Ascension Saga Book 4: Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga Read online

  Ascension Saga, Book 4

  Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga

  Grace Goodwin

  Ascension Saga, Book 4 : Copyright © 2018 by Grace Goodwin

  Interstellar Brides® is a registered trademark

  of KSA Publishing Consultants Inc.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, digital or mechanical including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning or by any type of data storage and retrieval system without express, written permission from the author.

  Published by KSA Publishers

  Goodwin, Grace

  Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga, Book 4

  Cover design copyright 2018 by Grace Goodwin, Author

  Images/Photo Credit: Period Images; BigStock: forplayday

  Publisher’s Note:

  This book was written for an adult audience. The book may contain explicit sexual content. Sexual activities included in this book are strictly fantasies intended for adults and any activities or risks taken by fictional characters within the story are neither endorsed nor encouraged by the author or publisher.

  Contents

  Prequel

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  The Ascension Saga

  Let’s Talk!

  Find Your Match!

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  About Grace

  Also by Grace Goodwin

  Prequel

  Twenty-seven years ago Queen Celene was forced to flee Alera with her unborn child. Read the story of her escape to Earth in The Ascension Saga prequel — for free!

  Click now to find how how the adventure began...

  www.ascensionsaga.com

  Prologue

  Queen Celene of Alera, Transport Room, Location Unknown

  The male I’d begun to think of as a hyena shoved me onto the transport platform, all pretense of trying to play nice… gone.

  I hid my smile. There were few things in the universe that could put that look on an arrogant male’s face—and being bested by a female—or three—was one of them.

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked, trying to keep my voice mild and sweet.

  “Do not speak, or I will wrap my hands around your neck and squeeze until you can no longer bother me.”

  I should have held my tongue. I wasn’t stupid. But I was proud of my daughters. Proud of my people. Proud of the fact that I’d not only survived this monster and his master’s evil plot to eliminate my entire family’s bloodline, but had returned to Alera with not one, but three daughters. Strong young women. Stronger, even, than me. “Four spires light the sky. A new queen is poised to take the throne,” I commented, not remaining silent at all. “Your master has failed. Do you really think he’ll allow you to live to speak of it?”

  With a shove, he pushed me down onto the cold, black surface of the transport pad, flinging me so that I fell to my hands and knees before I could catch myself.

  It hurt, but I placed my palms on the smooth surface and pushed myself into a sitting position so I could look up at him through the long strands of blonde hair hanging, unkempt, over my face. I’d been healed from their last bout of… evil. I was uninjured, but a bathing tube was a distant memory.

  His face was pale, the blood gone from his lips. The hooked scar that ran from the corner of his mouth down, past his jawline, was an old one. Faded and puckered, I doubted the mercenary could smile, even if he wanted to.

  “You know nothing, female,” he hissed, spittle flying from his mouth. “Not my name, nor the identity of my master. You have no idea where you are.”

  That was true, and not true. I knew I was being transported off this ship. I knew we were orbiting above my home plant of Alera. And I knew that my daughters continued to defy the odds and survive. And keep peace on Alera. Was he truly that surprised by my words?

  “Have you not thought this through? What did you think would happen to you in the end?” I asked.

  “And what do you think will happen to you if my master does not acquire the royal jewels?”

  I gave a bland shrug. “It no longer matters.” That was also the truth. My daughters’ spires were lit above the royal city. The entire planet knew of their existence, and their place in line to the throne. Trinity, Faith and Destiny. They each knew where the royal jewels had been hidden. There was no way I would betray my people and hand over such a powerful symbol to an enemy.

  “Perhaps not. But since you won’t cooperate with me, you’re being relocated—to a less hospitable prison.”

  I could only imagine. There were ancient dungeons beneath almost every family palace as well as the police and Optimus unit. Also, larger temples run by the Clerical Order. Dozens of possibilities pushed to the front of my mind, all equally likely and impossible to monitor from the outside.

  But at least I’d be on the ground on Alera.

  Standing on shaky legs, I crossed my arms and remained silent.

  He chuckled as he walked off the platform toward the control panel that would send me goddess knew where. All I could do was lift my chin and hope for the best.

  I would not give up the jewels. They were a powerful symbol of sovereignty, passed down generation after generation from the original queen of Alera. They were thousands of years old, and had graced the neck of every queen since our history began.

  No ruler could appease the people without the black gemstones proudly around her neck. The gems had been fashioned into a necklace, designed for female rulers, and I knew, one day, they would rest against Trinity’s warm skin and would sing to her in welcome, as they had to me, part of the citadel’s life force, or energy, or awareness. I never truly understood exactly what lived in the citadel’s walls, or perhaps, the ultimate term would be spirit. The spirit of the gems would sing to her in welcome.

  They would not sing for a stranger, nor for anyone deemed unworthy.

  They would be categorically useless to anyone who stole them, or wore them if they did not have royal blood.

  But as a symbol to the people? I could think of nothing on Earth that was powerful enough to compare. A queen without these gems was like the mighty comic book heroine, Wonder Woman, without her sword and golden lasso. The people would resist accepting anyone as their ruler without one of the spires at the citadel coming to life.

  But, even if my enemies could convince the people that they had no choice, that all true royal females were dead, they would never accept the absence of the royal jewels.

  Hard to break thousands of years of tradition and crown a king, especially without the iconic symbol of power around his neck. A male? Wearing the jewels?

  Never. I had seen to that. And now my daughters would carry the bloodline, defend our planet. The citadel would help them. They would become powerful beyond what these fools could even imagine. The three of them together? Unstoppable. .

  I stood tall as the blinding cold agony of transport enveloped my body.

  The last thing I saw and heard over the hum of the machines was the scarred man’s laughter.

  But I would laugh last, from this life or the next. Of that, I was certain.

  1

  Faith, the Jax mansion

  I hoped my sisters fared better than I did. A princess, a maid and a nun. What a combination.

  Trinity was all over the news on the screens. The dres
s she had on the day she went public was spectacular. She’d never worn her hair in much other than a braid or ponytail, but as she walked up the stairs of our mother’s palace, she looked like a queen.

  She looked so beautiful that I’d cried, and I rarely cried. And if that hadn’t been enough, Zel, the unconscious guard we’d saved that first night turned out to be a really, really bad guy and had kidnapped her at her big welcome-to-the-throne reception. He’d almost gotten away with it, too. Boy, did I cry after that. It was one thing to know there might be some danger, but actual, real threats and bad guys? I freaked. Cried, then cried some more. But I had to stop, to pull up my big girl, princess panties. So now I found it much easier to make a joke and move on.

  Move on. That had been my life motto until my sisters and I came to Alera. Now I was a prisoner of my own design. A servant in the Jax household. The place that was under Optimus unit investigation because of Zel. That, too, was all over the news. And it made me a little nervous since I was snooping around where other people were investigating. I was not CIA trained and wasn’t doing all that well at my mission.

  “Bring me another drink, would you, dear? I’m about to die of thirst.” Lord Jax, the elder—as I liked to think of him—had his feet up in front of the fireplace in his office, despite the fact that he was fully dressed in riding gear from his late afternoon outing, and he had two creatures that looked like very large cats with zebra stripes lounging in his lap. “And some of those little snacks, too.”

  He held his empty cup into the air and I took it from him. “Of course, my lord.” The cat creatures were fascinating and gorgeous, and they didn’t purr—exactly. But the sound reminded me of an idling diesel engine, just not quite as loud, nor smelled as bad.

  Carrying the cup to a sideboard, I filled the glass—not with water, which would have actually quenched his thirst—but with wine. The lord did enjoy his wine. And his pets. And bragging about his son, the magnificent, perfect paragon of all male specimens. To hear the older man speak, you’d think his son, Thordis Jax, was on a level with Superman himself.

  I’d seen a portrait in the hall. And yes, he was gorgeous. More like the actor who played Captain America in the movies back home than the dark-haired Adonis from Krypton. But I’d never met the prodigal son. And I had no desire to, especially since I’d learned he’d grown up with Zel, been BFFs as kids. He lived in his own home on the other side of the city which was just fine with me. If he was as intelligent and attentive as his father claimed, I’d never get all my tasks done in this house just ogling him. But he could be a traitor. Anyone in this house could be out to finish off my family.

  I stuck to the tasks I’d been hired to do. These tasks included staying under the radar and hunting down a traitor.

  No biggie, right? For a princess disguised as a serving wench. Actually, it wasn’t all bad, and no one had ever used the word wench. I didn’t have to wear a rough cotton dress and scrub laundry until my fingers cracked and bled. They took great advantage of their advanced technology. The Spontaneous Matter Generators, or S-Gen units, created new clothing from nothing every day. Perfectly sized. Clean, which meant there was no laundry to do. No food to clean up. The S-Gen recycled on an atomic level, breaking down everything into a basic unit of energy, the building blocks for the next item that might be requested.

  I was a servant. A maid. I served. God forbid these nobles had to actually walk over to the S-Gen unit and order something for themselves. But the wine? That was special. Imported from a planet called Atlan, or so I’d been told.

  The lady of the house had very clearly informed me that no one of any worth drank wine from an S-Gen unit.

  Fuck that. I’d done it almost every night since I got here, and it tasted just fine. Took the edge off when it was time to lock myself in my tiny little room and try to sleep. Most nights, it helped, but not enough. I’d wake in a cold sweat with visions of the assassins who’d tried to kill us, of my hands covered in blood…

  Shit. I was shaking now. Where was a good joke when I needed one?

  I took the glass and the small plate of food the cook left out for him every afternoon—some kind of chopped fish on crackers he enjoyed eating…and sharing with his cats.

  “Here you go, sir. Filled to the rim, just the way you like it.” And he did. So full that one misstep would spill large quantities of wine onto both my hand and the plush, ivory carpeting. “And your favorite snacks.”

  “Excellent. You’re a good one, Faith. Very good.” He picked up a cracker with the chunky white topping and popped it in his mouth. “Mmm, have you tried the fish yet? Delicious.” He took another from the plate and fed it to the cat.”

  “Thank you, my lord, but no. I don’t eat meat.”

  “Oh?” He glanced up at me. “Yes, I can see the animals like you too much for you to eat them.”

  He grinned and took another cracker and fish, then washed it down with the wine.

  He was a likable man. As far as I could tell, he was nearing sixty, and didn’t do much these days. He told me his son had taken over the business side of their empire several years ago, so he was free to ride and drink and—in a more drunken moment—supposedly fuck his gorgeous mate. ‘The old cock still works, I tell you. Fills her right up and makes her scream just like it did when I was a younger man. Oh yes. My cock never fails her. Never!’

  That had been way too much information, but he’d been very pleased with himself. And he was utterly devoted to his wife of more than thirty years. So, I had to smile, take him his drink, and tell him that his cock must be very great indeed.

  He’d glared at me, and we’d both burst out laughing, just as the object of his undying affection strode into the room.

  One look had passed between them and he’d hauled her off to their bedroom, leaving me alone to clean up the wine he’d spilled in his haste—and search through the drawers and cabinets.

  Every chance I got, I went through everything. Read notes. Looked for clues as to who might have kidnapped our mother. I eavesdropped on conversations and asked questions, hoping someone would tell me something I could use. So far, I’d found nothing.

  Nothing that connected anyone else in the Jax household to Zel, any information about Mother. Zel, God, he made me so mad, it was a good thing he was dead. I’d actually helped the asshole! Yet my mother was still missing, meaning the jerk wasn’t working alone. Of course, he wouldn’t be, especially since the Optimus unit was supposedly still all over investigating the Jax family like white on rice. It couldn’t be Cassander, the consort who had miraculously survived. He’d been sent to some stupid southern estate where a young lady in the Jax house was entering her Ardor. Why would he want to harm the princess when all he had to do all day was have sex with eager females? God, what a life. No doubt, Cassander would have her naked and beneath him for days. Lucky girl. “Cue the eye roll.”

  “What’s that, dear?” Lord Jax rubbed his nose against that of a preening zebra cat creature and watched me from the corner of his eye. He wasn’t completely stupid, he just didn’t pay attention, content to just be happy in the moment and trust his son to take care of everything. I did not want to do anything to change that.

  “Nothing. Mumbling to myself.” Shit. I had to control myself. I wasn’t used to watching my mouth. I liked to let things fly as they popped into my mind, and that habit was not serving me well in this house. Hell, on this planet.

  “Me, too, my dear. I’ve found that I am the only one who truly enjoys my sense of humor.” He chuckled, as if he found himself funny, and nuzzled the second creature, who had risen onto its hind legs, front legs on the lord’s chest, and was licking his cheek. Both creatures were rumbling loudly, and I wondered if they were a mated pair. The female was larger, but the male was more aggressive with making his desire known to their master, wanting constant attention.

  I wanted to pet them. Nuzzle them. Bury my nose in their fur and enjoy their snuggly attentions. And affection. But that wasn’t
why I was here, and I’d been informed by Lady Jax that the creatures were exotic, extremely expensive, and no one but the lord himself was allowed to touch them.

  Whatever. I had bigger fish to fry. A traitor to find, because while Zel was dead and buried—someone else had our mother, Queen Celene. They’d dragged her out of her bed back on Earth, and there had been no sign of her since. None at all. And as much as I hated to admit it, that made me very, very nervous. If her spire wasn’t still lit—the light somehow linked to her life force by ancient alien technology no one on this planet understood—I would have given up hope of finding her. I was a realist. She’d been gone for almost two weeks now. In the hands of god only knew who. Murderers? Killers? Traitors? Were they torturing her right now?

  I had yet to search Lady Jax’s room—if the lord’s mate would ever stay out of it long enough for me to search properly. I had hoped to do it when they were at the royal reception that had served as my sister Trinity’s introduction to the nobles on the planet—and to everyone else. But no such luck.

  They’d sent the prodigal son in their place, hoping he would be awakened by the future queen. What good it would do them, I had no idea. Not when it had been made clear on the news that Trinity already had a mate. Leo. And I knew my sister. She wasn’t the cheating kind, especially since the Jax household was supposedly the epicenter of the huge investigation. Leo was hers now. And she was his. I’d met him. Talked to him. He was a regular overly-protective alpha male. I had no idea what the hell my sister was thinking, but she seemed happy. Perhaps she wasn’t thinking… that her lust and love ruled. And, she was alive. Score two points for the princess squad.