But this had to be done. Now.
Atlas leaned down slowly. Vesperin lay alone in the white room, a thin sheet draped over her waist. She looked tired, even as she slept. He wished he could crawl into the small bedwith her, take her into his arms, and tell her of every torturous moment he had spent waiting. But not yet. It was too soon.
Just as Atlas had done before—with the doctor—he gently pressed his thumb between her brows, and so, one small corner of her mind opened.
He had allowed her to be taken and tortured the first time with electricity, knowing the shocks would awaken parts of her past—enough for her to know the men who proclaimed she was theirs spoke the truth. Atlas was the only one to open her mind fully.
It was done.
She would dream now. Dream ofthem—and perhaps even dream of Atlas, as well, though they were not Soulbonds.
A Soul he did not have, though he did have Nova. Pieces of which he had imparted upon her, tying them together. So too with that link, she now would be able to remember their only life together.
When it had all begun.
Her eyes movedbehind her lids. Her fingers twitched on the sheet. Then, with a sharp gasp, she shot upright in the bed, looking wildly around her.
Atlas stayed rooted to the spot, waiting for her.
Vesperin clawed at her throat, then her fingers tangled in her hair. A thin trail of blood slipped from her left nostril.
He knew what the first word would be out of her mouth, even before she opened her lips and uttered brokenly, "Atlas."
As if drawn by a string of fate, her eyes found his. Her hands dropped to her lap. She surged forward, crawling across the small bed, her feet tangling in the sheets before she kicked them away. A cuff was strapped around her arm; she looked down at it and tugged it off. A soft beeping sound filled the room.
Atlas lifted a hand. The sound died instantly.
She drew up onto her knees and all but fell into his chest, where he stood at the side of the bed.
The past and the present currently warred within her.
To Vesperin, she very well could have been eons ago, standing beneath a willow tree. That was where she was in her mind, yet Atlas felt her body beneath his hands—so real. She was so cold. He was unable to stay the faint tremors as he touched her hesitantly, reverently.
If he did not have to be so strong for her, surely he would break, fall to his knees, and hold her.
This was the only moment of weakness the Celestial allowed himself before he pulled away, and she almost tumbled off the edge of the bed.
"Atlas, Atlas," she chanted. "You are here. I knew it, my fallen Star." He heard echoes of the past in her voice, a soft lilting tone that made her words rise on the end—like the cadence of Luxuria, her very first life.
Atlas was no man, but at this moment, he felt as weak as one as he yearned to go to her.
From this point on, it would be…
Quick.
He steeled himself. The ends of his black coat fluttered as he stepped forward and held out a hand. A dark shadow was cast on the white sheets, stretching out toward her.
She looked down at it, whispering, "My shadow. It is you."
He was still, silent, waiting for her—he would wait until the Stars burned out.
She took his hand, and as his fingers wrapped around hers, he pulled her with him.
Together, they fell through the darkness of the shadows to Earth. It was but a second, and when that second was over, hisfeet touched solid ground. Though it would not be solid for long. The Earth would soon quake and tremble.
Vesperin fell, and he caught her—always. Her human body could not stand the combined weight of her unlocked memories and traveling through the shadows as Atlas did.
They stood in the front yard. The swingset was rusted, swinging faintly in the too-hot, dry air. Even five years after Vesperin’s neighborhood had been cordoned off, the area was unrecognizable. After the false Nova exploded and the Rogues attacked, the area had not been cleaned up. It had been boarded up, dubbed Nova Zone 173. Vines twined up half-bent streetlights. Dirt beds, which once housed gardens, lay empty, some full of bone. The front door to Vesperin’s home was gone.
