“Thor, you’re insane. What are you doing?” he asked, instead of answering my question. “We’ve been friend for years. We grew up together.” Sweat ran from his temple, down his cheek and into the creases in his neck. I watched the slide of liquid, oddly detached. Numb. My parents were dead. My life was in ruins. Worse, Faith could never be mine. I would not drag her down with me. I would watch her take another male as her mate, raise a family, live and breathe and love another.
Numb was better than the pain I had locked away at the idea of her in the arms of another. I wondered if I’d ever feel again.
“We grew up together, but we were never friends.” I slid a jeweled dagger—my mother’s dagger—from my boot. It was a work of art. Polished platinum, it was a ceremonial piece, not meant for battle, but bestowed upon her with honor when she had retired from the Optimus unit after four decades of service. The blade was not made for war, but it was wickedly sharp. To prove the point, I walked around Pawl until I stood behind him and placed the dagger on the side of his ear. Slicing up toward the ceiling of the dark room, I cut the hair along that side of his head on a single sweep, chuckling out loud as the dark strands fluttered in a scattered mess onto Pawl’s lap.
“Thor?”
“Faith is my mate. Lord Wyse—your fucking grandfather—tried to have her killed. He sent you to Earth. What do you think Trinity and the royal guard will do to you when they find out you kidnapped the fucking queen!”
“Thor!” he repeated, this time his tone pleading.
I ignored it and continued. “Lord Wyse is the reason my parents are dead. My mate will be dead if he’s not stopped. What value do you believe I place on your miserable life?”
He exhaled shakily. “None.”
“Now you understand.” I pressed the flat of the blade to his sweat covered cheek and waited.
“I don’t know where the queen is now. But I know who does.”
Now we were getting somewhere. “Tell me.”
“He’s Lord Wyse’s personal guard. His name is Marish. He has a scar on his face, from the corner of his mouth to his neck, like a hook. He went with me to Earth. When we transported back, he took her. I don’t know where. I went home—”
“To take out Trinity.”
He was shaking now, the fingers of his hands trembling against the arms of the chair. “Yes. I was sent home, back to the palace, but they transported somewhere else. I don’t know where they took her. I swear I don’t.”
Damn it. I believed him. I knew I wouldn’t trust such information to a male of his low caliber. “And Lord Wyse? Why does he want the queen now? After all these years? Why not leave her alone on Earth?”
“He needs the royal gemstones. He wants to be king.”
The idea was ridiculous. “Alera has never had a king. Not in thousands of years.”
“Tell that to him,” he countered. Now that he was talking, he’d relaxed, a bit of his arrogance settling back around his shoulders. He even had the nerve to smile as he continued, telling me of his plans to seduce Trinity when she first arrived at his parent’s home, how he’d learned of her Ardor from Lord Wyse and decided to take matters into his own hands. He’d intended to fuck and murder his own cousin. But he’d been late arriving back at the palace and the royal consort had slipped into her bed first.
“You thought, what? That you’d mate your own cousin? Do you fuck your mother as well?”
That had made him angry, and he puffed up, face turning red as he cursed at the male. “No. Fuck you, Thor. Insult my mother again and I’ll—”
“What? Go on. Do tell.” I pressed the flat of my knife into his cheek so that the meat covering his bones edged over the blade, a shallow sliver slicing open from the pressure, just enough to make him wince. “Thor. No. I wasn’t going to fuck her. I do not need a mate. I said I’d seduce her into bed. Get her alone. Then kill her.”
“Lord Wyse needs all four heirs to die, and all four spires to darken before the people will accept him as their new king. Kill Trinity in her bed and there are only three to go.” I said it aloud as I worked through the ludicrous plans. I lifted the blade and didn’t even try to pretend the sight of that small sliver of blood didn’t please me. This bastard had every intention of murdering Faith’s sister, had kidnapped her mother, and would, without hesitation, have moved on to Faith next. He deserved to die. But not yet. I needed more information first. “Take them out one by one?”
He nodded. “Exactly. It wasn’t like my father could seduce her. Trinity had already met him and he’s too old for her. Seduction wouldn’t work.”
“And after?”
“After, it was brought to light that Leo is her mate. Since then, he hasn’t left her side… or her bed. Their bed. I had no chance again.”
“But Zel did, at the royal reception.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything. I knew what happened there, when Trinity had been taken prisoner and nearly killed by one of my mother’s guards. I had already left the reception for the night and, thank the goddess, Leo and Nix had been there to save her. Otherwise, that would have been one more sin, one more death my family was responsible for. I didn’t want or need to hear Pawl’s account of that evening. But Trinity did.
I walked over to a chair and sat, facing him once more, the bloodied dagger twirling in my hand. “You should be thankful, Pawl, for I have no doubt Leo would have made quick work of you if you dared crawl into Princess Trinity’s bed. Especially if you had tried to kill her.”
I saw agreement in his eyes, the hint of fear at the thought of being ripped to pieces by Leo. “I told you about Marish and the queen. What else to you want from me? Let me go! I haven’t killed anyone. I’m not a murderer. You have to let me go.”
“Do I?” I sighed deeply and slid my thumb carefully along the edge of the blade collecting the scant remains of his blood into a small drop. He watched, his eyes glued to the movement as I smeared the blood between my fingertips. “I will promise not to kill you, on one condition.”
“Yes. Whatever you want. Anything. Just let me go.”
“Start talking, Pawl. And start at the beginning. What do you know about the events that led to the king’s death twenty-seven years ago?”
“I wasn’t even born then.”
“But your father and Lord Wyse were adults. And you, now their trusted confidant. Their assassin.”
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
“You kidnapped the queen.”
He sighed, perhaps resigned that his involvement couldn’t be concealed any longer, that talking was the only way to save his sorry life. He talked for over an hour and answered my questions. When he was done, I had the information I needed to move forward. He knew more than I did, but not much more. And I still had no idea where to find the queen. But it was a start.
“Thank you, Pawl.” I stood and walked toward the door.
“Wait! What? Where are you going? You said you’d let me go! You can’t leave me here!”
“I said I wouldn’t kill you. And I won’t. But you are a threat to me and mine. Did you really think I would let you leave? To run off and warn your father? Your grandfather?”
He blabbered like a fool, begging for his mother, for the guards, for anyone to come save him. I was not a cold-blooded killer, but I could not let him go. Not yet. Not until the queen was found and my mate was out of danger.
I should simply slit his throat and be done with it. But he didn’t deserve such an easy death.
No, he deserved to suffer.
I pointed to the vid screen and his eyes flared wide. I’d gotten what I needed from him. I typed in my commands and the data was sent to the palace, specifically to Leo’s father, the head of the royal guard. “You’ll be fine until the royal guards show up. It might take some time for them to figure out where you are, but you’ll be alive. For now. But it is a centuries-old tradition on Alera to execute traitors.”
“Wait! No!” He howled as I closed the door behind me wit
h a very soft click.
2
Faith, The Royal Palace, Alera
“You’re back a lot faster than I expected,” Trinity said, coming into the bedroom Nix had found for me in the palace.
I was in bed, but I’d barely slept. The early morning light came through the large window, the pale blue curtains softening it even more. This room was smaller than the one I’d shared with Thor, but no less sumptuous, somewhere on the second floor of the palace.
I had yet to come through the main entrance, being snuck in, once again, through the secret passages. I was still a secret. And now, between realities.
After the insanity of the night before, Nix and I decided we’d keep my existence quiet until we had time to think. While I’d been mated to Thor—no question it had been more than just fucking—that information had only been shared with his parents outside of the palace.
And they were dead.
My mating was a secret, my status as princess was a secret.
I didn’t exist on Alera.
I felt like a ghost. As if I were lost, adrift. Alone.
“Yeah, well, it seems rooting out the traitor was easier than I thought,” I replied drily. I tucked the blanket up higher about my ears.
Trinity came over from the doorway and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hair was up in a sloppy bun and she had on what looked like an Aleran version of sweats. Gray, loose pants and a hoodie sweatshirt without the front kangaroo pocket. It looked comfortable, but not very attractive. Almost like prison garb. Clearly, she hadn’t grasped the power of the S-Gen machine. But she was the reigning princess, so her time was probably best used elsewhere—doing royal stuff.
Whatever that meant.
I, however, had all the time in the world. I could be her personal S-Gen machine dress designer. Groaning, I pulled the blanket all the way up and over my head.
An instant later, it was tugged down.
“Nix gave me an update and I wanted to kill both of you. Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because having the princess and her mate—no way Leo’d let you go to a murder/suicide by yourself—arrive at the Jax home late at night would have been impossible to keep quiet.”
“I thought Destiny was the sarcastic one,” she replied.
When I didn’t say anything—because what could I say?—Trinity continued.
“Fine, give me the 411.”
“What did Nix tell you?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes and moved further onto the bed, crossed her legs. “I want to hear the details from you. Two dead bodies and no explanations from you? What the hell happened, Faith? And where’s Thor? He was all caveman about you before, so where is he? Spill.”
I did not need the reminder that just a short time ago Thor had been at my side, pledging to protect me and make me his forever. Fighting back tears, I pushed up so I was propped against the pillows and fancy headboard. “Turns out, Lady Jax is… was the traitor. While it was Lord Jax who’d sent the guards and consort to meet us at the transport center, Lady Jax was the one who made sure Zel was in the group.”
Trinity’s jaw clenched. “So, he’s the one who almost killed Destiny.”
“Yes. I don’t know if Lady Jax actually ordered Zel to kidnap you at your big reception, or if it was Lord Wyse. I don’t know how they talked him into any of it. Maybe they guilted him, threatened him, whatever, to finish the job he’d started.”
“But Leo killed him that night.”
“Right. After that, you were too well-protected and I guess trying to kill you was tabled for later. So Lady Jax decided to go after me. A different problem.”
“She knew you were a princess?”
I shook my head.
“Definitely not. She wanted power and she wanted it through a strong match for Thor. Honor to the Jax name. If she’d known I was a princess, obviously that would have given her all that. Instead, she found me, a maid, far too low-class for what her son’s mate should be. To make it even worse, I got caught snooping around in their house. She had me arrested. Everyone knew I was up to something, even the police. She wanted me out of Thor’s life. And, knowing what I know now, she was probably worried that I had actually found something. So, kill me and she took care of two problems at once. She could keep her traitorous actions hidden and force Thor to choose someone else.”
“Destiny will kill her.”
“She’s already dead. She tried to poison me at dinner.”
“Holy shit, Faith,” Trinity whispered, grabbing my hand and squeezing. Hard. “Did you eat or drink any poison? Are you all right?” Her pale gaze roved over me, but it wasn’t like poison would make me bleed or I would have a huge gash in my forehead.
“Yeah, I’m fine. She hated me and didn’t bother learning anything about her son’s mate. Lady Jax poisoned some fancy meat dish.”
She sighed hard, in total relief. “I thought you being a vegetarian was a total pain in the ass growing up. I will never, ever, say a bad thing about it again.”
I couldn’t help but smile. But it was a small smile. Weak effort, even for me. “Yeah, well, Lord Jax and I got along. He knew I didn’t eat meat and he must’ve thought he was saving me from the embarrassment of not eating a special dish Lady Jax made in honor of my mating with Thor. He ate my portion like a kid on Christmas morning, Trin. I can still see his smile, and the wink he gave me when Lady Jax’s back was turned. And poor Thor. His mother poisoned her mate—his father—instead of me. Lord Jax dropped dead on the dining room floor. God, that was horrible. When she realized what she’d done, she was beside herself. She took some of the poison, drank it right in front of us, before Thor could stop her.”
“Holy shit, Faith. It’s like… it’s like ninth grade English class. Romeo and Juliet.”
I stared at her wide-eyed for a moment. “You weren’t there. Trust me, if you’d been there, you wouldn’t be spouting star-crossed lovers shit right now. It was beyond awful. I liked Lord Jax. He was a simple man, but he was always kind to me. Unlike his wife.”
She looked contrite. “Sorry, you’re right.”
“I can’t believe she tried to kill me because she thought I wasn’t good enough for her son.”
“Well, that’s total bullshit. You’re amazing. And smart. And beautiful. And a god damn princess. Besides, that bitch doesn’t matter anymore. She’s dead, and obviously, Thor disagrees.” Trinity said the last with such confidence I couldn’t hold back a small sob.
“He told me to forget him, Trin. He looked at the bodies, stood up, and told me not to tell anyone we were mates and forget him. Move on. He called Nix and he left me there to wait for him. Why? Why did he do that?” The tears were rolling now and I couldn’t stop them.
Trinity put on her very best big sister face, the one I realized in that moment that I’d relied on my entire life. “He loves you. I saw it in his eyes. He must have said something else.”
“He said his family would be dishonored. That he’d lose everything and that I shouldn’t be associated with someone like him.” I wiped away my tears, anger building inside me, threatening to burst. “I don’t give a shit about money or who his parents are. Doesn’t he know that?”
“No, hon, he doesn’t. You’ve known him a few days. He knows nothing about Earth. He grew up here. A freaking lord. With castles and titles and status and money. He has no clue who we really are. None of them do.”
She squeezed my hand and as I stared into her eyes, seeing nothing but compassion and a stubborn streak that matched mine, I made a decision. “I’m not giving him up.”
“Of course you’re not. You have the full support of the royal family.” Her grin was pure mischief and I loved her more than ever. “We’re really fucking rich, Faith. Leo’s been showing me the books, and it’s insane. We have estates on every continent, business holdings, wildlife reserves, royal forests, we even own crap in outer space. Space stations and asteroid mines and some other stuff I don’t understand. We’re strong, and we’ll
help you keep him. Protect him. He’s family now. Okay?”
The sigh that rolled through me was real this time. No more worrying. No more indecision, although I had no idea how an asteroid mine could make things right with Thor. But, he was mine. He could just fucking deal because I wasn’t giving him up. “Okay.”
Trin sat back and crossed her arms. “If Lady Jax was the traitor, and she’s dead, that means… what? I’m confused.”
“Lord Wyse is the man behind the curtain.”
“And who’s pulling out book analogies now?” she countered.
“There’s a big difference between a Shakespearean tragedy and the Wizard from The Wizard of Oz.”
She sniffed, lifted her chin. “Mrs. Gomez would be totally proud of me for remembering that play.”
“Yeah, she’d have given you a B instead of a C.”
Trinity rolled her eyes. English hadn’t been her best class. Not because she wasn’t a fantastic student—as law school had more than proven—but because she’d thought the play was stupid, Juliet an idiot, and the whole feud between the families ridiculous and not worthy of her time. She was still stubborn like that.
“So, what about Lord Wyse?” she asked.
“He’s the mastermind. Lady Jax told Thor right before she died. It was a fucking horror movie, Trin, complete with death rattle confessions.” I shuddered.
For a second, she froze, mouth open, brain spinning.
“Lord Wyse?” she stood, paced in front of my bed. “He’s Mom’s cousin. Radella’s dad.”
“Exactly. Radella was the top of the royal heap after mom disappeared. Which is why you found her living in mom’s palace. They’re the most powerful and connected royal descendants, without us in the picture.”
She studied the carpet at her feet as she paced. “So he was behind the attack that killed my biological father and forced Mom to run. But he kept looking for her? Found Mom on Earth, kidnapped her—which still doesn’t make sense. Then he heard about a transport from Earth, connects the dots and wants us dead. When that attack failed, he worked with Lady Jax to make Zel come after me again at the reception?”
Ascension Saga, Book 6: Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga Page 2
