Page 108 of Between Imminent Fates

It was late in the night when they finally called it. Having spent hours poring over the logistics and details of their vision, all of them were fried. Zia and Jeremiah returned home, leaving Derikles and Celeste alone.

Eventually, she’d have to leave for Ontario. Zeke had begun pulling on the network recently, seeking energy. It was the inverse of what was typical—and highly concerning. Kaien had continued to Amp Nina through clan bonds in the days since the discovery, but even he was beginning to flag.

Zeke’s weakness was becoming apparent in more ways than one.

Back home, she’d told no one of her blooming relationship with Derikles, not even Remmus or Blair. Keeping it from her closest friends seemed harsh, but she couldn’t bear to share her happiness with them. Not while they were still mired in the gloom of Nina’s predicament.

Tzuriel noticed when she was no longer in his home, but he hadn’t asked—and she hadn’t offered. When things were more stable, she’d inform them all. For the time being, she could use the excuse of forming the new organization.

Derikles toyed with a pink strand of her hair. “I’m proud of you, Celeste. For taking this on.”

“I’m glad we have a good team,” she replied.

Distracted when he brushed her hair to one side, she stopped speaking. His lips found their way to the column of her neck, sending a riot of sensation fluttering across her skin. Sucking in a breath, she closed her eyes to enjoy the softness of his mouth and the tender way he kissed her. Every time he touched her, she felt like she was being worshipped.

“We are going to have to tell everyone about our bond sooner or later,” Celeste breathed. “I don’t think I’ll be able to keep it a secret for much longer.”

“And what will you tell them?”

Celeste tapped a finger to her lips, drawing his eyes downward and inspiring a hungry look. “Possibly that I’ve managed to catch the most amazing man I’ve ever met?”

The look deepened momentarily before his features visibly tightened. “Only Jaeda knows here. We weren’t sure how well received it’d be with everything that’s happened.”

Morose, they stewed on the concept for several minutes as she pressed a massage into the palm of his hand. It was a difficult situation, and one she had no experience in dealing with. Shaking her head, Celeste shrugged it off.

“May I see more of your art?”

“You just want me to paint you again,” came Derikles’ surprisingly accurate observation, “and then be appropriately shocked by my skill before jumping my bones and making out on my studio floor.”

Celeste made a show of thinking it over before responding, “Yes, yes, and yes.”

His devilish grin made her shiver with desire. Gently taking her wrist, he flipped it over and slowly inched a fingertip along the sensitive inner skin of her arm, eliciting another shiver.

“Shall I just slather you with paint instead and make you my living canvas?”

It took all her self-control to resist the tantalizing offer. “Tempting, but I’d rather prefer to maintain a working relationship with my personal portraitist.”

“Liar.”

He jumped on her like a starving lion, and she eagerly played the gazelle. Possessively cupping his hand behind her neck, his lips capturing hers in a claim she couldn’t deny. Their desperation for the comfort of one another drove them close, and the bitterness of their situation compounded that need.

Celeste dissolved into everything Derikles offered her: his protection, his passion and his concern for her.

***

It was a week later that Zeke called them together. The moment she entered his home, she was shocked at how pale, lethargic, and diminished her sovereign looked. The energy that used to charge the air around him had all but dissipated.

Their sole remaining sovereign had become a ghost.

Kaien and Hemin, the two clans’ senior healers, hovered closely by. One of them remained within arm’s reach despite the lieutenants gathering around them.

“I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’ve called you together,” Zeke began. “It’s been several days since I began pulling on the network to sustain the clan bonds, and I’m certain you’ve all felt it.”

A round of nods.

“With Nina … sleeping, the psychic energy between the two clans has become unstable.” Zeke dipped his gaze, hiding from what he said next. “This is largely due to the fact that the double network base is unsustainable.

“You can’t draw water from an empty well,” Zeke continued, his voice hollow. “The energy required to support a clan of thirteen hundred minds is more than one person can keep up—even me.”

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