Heart Fortune

work with you,” Laev said.

Del was nodding. “More, we have the basis of a town, and we’ll be getting materials for permanent housing sent soon. This will be our last winter here in Druida City and Verde Valley. In the spring we will get back to work on the camp and on the town.”

“That will give us plenty of time to plan,” Jace said.

“You’re definitely coming?” Jace had never seen Del’s face light up so, she was usually serious. A warm feeling welled that he’d pleased her. He liked her. That emotions were coming back inside him was something to celebrate, too.

“Yes,” Glyssa said. “You’d better plan a PublicLibrary, too. We have plenty of extra volumes in the main one here in Druida to stock a new branch.”

Raz’s eyes gleamed. “Excellent.” Then he studied his fingernails. “How about vizes? Say of plays?”

“We have copies of a complete set of your work,” Glyssa assured him.

“That might limit the amount of plays you might want to do for the camp and the town,” Del said, the corners of her mouth tucked in, no doubt to suppress a smile.

Raz did an outrageously surprised goggle, then his face folded back into its regular cheerful expression. “I’ve contacted a couple of playwrights about a story of the excavation of Lugh’s Spear.”

Glyssa’s fingers clenched on Jace’s shoulder. She looked appalled. “Not including us!”

Raz shrugged. “Perhaps. I told them as much as I knew.”

“Absolutely not,” Glyssa said, sounding a lot like her mother.

“Let’s get back to this luck thing,” Del said. “I agree, the guy’s been lucky, he didn’t end up dead over a cliff like Trago.”

Jace kept his face easy. He’d told nobody what had happened, how he’d slapped at Trago. When Glyssa got better, if she didn’t sense it from him, he’d reveal the truth to her, and she’d want to document it in some sort of record, but he didn’t want to speak of Trago’s death . . . yet.

Glyssa said, “Trago went mad, first. Something in that man snapped.”

Zem lifted his beak from his chest. He, of course, knew what had happened as well as Jace. The man wanted a woman as mate and she spurned him and that man thought my FamMan caused it. Big emotions. Big anger. Big madness.

“Huh,” Del said.

Glyssa rubbed her head against Jace’s chest. He liked that. Loved being with her. Couldn’t imagine his life without her.

“Without Jace’s luck and our HeartBond, the beacon the ritual here in Druida gave us, and the energy of the four of us, we wouldn’t be here,” Glyssa said in a low voice. He thought she’d cry again and that made him uncomfortable. He squeezed her.

“You HeartBonded without sex?” someone asked.

“Yes.”

“And you couldn’t tap into any of the Flair we offered during the ritual?” Camellia continued.

“No. You were too far away,” Glyssa said.

“Distance shouldn’t matter,” Laev said.

“All I can tell you is that it did.” Glyssa began to sound weary.

Two weeks ago Jace could have stood with her in his arms, swept her out of the chamber and up the stairs to her bedroom. Now he straightened, set her gently on her feet, rose and took her hand. “That’s enough. Glyssa recorded all her thoughts regarding our experience as soon as she was coherent. I did my own and they are being intermixed and edited. The Licorice Family will accept requests to listen to the recordspheres, but will not make copies.” And the one in the future where he told of his contact with Trago at or near the time of the villain’s death would definitely be limited to a very few. Jace inclined his torso as low as he could—not very—before he thought he’d tip over.

They left the room and Glyssa’s parents followed them, her mother with Zem and her father carrying Lepid.

At the door he and Glyssa received kisses from the Licorices and admonitions to rest. Not that they’d been doing much of anything else.

Jace smiled at the older people. No trace of the former wariness had outlasted the announcement of their HeartBond.

Rhiza D’Licorice eyed him. “I’ll send some lunch up. Sit on the balcony and eat, get some sun.” She put Zem on his shoulder.

“Uh-huh,” Jace said, opening the door. Lepid walked in, tail lower than usual. He sniffed at his bed, then went out the open balcony door. Jace placed Zem on the perch. They both gave a tiny shudder. They’d both used that object to fix the image for the long teleportation in their minds. Zem dipped his beak in his water and drank.

“I’m so glad you’re here and safe, Zem,” Glyssa said.

He didn’t look up. I am, too. I love you all. Up on FamMan’s shoulder now.

“Of course.” Glyssa lifted the bird to Jace’s shoulder then linked fingers with him.

They walked hand in hand through the door of Glyssa’s sitting room to the balcony overlooking the estate’s tangled gardens. An edging of tall pines separated the D’Licorices’ land from the PublicLibrary that the Family treasured so much.

He dropped her fingers to move Glyssa’s chair out from the cafe table but she ignored it, stretched her arms high as she stepped full into the sun. He felt a very welcome flicker of lust in his groin.

FamMan, I would like to perch on the rail, said Zem. Jace lifted the light bunch of feathers Zem had become. The bird didn’t have any broken bones, but like the rest of them he was exhausted, though the bond between Jace and his Fam remained strong, solid and bright blue.

Jace set Zem on the far end of the white tinted wooden rail that held both shade and sun so the Fam could move to another spot if he got too warm or cold.

This city is not too bad, the trees aren’t as large as at my home, and the human and animal smells are interesting, Zem said. He lifted his beautiful wings and stretched them in the sun. It will be good to have warm shelter in the winter.

“We could get some bad snow,” Glyssa said. “I’m not sure how much snow the area around Lugh’s Spear receives.”

Not a lot, Zem said, and began to groom his feathers.

Glyssa leaned against the rail and looked down at the land, then angled her head toward the large structure of the PublicLibrary. When Jace approached, she turned her head and smiled. Her face wasn’t as thin as it had been after their ordeal, but still showed smudges under her eyes. She looked fragile. Gesturing to the landscape, she said, “I want to soak up the view this winter. We won’t be back to live here ever again.”

“Probably not.” He picked up one of her hands resting on the rail and kissed it. “HeartMate.”

She sighed and her smile widened. “I never get tired of hearing you say that.”

FamWoman and FamMan, Lepid added as he curled in the sun.

Glyssa laughed. “Those are good words, too, revealing our connections.”

FamMan and FamWoman, Zem said.

“Lovely Fams,” Glyssa murmured.

“Great Fams,” Jace said at the same time.

He kissed her fingers. “But there’s one thing I haven’t said yet,” he replied, all too aware of those three small words.

Her eyes widened and the atmosphere seemed to rustle with anticipation. She reached out and took his hands in her own. “I love you,” she said.

His heart just thumped hard in his chest. She hadn’t said those words, either. He’d been too skittish around her for her to trust those words to him. Maybe she’d been too proud to say those words to him when she thought they wouldn’t be returned.

He just realized now how much he needed to hear them.

HeartMating and HeartBonding, all that meant love, but the simple phrase was a whole lot more necessary than he’d thought. In fact, her soft tone echoed through him, finally sank into his bones where they’d always warm