Lucien hovered, allowing Auren to take her other side. Her heart twinged with guilty want as Lucien perched on the coffee table. Rhyden watched, as if waiting for something.
Rin met his stare with a challenge. The drugs were long out of her system, and she remembered clearly what she had done to him; he seemed to, as well. But instead of acting on it, he was biding his time. A thrill suffused the very marrow of her bones as the vampire reached into his pocket and pulled out a long piece of black rope. He trailed it between his fingers as he stared at her.
"Presents," Cyrus announced, breaking her from her stare. She turned her head to meet his eyes, and he reached forward, a piece of popcorn in between his fingers as he brushed it against her lips. It was salty. "Open up, doll." Lucien made a sound of protest, but Cyrus cut him off. "Just a little bite. It won’t hurt, right? Only a taste. You can have more later."
She opened her mouth, and Cyrus’s eyes dipped to it as he placed the piece of popcorn on her tongue.
Rin hummed at the taste. "I missed solid food. You said presents? I didn’t… get any of you anything. It’s not much of a holiday, trapped here." She missed the sun. She hadn’t left since her failed mission. At the thought, her throat closed up. "I have no one to blame but myself, though. I dug my own grave, and now I’m suffocating beneath the dirt."
They stayed quiet. Cyrus took her hand. She felt Auren shift closer imperceptibly, his shoulder brushing hers, his masculine, woodsy scent chasing away some of her pain.
"Let’s not discuss this now. I don’t want to ruin this for you," said Lucien.
"What if I want to? I keep waiting for you to yell at me, but you don’t.Why?"
Auren moved to let Lucien take his spot. The cushion shifted as Lucien sat beside her, not giving her any time to protest as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She pressed her face into his shirt, inhaling the faint scent of medicine that always clung to him.
His hand tangled in her hair. She closed her eyes and felt the burn of electricity against her flesh, muscles seizing. She gave a low sob.
Lucien soothed her. "Don’t cry, Vesperin."
"Just yell at me. Tell me you’re angry, hit me, hurt me—" Her voice cracked.
He pulled away, glasses slipping down his nose. His dark lashes perfectly framed his green eyes. Rin wanted to count each one. Guilt unfurled inside her. She was so selfish.
"I’d never hurt you. Ever." As Lucien said it, she saw something haunted briefly flashing by his face like a shooting Star. "I’m angry you left, but I think I understand why you did it. To keep us safe. Isn’t that right?"
She nodded. His gentleness cut deeper than anger.
"Then we all can only thank you for trying to protect us. So, I’ll be the first." Lucien cupped her cheeks. "Thank you, Vesperin. But never do anything like that again, and I’ll forgive you."
The words were so intimate. She realized they weren’t alone. But sometimes it felt like she was always alone—she was getting used to sharing her space, her emotions, her life.
"You’re so good at piecing me together," Rin uttered, moving slowly away until Lucien’s hands dropped. She stared at theblanket over her lap, feeling hollowed out. She tried to smile. "So… presents?"
Cyrus jumped up, making her flinch from the suddenness of the movement. He moved to the kitchen counter, where a tiny bag was sitting. He hooked his fingers in the ribbon straps and walked to her, sitting as he thrust the bag into her face. "Open mine first. I hope you like it. It’s not as pretty as your bracelet." He gripped her hand and lifted her wrist, turning it until the Ryuxia diamonds refracted in the lights from the small Christmas tree.
Inside was a soft, tan cashmere hat with a small puff dangling from the end, and matching fur-lined mittens.
He took the hat from her and plopped it on her head, tugging it down until she couldn’t see. She tried to reach up and fix it, but he stopped her, gently folding it up until her eyes were revealed.
Cyrus reached forward and batted the puff ball, laughing. "Something sweet for you, doll. I could just eat you up."
Rin blushed as she remembered his words to her from the night before.
Next was Auren, his back straight as he sat on the edge of the coffee table before her, blue eyes flicking about the room in that quiet, searching way of his.
Distance stretched between her and Auren. Here she was, so selfishly in the arms of a man who wasn’t hers, while her three Soulbonds watched silently. Rin reached for Auren’s hand. He smiled softly, lacing his fingers with hers.
"I don’t have much to give, Hunter. We knew each other for three lives, each cut too short. As was the nature of our fate. I, the reaper of your Soul, and you, always out of reach. I never got to know you—not truly." Auren’s hand flexed around hers. "As a Soul Searcher, I value my hands. They are the tools with which I wield my scythe. When not reaping, I grow restless." Asif to speak to this restlessness, his thumb brushed softly over the back of her hand.
"It is important to keep myself occupied." Auren’s other hand began to fiddle with something at his side. He lifted it up. It was small, delicate. A Star, folded from paper, the edges precise and pointed. "I reaped a man’s Soul once… His wife had passed long before him, and he had taken to origami to keep his mind intact as he aged. One for every day he lived without her. I took it up too, but…" Blonde hair fell over his forehead as he shook his head faintly. "There were too many days I lived without you, too many Stars to fold."
He said it all without looking at her.
A tear slipped down Rin’s cheek.
His eyes finally rose, drawn to her like a moth to flame. "Do not cry. It hides the Stars in your eyes." He released her hand, only to press the delicate paper Star into her palm.
