44. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Celeste
Creating an organization to oversee the clanless was daunting. Zia and Jeremiah—and now Derikles—had come together in Sylth territory to begin drafting its vision.
No one knew the extent of the clanless population, and that was part of the problem. They lived in solitude or in small family groups. There was no communication or alliances between them, and they were largely lawless.
Previously, the only unspoken rule that every immortal complied with was keeping their supernatural nature hidden. While it was rarely broken, there truly was no way to know for certain.
“We’ve no idea how many Raeths there are in the world,” Celeste said. “We can catalog the Raeth clans to put a number to it, but there’s hardly a way to reach all of the people who’ve elected to live off the grid.”
“Then we make it attractive for them,” Jeremiah pitched. “We do something for them, and they register with us. This world isn’t the same as it was even forty years ago. Going under the radar as an immortal is more difficult than ever.”
Zia nodded. “Documentation, IDs, paperwork. It’s done by technopaths or people familiar with skirting governments. No more shady deals to get a driver’s license.”
Fingers busy on her laptop, Celeste grinned. “It wouldn’t just have to be Raeths. It could be any immortal. We make it open to all. It’d help Aidan with his venture, too.”
“Once we know who’s out there, we can form a monitoring body.” Derikles looked over her shoulder at the notes. “Start keeping track of who’s moving where and ensure no one slips beneath the radar.”
“No one is forgotten,” Celeste murmured.
She’d seen the devastation that Remmus’ parents had caused and how much it’d impacted him as their son. Riaz, the alpha in the Colorado Rockies, had been bitten by a rogue werewolf and turned without his consent. With a governing body for immortals, they could better protect the innocent—and criminalize wicked behavior.
As they continued to work through the vision, the four of them aligned on the goal of creating an organization driven to protect its members. The peace accords had only been the start. The immortal nations were stronger as a whole, and this initiative would see to their future.
Through this network, anyone could seek justice or security. Sovereigns could signal when their clan needed assistance—or if they wanted to retire from their position. With the newly rediscovered method of shifting a clan to a new sovereign, leading one would no longer be a life sentence.
Zia was the one who suggested using ambassadors at first. The known vampire Houses, Raeth clans, wolf packs, and Paracel would be the first on their list. With ambassadors reaching out to every known entity, they could begin documenting immortals immediately.
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.”
Hearing the damning words spoken aloud made Celeste’s soul shrivel. For the past several years, their goal had been the integration of the two formerly distinct clans. This would have far-reaching implications.
Zeke looked at each of them in turn. “I’m eternally grateful to you, but holding the sovereignty of two clans is an impossible task. We must discuss how to manage this before my energy simply runs out. I’m functioning on a deficit, and each day, the network chips away more than I can recover.”
Their sovereign had put it plainly, and it was the least they could do to help him in any way possible. Immediately, Celeste began thinking of alternatives or a way out of their predicament.
“How is Nina faring?” Tzuriel asked. “Do we think she’ll wake up anytime soon?”
Kaien shook his head. “I’ve been unable to Amp her as much as I would’ve liked. Hemin and I have taken turns, but with the network in poor condition, that was where we focused our efforts.”
“What about bringing in other Amps, other healers?” Celeste asked. “Luna may be able to spare some energy, and I think I speak for us all when I say we trust her.”
Zeke nodded. “Agreed, but we can’t just depend on Luna. She’ll be working with Key, and Nero can’t afford for his senior healer to be drained. We call a meeting with the Accords’ delegates. See who can spare their healers or Amps.”
“In the meantime, we need to lighten the burden on Zeke,” Kaien said. “If he can’t power both clans indefinitely, then we need to find out is how to separate them if the situation calls for it.”
“So we try it with someone,” Celeste suggested. “See if Zeke can sever his bonds to them while the one with Nina remains. If it’s a lieutenant, they wouldn’t be a drain on Nina’s resources.”
Zeke shook his head solemnly. “We have no way of knowing what the psychic backlash might be. Nina and I spent so much time building up the bonds that to sever them now might cause psychic shock.”
Celeste straightened. “It was my suggestion. I’ll volunteer.”
Beside her, Remmus sucked in a breath. “We have no way of knowing if it’ll work, Celeste.”
“We have to try something,” she replied. “Zeke can’t continue like this, and short of shifting the clans to a pair of new sovereigns, this is our only viable option.”
Though Kaien wore his reluctance on his face, he didn’t interrupt when Zeke stepped forward. “Are you certain, Celeste?”
“Absolutely. Ready when you are.”
His half smile was quickly replaced by concentration.
All her life, she’d been in Nina’s clan. When Zeke had arrived on the scene, Celeste had simply added another clan to the mix. She’d never experienced clanlessness—nor did she ever want to. If this went according to plan, she would remain bonded to Nina.
The psychic bonds that connected her to Zeke’s clan were suddenly severed. Like a marionette whose strings were cut, she dropped to the ground before Remmus could catch her. Shockwaves rippled across her mind, a pulse of pain, as the trauma of the broken bond warped her psychic signature.
Shrieking at the sensation, she pressed her palms against her temples. The pain didn’t lessen as she attempted to right herself, and diving into her mental network only seemed to further tip the balance.
Beside her, she barely registered that Kaien and Hemin had taken hold of her shoulders. Both of them spoke, but she could barely understand what they were saying.
“The clan bonds only partially dissolved,” Kaien shouted—or whispered, she couldn’t tell. “Her bond with Nina is still active, and the imbalance has caused her psychic energy to tilt and funnel down the broken link. It’s going to drag her under if we let it go on too long. Zeke, you have to cut Nina’s bonds with her.”
A beat of silence. “I can’t.”
“Try again ,” Kaien urged.
“The bonds are adamantine, Kaien,” Zeke whispered apologetically. “They belong to Nina and Celeste. I can’t cut them.”
Sharp, unendurable pain continued to worsen inside her skull. Celeste’s stomach heaved as she tried to combat the sensation, but nothing she tried seemed to lessen the pain. It rose to a crescendo, splitting her in two.
“Celeste, sever your bond with Nina!”
Try as she might, she couldn’t gather enough energy to respond. She fell further and further into the severed bond, still clinging to Nina’s clan while the psychic trauma continued to build in her mind. Blood gushed from her nose.
As she fell unconscious, her last thought was of Derikles.