Ascension Saga: 4. Grace Goodwin
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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.
But that didn’t stop a power-hungry mother from hoping her son could turn Trinity’s head. The woman probably needed some good news for the family name.
Speaking of the devil herself, Lady Jax chose that moment to walk in. She saw the creatures, the wine spilling over onto the floor as the larger of the two cats pushed at the lord’s arm with her paw, jostling his hand and the drink he held. “My lord, you are making a mess on the floor again.” Her voice was stern, like an angry nun at Catholic school. Her stress level was through the roof since the whole Zel fiasco came to light.
“It’s not me, love. It’s her fault.” Lord Jax rubbed his cheek along the face of the female creature. “Isn’t it, kitten?”
Lady Jax crossed her arms with a tolerant smile. It was clear that she cared for her mate. But then, he was likable. Unlike his cock’s choice of mate. “I think you love those creatures more than you love me, mate.”
He raised a brow and looked up at her. His gaze took in the floor-length pale green dress she wore, the small slippers on her feet, the softly coiled hair. She was clearly in her fifties, but still gorgeous. “Is that so, female?”
“You know it is.”
He was already rising from his chair, pushing the protesting creatures from his lap. She took a step backward, too late. “Come here, mate. It sounds like you’re a little stressed and need some… relief.”
She shook her head, but her eyes were bright with interest. “No.”
“Obey your mate, female.”
“Make me.” With that, she laughed and ran from the room, the older lord hot on her heels.
I grinned. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t much care for the lady of the house, except when she was with him, and she did deserve a little relief. With the servants, visitors, everyone else, including the investigators who’d been through the house often enough, she was cold. Calculating. Vindictive. The word diva didn’t come close to doing her justice. But with her mate?
I took his cup and watched the creatures leave through their own special door with a sigh. They never stayed. Never let me touch them. Too