Ascension Saga (Interstellar Brides): Book 6

“They didn’t want him to blab,” Trinity added. “Another band of assassins. This time ordered by the clerics. Will we ever get to the top of the ladder of deceit?”

Through her haze of anger, she looked up at me. The moment our gazes locked, I knew she’d thought of the same thing.

“Destiny. Oh, shit. Destiny.” Trinity spun to face Leo, the same panic in her eyes that I felt.

Destiny was with the clerics.

“We have to get her out of there,” I said. I ignored the dead, stepping over their bodies to get to my sister, hugging her close. “We have to get her out of there right now. Call her. Get Prime Nial to do that insta-dial thing in her head. She has to get out of there.”

“I know,” Trinity replied. “But shit. Leo? How do I do this? We need to get in touch with her again. To tell her that they’re the ones who’ve got Mom. That they are the bad guys. Now. Right now.” Trinity followed a step behind as Leo moved to the transport controls. “She’s in the fucking lion’s den.”

That made Leo wince. Trinity rarely cussed and seeing her in a panic was even more out of character. But this was our baby sister.

“They’ll kill her,” I whispered. “Shit. They’ll kill her if they catch her.”

“I can put in a comm request for Prime Nial from here. But I don’t know when or if he’ll answer.” Leo’s hands were already moving over the controls.

Nix moved so silently I’d almost forgotten he was there, until he was so close I could feel the heat of him. “Where is Destiny?” he asked.

Looking up at him, I tightened my grip on Thor as worry for my twin chilled my blood to ice in my body and I started to shiver. “You were there when we talked to her the last time. It was all dark. She didn’t say. We don’t know. Not exactly.”

“What do you mean, you do not know? Where is she?”

“Cut her some slack, Nix. We really don’t know.” Trinity was bent over the control panel next to her mate, the colored lights from the controls casting her face in a strange green glow.

“If Prime Nial could ping her NPU, then he knows where she is,” he countered. His voice was as tense as his entire body.

Nix’s words made sense, but right now, right this second, she was out there and in danger. “She was going undercover in the clerical order. We know she got in. But there are at least twenty clerical buildings in Mytikas alone. And she could have left the city, could have gone to another city. She could literally be anywhere on the planet.”

“This is Commander Karter. How may I assist?” The Prillon commander’s voice filled the room with a distinct lack of anxiety and I calmed immediately, leaning into Thor with a sigh. I wasn’t sure why the commander was called instead of the Prime, but I trusted Leo to know what he was doing.

“Thank god,” I whispered.

That made Trinity look up at me. “Don’t count your chickens, Faith.”

“I hate that saying,” I grumbled.

Leo ignored both of us. “Commander Karter, this is Leoron Turaya on Alera. I am with Princess Trinity and Princess Faith. There has been an attack and we need to establish communication with their sister, Princess Destiny at once. We were hoping you could assist from Battleship Karter and give us a direct link to her NPU. Her life is in grave danger.”

Nix growled and paced, as if he was ready to go after her as soon as he knew her location. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or fearful. Nix was not a guard to be

trifled with, but I knew Destiny would hold her own. Hell, she’d kick his ass into next Tuesday.

7

Thor

My mate was trembling and I fought the fire raging in my blood. So much death. So much betrayal. And now, her twin sister, the one I’d yet to meet, was in danger. I had no idea what they meant about counting strange birds, but I would ask Faith. Later.

Much later.

After I’d stripped her naked, inspected every inch of her perfect body and made love to her until neither of us could move.

While it was obvious these cleric mercenaries had been sent to silence Lord Wyse, I was sure they’d have killed all of us, too, if we hadn’t taken them down.

Fuck!

Another attempt on Faith’s life. Another clue we now had to follow. Zel, dead. My mother, dead. Wyse, dead. All of them had been pawns of the clerics.