Page 116 of Bonds of Starfall

Rhyden growled, shoving Cyrus’s hands off her. The incubus looked up, a curse lingering on his lips, but the vampire only tipped her head back until the pale expanse of her throat was revealed. Her pulse fluttered visibly as Valkar gripped the column of her throat, thumb running in a firm stroke down the front of her jugular. Rough but steady.

She gagged as she was forced to swallow. Valkar’s thumb roughly tugged down her lower lip as he peered into her mouth, finding the pill gone.

Cyrus shook as he held her. "Please, please," he prayed aloud, hoping someone, somewhere was listening.

He bowed his head over her, just missing the way the shadows seemed to stretch and yawn over the concrete floor, taking the undeniable shape of a man.

In the time Cyrus had been with Vesperin, he had seen her take two different pills. Her regular dose that helped keep her heart rate in check and work against the Nova ravaging her body—and on rarer occasions, the emergency pill that could quickly work to stop an attack.

Those were the pills Cyrus had forced down her throat.

Now, they just needed time to work.

Her heart slowed into a steady, quivering beat—no longer a harrowing gallop. Something within Cyrus rattled apart as he held her.

"She’ll be okay," he breathed, looking up to find Valkar staring at him already.

"You’re going to explain to me what the fuck just happened to her, and you’re going to do it now."

Cyrus’s lips parted. "You’re her Soulbond," he countered.

"I am. That’s why you’ll tell me, or I’ll kill you right here, right now. I don’t care how important she thinks you are to her." Valkar lifted a hand, flames sparking at his fingertips as he called on his Stella. Cyrus had never met a Fireborn before. They were rare; though, not as rare as Aetherborn.

The words brought a victorious smile to Cyrus’s lips. "You won’t kill me," he said.

"And why the fuck not?"

"I’m her Soulbond, too."

Rhyden sat in the medbay,the lamp on the table a soft yellow that chased away the shadows.

Vesperin lay on the bed, her blood-stained shirt swallowing her fragile frame. On the other side, the incubus sat, staring at the sleeping girl between them.

His words rattled in Rhyden’s skull like poison.

I’m her Soulbond, too.

Dammit.

Rhyden should’ve suspected. Of course she was. Someone as conniving as Vesperin Vox was bound to string along more than one Soulbond. He resisted the urge to ask the incubus if she fucked him over, too.

Her heart was steady—for now. But Rhyden didn’t think he’d ever forget the sound of it failing.

"Tell me," he ordered the incubus.

Rhyden hadn’t expected an answer, but he did.

With their shared Soulbond lying between them, Cyrus holding her hand and Rhyden staring at her closed eyes and wondering of their grey shade, he was told everything.

Starting hundreds of years ago, when a prince met a human slave, falling in love, finding sanctuary in a hidden cottage by the sea, holding her cold, lifeless body for hours, hoping she’d awaken. All leading to a fateful night in a club.Forget You Not.

As Cyrus revealed why she looked different in this life, Rhyden felt the sharp sting of vengeful jealousy twist in his chest. She truly had no memory of what she’d done to him—not a flicker. In this, at least, she had spoken the truth.

Somehow, everything and nothing had changed.

Rin wokeup to find two males staring down at her.

She pressed a weak hand to her chest, feeling the ache in her limbs that spoke of an episode. She lifted her head, taking in the dimly lit room, concrete and stone walls pressed close, reminding her where she was.