Destined (Goddess of Fate Book 4) Read online

  Destined

  Goddess of Fate

  Book 4

  Tamara Hart Heiner

  ebook edition

  copyright 2019 Tamara Hart Heiner

  cover art by Tamara Hart Heiner

  Also by Tamara Hart Heiner:

  Perilous (WiDo Publishing 2010)

  Altercation (WiDo Publishing 2012)

  Deliverer (Tamark Books 2014)

  Priceless (WiDo Publishing 2016)

  Vendetta (Tamark Books 2018)

  Goddess of Fate:

  Inevitable (Tamark Books 2013)

  Entranced (Tamark Books 2017)

  Coercion (Tamark Books 2019)

  Kellam High:

  Lay Me Down (Tamark Books 2016)

  Reaching Kylee (Tamark Books 2016)

  The Extraordinarily Ordinary Life of Cassandra Jones:

  Walker Wildcats Year 1: Age 10 (Tamark Books 2015)

  Walker Wildcats Year 2: Age 11 (Tamark Books 2016)

  Southwest Cougars Year 1: Age 12 (Tamark Books 2017)

  Southwest Cougars Year 2: Age 13 (Tamark Books 2018)

  Southwest Cougars Year 3: Age 14 (Tamark Books 2019)

  Tornado Warning (Dancing Lemur Press 2014)

  After the Fall (Tamark Books 2018)

  ebook Edition, License Notes:

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Epilogue

  Inevitable Preview

  Bibliography

  Review Request

  Free ebook Jaci

  About the author

  My dear reader:

  I made it up.

  I know it’s hard to believe, but this series is a work of fiction. None of it is true. None of these things ever happened, including much of the Latvian mythology. Latvian mythology is one without a lot of sources. The Latvian people didn’t have written stories to begin with, and so each story was passed on from family to family, generation to generation, and each family had a slightly different version.

  And then Christianity entered the picture, and the gods and goddesses changed to Saints, and the rites and rituals changed to holidays, and, well, you get the picture.

  This was good and bad. It didn’t give me a lot to draw on, but it left a lot of room for creativity. So I’ve twisted the Latvian mythology to fit my plot. I did my best to immerse myself in what documents I could find, but that wasn’t many. A lot more is written about Lithuanian mythology, but they are a little different, so I learned what I could and tried to make sense of it. I had a lot of fun with this fantasy world, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

  CHAPTER ONE

  I bit my tongue to keep from speaking as Jumis stepped forward on the gilded tiles, draped in a tunic of grass and a skirt with a fringe of bronze beads. He didn’t touch me, didn’t urge me forward, but I felt the pressure just the same.

  We stood in an open court under the big blue sky. Slitere, the celestial realm of the gods, was nestled deep within a forest thick with pines and cedars. Vines crept along the wooden pillars supporting a trellis roof, and birds rested on the open rafters.

  Sitting on a throne directly in front of us was Perkons. This was one of the big guys in Latvian mythology, the thunder god. Clouds broiled at the foot of his throne, and his blond hair frayed out from his head like he’d been rubbing his hands on a balloon and creating static electricity. Beside him sat a woman who looked to be my mother’s age.

  I didn’t want to be standing here. Only moments before—or had it been hours?—I’d stood in the underworld with my boyfriend Aaron, freeing his and thousands of other souls from the clutches of Jods.

  But I couldn’t really call Aaron my boyfriend anymore, not since I’d married Jumis.

  Jumis bowed himself to the marble floor, his black hair falling forward, and I did the same. I trembled, but not with awe or wonder. Serious indignation burned through my veins.

  “Rise,” Perkons said, his voice booming through the grand hall.

  Jumis and I obeyed. This time he held his hand out for mine, and I let him take it.

  “Oh mighty one,” he said, “I have come to present to you the reincarnated Dekla, one of the goddesses of fate. She has consented to be my wife, and in a moment of urgency, we were married.”

  Wife. Married. Moment of urgency. I supposed that was what the Latvians called a shotgun wedding. But I wasn’t Dekla reincarnated, and Jumis couldn’t seem to figure that out. I was Jayne, harboring Dekla’s memories within my own brain. The knowledge I had acquired from her life revealed to me that it was proper to seek Perkons’ blessing before marrying. Jumis stood carefully at my side, and I knew he was worried about repercussions from not following protocol.

  Perkons waved his worries aside. “I am aware of the situation and how you needed her so you could free the mortal souls.”

  Jumis dipped his head. “We were willing to sacrifice an official wedding ceremony so we could accomplish the task.”

  “Thus I forgive you and Dekla’s impetuous behavior. We will have an official ceremony this evening. Dekla, step forward.”

  I lifted my chin higher. That was me, and I felt it in every fiber of my being. But I was also Jayne, and I wished they would recognize that. I cast a glance at Jumis, and he gave a reassuring nod. While I harbored a lot of resentment toward him for forcing me into this position, I remembered everything he had been to Dekla. She loved him and trusted him. And that influenced my feelings.

  Perkons’ stormy eyes roved over my face, searching for something. Whether or not he found it, I couldn’t say. “Welcome to the court, Dekla,” he said. “You have been brought here at a strategic moment. We are at the beginning of a war. You may remember past wars we have fought.”

  I nodded. But I didn’t speak, sensing that was not what he expected of me.

  “Then you also know it is possible for us to be erased. Especially now that so few mortals believe in us. They have more power than they know, and Jods—” his eyes glittered dangerously when he mentioned the god’s name. “He understands this and is using the mortal girl to harness the power of the fates. And we know Jods and Velns seek to destroy us. While most people don’t remember us, without us, the world would be thrown into chaos. There would be no balance between life and death.” His eyes pierced me kee
nly. “You understand this, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I am a goddess of fate. I understand the delicate balance between life and death.”

  He nodded, looking pleased at my response. “If you have any requests, Dekla, I ask you to present them to me. I cannot grant them all, but perhaps I can help with some.”

  There was a flicker of compassion in his eyes, and I was tempted to ask to be free of Jumis. But he would not be able to annul this marriage of mine. I refrained from asking and instead spoke the other request on my mind. “I wish to see Laima.”

  A millenia ago, in the throes of a battle similar to the one we were fighting, Laima had directed her sisters Dekla and Karta to split their immortal souls among mortals. The unexpected strategy of dividing their assets gave them the upper hand and enabled them to win the war.

  They had kept the peace for generations. Until last month, when one of Karta’s descendants went on a power trip and plunged the entire Latvian pantheon into World War Heaven.

  I was one of the descendants of Dekla’s powers, and my sister Beth one of Karta’s. Laima had been imprisoned for her part in dividing the souls of the goddesses. But as my mentor, I still needed her.

  Perkons tilted his head, considering me. “Why do you wish to see her?”

  “I don’t just wish to see her. I need her to be free.” This felt like deja vu. Just a week ago, I’d been making this same plea to the New Jersey police department to free Trey, my protector.

  Perkons arched an eyebrow, and Jumis shifted slightly beside me.

  “It’s a bold request,” Perkons said. “She is being held for crimes committed against her fellow gods.”

  “She is being held as a scapegoat,” I said. “Who you really want to put in jail is Jods.”

  A hint of a smile lifted Perkons’ lips, and he focused on Jumis. “She is Dekla, isn’t she?”

  “The closest I’ve seen yet,” Jumis said, pride in his voice. “She is a pure conduit. She channels Dekla’s spirit without trying.”

  I would have to dissect that statement later. Keeping my eyes focused on Perkons, I said, “Will you let her go?”

  “She’s not innocent like you think,” he said. “Or have you forgotten she is also a goddess of fate? She sees the future more clearly than you do.”

  “She sees all the possible futures. She couldn’t know this was what was going to happen when the sisters divided their souls. She only knew that to win the war, it had to be done.”

  “She is also being held for her own protection. If the mortal Samantha collects Laima’s power, she will be invincible.”

  “Why does she need Laima’s power?” I asked. “She already has enough of Dekla’s and Karta’s to manipulate humanity.”

  “But not deity.” Perkons’ blue eyes darkened like a storm cloud blotting out the sun. “If she collects the power of all three goddesses into one being, she will be able to change the fates of even the gods.”

  Goosebumps popped out of my arms as I realized the implications. And then she could force them to give up their powers, their own immortalities. She could end their lives. “What about the lost pieces of the fates?”

  “We must count our blessings she still has no ragana, because it takes a witch to put them back together. However, she can easily find one. She might even try to steal yours.”

  “Meredith?” I scoffed. “Meredith would never turn.”

  “You place more faith in your witch than I would. But I will consider your request.” He waved his fingers, a little flick of the wrist, and Jumis took me by the elbow and escorted me out.

  “That went quite well,” he said, his tone pleased. “The situation must be dire if Perkons accepted you so easily.”

  I pulled my elbow out of his grasp, not accepting things as easily as Perkons. I felt the heated gaze of Jumis’ eyes on me, but he did not try to touch me again.

  “I will give you all the space and time you need, Dekla. I am in no rush.”

  The familiar timbre of his voice soothed some of my agitation, and I sighed. He had been better than a gentleman. I was his wife now, but his hand on my elbow was as close as he had gotten to me. But my heart would not soften. Perhaps he thought an eternity of marriage would change my mind, but the agonizing heartbreak of having Aaron and then losing him would haunt me forever.

  Jumis escorted me back to his quarters. The Latvian version of Mount Olympus was a series of lodges and thatched-roof homes, except they were significantly larger than a one-room cabin. Jumis had his own penthouse suite, complete with a tree in the middle and a staircase that wound its way to the top. A door opened from my room to a tall balcony that swept over the forest floor, providing a view of the treetops and hills.

  I’d only been here once. Jumis brought me here right after we ascended from the underworld and urged me to change my clothes before meeting Perkons, but I told him I was quite comfortable in my jeans.

  “Would you like to eat before we go? I have already stocked your favorite foods,” he had told me then.

  There was no refrigerator in the house, no electricity, for that matter, but it didn’t seem necessary. The foods were at the right temperature, and there was always light unless he didn’t want it.

  “Pickled herring. Bacon turnovers. Rye bread pudding,” he said.

  Favorite foods? What happened to pizza? My first reaction was to object that I didn’t want the strange items, but then something leaped inside of me, and I realized I’d been craving pickled herring for centuries.

  Not me, I had reminded myself as I grabbed handfuls of food on the way out the door. I only had one piece of Dekla’s soul, but it was enough to create the link Jumis needed between us.

  Now we entered the house again, and I took more time to appreciate the beauty of it. I ran my fingers over the embellished carvings on the wall. “Who did this?”

  “The most skilled artisans among mortals, of course.”

  I turned to him. “As slave labor?”

  “No, of course not,” he said, giving a very condescending eye roll. “They were rewarded with riches and fortune the likes of which most mortals can only imagine.”

  Well. I felt a little bit better about Jumis’ business dealings, then.

  I continued through the house, admiring the furnishings. I couldn’t help feeling a little bit pampered. I’d never stayed somewhere so luxurious, and definitely not lived there.

  Jumis followed me to my bedroom and stopped at the doorway. I crossed my arms over my chest and faced him.

  “What am I supposed to do now?”

  “For starters, you could change your clothes.” He gestured toward the wardrobe taking up one entire wall in the room. “You are a goddess and my wife. You don’t have to dress like . . . that.”

  I bit my lip to hold back the laugh at his analysis of my jeans and T-shirt. When Trey, Meredith, Beth, and I ran away from home, we had taken only the clothes on our backs. Trey and his grandfather had purchased a few more items for us. But a few hours ago, when I unexpectedly married this god, I hadn’t brought any of that with me.

  I turned around and opened the wardrobe doors, examining the flowing dresses, all of them long enough to trail around my ankles and every single one a vibrant shade of orange.

  I love dresses. Every spring Dana, my best friend, and I would go shopping for cute sundresses to make up our ensemble for the coming heat. But most of them were shorter, the vast majority being entirely sleeveless. I wasn’t sure I could do something like this.

  “You should wear something fitting of your status.”

  “I think it’s time someone updated my wardrobe with something more modern,” I said.

  Jumis chuckled. “The dress you’ll need for tonight is in the back.”

  “For tonight?” My hands fumbled through the gowns, reaching for the one behind them.

  “For our wedding ceremony.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  His voice had gone soft, and I froze. Fabric the softness of bu
tterfly wings and silky as butter caressed my fingers, and I gently lifted it out of the wardrobe. Gold, shimmery cloth draped across my arm. Green stars, the star of Auseklis, my protector and my friend, clung to the hem, embroidered with heavy thread.

  Wedding ceremony. Wedding gown.

  I pressed the fabric to my face and closed my eyes. Nostalgia hit me in the gut so hard I thought I would cry.

  “You picked that,” he said. “Our wedding was planned.”

  I tossed the gown onto the bed and hardened my voice. “We’re already married. Why bother with a ceremony?” I glanced his way and immediately wished I hadn’t. His eyes shimmered, and pain etched the corners of his mouth.

  “It is what Perkons desires,” he said, and he left the doorway.

  I let out a sigh. What Perkons wanted. No mention of Jumis or Dekla. I wished there were something I could do besides hurt him, but I didn’t love him.

  So make this easier on yourself and stop hating him, a small voice inside me whispered.

  A thundering ring tone came from the hall, jolting me from my thoughts.

  “You guys do use phones!” I said, running after Jumis.

  “Yes,” he said. “And that would be Perkons. You’ll always know when it’s him because he’s the only one with an audible call. Everyone else has a color assigned to them, and you’ll learn to recognize which message comes from who. Except mortals. All you’ll see is a number. But Perkons wants to make sure we can’t ignore his messages.”

  I looked around for the phone but didn’t see it. “So you guys communicate to each other with cell phones?”

  He tapped the skin on his forearm. “Something similar. You mortals are extremely ingenious, always inventing new things. This is much quicker than the telegraph was.”

  I felt my eyebrows lift up to my hairline, and Jumis looked at me.

  “Does that surprise you?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “I just thought you would have a more, I don’t know, unconventional way. Like telepathy or something.”