Ascension Saga (Interstellar Brides): Book 3

I opened my eyes, saw that the ReGen wand was gone and so was all my pain. I nodded and that was all Leo needed before he lowered his mouth to mine. Kissed me with all the fervor and need we both felt from the incident. His hands cupped my face gently, but his lips told the truth. He’d been scared. Worried.

Yeah, I had too.

“Excuse me, Princess.”

A voice from behind me had Leo lifting his head. He wasn’t ashamed though. No, he looked annoyed at being interrupted.

Leo pulled me into his side, just as Zel had, although this time I wanted to be there. I wanted to feel his hand on my waist, the heat of his strong body along my side.

The assassin bowed. “I wish to introduce myself properly. I am Vennix of the queen’s guards. I apologize for deceiving you since your arrival.”

Travin moved to stand beside him, blocking out the four or five other guards who were dealing with Zel’s dead body. “You are well?” he asked.

I nodded.

“That was an interesting… move,” he commented. “I apologize for not protecting you better.”

I reached out and touched his arm. “None of us knew he was a traitor.”

“I did,” Nix commented. “And yet he still got to you.”

“I am fine and he is… dead.”

“I should have kept him alive to get him to talk,” Leo said.

When I glanced up at him over my shoulder, I saw he was mad at himself. “He talked to me. Told me he had a master. That he wanted the queen’s jewels.”

Nix and Travin looked to each other.

“We will talk with you more later,” Nix said, then bowed. “I am sure your mate wishes to see to your wellbeing.”

He said wellbeing in a way that meant naked body.

Another guard came over, handed my shoes to Travin, who turned to me. “I believe these are yours. We followed them, along with one of your earrings, to find you.”

“Yes, an Earth children’s tale had a good lesson in creating a trail.” I held up my hands in surrender. “The other earring is on the floor somewhere. As for the shoes, they’re lovely, but I never wish to see them again.”

Travin and Nix bowed, then departed.

“Come, mate. You’ve been getting your hands on too many males’ balls. I feel neglected.”

Instead of taking my hand and leading me from the room, he swept me up in his arms again, and carried me out into the hallway.

I’d left a glass slipper for Leo to find, just like Cinderella. He was my hero.

But I didn’t remember the part of the movie where the princess gets ravaged by her prince.

9

Leo

Seeing a knife at Trinity’s neck was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. Not a trio of Hive with weapons beyond our technology. Not being on a shuttle that had been hit by Hive fire and the planet’s surface looming too fast. Nothing compared to seeing my mate in mortal danger.

I should have kept Zel alive. Should have kept him breathing so we could interrogate him. Learn what he knew. Trinity had said he hadn’t acted alone. He was a mere pawn. I had to wonder even if we’d ripped his fingernails off if he’d say the name of his master. I had to wonder if he even knew who it really was. He was a pawn and had been used.

Discarded.

But that didn’t matter. Not now. Only Trinity mattered. She might think otherwise, worry for her mother’s life—wherever the fuck she was—and the safety of her sisters. The queen knew she had enemies, that was why she’d had to flee the planet in the first place. She’d known they were still around, that they’d come for her eventually. That was why she’d prepared her three daughters. Trinity was skilled enough in protocol and leadership to take over the throne from her mother. Queen Celene knew this and was prepared for her spire light to be extinguished.