Tracking (Return of the Nine) Read online

  Joining her sister to find their parents across the stars leaves Ianka in the company of a Fury with courtship on his mind.

  Ianka has spent years blocking out her sister’s mind and the obsession with finding their parents who had been swept into space by the Tokkel. Finally, Vida has located them and summoned Ianka to help her launch the search.

  Ianka heads to the mother ship and meets those who will help her gather a group to go out and seek the star and moon base where Vida saw their parents. To her surprise, Vida has found a mate in one of the Nine and is recovering from her childhood frailty with amazing speed. Ianka is the warrior and she will track their parents.

  Derion is assigned to her as her escort around the ship, but while their friendship meets all the strictures of the Nine protocols, Ianka is a temptation that he dares not give in to.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Tracking

  Copyright © 2014 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-916-0

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Devine Destinies

  An imprint of eXtasy Books

  Look for us online at:

  www.devinedestinies.com

  Tracking

  Return of the Nine Book Nine

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Ianka felt Vida’s call. Instead of the normal obsession that her sibling was broadcasting, pain had begun to radiate and her life had been in danger.

  Ianka had struck camp and headed back to what little civilisation Gaia could offer. Her sister was no longer on their world, but Ianka knew where to find her.

  She filled her pack and looked skyward. The new star in the sky contained her sister and she was going to get to her as quickly as she could. There was something very wrong and Vida needed her. She would find out why when she arrived. She had some walking to do.

  With plains and hills between her and the city, she had better get started on the hike.

  She set her senses to track Vida and was on her way.

  Five days later, she was stomping up the drive toward the Embassy of the Nine. Vida was no longer in danger, but she wanted Ianka. The call of her sister vibrated through Ianka with every step.

  She must have looked savage as she walked toward the gates. The guards took one look at her and released the gate to allow her entrance to the grounds. She nodded and kept plodding on.

  Daphne ran out of the building and came to a surprised halt. A greenish man was behind her, and he put a protective arm around her.

  Ianka nodded to Daphne and turned toward her husband. “Ambassador Apolan, I am Ianka Senior, and I believe my sister needs to discuss something with me. I need to get to the mother ship.”

  He nodded. “Of course. I will make the arrangements, but first, I believe we will offer you the hospitality of a bath and a change of clothing.”

  Amusement tinged her smile. “I will gratefully accept.”

  Relief flickered across his features and Daphne laughed. “Come this way, Ianka.”

  She followed the ambassador’s wife, her one-time friend. She hadn’t seen Daphne since before the Tokkel attack.

  Ianka had cut all ties with the Gaian colony when her sister Vida insisted on her obsession with finding their parents. There was no way to find them, and it had been impossible to get that through her sister’s head.

  Now, the pull to her sister had grown strong again and there was a certainty in what Ianka was doing. Vida needed her to do something and Vida was in the mother ship, so that is where she would go.

  When Daphne showed her to the guestroom, she sighed in admiration. Years of being on her own and wearing leather that she had tanned herself meant that she was a little more attuned to the scents of nature and her own aroma has ceased to be an issue. Being clean was a luxury, and it was something that she looked forward to.

  Daphne hesitated in the doorway. “Do you need help?”

  A little embarrassed, Ianka cleared her throat. “Is there any chance you could find me something to wear? I don’t think that these clothes are fit for company.”

  Daphne smiled. “I will put them on the bed while you are in the shower. Drop your clothing on the floor and they will be cleaned.”

  “Thanks. I apologize for the grime, but it has been a while since I have seen plumbing.”

  Ianka headed for the bathroom, dropping her pack inside. She closed the bathroom door and heard Daphne close the outer door. Ianka peeled off her fitted boots, undoing the laces with pride. They were her favourite creations. Her trousers hadn’t turned out quite right. Scraping the skins had been awkward. The top had been made to wrap in place and it slid softly from her shoulders to lie in a sad heap on the floor. Her breast wrap was more difficult, but when she was only dressed in her skin, she flexed her fingers and toes in anticipation.

  The plumbing had more options than she was used to, but once she had the water the right temperature, she stepped in and shuddered in delight.

  It took her quite a while to get her hair scrubbed to her satisfaction, but once it was clean, she attacked the rest of her body with enthusiasm. She normally soaked in a creek next to her small hut, but she hadn’t had time to stop for amenities while she was hiking.

  The hot water was so welcome that it swept the tears away for the years she had spent hiding from the reality that she and her sister were all that was left, and no matter what she said, her sister would not listen.

  They had been close until the attack. Her sister saw psychic traces while Ianka saw everything else, and neither of them could stop their parents from being taken.

  Rescuing and gathering survivors, hiding from the incursions, had been the first step in atoning for their inability to find their parents. Vida had seen the path that they took, and it reached skyward before it ceased entirely.

  She had stared at that trail through eyes closed tight until Ianka couldn’t stand it anymore and left the guilt of her inability to save their parents behind. Now, she was back in the thick of it.

  Once she had sat on the floor and scrubbed at the bottoms of her feet, she carefully stood upright. Sighing with regret, she turned off the shower and wrapped herself in a thick towel, putting another around her hair. A little digging around turned up a hairbrush, and she crept out into the bedroom to sit on the bed and work at the mess that her scalp had become.

  There was a dress and shoes sitting on the bed, and she reached out to touch them. Dresses had never been her favourite, but she was looking forward to this one. First, though, she had to tackle the neglect she had enforced on her once-pretty golden locks.

  It took her an hour and her arms had started to ache, but she finally had her hair hanging straight and clean. Her fingers moved awkwardly but got her hair into a loose braid held by strands of hair scav
enged from her brush. Once her hair was settled, she slipped into the dress. It was tight across the bust, but it fit everywhere else. She slipped into the shoes and got to her feet. With a nervous air, she headed for the mirror in the bathroom.

  A lump formed in her throat as she saw the old her for the first time since she had left. It was time to become herself again, and in the process, she needed to figure out who that really was.

  Through their connection, she could feel Vida and the calm satisfaction that now marked her once-frantic mind. Vida had found her balance, so now, it was Ianka’s turn to search and find her true self. She could track any living being anywhere, but she couldn’t find herself. The irony was not lost on her.

  With straightened shoulders, she headed out to find Daphne. Her track was clear, and after two sets of stairs, a hallway and three offices, Ianka cleared her throat. “Hello again, Daphne.”

  Daphne had been sitting in close conversation with her husband and she turned in surprise. “Eek!”

  Ianka smiled at the childhood name. “I suppose. Ambassador, it is good to finally meet you. Travellers have given me briefings on your presence on the surface. It has been interesting to hear versions of your description from a dozen mouths. If I may say, they all got it wrong.”

  He stood up and stepped toward her but stopped a few feet away.

  Daphne must have seen her confusion, because she said, “The Nine don’t shake hands. Their mating senses link with contact, so it is a habit not to touch the opposite sex if they are not mates to begin with.”

  It left the question of how they finally got around to making contact, but Ianka simply inclined her head in formal greeting.

  “I am pleased to meet you. Your sister is a whirlwind, but you are a force of nature yourself. Your parents must be very proud.”

  She jolted. “My parents were taken in the first raids.”

  He nodded. “So Vida mentioned. According to the report she sent in, there is every reason to believe that she has found them.”

  Ianka swayed in shock and Daphne jumped to her side, leading her to a chair. A glass of water was pressed into her hand and she gulped at it blindly. “They are alive?”

  Daphne knelt in front of her and smiled. “They are alive, and she finally found them. She said she had contacted you but not how.”

  “So, you knew I was coming.”

  Apolan nodded in his position behind his wife. “We knew but we had no idea when you would arrive. The shuttle is landing this evening, and you will leave at dawn after a solid night’s sleep with your cleaned clothing. You will be as fit as we can make you before you meet your sister again.”

  His kind smile set her at ease and she set the glass down.

  “I shall repay your hospitality.” She inclined her head.

  Daphne smiled. “There is nothing to repay. You are family, more or less. Just go and do what you need to do and do it knowing that we are cheering you on. Whatever you find, at least you went looking.”

  Ianka smiled and tears welled in her eyes again. “In that case, can I request a meal? I didn’t stop to hunt on the way and I am a little peckish.”

  They both laughed and suddenly everything was completely normal. It was strange to be in the middle of normal, but she was up to it.

  Chapter Two

  The next morning, Daphne brought in another dress; this time, it had a little more room in the bustline, but it was still rather tight.

  The housekeeper triumphantly produced her pack and everything was in clean and new condition. She certainly knew her job.

  “Thank you, miss.”

  The woman ducked her head, smiled and retreated.

  Daphne smiled. “She is a woman of few words and your look on arrival scared the hell out of her.”

  Ianka chuckled. “It has been a few years since I have seen a mirror. The few folk I have run into haven’t bothered commenting. They were too busy thanking me for fishing them out of the wilderness.”

  “Is that what you have been doing?”

  “I have been tracking animals, finding Gaians and building my own little retreat away from the city. It is primitive but it is mine.”

  “I have heard of a wild thing in the North Country, but I hadn’t realized it was you.” Daphne wrinkled her nose in amusement.

  Ianka laughed. “They told me that there were rumours of a creature rescuing hikers and botanists in that area. It took them a while to realize that they were in her clutches.”

  They went downstairs for breakfast, and the pilot who would be taking her was sitting at one end of the table with Apolan at the other. It seemed that there were only two remaining seats on either side.

  Ianka faced Daphne across the table. “Your housekeeper did a wonderful job on the leathers. They are as clean as could be. They will be a delight to wear now.”

  “She does enjoy natural fibres, and skins are just some of them. The pants seem an odd fit.”

  Ianka laughed as she followed Apolan’s lead and started helping herself to breakfast. “They were rather urgent. My original clothing had shredded away by that point. Dressing myself became rather important. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a pattern to work from.”

  Daphne laughed. “So, you improvised.”

  “Yup. The shirt was easier. I used the shreds of my last blouse to make the pattern and it fits like a dream. The bra bands were hit and miss.”

  “How did you cure the leather?”

  Ianka smiled. “Lua pods. They dissolved the hair and the oil softened the skin. They are easy to use if you wrap your hands. Soak the skin in water the moment you have the result you want.”

  “Nice. Your boots are lovely.”

  She beamed. “Thank you.”

  The pilot, who was so deep red he was nearly black, chuckled and spoke in careful Gaian. “It figures. Put two women together no matter their species and they will talk about shoes.”

  Ianka looked squarely at him and he grinned, showing deadly teeth. She stated in clipped tones. “It was not a conversation that you chose to enter in its infancy so critiquing it shows bad manners.”

  He blinked and leaned back slightly. “You are correct. I am unfamiliar with the object in question and therefore my comment was unwarranted. I apologize.”

  She inclined her head. “Apology accepted.”

  Daphne and Apolan were looking at each other with amusement. Apolan cleared his throat. “How long were you living on your own in the wild, Ianka?”

  “I saw four winters out there, but I am not focussed on the exact dates. I lived in the moment.” She shrugged.

  The pilot cleared his throat. “You lived here on Underhill without companions or shelter for four years?”

  She shrugged. “Yes. I found a few hunting parties and helped them back to the city, but I did not return myself.”

  “You fed and sheltered yourself for four years?” He raised his brows.

  “Yes. Is there a reference to this in the Nine languages? You seem confused.” She worked on her meal with good appetite. It had been a while since she had consumed fruit out of season. She had missed the greenhouses of the city. Dried fruit just wasn’t the same.

  Apolan chuckled. “Our females are not really trained for self-sufficiency. There are so few that we tend to take great care of them. Dorum was simply surprised that you had survived on your own.”

  She swallowed and sipped some water. “I can track my own food, and after a while, I got used to killing for defense and meals. Once I reached that point, not much bothered me.”

  Dorum nodded. “Yes, once you have your first kill under your belt, it is like a rock down a hill. Not much will stop you, though you may be redirected.”

  Ianka inclined her head. “Now you have it. So, when do we leave?”

  He grinned. “As soon as the meal is done. The ship has been checked and is ready for takeoff.”

  “Good. I need to find out what she wants. She has become most insistent.” Ianka rubbed her forehead. She knew wh
at Daphne had told her, but she wanted to hear it from Vida.

  Dorum was looking at her curiously. “You can sense your sister?”

  Ianka frowned. “Now and then. Right now is one of those moments.”

  Daphne smiled. “They have always had their link. Before the Tokkel, they were one of the best tracking teams that had ever been seen, not that folks knew who they were. They did their best work without anyone knowing. Ianka even delivered meat to those who had suffered a death or illness and were unable to work.”

  She sat up. “How do you know that?”

  “I saw you. I was hiding and you brought it all the way out to my cottage on several occasions before you left. I truly appreciated it.”

  “Where were you?”

  Daphne chuckled. “I was hiding.”

  “Oh.” Ianka blushed. She had forgotten that Daphne had her own set of skills when she chose to use them.

  The rest of the meal was completed in silence.

  Ianka’s belly was full but not uncomfortable when she placed her cutlery carefully across the edge of her plate.

  She felt a touch on her shoulder and the housekeeper pointed toward the corner where her bag was sitting and gleaming with a solid cleaning.

  “Thank you for the care you took.” She spoke softly.

  She wasn’t sure if the woman spoke Gaian or not, but she blushed a soft grey and smiled shyly.

  Daphne grinned as the woman left. “I think she is smitten with you. No other woman could have scattered the guards with a look, like you did.”

  “It was my smell, not my face that scattered them.” She sat with her hands in her lap.

  “I beg to differ. You looked deadly coming through the gates.” Apolan smiled.

  They rose from the table and Ianka took the hint. She grabbed her pack, checked for her knives and followed Pilot Dorum to the tarmac a fair distance from the embassy.