The words could be entirely coincidental. On their own, they were inconspicuous, had many different meanings. But it was what she said after that…
"Find me in the next."
The very same words she’d said to him as he’d been forced to watch her execution. Lucien had held onto those words as his skin had melted from his bones.
Why would Vesperin lie here before him after being tortured and left at the front door of Rhyden Valkar’s hidden base in Solar City, and say those same words?
Lucien dislodged his glasses as he rubbed his palms over tired, bloodshot eyes.
"How is she?" Auren asked from behind him.
Lucien turned where he sat on the edge of the bed. The base was quiet. The others were out. Auren had only just returned, then, after being called to reap, Lucien guessed.
"She’s stable right now," said Lucien, turning his gaze back to Vesperin.
Auren came to stand by Vesperin’s legs, his scythe hooked over his back, blonde hair falling into his eyes as he shoved his hood back. "It has been nearly a week. Her fits have not quelled?"
Lucien shook his head, swallowing thickly. He recited the words from memory. "Cyrus said she was calm when he first found her at the door—beaten and bruised, but these fits only started after a few days. A side effect of whatever torture had been wrought on her." Lucien worked to control the rage that surfaced at the mere thought. His V girl,tortured. "I suspect they used a method of electricity. Repeated low-voltage shocks likely caused cumulative neural damage. Her chest and lower stomach are still red as well. They must have alternated the shock points to avoid focal necrosis."
Lucien’s fingers drifted over the plain sheets; his hand brushing against her cold, still one. "The post-traumatic seizures won’t stop until the swelling in her brain goes down. We have to wait it out and keep her stable and as comfortable as we can." He’d explained it time and time again—to himself and to the others.
Auren merely nodded, having heard this many times already. His expression was sedate.
They were trying the best they could here, but cracks were seeping through.
They’d sheltered at Rhyden’s Solar City base since Cyrus had found Vesperin broken and unconscious at the door. Lucien could hardly remember it all from shock.
They couldn’t risk a hospital—not when Sabine and Talor were out there. Lucien knew they experimented on Vesperin. He’d heard firsthand accounts from Kiton. Hell, he’d seen the aftermath himself after Kiton had died. He knew exactly what it looked like when she stumbled in, weak and dazed.This—this was nothing like those experiments. This was true torture.
Auren had portaled to Lucien’s office at Solar City General, bringing back nearly all of his supplies.
An oxygen tube, which they’d had to use for the first few days while she’d been at high risk for hypoxia. Benzodiazepines to abort the convulsions. He loathed drugging her, but it was the only way to keep her from seizing herself into cardiac arrest.
Lucien suspected cerebral edema from trauma to the blood-brain tissue. The intracranial pressure from the brain swelling had resulted in the seizures. He couldn’t know more until they were able to get her stable enough to leave.
Lunar City.
It was their last option. Solar City was no longer safe. They’d have gone a week ago, but Lucien was worried that moving her so soon would exacerbate her symptoms and stall her healing.
So, they were treating her carefully, and Lucien was monitoring her around the clock—barely sleeping, eating only when the damned incubus or Auren pressed convenience store packages of half-cut egg sandwiches or greasy chips into his hands. Lucien wouldkillfor a salad.
More than that, he’d kill for Vesperin to be awake. Healthy.
The neural tissue damage was minor. Her seizures were violent but brief, slowly lessening with careful treatment.
It wouldn’t be long before they could move her.
Rhyden assured him he had ample equipment in Lunar City to help see her well. But Lucien didn’t fully trust the vampire. He was Rhyden Valkar, after all. Lucien still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Vesperin’s Soulbond was the leader of Noctis.
They hadn’t had time to truly talk about it—just him and her. He would give anything to have just a second alone with her.
God, he missed her eyes.
Her voice.
"Rhyden has been in contact with one of his associates. Noctis has learned of a new weapon, acquired by Blackfall Industries, under the persona of Celestis," Auren said quietly, breaking Lucien from his thoughts. The Soul Searcher stared at Vesperin’s peaceful, sleeping face as he spoke. "This group is unwilling to come forward as Blackfall Industries, but it is clear that they are the same to those who know how to look for the signs. Rhyden revealed the intel has come from the same coordinates, and the same hands have passed over the intelligence as it has spread underground."
"What is it?" Lucien asked, but he already knew.
