Stardust And Shadows Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover Page

  Excerpt

  Other Books By

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Part I Moondust And Madness

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Part II Stardust And Shadows

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Part III Moondust And Magic

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Moondust Rapture

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Copyright

  SEDUCTIVE MOONBEAMS AND DANGEROUS MYSTERY

  Jana looked at her handsome companion in shock and dismay. Was he her beloved Varian disguised for some unknown reason as his evil half brother or was he truly who he appeared to be? What if you really are Ryker? What if Varian did discard and betray me? She couldn’t halt her tears.

  “Dreams and hallucinations can seem real, Jana, but they aren’t. This is real: you and I in our private world together. Please don’t spoil it.”

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” she whispered.

  “You’re safe here with me,” Ryker promised. “Varian is out of your life forever, and he’ll be married to Canissia soon. You belong to me, Jana. See, you’re wearing my marriage band.”

  Jana gazed at the gold bracelet encrusted with precious gems. It was engraved with Ryker Tryloni’s name and their marriage date. Was she still Ryker’s property and in his control while Varian … She felt so confused, so heartbroken.

  “I’m your destiny and your protector, Jana of Earth,” Ryker vowed.

  Be he Varian or Ryker, alien lover or alien husband, her question had to be the same, “But who will protect me from you?”

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  Stardust and Shadows

  Janelle Taylor

  Dedicated to:

  Mike Dekle, a longtime and talented friend who writes and records great music that soothes me when I’m stressed.

  Kevin Kelly and Ken Richman, in appreciation for your friendship and support over the years.

  Dr. James Matheny, who taught me so much about research when I worked with him at the Medical College of Georgia.

  Walter Zacharius and the late Roberta Bender Grossman who made this book a dream come true.

  Part I

  Moondust And Madness

  As the playful Gods gather to watch mortals below, The helpless Fates warns sadly, for only they know:

  Careful of “Moondust” which captures a heart;

  Beware of its “Madness” which tears lovers apart.

  Chapter One

  “You gave me a big scare, Jana of Earth. More than once I feared I was going to lose my new wife forever. I’m glad you’re finally awake.”

  Jana Greyson stared at the blond alien as his gentle fingers stroked her cheek and tawny hair. She realized she was back in the Trilabs Complex on Darkar, but he couldn’t be Ryker. “What are we doing here?” she asked.

  “You contracted a dangerous disease last week; it was almost fatal to your system. You’ve been hovering between unconsciousness and delirium for five long and frightening days. I assumed you’d been inoculated for all the ones unknown to your world. As soon as you’re well, my ravishing wife, I’ll have Varian’s oversight taken care of so this won’t happen again.” He kissed her forehead. “Now that I’ve found a unique woman who is able to fulfill me, I don’t plan to lose her to a mistake on her captor’s part. Varian should never have allowed this to happen; you could have died.” He continued to caress her pale cheek and to” smile. “No woman anywhere is more perfectly suited to Ryker Triloni than you are. Besides being as weak as a newborn, my exquisite bride, how do you feel?”

  Jana closed her eyes and shook her head to clear it. This couldn’t be her husband, even if that was his face and voice. Prince Ryker Triloni couldn’t be stroking her with such gentleness. Nor were the twin green flames in his eyes familiar to her. “Wake up, J. G.,” she told herself, “you’re only dreaming. Ryker’s dead.”

  “I’m not dead, my beautiful wife. I’m immune to all diseases, so I didn’t take ill as you did. When Captain E’los delivered those rare plants from Zandia, he infected you with a powerful germ. You barely survived; for a while, I feared you wouldn’t. Thank the fates they dared not take you from me. Don’t look so worried,” he said soothingly. “The serum and treatment finally worked, but they required a lot of testing and adjusting in my lab. I’m glad you regained consciousness before I had to take drastic steps with an unproven remedy. Never fear, Jana of Earth, you’ll be well and strong again soon. I promise.”

  “This can’t be happening,” she murmured. “Wake up, J. G.” She tried to sit, but the blond-haired man restrained her by the shoulders.

  “You mustn’t overexert yourself. Your equilibrium isn’t normal yet and your circulation slowed while you were confined to bed. You don’t want to play havoc with your blood pressure by getting up too quickly or too soon. You need to rest and heal. Give yourself time to regain your strength.”

  A cold sweat raced over her body; it chilled and dampened her flesh. Her vision and wits weren’t totally clear, but it seemed as if she were awake. Her ears had a slight hum that she knew wasn’t from the audiotranslator implanted there so she could understand any alien language spoken. Though she’d been abducted from her planet and galaxy months ago, she still had difficulty sometimes with the aural device. When mouths didn’t move with the words she was hearing, it was like watching a movie with the audio and video mismatched. Some words, especially slang, lacked accurate interpretations; some translations were even comical or confusing. None of those problems was the trouble today. His words were clear—only the situation i
tself was inexplicable and alarming.

  Jana observed the tall and handsome male as he passed a black boxlike instrument over her head and chest, a medical analyzer that instantly read and recorded vital functions. She noticed the nonterrestrial being used his left hand. Ryker Triloni was right-handed but Varian Saar was left-handed! Your rescue by Varian was too real. You can’t be back in Ryker’s evil clutches. You’ll wake up soon and discover this is only a bad dream.

  He smiled at the results of the digital readouts. “Much better. You’ll return to normal within a few days. Don’t worry, my fetching enchantress, there’s no hurry to finish redecorating the house. I agree it needs a woman’s touch, but we have plenty of time, Jana of Earth—all of our lives. As soon as you’re better, we’ll get back to where we were. I must admit, I am enjoying the direction of our new journey.”

  Jana felt almost seared by his fiery gaze. Yet she trembled from a cold premonition. Why was Varian calling her “Jana of Earth” when only Ryker had done so? Why had her love brought her back to this horrid place where she almost died? Why was he still wearing that Ryker disguise? Why was he trying to sound and look like his half brother? “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Varian. I haven’t been ill. Why am I hooked up to these contraptions?”

  “You’re weak and disoriented, Jana. It’s from the medication and Rahgine’s Fever. That’s only natural. You’re a doctor, a scientist, a chemist. You know what severe illness and lengthy delirium can do to a person. I’m Ryker. You live here with me now. We’re married. Varian no longer owns you or controls your life. Remember?”

  “If our captor did one good thing for us on our trek to your galaxy, it was to make certain we were well trained and well prepared for our new lives as enslaved alien mates, charls, as you Maffeians call us. Tris is too intelligent to have forgotten vital inoculations. So why this deceit?”

  “By Tris, I assume you mean Dr. Tristan Zarcoff, Varian’s chief medical officer on the Wanderlust. Since you came down with Rahgine’s, it’s obvious Dr. Zarcoff either forgot that inoculation or it didn’t take with you. As soon as you’re strong enough, I’ll have antibodies tests done to see which ones didn’t take with your system. Our two cultures are very similar, but I’m sure we have a few biological differences.”

  “You’ll only concoct a test to get results in your favor,” she accused. “The reason you faked my auction to Draco was because you needed to hold on to me as a gift to Ryker. You were furious because Draco almost fell in love with me and refused to return me to you. Then, along came Ryker’s challenge and my near death at what obviously was bad timing. Did the Supreme Council order you to give me to Ryker that first time? Did they order you to pretend to return me to him and for you to impersonate him? What’s the mission this time, Commander Saar? Are you so loyal to the Alliance, Kadim Tirol, and Star Fleet that you will do anything they command of you, obey any order, accept any assignment no matter whom it hurts, including yourself? I won’t be used again, you space pirate! Take off your disguise, Varian; this wild scheme won’t work.”

  “Disguise? Mission? Varian? I’m Ryker, Jana. Don’t worry me. I’ll summon the best doctor to run a brain scan for possible damage.”

  “My brain is fine. Why are you doing this? Haven’t you tricked me and used me and betrayed me enough times in the past?”

  “What I’m trying to do is get you well and convince you we’ll be perfect together. I’ve been near this bed every day and night since you took ill. At times I doubted you were going to survive. I even suspected your inoculations had been skipped on purpose so something like this would snatch you away from me just as I came to want you to stay. Maybe Varian would rather see you dead than with me.”

  Those words cut Jana like a sharp scalpel. Before she went to sleep, Varian had confessed his love and proposed marriage. Why this abrupt and vicious change? She stared at the man speaking to her in a seductive tone, a tender expression on his face.

  “Odd as it was, Jana of Earth, I found myself praying to the gods, begging them to let you live. I even threatened and bargained for your survival. I told you shortly after your arrival that I had never met a woman like you. I can’t explain how you got to me so quickly because I don’t understand it myself. For a man of science not to have even a tiny theory to proceed on is scary and frustrating. Maybe you do possess a potent and mysterious alien magic. Maybe realizing that fact frightened Varian into carving you out of his life. Since they accused my mother of bewitching his father with powerful magic, I’m sure the possibility of Varian falling into the same trap was intimidating to him. As for me, my terrestrial enchantress, I find the possibility intriguing. How intoxicating to have my very own angel as my wife.”

  He spoke with an Androasian inflection that sounded like a southern accent, whereas Varian’s had reminded her of Welsh. “I’m getting annoyed with this ruse, Varian,” she murmured, “so stop it. You tricked me before, but I’m not stupid. I haven’t been struck low by an alien disease; I haven’t been delirious or hallucinating. You have five minutes to explain this … whatever it is you’re doing to me.” The way his brows lowered and held taut said he was becoming annoyed. Annoyed, she mused, because he couldn’t fool her?

  “Maybe I should ask what you’re trying to pull on me, Jana of Earth. You’re disputing logic and reality. I haven’t seen or heard you behave this way before. You said you would marry me and agreed to all my terms. I told you the two things I detest are guile and defiance, so I’ve tried to be clear and kind with you. I admit I was rough and cold at first, but you know why I acted that way, just as you know I apologized and relented.”

  Jana stared at him. How could Varian know what had happened between her and Ryker when she had first arrived on his private planetoid, Darkar? Yet, he kept saying things only she and Ryker had known… . There were ways, she reasoned: she and Ryker had told Varian the entry code to this impenetrable complex which held all of the secrets of Ryker Triloni and Trilabs; Varian must have read Shara’s detailed scientific journals and the evil woman’s private diaries. Ryker must have made videotapes of their meetings and Varian had viewed them.

  “If you honestly believe I’m Varian Saar, there is a problem here. If it’s medical, it can be handled. If it’s mental, I hope it can be cured. If it’s a cunning trick, we’re both in trouble. I’m not a man anyone should try to dupe or betray. I make a powerful and good friend but a dangerous enemy.”

  Jana saw he was serious, but he didn’t appear to be trying to intimidate her. Maybe it was an attempt to caution and silence her, change her position to a defensive one. Yet, she couldn’t allow his deception to go unchallenged.

  He continued in a mellow tone. “Will it be so disagreeable to live as Princess Jana Triloni, my wife and heir, mother of my children, joint heir to the Androasian throne and Empire? I told you before you became ill that you could resume your research with me in my labs. You agreed. You said you were recovering the pride, confidence, and self-esteem Varian stole from you. You said you wanted to repay his treachery and betrayal by marrying me before he went through with his marriage to Cass. Why have you changed your mind? Why do you think I’m him?”

  “Because you’re lying to me. Is this an experiment for a new mission? Do you think that if you can dupe me into believing you’re Ryker, you can fool anyone? Or perhaps it is a test of my feelings? To learn how I would react if Ryker had survived the attack and I was back with him? You don’t have to trick me to get anything. I’m an alien captive. You’ve proven you have ways to get whatever you desire from me. Why this charade?”

  “I’m not deceiving you, Jana. There was no attack. No one, including Varian Saar, would dare attack Darkar. I have sensors all over this planetoid that would detect any ship’s presence. I have laser weapons located in every area of Darkar that can blast any ship out of the sky. No one enters my air space without my permission. If anyone managed to get through my security system and defenses and tried to enter this complex, an automa
tic self-destruct sequence would go into effect; an explosion here would release powerful chemicals into the atmosphere that would destroy life on the nearby planets and contaminate this entire sector of space for thousands of years; everyone is aware of those realities and wisely respects them. I am the only person who knows the entry code.”

  “I know it. So do you, Varian. Ryker told you when you two battled to his death. That’s how you got us in here. But why this cruel pretense?”—

  “Varian and I never fought a lethal fight, Jana of Earth, not yet anyway, but I’m sure we will one day because that is what he wants. I’m standing here before you and he’s on Eire with his grandfather, Kadim Tirol. I can prove to you that no one, including you, knows the entry code.”

  “Then you’ve changed it since you drugged me. You pulled that trick before—once when you abducted me from Earth and then when you snatched me from Draco’s. I want to get up. Call Tris to unhook me from this apparatus or I’ll yank myself free. I mean it, Varian; stop it and let me up, now!”

  He captured her hands and pinned them to her sides. “Calm down, Jana. You’re too weak and disoriented to get out of bed. You still have two hundred cc’s of medication to be infused. I can’t allow you to endanger yourself.”

  Jana ceased her struggles. “Then tell me the truth.”

  “Everything I’ve told you since you awoke is the truth. I thought you had come to accept me as I’ve accepted you. These things you’re saying didn’t happen. Why won’t you believe me?”

  “You’re saying you’re Ryker Triloni and not Varian Saar’s near twin beneath that disguise of yours?”