Healing Luck (Rota Rising Book 1)

By Mary Kit Caelsto

A council of goddesses calls a healer, a warrior, a bard, and a monk to fight for them.

When an iguana falls at Sean Mulligan's feet on an unseasonably cold Florida day, he thinks it's interesting, especially since things like that don't happen in Chicago where he'll be returning after his spring break. Unable to leave the animal frozen on the ground, he takes it back to his rental and when the creature wakes up he announces that he's an envoy from the god of healing and Sean needs to come with him.

Arguments of finishing med school or even his lease refuses to sway the iguana, who introduces himself as Hank. To appease him, Sean follows orders and soon finds himself on an uncharted Caribbean island and face to face with nine goddesses--all of him want him to heal those who are coming to fight. If he doesn't? He goes back to Chicago and dies as fate intended.

Left with no choice, Sean has to make his way in his new life. His only allies? An iguana named Hank and the goddess Tyche.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Kit Caelsto
• Release date: Aug 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005230784

Book preview

Healing Luck

Rota Rising Book 1

Mary Kit Caelsto

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Par Impar Front Matter

Other Par Impar Stories

Newsletter CTA

Also by

Healing Luck

Hidden

Tonic Chords

Songs and Horns

About The Author

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Permission is granted to make ONE backup copy for archival purposes.

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

HEALING LUCK (ROTA RISING BOOK 1)

Copyright © Mary Kit Caelsto, 2020

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Cover Art © 2020

Cover art by Epona Author Solutions

Book formatting by Epona Author Solutions (http://www.eponaauthorsolutions.com)

Electronic Publication Date: August 2021

A previous version of this story was included in a collaborative project; however, this story has been revised to remove any refrences to them.

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.

TRADEMARK ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Par Impar and Rota are trademarks of Fortuna de Conatibus.

Looking for more stories of Par Impar?

Visit www.parimpar.club to read more stories set in the Caribbean resort open to magical and mythical creatures alike. New stories are posted twice a month.

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List of Par Impar Stories

In addition to the ongoing stories published on our website, the following are books/collections also produced by Par Impar and Fortuna dea Conatibus

Bad Luck Titan (free on our website https://parimpar.club)

From The Deep

Called To Rota

Tyche’s Trials

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Subscribers receive free stories. First news about giveaways and promotions…and more.

Currently offering God Plucked, a free serialized novel set in the Radio Arcanum world.

Also by the Author

Women’s Fiction

Noble Dreams Series

Steady on Course

Standing on Course

Correction on Course

Walking on Course

Course Perfect

Shadbelly Faults

Husband On Board

Double Clear

Riding Double

Rosettes & Rompers

Crossed Rails

International Obstacles

Baby Green

Mare Stare

Future Courses

Noble Dreams Year 1 (boxed set books 1-5)

Noble Dreams Year 2 (boxed sets book 6-10)

Cardinal Oaks

Flying Changes

Field Obstacles

Western Star Series

Spins Are Wild

Turn & Burn

In the Chute

Back In The Saddle

Winning It All

Western Star (boxed set)

Racehorses & Romance

Racing Home

Claiming His Irish Trainer

His Irish Proposal

Roping Paige

Fantasy/Magic Realism

World of the Musimagium and Radio Arcana

Hidden

Tonic Chords

Songs & Horns

Discovery of Songs

Songs & Paperwork

Songs & Fury

Chasing Neptune’s Cat

Tempus Magic

The Pegasus Project

Pegasus In Flight

Draco Magus

Radio Arcanum

Racing Luck

Chapter One

The iguana landed at his feet. Sean stopped in his tracks and stared at the green lizard. Had he been walking more quickly, he might have been hit by the creature. So that’s what a falling iguana warning means. He glanced around, but didn’t see anyone else, then looked up. The leaves obscured the branches and any green lizards waiting to brain him, but he didn’t see any of those either.

Animal or human—the patient didn’t matter--the need to heal overcame him, and he knelt. Touching the cold lizard, he marveled at how still it was. Yet the news warnings advised people to stay away because they would wake up when warmed. Some impulse had him taking off his jacket and wrapping it around the creature. When the animal didn’t move, he picked it up and cradled it against his chest. The Airbnb he rented wasn’t far from here, and well, he didn’t know what the policy was on animals, but maybe once it warmed up, he could release it.

To what? Freeze again. Not that he liked that option but keeping a wild iguana as a pet also didn’t seem smart, not with the hours he worked at his residency. He’d taken a week off between semesters for a break, to do something away from textbooks big enough to be used as murder weapons and patients screaming in the ER. To clear his head and decide if he wanted to be a doctor, something he’d thought he’d wanted his entire life. But right now, the idea of returning to Chicago and his residency didn’t thrill him. Instead, he looked at it like walking into quicksand, to be mired in a slowly sinking pile of billing codes, regulations, and insurance overlords. And over all of them? The hospital administrators who sought to get profit where patient healing should be the main focus.

His patients needed him. He had to go back and find a way to work within the system. Surely there was room for him to do good there.

The green lizard in his arms reminded him of a child, lifeless and responsive, brought into the ER. He’d done everything he could. And yet, modern medicine hadn’t been able to save them. So stupid, too. No one died from the chicken pox anymore; except, this child had. The end cause? Hemorrhagic varicella with multiple organ failure.

He’d been lucky, the attending physician had said, to see this presentation. No. No one should be lucky enough to see a child die at any time. Just because the vaccine cut down deaths and very few people died from the virus, didn’t make him, a third-year resident, seeing it any luckier. Not when he’d stood there mute while the parents clung to each other wailing and asking, how could this happen? over and over again.

He cradled the iguana to his chest even tighter. Did it squirm? Was it warming up enough to move? I don’t know what we’re going to do, little buddy, but I’m going to get you warm and hopefully feel better.

A raspy THANK YOU filled his mind.

Sean stopped in his tracks. Maybe he was hallucinating from the cold or the stress of his residency because there was no way the frigid, rigid iguana could have spoken in his mind. Yeah, you’re welcome, little dude. We’re freezing. He increased his pace and made it to the small home squashed in between two larger lots that he’d rented. As soon as he entered, he checked the heat to make sure it was cranked up to a toasty 73 degrees, then set the wrapped bundle down on the floor.

Rubbing his hands together, he went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. He leaned against the counter, blowing on his hands to warm them up. Coming to Florida in January seemed like a good idea--until this cold snap. If he’d wanted weather like this he could have stayed in Chicago. 

He poured himself a mug of the hot brew, added a bit of creamer, then went into the living room.

His jacket lay on the floor, the iguana no longer swaddled within it. Great. Now he had a huge lizard lost in a rental home. He picked up his jacket and draped it over the edge of a chair.

Here, lizard, lizard. He glanced under the end tables and behind the couch.

He sat down. Surely an animal as big as an iguana couldn’t hide for long. This was what he got for being the good guy and trying to save the beast. He could have left it on the sidewalk, but he’d heard the market in iguana meat was getting flooded. He really didn’t want the creature to become someone’s dinner. Besides, what did iguana taste like? Chicken. They all supposedly came from the same dinosaur branch of the evolutionary tree. He’d had gator tail and it had no flavor, but paired with a nice chipotle sauce, was a decent appetizer.

Look, lizard. I was just trying to save your life. Don’t shit on the carpet or something that I won’t be able to explain. This is a rental. Sean rubbed his eyes. Now he was talking to the lizard. Maybe there was something about Florida that made everyone crazy.

I’m not a barbarian.

There it was, that voice again. A green spiked head poked out from beneath the couch.

But I could use some lettuce or something. I’m hungry.

Sure, he could feed the iguana. He went to the kitchen and chopped up some Napa Cabbage and put shredded carrots over the top. He’d still be able to make the stir fry he’d been planning on tonight, and surely there was a pet store close by if the iguana wanted something else. Except, now he was acting as if he had really heard the lizard and that it was able to talk to him. With a shake of his head, he put the veggies on a plate and set it down on the kitchen floor. If you’re going to eat do so in here so I can clean up any mess, he replied.

The iguana padded in, licking his lips at the sight of the veggies. He dove in, crunching on the crispy cabbage as if he hadn’t eaten in a while. When the plate was empty, the iguana returned to the living room and curled up on a heat vent.

Thank you. I think you’ll do nicely. The iguana’s eyes closed, presumably in sleep.

Sean stared at the lizard. Do for what? he mumbled to himself, then decided if this creature thought he’d do the least he could do was look up how to care for something like this. Considering that iguanas were considered an invasive species, if he took one in from the wild, well that wouldn’t be a bad thing, now would it? 

The more he read about the care an iguana needed, the more he thought there was something to his theory that he might be going crazy, because with his schedule as a resident, not to mention the size of the enclosure needed, he couldn’t handle it in his apartment. Not without turning his spare bedroom over to the lizard, and he hadn’t even checked to see if pets were allowed. Yeah, the best thing he could do would be to open the door and wish the iguana the best as he set it free once more.

The creature stirred on the heat vent. He awakened and stood, then walked over to the couch and climbed up next to Sean. He put one clawed foot on Sean’s leg as if to get his attention, then bobbed his head. You are a healer, yes?

That voice again, and this time, he couldn’t deny that it came from the iguana. I’m in medical school. So I’d like to think so.

Good. We’ll go to Good Fortune Market. There’s a door in the back of the office. If I’m right, it’ll let you in. We need you.

I’m due to head back to Chicago the day after tomorrow. Whatever you need, I’m not it. Classes start again the following week, and honestly, I put my position in jeopardy just taking this break, but since classes weren’t in session and I hadn’t started my next rotation, they couldn’t really stop me. He sighed. I’m glad you’re okay, little dude. But my apartment isn’t built for an iguana.

The creature lashed its tail back and forth, just hard enough to give a hard tap against Sean’s ribs. You dare defy the gods?

Sean laughed. Okay, the lizard was getting a bit big for his britches or scales or whatever. Trust me. If there was a god or any gods at all, I wouldn’t have watched a child die of a preventable disease. I think we’re done here. He reached for the lizard.

The iguana ducked out of reach. And we are sorry about that. Asclepius cannot save everyone.

Sean paused. The Greek God of healing? He frowned. Aren’t they like myths or something. Fantastic stories told by people who lacked an explanation for nature’s events or something? He shook his head. Things were getting completely out of control. Either he’d had some bad pad Thai at the restaurant, or he really was talking to an iguana. He was a man of science. He’d gone to college, used laboratory equipment, learned about the scientific method. None of this was covered in any of his classes. Even if he’d gone to veterinary school, he doubted they’d discuss what to do with talking lizards.

Would you rather have had a python fall at your feet? I may not be on the caduceus but I’m still his avatar.

Sean exhaled a long breath. Yeah, the falling python would have freaked him out. So talk. Who needs me? Why would I do? And the Good Fortune Market sounds like an Asian grocery store. Why would I go there?

Because they are the ones who know how to take you to Rota. The Council of Good Fortune needs you. They need a healer.

But why me? I’m not a full MD yet. And depending on what they need, I might not even have the specialty that they need. I haven’t finished all my rotations yet. Even as he spoke, the very idea that someone needed him--needed healing--drew him to agree. Perhaps it’d turn out to be a hoax. Some prank played on him--by who? He didn’t know, but he longed to see this through to the end. And if his gut was right, then it’d be the way out of death by paperwork and corporate overlords.

Asclepius believes you’re the one. I follow orders. I do not ask why. You want answers? You go to Rota.

Okay. Leaving the Airbnb a day early wouldn’t be a problem. He could finish up the food in the fridge, leave a note that everything else was a gift, and he hoped they could use it. He had instructions on where to leave the key and hadn’t made a mess. Mostly he’d slept and worked on his laptop. He travelled light enough that taking his small overnight bag, along with his laptop, wouldn’t be an issue. From there, he could Uber to the airport and fly back to Chicago if things didn’t pan out. The iguana would have to stay, though. Tomorrow. I’ll go tomorrow.

He had use of his host’s washer and dryer and decided to spend the evening doing laundry and cleaning up. The lizard asked to go outside when he needed to, and then he came back in, snoozing on the heat vent. By the time the next morning rolled around, he had the place clean, a minimal amount of extra food in the fridge, and packed his bags.

I’ll ride on your shoulder. The iguana said a moment before he hopped up and settled himself.

So what do I call you? I can’t keep calling you lizard.

Call me Hank.

Okay, Hank, the iguana. Let’s go to this market and see if this is a prank or not.

Chapter Two

The scent of spices filled his nose before he opened the door to the Good Fortune Market. The Indian man behind the counter nodded to him, not even blinking an eye when he and Hank went straight to the back. Shoppers ignored him for the most part, though two young Indian women gave him a couple extra looks as he passed a rack full of different flat breads. The cafe in the far back added the pungent aroma of fried foods and sharp spices to the air.

This is the door. If he hadn’t known any better, Sean would have thought it was the bathroom, only without signs. That and he’d seen the restrooms at the back of the area where the cafe was located. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and touched the door. It shimmered, and a compulsion had him walking forward-- straight through the odor.

Whoa. Was that magic? He glanced around, suddenly finding himself in a single one-room office with a door that presumably led out the back or maybe to a storeroom. He didn’t know. A woman who