapons they were holding and slapped their hands to their heads while letting out ear-piercing screeches. Blood ran from their eyes and ears, then they fell over and went still.

  “Wow, I’m impressed, Ria,” Vari said, using Bean’s words from earlier.

  “Good job, Ria,” Star said as she wagged her tail and leaned her head gently against Ria’s shoulder.