Tricked Out Turning Drastic (Star Keeper Series Book 2), page 1
Tricked Out Turning Drastic
Star Keeper Novel II
Bridget Hawley
Midnight Born Books
Copyright © 2024 by Midnight Born Books
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law and for brief quotations in a book review. For permission requests, contact Midnight Born Books LLC.
The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious.
Book Cover by Leraynne S.
ISBN: (Hardcover) 979-8-9882182-2-7
First Edition 2024.
Contents
Epigraph
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20
21. Chapter 21
22. Chapter 22
23. Chapter 23
24. Chapter 24
25. Chapter 25
26. Chapter 26
27. Chapter 27
28. Chapter 28
29. Chapter 29
30. Chapter 30
31. Chapter 31
32. Chapter 32
33. Chapter 33
About Author
Also By
"There is nothing permanent except change."—Heraclitus
Chapter one
Once upon a distant corner of the fabric of time, on an Earth-orbiting organ farm where healthy innards were plucked like wild daises and terminations fell like summer rain, I read an excerpt of an ancient religious anthology speaking of rainbows, revelation, and resplendent halos. Considering I was borrowing someone else's tablet and clones were long declared soulless by the world's leading theologians, I didn't finish the segment as I didn't have time.
No matter. I had already deemed it irrelevant to my 'damned and unnatural perversion of existence', anyway.
I snorted. Perhaps it was not so irrelevant now.
Cloud-enveloped at the moment with a rainbow of humidity haloing my tangled head, a far-off heavenly body of the universe probably ugly-wept, begging for disassociation as others roared like pissy lions hoping to sunder any and all inferences that may claim familial ties. Seemed about right. I was no angel, er, seraphim…whatever. I didn't have six wings either, which was a plus.
And, if you thought my powerful Celestial Sisters had a response to the change they forced on me, you'd think it would be supportive, heartfelt, and galactically apropos.
I let out a chuckle, then sighed. It was more like 'lol' if I was interpreting it correctly.
Same old.
Moving the scented bubbles up to my chest, I peered around the dripping bathroom. Light from the massive stained glass window painted the steamy space in an ethereal, beautiful haze. My wings jerked. Splashing, water hit the walls and then slopped to the floor. It seemed fitting that a bath would be the next step after going nuclear, not once, but twice. I always ended up smelling like steak afterward.
Yes, the scent of the cosmos: eu de ribeye with a hint of gunpowder—I presume on the latter. Not a bad odor, just one I didn't particularly care to wear in my hair.
Then again it was better than smelling like dead makuula or freshly decapitated male body. The fact that I'd been comatose for three months gathering dust was perhaps another good reason to clean up.
"I can't believe the Gods have burdened you so," Nika tentatively remarked after having regaled me with stories of TreVallan news as she carried a set of clothes in her arms and set them near the sink.
I laughed and rubbed my crusty eyes. "What—you don't like the feathers?" I asked with a smirk. The wings may have been new, but I was no noob to drawing the short stick in the hand of chaos. Mentally, I was already moving on and thinking about books and bread…
Amongst other things.
Her olive green cheeks darkened.
"Okay, what is it? Remember, you don't have to be appropriate around me. I can deal," I said. In fact, inappropriate was the snuggly, warm, and safe space that I preferred to dwell in. Much more honest there—the directness.
She snickered. "Well, you know."
"Nope. You've got to say it," I responded. The corner of my mouth lifted as I watched her struggle.
Nika was beyond helpful in getting me up and maneuvering my wings into the bathroom. Thankfully, Rescoven had readjusted the doorjambs and changed the size of the tub prior to my awakening. When I did finally crack my eyelids open, I felt like a newly hatched chick, and besides a strategically placed bed sheet on my person, I was a very naked one. Not something I was unfamiliar with due to my upbringing on Haven and their method of herding the clone cattle in the bathing chambers en masse, but something I tended to avoid. Nika had been a great assistance.
Not that I was purposefully letting it all hang out, no. The bubbles were veiling me nicely as my consciousness caught up to the moment and my aches and pains rapidly healed. Enough to feel comfortable having Nika expand on her comment.
I eyed a colorful candy tray on the tub's edge as she carefully formed her next words.
"Well, your"—she waved a hand toward her chest—"female attributes are rather…large…especially for your small stature. Females usually are not so…heavy laden."
Still looking at the treats, I huffed in amusement. "You make it seem that I need the bone structure of a draft horse to haul my breasts around."
Confused, she responded, "I don't know what that means."
"Draven—you think I need to be the size of a draven for my boobs," I clarified thoroughly entertained.
"Boobs?" She tried out the foreign term slowly, ending with a shake of her head. "What an absurd word."
"I know. It's stupid. And for the record, these are a typical size from where I come from. Not aftermarket enhanced." I was being truthful. Even some company-employed prick on Haven commented on my lackluster set saying that 'normal' had been out of fashion for at least a decade. I should have had zero mounds or huge ones. 'Androgynous or a real woman'...whatever the hell that currently meant at the time. I believe it changed quite often down on Earth. My lithe build seemed to displease him, too.
He was an asshat—probably burned alive.
I picked up a cherry-looking sweet and tossed it in my mouth. Silently, I made a face as I allowed it to roll out and plop in the suds.
"What lands do you come from? I haven't traveled very far at all. Braghen and I moved directly to TreValla from the farmlands in the east so I have not encountered too many individuals with ties to other continents," she wondered aloud, thoroughly curious. Towel in hand, she was attempting to dry the water that had been splashed all over from my random wing jerks.
Scraping the soap off my tongue, I garbled, "You don't have to do that, you know. The room has spells that activate and clean up after its use." I could feel the mahdra and its purpose very easily. I still didn't think I was masterful at mahdra detection, but here in the bathroom, there was no need for obfuscation work. "But yeah, I came from a shivit place called Haven. I'll tell you more about it when you want but," I made a move to get up, "I've got to talk to the Keeper about some things first."
In fact, I was getting a tad antsy about it. Many things were on my mind…certain people, too.
"Don't you need my help?"
I paused in the suds. "Not anymore, thank you. The warm water has completely eased my discomfort and I think the healing mahdra in the room is helping." Not entirely true, but it was easier to explain my quick bounce back after a months-long coma by attributing it to convenient, arcane spellwork rather than bringing up my weird biology.
"Oh, perfect!" Nika responded with a pleased smile and a nod of her head before turning around and going for the door to give me privacy. After exiting, she called out and said, "I left clothes out for you. I'm going to tell Braghen you're awake! He's probably still working but he will be home soon and I want to be there to give him the good news."
"Sure. I'm grateful for your help," I responded while increasing my volume for the distance. "And tell Braghen I said thank you, too, by the way. He'll know what for." I hadn't forgotten what he and Jero had done for me. After the near assault that had resulted in a beheading, they had risked their careers to tell Rescoven key details about who was behind it. Plans were specifically created and honed because of their divulgence.
Snatching up a towel that she had placed at the foot of the tub, I covered my front as I stepped out of the basin. Involuntarily, my wings went spastic and blurred with ferocity as they extended and snapped themselves dry, coating the room once more in a fine layer of water.
The movement unbalanced me. I fell to my backside.
In the outer room, oblivious to my clumsiness, I heard Nika answer, "I am honored—and I will!" The mahdra-infused door leading to the library's third floor gently shut.
I sat there dripping. With a raise of my brow, I looked at my new, rather expansive, feathery modification. Bright white with a hint of oil-slicked iridescence, they twitched as I shrugged my sore shoulders. I figured it could have been worse. CHANGE, as the Sisters had kept insisting on, could have meant they wanted the fabled female menstruation cycle to start so I'd be fertile and populate Haell with little star-baby hybrids.
Yikes.
Not knocking the gift of motherhood, but as a clone, I was sans-viable-eggs capital 'S' STERILE. The Haven hubris machine had made sure we all were. Sure, my Sisters could have perhaps intervened and gussied up my uterus and bedazzled my ovaries along with the feathers…but I felt that that wasn't the case. Inherently, I had the calm, mysterious knowledge that I was just too, well, fledgling for that. With that in mind, I didn't know what a powerful group of Sister stars considered mature enough.
I didn't want to dwell on it. Eons were too difficult to fathom.
So wings. That was my new mod. Cool, but a tad over-the-top in terms of blending in with the citizens.
Getting up with a groan, new muscles still being worked and all, I made my way to the sink and mirror. My eyes were still their mismatched colors and my hair looked a tad more…luminous? I didn't know if that was the right word. Either way, I shrugged once again and popped a cleansing tablet in my mouth swishing for a bit as it bubbled and worked. Spitting out a couple of minutes later as my hair dried under a previously placed spell in the room, I glanced at the clothes that Nika had placed on the counter.
I leaned in closer. Apart from a nice set of feminine leggings and a tunic with slits sewn in for my wings, there was a cloak. With runes.
I picked up the garment and further analyzed the gold embroidery in surprise. Similar to my first robe, the mahdra within the markings felt like they were there to…obscure? No, it was more than that. This felt artsy—like it was there to play coy and mess with people. Realizing the cloak wasn't meant to entirely shroud my body, I decided to get dressed and then try it on for size.
Which, after I put on my pants and struggled with my top, was what I did. Wings stretched out with each of their tips touching the walls on either side, I flipped the gorgeous, calf-length cloak around my shoulders, securing the gold clasp. I gasped. My new appendages had disappeared. With an incredulous laugh, I took the dark green cloak off again.
Boom. Wings.
"Perfect," I said to my reflection securing the star-shaped clasp once more. Excitedly walking through the bathroom, the glamour worked as though my wings never existed. It was mahdra work masterfully executed.
With a bounce in my step, and no longer worried about how I was going to navigate the wickedly narrow bookshelves here at Vahlta Hall, I grabbed the mahdra map Rescoven had scribed for me and checked the public spaces for bodies—not dead ones…though, that may prove handy one day. No, I looked for the indication of a patron utilizing one of the scholar's desks.
Not that I was going to hide anymore…
No one was here. I snorted.
Eyeing the map further I caught sight of a hovering -R in a lower-level room marked with the English term 'miscellaneous'. Avoiding stacks of books resting chaotically about the space and hoping not to disturb them, I eyed my towering shelves and saw the content there was chittering and nearly vibrating with excitement due to my presence. Much had changed while I had been asleep—the sentience had somehow grown. Giving a loving wave to the books, I pushed through a plant that had been tiny the last time I had seen it. Draping like a golden god, I dubbed the plant Robert in my head. His overgrown metallic vines dominated the other multicolored leafage in the space and selfishly trailed across my shoulders as I made my way to the exit.
The place was alive.
Eyes wide, yet shrugging at the changes I most likely caused subconsciously, I grabbed Red who was hovering and waiting for me politely by the door as kick-ass books do. Whistling for Lady Silver to follow, she buzzed around my head then loped happily off in front of me as I entered the public portion of the dark, third floor. Mind you, I could have used the apartment's stairwell to head down into the back rooms.
Ha. No way.
I wanted to breathe in Vahlta Hall and say hi after my Celestial hiatus.
Tucking the map and Red Giant under one arm, I started a jog, which turned into a full run. With my face free from the past's bigoted hood of the rejected, I leaped onto the polished rolling ladder and traveled at a blurring pace down the narrow aisle. Stopping forcefully enough at the end of the row to be catapulted, I landed in a crouch and stood with a huge smile on my face. Papyrus-scented bliss hugged me from all directions.
Then my jaw fell.
Robert the Plant had been busy. Juiced up on tricky power and puppeteered by Haell, the golden vine had also grown pervasively into the atrium, dangling fronds and flora all over the central vaulted space. Leaves dropped down from the skylight trailing to the distant bottom floor. Offshoots of tendrils coiled around the columns while small platinum flowers bloomed here and there.
Earlier, before my collapse, I had guessed the plants in my room would pose a future problem. Now I knew that was the case—or that's what others would label it: a massive problem. Being that I was me, I instantly fell further in love rather than seeing an issue with it, despite my history with tricky vegetation.
"My goodness you are beautiful," I said on a breath.
A rich spice filled the air with hints of exotic wood and virile flora entwined with the surrounding scent of deep lore. Walking up slowly, the daylight from above filtered down on all the metallic facets of the leaves and flowers, amplifying and multiplying the colors like a living chandelier. Its natural prisms moved as I neared. My hand went to my heart.
Suddenly, Lady Silver spiraled into the atrium showing off her own shiny attributes in loops and rolls.
Laughing at her hijinks, I approached a refracting, platinum flower and leaned down to take a full inhale amongst the golden vines. Considering I had read and memorized countless Haellish books on botany and horticulture, and the plant here was unknown to me, I probably should have been a tad more reticent. Though I could have been zapped with a powerful neurotoxin—as the spiky fluorescent bricenda on Savos had this defensive tactic—nothing happened.
The flower turned to my face. I took in a few deep breaths and smiled at a fluttering Lady Silver. I felt her jealousy. "I hope you realize this doesn't make you any less beautiful, you're still one of the prettiest—"
The flower shot forward like an arrow off the vine aiming directly at my face. Turning with a screech, I reflexively backpedaled…to no avail. Latching onto my neck, coiling its trailing tendrils, the gold leaves wrapped around my windpipe.
But then it stopped.
Humming in contentment, it got comfortable. Stock-still in utter fear of the living garrote, I focused on breathing. A couple minutes passed as I eventually calmed and unclenched my fists. Pondering the question 'what-the-hell' repeatedly, I factored that testing its staying power probably wouldn't hurt—that, or my celestial healing would kick in before any excruciating pain.
Hopefully.
Sliding a finger underneath it, I attempted to dislodge the vine. Didn't work. I tried again, this time with two fingers. Nope. On the plus side, there was no deadly retribution for the attempt. In fact, I believe I felt a leaf slightly pat me on my pulse as if to get me to calm down. It was as if Haell and His glittering, overgrowing spokesman, Robert in this case, were telling me to chill.
And if I was right in that—that Robert the Plant was Haell's main man, loosely speaking—I was tricked. As in screwed. I had no power over Haell and His manifestations.
One hand moved to my hip as I clutched Red and stared at the rest of the godly plant hanging nonchalantly, shimmering innocently and calmly. Reaching out with my senses, I also detected zero mahdra in it. It was naturally sentient and growing on its own it seemed.
"Vrekking figures," I muttered with a roll of my eyes.
Haell had always been a bit grabby.
Concluding that I had a new, permanent accessory, I shook my head and headed down the massive coiling stairs grumbling about how my personal space was never respected by Him. The vine slithered and moved to soothe what I presumed it thought was my overreaction, vibrating faintly.
