It was only an email.
Rin clicked on it.
It was an invitation to a gala hosted at the Hunter’s Guild Academy in the first week of spring, with a plus one.
Rin doubted she’d be back by then. It was about a month out. Her mood darkened as she swiped the email away.
The sound of footsteps drifted across the floor as Auren approached. His hood was shoved back, revealing his adorably messy hair.
She tried to smile up at him, and he huffed a soft laugh.
"Good morning to you, Hunter," Auren said, voice rough with sleep.
Rin never quite knew how to act around him, wondering if they should be doing more to get to know each other. But she still felt out of her depth, too broken and too jaggedly naive in some ways. She didn’t know how to go about initiating a kiss, let alone a conversation. At least, with the others, they made the decisions for her.
She’d been intimatemanytimes now with Cyrus—the incubus never missed an opportunity to feed. Things between her and Lucien still felt strange. The effects of harmony had waned, but she still felt forever changed by it. They’d not done more than kiss recently.
And Rhyden was… complicated. Most days, she couldn’t tell if he’d rather strangle her or throw her down and fuck her. Rin thought it might be both.
Kit—
She suppressed a shiver. She still had nightmares about those body parts.
"Good morning, Auren. Did you want—I was going to offer you tea or coffee, but I don’t even know which you prefer," she quietly realized, cheeks warming.
Auren surprised her as he sat in the chair right next to hers, tugging his gloves off and laying them on the table near his elbow. "It is no fault of yours. I am rarely here for you to get to know, with how often I have been called." He reached for her hand, but stilled halfway there. She crossed the distance, letting her fingertips brush his. He released a breath and entwined their fingers. "I prefer tea."
She smiled. "I like coffee better."
With his free hand, he poured a cup of tea for himself. Cereal boxes, milk cartons, and mugs cluttered the table—a mess Rin and Cyrus had enjoyed creating in Rhyden’s ascetic base.
Strange, as on Sangreal every inch of his near palatial home had been dripping with opulence.
Auren brought his mug up to his lips with an immortal sort of grace. "Have you been feeling well, Vesperin?"
She stared at his throat as he swallowed. "If I can be honest, not really. My dreams have been really strange again, and I don’t know if they have something to do with my past lives or not. Because—" She forced herself to swallow the words down. For some reason, she felt she should keep the stranger with black hair and scorched skin just for herself. "And I’m feeling so cooped up here. I just wish I could run away—but even that’s dangerous. We don’t know if Sabine and Talor are back on Earth yet. Sorry for venting, I didn’t mean to…"
Auren grew contemplative, thumb rubbing over the back of her hand. "What if I told you I knew somewhere I could take you? Somewhere safe, where no one could find us, and perhaps I could make you a cup of tea with dried cherry blossom petals."
"I’d like that," she whispered.
Auren set his mug on the table and stood. "Well, let us go, Hunter."
"Now?"
"Did you have something else you would prefer to be doing?"
"Definitely not," Rin said, letting him pull her to her feet.
He tugged her close, a bold motion for the usually reserved Soul Searcher. She liked this more open side of him.
He reached for his scythe at his back. But just before he did, the blade glowed, and the Star under his left eye burned bright.
"Celestials!" Auren cursed, dropping her hand. "I am being called. Please, forgive me, Vesperin. I—I grow tired of this. I shouldn’t say that." He exhaled roughly. She’d never seen him so overcome before. He gathered her hands in his, and she felt the smoothness of his palms against hers—proof that his gloves had shielded him for centuries as he reaped, long before she existedin this life. "I am sorry." The skin around the Star turned red as it continued to burn. His mouth twisted into a grimace.
"Does it hurt you—to ignore a call?"
"I can endure it for you."
