Ascension Saga (Interstellar Brides): Book 9

“I know.” I did. This was not normal for me. Normally, I was calm. Cold. Emotions did not rule my decisions or my life. But then Destiny had ripped my soul wide open and exposed all the rough edges. I was raw and it seemed, irrational.

When I was with her, my lips on hers, my cock in her sweet pussy, her skin touching mine, this rawness was bliss.

The rest of the time? Fuck. I was a wreck.

Captain Turaya slapped me on the back. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Get used to what?”

I glanced at the other male and he grinned. “Loving your female.”

I didn’t deny his words. There was no point. Every cell in my body belonged to my mate. Every part of me.

“Come on.” He stepped toward the EV. “Let’s get Pawl back to our queen and end this.”

I didn’t argue and the ride to the palace was over in just a few minutes. We ordered the guards from the prison to wait at the palace while we questioned the prisoner and they hurried toward the kitchens, no doubt eager to put their feet up and enjoy the food in the palace.

Pawl walked between us, his wrists connected by a pair of large cuffs. We didn’t bother with his feet. Were he to get free, I could kill him with my bare hands in seconds. He was a spoiled young lord. Never properly trained.

As we approached the queen’s solar, High Cleric Amandine approached the doors from the opposite direction. The captain and I stopped. All three of us bowed to the elder, and I was pleased I did not need to cuff Pawl on the back of the head to force him to show the proper respect.

“High Cleric. It is an honor to see you here,” Captain Turaya spoke.

“The queen summoned me,” she replied, her voice soft but filled with awe. “Is it true? Has she returned at last?” The elderly woman had tears in her eyes and a sadness that shocked me. But then I remembered the queen calling her Aunt Ama, saying they had been close.

“It is true,” the captain confirmed. “She is eager to see you.”

“Then let’s hurry, shall we?” Amandine’s step was much lighter as she closed the distance to the double doors. Two guards, good men I knew and trusted, flanked them. They nodded to the elder, then the Captain, then me as they pulled the doors open on silent hinges.

Pawl they ignored completely.

“Aunt Ama!” The queen’s cry was clear and the elder had not walked more than two steps into the room when Destiny’s mother embraced her. “I missed you so much.”

The elder didn’t even try to hide the tears streaking down her face. “Me, too, child. Me, too.”

5

Nix

No one corrected the old woman, referring to our queen as a child. None of us dared say a word to ruin this reunion. It was quite obvious the queen loved her and that they had been close once. It was hard to imagine being separated from those one cared about for so long. The queen quickly made the introductions. Leo and Trinity. Faith and Thor. And when she got to my mate, the elder walked to her and hugged her as well. “It is good to see you again, young lady.”

Thankfully, the elder hadn’t seen us when I’d been balls deep in my mate in her office.

Destiny hugged her back, briefly, then scowled. “You had me kicked out of the fortress. I know it had to be you.”

Amandine chuckled. “You were the one caught fornicating on sacred ground.”

Or maybe we had. No, that was a different encounter, later, in Destiny’s rooms. After she abandoned me in that tower and thought she’d escaped. So much fucking to keep straight.

“But…”

Amandine’s laugh filled the entire room. “Not that I blame you.” The old woman looked over her shoulder at me, her eyebrows raised. “He is a very fine choice for your mate.”

Destiny’s cheeks turned pink. “But why did you have to get me kicked out? Sure, fornicating wasn’t part of the rules, but he is my mate. It’s a given we’d be doing that.” Destiny waved her hand in the air. “I was onto something. I was really, really close to finding Mom.”

She nodded. “Yes, you were. And had you remained, they would have killed you as they did my best guardian. The walls had eyes and ears, I’m afraid. The moment you climbed the vines and sneaked into my office, you became a target.”

“The vines? What? You?” Destiny was at a loss for words. “You knew we were there?”