Ascension Saga (Interstellar Brides): Book 9

“But with you gone, he and Radella had already lived in the palace for over two decades,” I considered aloud. “Why bother with kidnapping you now? They were living it up with you gone. It doesn’t make sense.”

Mom shrugged. “Powerful, but not in power. Plus, my spire remained lit. No one would ever accept them as true rulers with me still alive.”

“Wyse wanted the necklace and he wanted you dead. It took him all this time to find you and then he kidnapped you to get the location of the necklace and then planned to kill you.” Captain Turaya stood and paced behind Trinity and Leo. “It makes sense.”

“But he’s dead,” Faith reminded everyone. “If that was his plan, which makes sense and proves he was ridiculously patient and a little insane, it didn’t work. And since he’s dead, he wasn’t the one inviting everyone to the great big, explosive party to wipe them all out. We’re still under attack. It’s not something he can organize from hell.”

Everyone was quiet after that because what she said was true. It was possible Wyse had been searching for Mom for all that time, found her and kidnapped her to get the necklace, only to kill her and take over the throne with Radella. But that couldn’t be the whole story, because we were still under attack. I ran my free hand over my hair and sighed. God, my brain hurt trying to figure all of this out.

“During my captivity, there was mention made of King Mykel,” Mom shared.

Trinity’s head whipped toward Mom, her mouth open. “My father?”

“We heard that, too,” I added, leaning my forearms on the table. I glanced at Nix, who nodded. “Before the bomb went off, I overheard Morson with an older woman who mentioned the king. She implied that he might not be dead.”

Mom tapped her finger on the table. “Yes, that matches what the guards were saying to me right before my escape. They claimed the king had returned and that I was to be sent to our new home where he was waiting for me.”

“What? Holy shit balls, Mom,” Faith said, straightening her spine as if she’d been prodded by an old biddy who didn’t like to see someone slouch. “You mean your mate is still alive? What about Dad?”

“I should have mentioned this earlier, but as soon as Mom showed up, I got in touch with Warden Egara back on Earth,” Trinity said. “I told her to have Dad brought to the IBP building and transported to Alera. She was going to look into it and get back to me. It might take a while. He can be a hard man to find.”

“Wait, the king… your mate might still be alive on Alera? Mom, you’re a… you have two husbands?” Faith seemed to be really bothered by this. “What are you going to do about Dad? Did you really love your mate?” Faith looked at Thor and I understood the tormented expression that crossed her face. It was what I, too, was thinking. I could never imagine giving up Nix. Even if we’d been separated. For years. For twenty-seven years.

And knowing Dad, he was not going to be into sharing. What a mess.

“Who cares if she’s married to two men at once? That’s soooo not the point,” I reminded her. “If the king is still alive, then where the fuck has he been? I mean, it’s been twenty-seven years!”

Nix spoke so everyone could hear, but looked directly at me. “I would have searched the universe for you.”

“As I would you,” Thor said to Faith, but I wouldn’t have torn my gaze from Nix if I was given a million dollars.

Leo murmured something, but I was already leaning in, kissing Nix.

We all looked to Mom when she cleared her throat.

Grinning at Nix, I focused back on the reason we were all sitting here, not the way Nix squeezed my thigh, and then slid it higher.

“It is possible he wanted me dead,” she said plainly, although she didn’t answer my question about where he’d been all this time. She looked at Leo’s dad. “Is it possible, truly possible, that he survived the attack that night?”

Now it was Captain Turaya’s turn to freak out. “No.” He slashed his hand through the air. “I don‘t believe it. I saw him take a dagger to his heart. Watched him bleed as we struggled to free you. I find it difficult to believe he faked his own death… to what end? He was your mate. Your king. He had nothing to gain.”

Mom shook her head. “I don’t know. Perhaps I wasn’t supposed to flee. Perhaps my escape to Earth ruined his plans.”

“If that were the case, what were his plans?” Leo asked, rubbing a hand over his face. “This is insane. All of it.”

No one said a word because who could argue with that?

“All right,” Thor began. “We talked about who is dead. My parents. Wyse. Radella’s mate. Zel. The king, until we discover otherwise.”

Trinity added to his list. “Everyone who died in the blast.”

“Scarface,” Mom said. I didn’t know the man’s name, but is seemed irrelevant and the nickname the perfect description.

“Right,” I added. “Then who’s still alive? Dead people don’t kidnap someone from Earth. Dead people don’t orchestrate mass homicide or plant bombs or call meetings.” I said. “I’ve been out of the loop since I was with the clerics for most of the time everything went down. Who’s not dead?”

“Lord Wyse was alive at the time of the queen’s kidnapping. He was also still alive when Zel attempted to murder Trinity and when Lord Jax’s parents were killed.” Leo’s fingers were playing a steady beat on the top of the table.

Thor spoke up. “The only person who we know committed treason, who was involved in all of this, that we know for absolute certain was involved, is Pawl, Lord Wyse’s grandson.”