Did anything?
Lucien held Vesperin as she cried. When his story ended, he braced himself for her to yell or shove him away, like she wanted him to do to her.
As her sobs dwindled, she lifted her face to him, and he realized what emotion shone there, as bright as dawn sunlight:
Happiness.
"You’re mine," Vesperin whispered, reaching up to touch his jaw, "and I’m yours."
"You’re not angry with me?" His words were a strange decalcomania of what she’d asked him when she first awoke.
"Maybe I should be, but right now, all I feel is relief." She looked down, lashes casting shadows on her wet cheeks. "I felt guilty for so long for wanting you. Now I don’t have to feel like that anymore. I could’ve had you this whole time, without hating myself for it. That day, before I left for Sibeth and I came to see you"—a flush bloomed on her once-pale cheeks—"I wanted you so badly. After, I wanted to change it—my weakness. Cyrus said I smelled like you. And I felt soguilty." She roughly scrubbed beneath her eyes, as if her tears were a betrayal.
Lucien caught her wrist. "I’m to share you," he said quietly. "I belong solely to you, but you’re not solely mine." The admission twisted something deep within him.
"I’m sorry. I wish I knew what to say, but…" Vesperin shook her head. "We can’t change it—and honestly? If I could… I’m not sure I would want to."
"You don’t need to be ashamed of that. What you feel for them is natural. They’re yours." He clenched his jaw. "Even Valkar."
She stilled, voice soft and strange. "Even him."
Her eyes grew distant as he watched her process everything he’d told her.
Lucien knew her so well, thumb against her pulse point, he could tell the precise moment she began to spiral.
He leaned down, lips hovering inches from hers. "Will you let me kiss you?"
"If we do, it’ll be different. It won’t be like before, because now I know the truth, and I’m never going to let you go," she whispered.
Lucien stared at the way his thumb smoothed over her cheek. This sort of possession was new to him. "I don’t want you to."
He kissed her sweetly, imbuing every bit of his want, filled with every unspoken wish to rewind time and fix the years they’d lost.
Her fingers curled in his shirt as she tried to deepen it, but he broke away, resting his forehead on hers. They breathed in tandem.
"Vesperin, I love you. Know this, if you ever know anything, it’s that everything I did was out of love."
"I love you, too, Lucien. I always have."
"I think a part of you knew we were destined for each other. All those years, and you were in the house right beside mine the entire time."
He kissed her again, tenderly as if they had all the time in the world.
The Christmas tree lights glistened over her face, making her tears sparkle like diamonds.
Together, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
I’m to share you.
The words haunted his dreams—until they turned to nightmares.
Atlas steppedout of the shadows, knowing the others would not return for some time. They’d conspired with the doctor, giving him a moment alone with Vesperin.
The Celestial cocked his head, watching her chest rise and fall with steady breaths. Her head rested on Lucien Quenlan’s chest, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close. Envy flickered through Atlas—quickly followed by regret. He should have been above such triviality, and yet, here he was…
Watching her.
He had done terrible things, both passively and deliberately. He had let Vesperin be tortured by one of her Soulbonds, knowing the shocks would awaken her latent memories.
