Page 132 of Between Imminent Fates

Now, his lieutenants were the only thing standing between the clan and total erosion of the neural net. The foundation upon which the dual sovereignties had been built had disintegrated completely, both Nina and Zeke compromised with no hope of renewal.

Gritting his teeth, Kaien forced himself to draw on the near-ghosting network and grasp it through his sister’s unguarded mind. Having previously laid the foundation for the changeover, all he had to do was pull—hard. As soon as he tried to mentally uproot the network from his twin, it solidified.

Everything around them came to a halt. The dual networks ceased their transparency, rejuvenated near instantly, and finally, ignited in psychic fire.

Those from different clans instantly unhooked their mental tethers from the rapidly engulfed networks. The flame forced them to detach before their minds were irreparably burned. Likewise, the blaze aberrantly forced both Tzuriel and Kaien to surface.

Opening his eyes on the physical plane, energy whipped outward, hurtling him and Tzuriel away from where Zeke lay.

Kaien limply came to a halt twenty feet away. Grunting, he scrambled to his feet, but he stopped dead when he saw the figure standing protectively above Zeke.

Nina.

For a moment, he didn’t recognize her. With her eyes tinged red and her fangs bared, she looked like the very nightmare he’d always feared she’d become: a weapon of infinite destruction. But it was her protective stance that called heed to the fact she’d been saving Zeke.

Legs braced apart defensively over her mate’s collapsed body, Nina’s low hiss iced a supernatural warning up Kaien’s spine. Her cold, predatorial gaze pinned each of them in place.

Crushing relief at her sister’s awakening reacted against Kaien’s own distress. She’d woken from her coma to find them ripping away her mate’s sovereignty and supplanting hers.

Nina’s eyes bled to ice white. Inside Kaien’s mind, he felt her shift their psychic clan network to her own shoulders, removing the burden from Zeke and their lieutenants. The internal flame that’d engulfed the network redirected to funnel energy into her mate, restoring his drained well.

Nina turned her back on them, crouching above her mate to gingerly rest her palms against his cheeks.

“I’m here, Zeke,” she whispered. “Come back to me.”

Rousing at the sound of her voice, Zeke physically jolted when he saw her above him. “Nina?”

A soft smile, one meant only for him. “I’m awake. I’m alive.”

Zeke enveloped her in a protective embrace. As his sister disappeared into her mate’s arms, Kaien’s heart swelled with both painful relief and doubt.

He had no idea whether what they’d attempted to do been the right call, or whether their efforts to remove the network had caused irreparable harm to Zeke’s psychic signature. If they hadn’t attempted it, Nina might never have woken.

Adrenaline receded, and Kaien found himself utterly drained. Much like Zeke, his legs gave out on him. Thankfully, he found himself falling into his mate’s arms instead of hitting the ground. Her hands curled around him.

“I’ve got you,” came Blair’s whisper.

The clan’s lieutenants and their closest friends stood in a wide circle around their sovereigns. None of them wanted to intrude as their leaders gripped each other tightly.

“I’m so sorry, Zeke.”

Nina kept repeating the phrase. Worshipping her face and lips, Zeke seemed too lost to his mate to notice her pleading words. Though his energy had been revitalized by Nina’s psychic fire, he remained weakened.

Kaien’s healer instincts urged him to check his sister’s state of mind and body, and to confirm Zeke’s energy recovery.

When he inched forward, dried leaves crackled beneath his feet. The weight of his sovereigns’ attention came to rest on both Tzuriel and Kaien. Though Nina was completely enclosed in the protective circle of Zeke’s arms, it didn’t negate the fact that she would defend her mate from any perceived threat—her twin included.

“Next time you sense the network is in danger, don’t wait so long.”

Complete relief followed her words, and he let out the breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. Unable to stop himself, Kaien sprinted to Nina’s side with Blair in tow. He yanked his sister from Zeke’s grip to pull her firmly into his arms.

Words were suddenly unimportant, and the need to hold his twin close and know she pulled through was all-encompassing.

Though Nina trembled, she clutched at her twin with a fierceness that betrayed her inner strength. It wasn’t long before Aidan stole her from Kaien’s grip and everyone who loved her gathered near.

The twins, sensing their mother’s return, came sprinting through those assembled. They threw themselves in her arms as Zeke held all three of them against him. Their tearful reunion was exactly as Kaien had dreamed it.

His sister washome.

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