Between Imminent Fates (The Immortal Accords #12)

49. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Key

The darkness never wavered.

It seemed to obscure every square inch of psychic real estate in her mind. The shadows limited her vision and rendered her inner eye nearly blind. Though the pitch was formless and immovable, there was a building glow on the horizon.

Key reached toward the only light she’d seen breach her mind.

The mating bond that’d formed between her and Jax had never ghosted. As soon as Jax had opened himself to her, their bond had clicked into place. It was the only thing she’d never seen coming and the only thing she’d never dared hope for: Jax was her mate.

Their connection swelled. On the other end, she could feel Jax’s shock, his yearning, and a love that had never wavered. He was close enough that she could almost reach out and touch him, but she was still trapped in the endless night.

Key’s desire to surface through the fog made her desperate to seek the one tethered to the other end. To live for him.

Every ounce of her weakened psychic strength coiled beneath her to lift her toward the light. With one final push, Key was able to open her eyes.

Gasping at the shock of returning to the physical plane, she gulped air. She was surrounded by the scent of leather and spice, arms cinched around her as her mate held her.

“Jax,” she whispered in a voice hoarse and dry. “ Jax .”

Desperation to cling to him was swallowed by her need to apologize. A shudder ran through his body. Too weak to do anything but let him hold her, she nestled her face into his warmth. He held her close, and she breathed through the relief that poured through their mating bond.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

When Jax finally retreated, he gently cradled her face as his hazel eyes searched hers. “How are you feeling? Are you okay?”

Only capable of nodding, she offered him a soft smile before his lips were on hers. Into his kiss, he poured his hope, his relief, and his passion. She whimpered, low and throaty, as their bond lit up between them. Feeling his emotions as keenly as she felt hers was something she knew she would always treasure.

Slowly, as if remembering how to use her body, she reached up and linked her arms around his neck. Jax needed to know how sorry she was—and just how much she’d missed him. To have woken at all after the battle was a gift, and Key would never take it for granted.

“I left you and I didn’t even tell you why,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. Where I went—”

“I know, Key,” he gently brushed her hair from her eyes. “I know how much was riding on you. You saved us. All of us. We won, baby. All because of you. There’s nothing to forgive.”

Overwhelmed by her emotions, she sobbed in his arms. The relief of knowing the battle had turned out in their favor, and the Jax didn’t hate her for leaving him, was almost more than she could bear.

It was only when a throat cleared at the door that they gingerly broke apart. Nero’s customary smirk was the first thing that greeted her after Jax’s claim.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Kiyonne.”

Something twisted inside her as she looked at her sovereign. “I’m sorry, Nero.”

He only shook his head. “Didn’t you hear Prince Charming over there? You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Cheeks flaming, she dashed at her tears—but nothing could’ve made her stop. In moments, Luna was there and bustling about, ordering Key to lie still as she checked her vitals.

Every move the healer made showed Key that Luna’s sanity was barely holding on. Jerky and sniffling, Key reached out and gripped the other woman’s wrist. The moment she’d stopped her, the healer’s face crumpled.

Clutching at her, Luna whispered, “You left us, Key. How could you ever believe we’d be okay with that?”

“It was the only way.”

“Fortunately, your mate here didn’t take your coma too seriously.” Nero grinned at Jax. “Glad he could pull you out when we couldn’t.”

A pit formed in her stomach. She hadn’t been the only one who’d given everything for their win. Unsure she wanted the answer, she asked, “Isaiah and Nina? Are they awake?”

“Isaiah is awake; Nina is not,” Nero replied. “We’re hopeful, especially now that you’ve surfaced.”

“How long?”

“Two months.” Jax met her gaze, unspeakable sadness behind his eyes. “I’ve been here almost as long.”

Key’s head dipped to lay against his chest, her fingers tightening in the soft material of his shirt. Unable to speak, she relaxed against him. Her fears dispelled as she sought out his comfort. Being here with Jax, surrounded by clan and the people who loved her, felt right.

She smirked. “Did Nero roll out the welcome wagon when you arrived, or did he play panther mind tricks?”

“Panther mind tricks.” A scoffing laugh. “He made me want to pet him, then I found myself face down on the asphalt. Five stars for hospitality.”

“At least you didn’t wake up to the panther sitting on your chest.” Luna laughed. “He enjoys that one most, I think.”

***

After a shower and fresh clothes, Key felt a bit more like herself. Though the world had gone dark, she had no desire to sleep or spend any more time in a bed. Gathered around Nero’s living room were her closest friends—and her mate —she found herself on the verge of tears.

Key could scarcely believe it. What she had thought was nothing more than a daydream had become reality, and the man sitting beside her had been exactly what she needed. He had grounded her when her visions had threatened to steal her sanity.

Jax hadn’t been further than an arm’s length away at any point that evening. He stayed glued to her side, supporting her as she found her balance once more—literally and physically. After months in a coma, the state of her body was hardly surprising. Fortunately, Eden had been happy to make an impressive variety of food to fill the hole in her stomach.

When she’d been close to bursting, Jax had swung her into his arms and personally escorted her to a couch. Satisfied and charmed by his sweetness, she snuggled against him on the loveseat. It wasn’t his apartment, but Zeus was chewing on a bone in the corner and her friends filled every available seat.

“Do you remember anything after you went down, Key?” Nero asked. “Or from these last few months?”

“I wasn’t aware, but I do occasionally remember hearing your voice, Jax,” she said. “Telling me about something. I couldn’t quite make out the words, but I heard you.”

His soft smile melted her heart. “We watched a lot of movies. I described them to you when they weren’t talking.”

“I know the entire plot of at least thirty-four Hallmark movies now,” her sovereign lamented. “My holiday plans are foiled.”

“My most sincere apologies.”

Chuckling at Jax’s dry comment, Key looked at the faces around her. “I’m just happy to be here and awake. That vision that I saw after the shattering of the Link—it just showed the three of us on the ground. I had assumed that we were dead.”

“You were.”

Nero’s solemnity startled her. She could see the truth in his gaze, and the horrors that lingered in the past. Luna shifted uneasily in her seat, nodding slowly. “You were dead, Key. Your heart stopped beating. It was a miracle that we were able to revive you.”

Nero grit his teeth. “You and Nina and Isaiah—all of you read like you had no brain activity. We thought there was no hope.”

The heaviness of her sovereign’s words settled on her shoulders like lead.

“Even a foreseer isn’t infallible,” Key finally said. “What I thought I saw was wrong—and I’m quite overjoyed to be proven otherwise.”

Soft laughter hummed around her and lightened the moment. Beside her, Jax gently pressed a massage into the palm of her hand. Every gentle motion made her fall farther in love with him. He had been by her side even when she wasn’t aware, supporting her without fail as he always had.

A spark of passion bloomed within her, and though her body was weak, her desire for him remained strong.

Before she could act on it, Eden cleared her throat. “Speaking of. A group of us have been discussing potentially revealing the immortal nations to the humans, Key. With technology advancing, we’re worried that it could expose us—and strip us of the ability to control the message. We’ve been brainstorming what might come of it.”

Key stared at the young woman. She waited for a flash of the future to streak through her mind’s eye, but nothing happened. So often, the visions of what was to come would drown her in possibilities, but today it was simply … blank.

Frowning, she dove deeper into the foreseer ability that’d been her constant for a millennium. Before, it’d been a bottomless well with no end and no beginning. Now, all she found was a vague, formless idea of what the power used to be.

The essence of what she’d been—a foreseer—had been altered on a fundamental level. A power that she’d both loved and loathed had slipped from her grasp. The mixture of feelings was completely at odds and impossible to understand.

Beside her, Jax stiffened. “Key?”

Her throat tightened. Speaking of it meant exposing a weakness, but here, among her closest friends, she could offer the truth. Fighting through the dryness of her mouth, she gazed into her mate’s eyes.

“It’s as if I’m in recoil or energy drought, but it’s deeper than that,” she breathed. “Almost as if my foreseer ability has changed on a fundamental level. Like even if it were to return, it wouldn’t be the same gift I had before.”

Jax’s hand tightened around hers. “Are you … okay with that?”

Having defined herself by it for so long, she almost couldn’t answer. Now that it was suddenly out of her reach, it made her strangely vulnerable—but also gave her a peace she had seldom felt before. She had devoted so much of her life to worrying about the future that without it, perhaps she could finally live.

She looked at her mate and said, “I don’t know, but I’m so glad I get to find out.”