Morning light had already filled Danaya's bedroom by the time Akeel fully understood where he was.He lowered his Crystal Link and looked at the bed.Danaya was still beside him...The space they had deliberately kept between them the night before was gone. And they fall asleep together in one bed, one room, without them knowing it... Neither remembered moving closer. They were still fully dressed, but that did little to make the situation less awkward.Danaya moved first. She sat up and pulled the blanket away from her legs."We fell asleep waiting for Grandmother's spy to leave," Danaya said, keeping her attention on the Energy Court notice instead of looking at him awkwardly.Akeel sat up as well and moved toward the edge of the bed. "Apparently your grandmother has more patience than both of us." He was talking about how they fall asleep, waiting.Neither of them mentioned the accidental kiss last night... It was still awkward for both of them.Akeel had no intention of bringing i

The moment Akeel entered the birthday hall, Aldric pointed toward the floor in front of his chair.“Kneel,” Aldric ordered.Akeel stopped several steps away from him.“I won’t,” Akeel replied.The relatives gathered around the hall fell silent. The musicians had already put down their instruments, and no one paid attention to the untouched food or the decorations hanging above them.Aldric raised one hand.The Corvain Patriarch Seal above the family crest answered him. A deep pressure spread across the hall and settled over Akeel’s shoulders.The seal was meant to force younger members of the Corvain bloodline to submit during a formal family judgment. It recognized their blood, pressed against their cores, and pushed them to their knees before the patriarch.Akeel felt the pressure trying to bend his body.The defensive ability hidden beneath his clothes reacted at once. He released only enough power to redirect the pressure around him without damaging the seal.He remained standing.

Akeel did not try to explain the archive’s reaction.“I don’t know why it opened those records,” he said. “The archive can be examined after the hall is cleared.”Aldric kept his eyes on him, but Akeel had given the only answer he could without guessing.Cassian glanced at the glowing archive behind him. If she continued questioning his identity, the family might also continue examining the records that had exposed her mother and Nessa.She changed the subject.“This is still your seventieth birthday, Grandfather,” Cassian said. “We have allowed this mess to take over the entire gathering. I don’t want your celebration to end with everyone arguing.”Several relatives turned toward Aldric.Cassian crossed the hall to the table where the birthday gifts had been placed. She selected a small dark case and carried it back with both hands.“I prepared this before any of this happened,” she said. “I was saving it for the gift ceremony.”Virella straightened. She seemed to know what was insid

“My name is Elias Corvain,” the stranger said.Akeel knew the name.He had seen Elias in the family records. Elias came from one of the younger Corvain branches. He had spent years studying old healing methods that most of the family no longer used.Akeel kept one hand on his motorcycle.“You said Theron would have recognized my crystal,” Akeel said. “How well did you know him?”Elias glanced toward the estate.“Well enough to know what annoyed him,” Elias replied. “He hated healing crystals that leaked energy. He said it meant the maker cared more about impressing buyers than keeping the medicine inside.”That sounded too personal to come from an old family story.Akeel waited for Elias to explain, but he did not.Instead, Elias studied him for a moment.“You seem very sure about Ninefold Vitality Crystals,” Elias said. “Let me ask you something. If the fourth layer starts pulling more energy than the fifth, which layer should you correct first?”Akeel understood what Elias was doing

Akeel reached the opening and looked down.The ocean illusion was still active, so he could not see the real bottom. Lyra was no longer falling through an image. The safety field below the room had shut down, and her chair was dropping with her.Alarms sounded throughout the restaurant.Danaya moved first inside the control room. Cael and Daren ran toward the emergency entrance while Rowan ordered the staff to open it.Akeel could stop Lyra with his copied force ability, but too many people were watching. The restaurant’s monitoring crystals were recording him, and Danaya could see everything from the control room.He raised one hand behind the edge of the table, where the monitoring crystals could not see the movement.His force ability reached Lyra.Akeel did not stop her in the air. That would reveal too much. He used a small amount of force to slow her fall instead.He then focused on an emergency line hanging against the wall.The line should have opened by itself, but the safety