Page 113 of Between Imminent Fates

Their mating was met with both tears of happiness and congratulations by the Sylth clan. Such was the clan’s response that it took them nearly three times as long to arrive at Isaiah’s room.

Seeing his sleeping sovereign made Derikles’ chest tighten, but he didn’t let himself falter. Jaeda would be by later to check his vitals, but for now, he could provide Isaiah with the psychic energy that he needed.

Resting a hand on Isaiah’s breastbone, he grinned as he sensed his former sovereign’s psychic reservoir was nearly full. He loosened the psychic boundaries between them to push additional energy into the other man, taking full advantage of the kick he’d gotten from mating with Celeste.

Things degraded quickly.

Instead of the leisurely sip he usually supplied Isaiah, the draw changed, altered into something that began gulping desperately at his psychic stores. When he lurched backward, he found he couldn’t release Isaiah from the connection, nor himself.

Though Isaiah remained still, the lock tightened, and the fissure that opened between them guzzled Derikles’ psychic energy. The pressure on his mind increased twofold, making him stagger beneath the intensifying drain.

Celeste gripped his arm where the muscles had corded. “What’s happening?”

Unable to speak through gritted teeth, he could only shake his head. When she tried to move toward Isaiah, he warned her away. “Don’t hurt him. Just—wait.”

Shifting uneasily on her feet, Celeste hovered as closely as possible while heeding his request. Then the unthinkable happened.

The pressure on his mind crawled over the psychic network within, snatching at the well of his power. But instead of evening out, it heaved the neural net backward.

Jolting, Derikles gasped as the mental web that’d embedded in his mind abruptly uprooted and dashed down the connection into Isaiah. The power shifted from him to his sovereign with little delay.

He could only tremble as the aftermath of the psychic change ran through his veins. His body attempted to restore what’d been stolen from his psychic stores.

“What happened?”

Celeste’s soft voice echoed in his ear, gently supporting his weight as her worry funneled through their mating bond.

“He’s taken back the network. Isaiah is sovereign again.”

Chapter Fifteen

Isaiah

Thirty-Three Hours Later

Isaiah’s eyes opened.

Bright white met his gaze. Everything felt real around him, and the sea of ivory only compounded his confusion. This was the opposite of what he had expected. He was certain he would be dead.

Blinking to clear his vision, Isaiah slowly realized that he was lying down. He turned his head to get a bearing on where he was.

His muscles, stiff from lack of movement, screamed in protest. His body didn’t quite feel like his own. Sluggish and slow, his body’s weakness was far more worrying than his disorientation. As he shifted his scope of vision, he soon found his prize.

Isaiah was at home. Rukia’s abstract sailboat paintings hung on one wall of their bedroom, the only color in the entire room. She’d demanded they be hung there, arguing that his original black and white color scheme was exceptionally mundane.

He took the moment to examine the psychic network. Instead of sinking immediately into the mental framework, a slight pressure built in his mind—like he was slowly riding down an elevator rather than teleporting there.

Gradually, it began to clarify. He had expected to find Derikles holding the sovereignty of the Sylth clan like planned—the way Isaiah had left it. The moment he was fully immersed in the psychic space, however, he realized that it was once again him who held the reins. Isaiah must have done something wrong.

Even more astounding was that Derikles had mated.

How long had he been asleep?

Every clan bond pulsed with life in his mind. Gently thrumming a weak psychic finger over all the delicate strands of their mental links, Isaiah assured himself that his clan was safe and healthy.Whole.

Rukia and Isaak were his first stop along the mental landscape. Though Rukia’s psychic signature had slightly altered, undoubtedly due to the trials he’d put her through, there was hope beneath the blanket of despair. His mate stubbornness was like an ocean of power that could bend the world to her will. And he loved her for it.

His son’s mind flowed toward his next, and Isaiah’s pride threatened to overwhelm him. The boy was becoming keener by the day.

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