Page 118 of Between Imminent Fates

“You keep saying that. What the hell does that mean, Isaiah?” Rukia shifted in her seat to face him, demanding answers now. “I want to know why you decided to throw yourself down on the grenade.”

Isaiah’s gaze dropped to the floor as visions of a malevolent future barreled into him. Rage tore through him as the concept, of the failure Key had warned of if he hadn’t agreed. For the first time, he allowed himself tofeelthe despair and fear that’d come with it.

It battled through him, eating away at the contentment that’d begun to build following his waking. It compromised the peace he’d worked so hard to instill.

“Stop! Oh fates, Isaiah, stop!”

Rukia threw her arms around his neck, clutching at him as his emotions passed through the mating bond. “Stop—stopthinking about it. I can’t handle feeling you in so much pain.”

Swallowing, he shook his head and looked around to see the shocked expressions of his lieutenants. “No, Rukia; it needs to be said. It needs to beexplained. But it’s a discussion we have to have with the others—the rest of the ones who put their lives on the line. They deserve to know.”

“Don’t explain it twice, sovereign, especially if it causes this much turmoil,” Derikles said. “We can wait until they gather.”

Rukia scoffed. “Maybe you can pass judgement on Rayn while you’re there.”

“Rayn?”

No sooner had the name left his lips than tension between the lieutenants skyrocketed. Uneasy looks were exchanged among them, but Derikles was the one who explained, “Rayn is the one who nearly assassinated you, sovereign. The one Key put a bullet in on the battlefield.”

“I’d forgotten about that.”

“I can assure you that we have not.”

Circe’s voice sounded small, catching his attention as he looked across the room to see her leaning against her mate. That familiar thread of guilt was written across her features, and Lucius’ gentle massage of her neck indicated just how strongly she felt it.

Frowning, Isaiah was about to ask what she meant but Derikles beat him to it. “Sovereign, do you recall when you saved Circe from her abductors?”

“Of course I do.”

Derikles exchanged a troubled glance with Jaeda. “When you took the lives of those people, there was a twelve-year-old child there who manifested the ability to Shield. A child that hid while you claimed justice. A child named Rayn.”

Isaiah’s face registered his shock.

Horror and guilt knifed through him, instantly dropping his heart to his feet. A child witnessing the level of ferocity he’d used to avenge Circe’s mother would have been fundamentally altered by it.

Had Isaiah known there was a child caught in the crosshairs, he would’ve approached the clan far differently. While they still would’ve paid the ultimate price, the child wouldn’t have been forced to witness such a terrible event. He scrubbed his hand down his face.

“Fates. No wonder he hates me. Where is he now?”

“He’s on Nero’s island with his powers locked away,” Jaeda said idly, strumming a finger along the couch’s arm. “Good riddance.”

Isaiah’s focus sharpened. “Who’s the Lock?”

“Nero.”

“Figures,” he scoffed. Isaiah glanced around the room, gauging each of his lieutenants. “Shall I inform the clan I’ve woken up? What has their reaction been?”

Derikles grinned. “Nothing would give them greater pleasure, sovereign, and I’m certain they’d appreciate hearing your voice.”

“They’ve been on bated breath since you retook the sovereignty. Tell them,” Rukia added, squeezing his hand where their fingers were interlinked.

Inhaling courage into his lungs, he opened a clan-wide telepathic channel, and spoke the words he thought he’d never say.

Sylth clan, I’ve returned.

Instantly, positive emotion flooded the clan bonds. Elation. He’d never experienced such an explosive homecoming. Voices morphed into a symphony of greetings and well wishes, each message as happy as the next.

Taking each with grace, he spoke the final words as the joyful reunion dwindled to a dull roar.I’ll see you all in due time. For now, know that I’m eager to return to strength and be your sovereign once more. Thank you for entrusting me, and know my life is always yours.

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