Faith: Ascension Saga - Books 4-6

Chapter 1

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 dress 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 f**k his gorgeous mate. ‘The old c**k 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 c**k 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 c**k 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 s*x 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.” s**t. 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 c**k’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 loyal to their one true master, or so I’d been told.

Walking as quietly as possible to the hallway, I followed the lord and lady, eager to discover where they might end up. Most of the time, he carried her to her chambers, leaving me no hope of searching them.

But today?

A door slammed ahead of me, her squeals of laughter clearly heard through the thick panel.

Yes! The library. Her room was empty!

I ran to the side cupboard, put down the partially full glass of wine and made my way to the lady’s room as quickly as possible. She locked herself in here for hours and hours. Now was my chance!

Closing the door quietly behind me, I took in the high ceiling, the large bed covered in ivory material even softer than silk. The carpeting was so thick I would have to rough up the floor on my way out to cover the evidence of deep footfalls with each step I took.

I started in the closet, opening and closing everything. Searching pockets. Shoes. Decorative boxes. Nothing.

Moving on to her desk, I pulled at the drawer, found it locked. Damn it.

“Key. Key. Where’s the key?” It looked like an old-fashioned lock. The lock on the lord’s desk had been much more advanced. I’d had to copy a fingerprint from one of his wine glasses and record his voice to gain access. But I’d found nothing there. Business and banking documents. All public and confirmed by hours of research I’d done on their version of the internet.

But Lady Jax? She was much more of a mystery to me, and my instincts told me she knew a lot more than she let on.

Lying on my back on the floor, I slid under the desk and saw the key jammed into a small space between the wooden braces in one corner. “Gotcha.”

I grabbed the key, slid out from beneath the desk and unlocked the drawer. Before I could open it, a woman’s cutting voice stopped me cold.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Frozen in place, I slowly looked over my shoulder to find Lord and Lady Jax staring at me from the now open bedroom door.

“Just tidying up in here.” God, I really needed to work on my lying. Even Lord Jax didn’t believe me. I could see it in the scowl on his face, the way his lips tightened into a thin line.

“Well, my lord, it appears we have found the one leaking information to our enemies.”

Who, me? She couldn’t possibly be talking about me. Right?

Wrong.

Lord Jax’s face turned red with anger. “Guards!”

Whirling to face them, I kept my hands behind me and relocked the drawer. “I was cleaning the room. That is all.”

“I don’t believe you. The way the Jax name is being destroyed in the media? The way we’re losing our integrity, our honor? Because people like you and your evil, wicked ways.” Lady Jax walked to me and yanked me away from her desk. Boy, she could be strong! I took the opportunity to flick the key under the chair behind me. It was the best I could do. At least I wouldn’t have it on me.

“You dare enter my mate’s quarters without permission?” Lord Jax was no longer soft or amiable. Now he was a male defending his mate, and I was screwed.

Two burly, well-armed guards were at the door and he stepped aside. “Lock her up in my office and summon our son and the police.”

Lady Jax went to his side, shaking like a leaf at the great danger I was to her. I didn’t think it was in fear, but fury. His scowl deepened and he wrapped his arms around her protectively. They were both flushed but it hadn’t been long enough for even a quickie in the library. I had to assume they’d decided to take a bit more time here in her bedroom. Lucky me.

“Shouldn’t we summon the palace guard? The Optimus unit? They’re the ones investigating. She is the mole, love. She is the reason so many of our guards are dead. She probably sent that traitor, Zel, to kidnap the princess at the royal reception!” She sounded as if she were on the verge of a complete breakdown. Tears. Trembling. Jeez. The woman deserved a freaking acting award.

But then, maybe she really did believe I was the mole in the Jax household. I was here, looking for him—or her—myself. So was the Optimus unit.

The guards stormed in and grabbed me. Their hands were rough, and I couldn’t blame them. If they believed what Lady Jax was saying—and they had no reason not too—I was, most likely, the reason their men had been killed the night of mine and my sisters’ arrival on Alera.

Double screwed.

“I want Thor to talk to her first, but I want the police as well, just in case she turns violent. Thor can decide what to do with her… and whether or not he wants to hand her over to the police or the palace.”

The palace guard would be easy. I could just ask to see Trinity. She’d rescue me from her own guards. But the police? Assuming I was the mole, would they just torture and kill me? Lock me up? Make me disappear?

I could tell them that I was a princess now, but they’d never believe me. Everyone on the planet was looking for me and my sister, Destiny. Everyone, although no one knew what we looked like, or even that we were princesses. And I’d been cleaning bathrooms and waiting on them hand and foot? Yep. Not exactly royal behavior. And besides, maybe this way the real traitor would show his face, or at least come at me so he could gloat.

I’d have to let this play out.

When the guards led me away, I didn’t fight. And when they stood guard around me in Lord Jax’s office as they awaited Thor and the police, I refused to cry.

I was a f*****g princess.