She turned her back on Xara and entered the darkened hall, taking Auren’s offered hand. He cut his scythe through the air, pulling her alongside him.
Fate was a fickle thing.Atlas had been watching it, studying it, weaving it, for so long he was numb to its intricacies. All it took was one insignificant thing to change the trajectory of a life. That was why he had to pay such close attention to everything, everyone. A nudge here, a whisper there, a carefully placed word, place, or moment—all to ensure Vesperin walked the path he needed her to.
So he could have her finally.
The meeting with the girl seemed of no consequence, but without it, Vesperin would never have returned to her Soulbonds with anger in her belly, slighted again by the women who had adopted her. She never would have stumbled out of the portal with Auren, into the living area, where Cyrus Soltren and Rhyden Valkar were awakening from their sleep. She never would have uttered darkly:
"If the power in all of Solar City is out, then we need to take this opportunity to bring it all down. The Academy is empty. Whatever they have below—we need to get rid of it. Now. Before they hurt anyone else."
And most of all, Vesperin Vox would never have realized that love is more than a bond of Soul. It was eternal. It was a name given to a fallen being on the first planet, it was devotion, and it was what he felt for her.
They were not Soulbonds, but he would love her still, regardless.
Rin pulledthe mask up over her nose and mouth. Her holster sat heavy at her waist and hips, loaded with weapons.
Rhyden cocked his gun and slid it into his own holster. His dark mask matched hers, red eyes gleaming. He wore his usual leather jacket, thrown over a skin-tight black shirt and black pants. His boots were laced tightly, as were hers.
It was the first time she’d seen Auren in such dark clothes. He wore tight black pants and a long-sleeved black shirt—borrowed from Cyrus, as they were similar in size. She watched Auren thread the leather of his belt through the hoops with a suddenly dry mouth. He looked up and met her eyes, heat simmering there.
She looked away first, grateful for her mask, as it hid how she bit her lip.
Cyrus leaned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed and mask pulled under his chin. Red filled the air, almost too faint for anyone to notice. But not her. She knew the sensation of him feeding. If the others knew, surely they’d warn him to stop. She needed strength—they all did. But that was why she let him feed. He only took faint sips, making her heart flutter like a hummingbird’s wings as the space between her thighs tingled. The incubus gave her a knowing look.
"Now would be a good time to tell you, this isn’t mine." Rhyden’s voice made Rin look to him, where he lined up lighters.
"What?" Rin asked.
"All of this." Rhyden gestured to the living room, with its snaking vines from pots, marble floors, and gilded paintings. "I bought it at a… good deal, let’s say."
Rin was confused. "Okay… Why tell me this now? You mean the decor isn’t yours? I figured so."
"No, I mean I bought it while we were still in Lunar City. Maybe I orchestrated some things to have this apartment open up to me. Real estate is expensive this close to the Academy."
"You didn’t kill anyone, did you?"
"If I did?" Rhyden placed the last lighter down and took a step closer to her.
She lifted her chin. "Then, I would have to turn you in."
He barked a sharp laugh. "To who? Your Academy’s just as corrupt as I am—if not worse."
"Did you kill anyone?" Rin’s eyes narrowed.
"No, wife. I didn’t kill anyone for this apartment. I actually did a good thing. You’d be proud of me." Rhyden said no more on it, turning to his spread of illegally modified weapons. He lifted a sleek pistol and threw it to Lucien, who fumbled to catch it. "For you, doctor."
Rin was still trying to understand what Rhyden Valkar would consider to be agood thing.
"I do not know how to shoot." Lucien stared at the weapon in his hands as if it’d bite him.
Rhyden rolled his eyes. "Then that makes you a liability. Does your code of ethics keep you on such a tight leash, you’d rather take a bullet to your brain—or your Soulbond’s—than kill the person trying to hurt you?"
Lucien’s nostrils flared. Thorny vines shot out from behind his nape, curling around the pistol and whipping it toward Rhyden.
Rhyden swept to the side, a blur of motion, disarming Lucien’s vines before aiming the pistol at them and firing. The suppressed shot struck one of the larger vines, and it collapsed into dust.
Lucien groaned.
Rin gasped and went to him. "Lucien!" She placed her hands over his, as if looking for blood. But she knew there was nothing. "Are you okay?"
