Rin had used her very last breath to say,Let me go now.
Rin, the Soul he had been destined to reap for three lives. The only way Rin could be found by him was if she were ready to be taken to the Stars?—
Except that night… in Nova Zone 21.
Wistful melancholy filled her, making her wish to drift up and float through the ceiling as she was lost in his stare. "I know you’ll see me safely." The words came from some place deep inside her.
Auren’s hand trembled on the glass, making the water ripple within it.
Rin took it from him, her pinky brushing his. He made a tortured sound.
She drank until the cup was empty.
"Kit is a shell of his former self. He’s not Kit anymore." Rin ran her fingernail over the beveled edges of the glass.
She was glad for the drug. It made everything so peaceful and calm, as if she were detached. At least now she could remember without being clouded by fear and shock.
She was left with only the truth of what had happened.
Kit was alive. Only, he might as well have been dead for all the life in his eyes.
"You’re not surprised by what I’m telling you… Why?" Rin questioned softly.
Lucien wiped beneath his eyes,staring at his broken Soulbond.
She was dazed, drugged.
It was wrong—but the perfect opportunity to tell her about Project Phoenix. At least now he didn’t have to tell her that Kiton was not only alive, but also an experiment. Sheknew.
And Lucien hated that she did.
He seized the moment, telling her everything while the drugs kept her dazed.
Stealing into the deeper levels of the lab, the file, Project Phoenix…
He held back only the last, final truth—one that he knew might shatter her.
Kit and Lucien were her Soulbonds.
Rin shifted onto her side,exhaustion weighing her down. Lucien’s voice washed over her. She understood his words, but when she tried to focus on how they made her feel, she couldn’t.
Sitting on the bed, Cyrus rested his back against the wall, one leg outstretched, his bare toes brushing her elbow. Lucienheld her hand, while her other was tucked beneath her chin. Auren had gone silent after she’d taken the water glass, but his unnaturally bright blue eyes tracked her every move.
And Rhyden…
He stared andstared.
"I’m sorry," Rin said finally.
The silence had gone on long enough in the wake of Lucien’s admissions.
His hands were cupping hers, a finger tracing over her palm. "What could you be sorry for, my V girl?"
"For leaving. I thought I was doing something good by helping." Again, Rin’s words came from a deep, profound place. As the blue liquid in the bag dwindled, her peace grew scarcer, her tiredness grew pressing, and the memories of her past grew fuzzier.
She knew where the words came from.
That memory with Kit—fogged windows and Nightfell roses in her hands.
