Ascension Saga (Interstellar Brides): Book 8

“Agreed.” I stood and rolled my shoulders to get the kinks out. I was wearing my usual night climbing gear, tight black pants, tight black shirt, black gloves, hat. Faith had been kind enough to do her S-Gen machine magic and make me what I’d wanted. I was a regular goth nightmare, complete with weapons stacked on top of weapons. I had enough knives on me to take out a football team. “I’m out. Tell your snipers not to shoot me, Captain.”

“They can hear you through your comms unit. Just tell them where you’re going.”

“Got it.” I left them behind and exited the residential building as quickly as possible. When I hit the street, I looked up at the darkened window six stories above me. I knew they were still there, watching. I whispered as I moved, telling the snipers where I was going. North wall. Up the tree. Onto the roof. I didn’t get shot, so I figured that was good enough. I was also safely hidden, completely away from any danger. The captain had to agree if he let me go alone.

I made my way to the center and turned on my magical ears, zeroed in on the sound of talking. Movement. People.

Adjusting my position twenty feet to my right, I laid down flat on the roof and set my ear to the freezing cold shingles. They were odd, like clay, and I was shivering in a matter of seconds as the rooftop sucked all the warmth right out of me like cold cement would have.

“Mom needs to move the capital somewhere else. It’s too fucking cold here.” I was whispering that to my sisters, but I knew everyone on the channel would be able to hear me. I didn’t care. It was the truth. I fucking hated the cold.

“Then you should not be out in it, mate.” That ice-cold voice came from right next to me and I froze. Holy shit. I startled and bit my lip to stifle a scream.

“What are you, a ghost or something?” I hadn’t heard my mate’s approach. Not a whisper of breath. No scrape of his shoe on the roof. Nothing, and I had epic hearing. It was like he’d poofed into existence next to me.

He didn’t answer, simply wrapped himself around me to warm me, careful not to break my contact with the roof. I melted into him. I had no problem accepting the heat he offered. No problem at all.

He remained silent, and as soon as my shivering stopped, I focused on the conversations I could hear coming up from below. The meeting hadn’t started yet. There were multiple smaller groups talking about mundane things. Who had more money. Whose children were excelling. The weather.

Jesus. Really? It was freezing ass cold. End. Of. Discussion.

I rolled my eyes and lifted my ear from the roof, the side of my face feeling like a solid block of ice. “I need to get closer. I don’t know whose voice is whose. I need to get inside.” Morson was in there. And per Trinity’s aura reading, he was one of the good ones. I needed to figure out what he was up to. Maybe help him if I could. Hell, maybe he knew something that could help us.

“No.”

I turned in his arms and looked up at my gorgeous, sexy, stubborn mate. “You can come with me, or I can go in alone. Those are the options.”

He didn’t like my tone or my words. “It’s too dangerous.”

The sigh was real. “Fine.” I pulled out of his arms and wiggled my way to the edge of the roof. “Snipers, if Nix tries to stop me, shoot him. Don’t kill him, but shoot him.”

“Destiny. Are you out of your fucking mind?” he hissed.

“What happened to I want every stubborn, willful inch of you? Huh? Were those just words? Or did you actually mean them?”

“You know I love you.”

“Yes. And I love you.” I crouched for the leap to the nearby tree. Jumped. Landed perfectly. We were on the opposite side of the building from all the arrivals, shrouded in darkness. No one would hear us, or see us, unless they were looking. “God I’m good.”

“Destiny, no.”

I stopped, looked at him over my shoulder where he was crouched by the edge of the roof, gave him one more chance. “Are you in, or are you out? I’ll love you either way, but I’m not staying out of this fight.”

“You’re mine.” It was a vow.

“That is not an answer, Nix,” I said, confused.

“I’m in. I’m always in. But next time, you will be restrained to the bed.”

I heard a muffled laugh through our comms units, but ignored it. “You’re not leaving me behind.”

“Oh, no. I’ll be right there with you, I promise. The whole time I’m fucking you.”

My smile was

so big my face actually hurt. I was relieved. Thrilled even. A little kink would be fun. Later. “Good. Let’s go.” I jumped to the ground, landing in a crouch. Nix was on the ground next to me in seconds. Impressive.

I kissed him, hard and fast. I loved him more in this moment than I ever had before.