Free Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3) by Laura Jo Phillips Page A

different from our brethren.”
    “Different isn’t always a good thing to be,” she said gently.
    “No, it is not.”
    “Thank you for answering my question, Wolef,” she said, the sadness in his tone convincing her that a change of subject was in order.  “Now it’s my turn.”
    She began to explain all of the different aspects of Clan Jasani physiology, and the changes they’d undergone over the centuries, glad for the distraction from the Doftle still buzzing around her.  She even managed to forget about them for a few minutes.
    “Fascinating,” Wolef said when she was finished.  “Might I ask who it is that you call out to?  The impression I’ve gotten from your calls was not of dragons, but of another type of creature.”
    Everything within Rayne stilled in shock and embarrassment.  After a time she said, “I’m sorry, Wolef.  I didn’t know that anyone could hear me.”
    “Your apology is accepted, though not necessary,” Wolef replied.  “In return, I apologize if my curiosity is untoward.”
    Rayne hesitated, then figured it didn’t really matter what she told Wolef.  “I was calling to the Bearen-Hirus, the male-set destined to be my mates.  What we Jasani call Rami .”
    “Bearen-Hirus?”
    “They’re the third highest ranked male-set of Clan Bearen,” she explained.  “ Hiru means three.  The alter-forms of Clan Bearen are much like bears.” 
    “I don’t know where Jasan is, I’m afraid,” Wolef said.  “But I do know that it’s very difficult to send or receive calls such as yours over great distances.”
    “I know how slim the chances are that they’d ever hear me, but I can’t seem to make myself stop trying.  My sister, Salene, has a gift for feeling people she’s connected to across enormous distances, but she hasn’t responded to my calls, either.”
    Wolef heard the sadness and the worry in her mental voice, but had no idea how to help her so instead he changed the subject.  “ Were you taken from your home world?  When the little blue thugs abducted you, I mean.”
    “No, I was on Garza at the time.  Tani got married and a number of Jasani attended the ceremony.  I was taken the night of her wedding, actually.”
    “I know Garza.  It was once a beautiful world filled with dragons.  Then the Xanti destroyed it.”
    “Yes, I know,” Rayne said.  “It was a dry, dead world the first time I saw it.  But, from the moment Tani unlocked the magic of the dragons buried deep within the planet, it began to live again.  It was amazing to witness its transformation as, day by day, it became more and more beautiful.”
    “Garza lives again,” Wolef said softly.  “I thank you, Rayne, for telling me that.”
    “You’re welcome, Wolef.  Do you know where we are now?”
    “No, I’m afraid not,” Wolef replied.  “From the information I’ve gleaned from the Doftle’s conversations, the Facility has been orbiting a moon they call Rigus Xen for the past two decades.  They prefer to keep their space stations in the least populated regions of the galaxy, so I suspect that wherever we are, it’s some distance from the nearest inhabited world.”
    “I had no idea that we were on a space station.  I’ve never heard of Rigus Xen, either.”
    “You wouldn’t,” Wolef said .  “It’s a Doftle name, and I’ve yet to hear them refer to it by its Standard name.  If it even has one.”
    “Do you know of any other worlds nearby?”
    “Why so interested?”
    “If I don’t know where I am, how am I to find my way home, or back again, if I do manage by some miracle to escape?  I cannot fulfill my end of our bargain if I can’t find this place.”
    “Finding your way home will not be an issue,” Wolef said.  “However, you make a good point about finding your way back.  I will concentrate on listening to those Doftles who operate the Facility and see what I can come up with.”
    “All right,” Rayne said.  “It feels like they’re