Page 105 of Between Imminent Fates

Derikles nodded. “If you need help, all you have to do is ask. It’ll be a massive undertaking, and it might get my mind off the state of my sovereignty.”

“Feeling a bit blue?”

“Nah. I think I’m headed into my purple era.” At her blush, he said, “Still pretty in pink, though.”

Bumping her shoulder against his, she thought back to why she’d initially come. “Has Isaiah improved any more since you saw the initial change?”

“He’s gotten incrementally better,” he replied. “Jaeda’s hopeful, and that’s all I need to hear.”

It was the hope they all needed. As she thought through the ramifications of the energy transfer, she asked, “How does Isaiah’s mind register?”

Chapter Twelve

Derikles

“It’s as though hismind is filled with static when we read him,” Derikles sighed forlornly. “So unlike normal thought patterns, where you can almost taste the thoughts.”

“Nina reads similarly,” Celeste said. “Can I see him?”

Though her very presence was soothing in a way he couldn’t account for, her question made protective impulses swell within him. He straightened where he sat.

“Why?”

Celeste, sensing his entire demeanor had changed, retreated to find his eyes. “To see if they’re actually the same. I know that Kaien, Jaeda, or Luna have traded thoughts, but has anyone personally verified they are reading similarly?”

It only took him a moment to answer, “No.”

“I won’t hurt him, Derikles.”

She touched his hand where it’d fallen between them, and the gentleness of the gesture calmed him more than her words ever could.

“I know.”

“Trust me, I have the same feeling of protectiveness over Nina. I would never hurt your sovereign, Derikles. You have my word.”

It wasn’t a matter of him simply trusting her word. Bringing her into Isaiah’s home—his sanctuary—was a level of faith that he didn’t regularly afford someone he didn’t know well.

However, what she’d asked could mean a difference in his recovery. Studying her, Derikles weighed the risk to his sovereign. In the end, trust won out.

Stepping out on a limb, he grasped her hand and teleported directly into Isaiah’s bedroom. Jaeda was still in her home—hopefully sleeping—and Rukia and Isaak were outside playing in the garden. Given Rukia’s Elemental nature and her lack of psychic gifts, she wouldn’t even know they were inside.

Even though he trusted Celeste at her word, he didn’t lose sight of her as she frowned down at the man in the bed. “So much like Nina.”

Ruined, Derikles thought.

Sadness crept over Celeste’s features. She locked eyes with him, seeking approval for her test. At his stoic nod, she moved beside him to approach Isaiah. As she reached out to him, another psychic signature flashed into the room, aggression potent in the air. Derikles knew who it was even before he turned.

“What are you doing?”

The healer’s eyes flamed, clearly a half step away from drawing a weapon. Everything about her posture signified her readiness to defend Isaiah—against both of them if she had to.

Raising his hands in a placating move, Derikles said, “Jaeda, be calm. Celeste is verifying that Isaiah’s mind is reading the same as Nina.”

Halting her approach, the healer took a shuttering breath. Threat disarmed, Celeste gently pressed two fingers into Isaiah’s temple. It was only seconds later that she spoke.

“They read the same,” she stated sadly.

He wasn’t surprised. After sustaining similar traumatic psychic wounds, the aftermath would likely be comparable. If there was one positive, it was that recovery for one might mean the same for the other.

---