Page 141 of Bonds of Starfall

"You know, you’re going to burn scorch marks into her pretty rugs with all your pacing," Cyrus commented.

Rhyden stalled, fangs flashing. "Better the rug than the pompous doctor."

"Don’t speak about Lucien that way," Rin said, strength lining her words.

Rhyden met her eyes. She waited for a quip, but it never came. The vampire merely hummed and continued pacing.

Just when Rin thought she’d go insane, trapped with these two males, their dominance pressing her deeper into the mattress, the water turned off, and the door opened.

"Vesperin," said Lucien. When she looked at him, she saw anxiety lining his face, leaving a line between his brows. "Trust me, my V girl."

She opened her mouth, ready to ask what he meant, but Lucien stepped aside, and she was hit with the familiar sight that had haunted her since that night in Nova Zone 21.

The gleaming blade of a scythe, hooked over his back. Blue eyes, messy blonde hair. And a tiny Star etched under his left eye.

The Soul Searcher.

Rin stood on shaky legs, Cyrus taking the glass of juice from her.

"It’s you," she breathed, feeling Rhyden and Cyrus’s eyes on her.

"Hunter," the Soul Searcher addressed. And god, the sound of his voice. She’d nearly forgotten it. How could she ever have forgotten his voice or the quiet power in his presence?

Rin shook her head in disbelief, Cyrus unfurling to stand at her side.

Her eyes jumped from the Soul Searcher to Lucien, then back. "Why are you here?" She wanted to bring up the note he’d left for her, but held her tongue—just barely.

The Soul Searcher dipped his chin, then crossed an arm over his chest, his white gloves and white cloak like a beacon in her dim bedroom, with its closed curtains and yellow-tinted lamplight. His gloves groaned as he made a fist and tapped over his chest, head still bowed. His hair fell into his eyes, and it looked so fluffy, she wondered how it’d feel under her fingertips.

With half-lidded eyes, the Soul Searcher stared at Rin. "My name is Auren Neris, and I have known you for three lifetimes, Vesperin Vox. I have loved you for each one, and in this one, I will love you, also," he vowed, unmoving. "Our Souls are forged in the same fabric of fate."

Rin exhaled a shuddering gasp, knowing the truth in his words. She had known that day, when she had first seen him. She just hadn’t been able to place the feeling that had taken hold of her when she had stared up at him and she’d taunted him. Even now, the memory of his words whispered over her skin, and she stepped away from Cyrus, drawn to this male, this immortal being who spoke of things like love.

With Cyrus, it had been a neon collision. With Rhyden, it had been violent and soaked in blood. With Auren, it was fated.

When Rin stood right before him, her heart thudded in her chest.

His throat bobbed with an audible swallow as his eyes traced over her. "You still have Stars in your eyes," he said lowly.

Rin raised a hand, tracing the air before his face with a trembling finger, aware of their audience as she followed the outline of the Star under his eye. "So do you."

"You do not seem perplexed, Hunter. Why?" His breath rustled her hair.

"Maybe because I already knew," she whispered, lowering her hand. "I think that day in the Nova Zone, part of me felt like you were familiar, I just didn’t know then because I didn’t realize I could havethis—have a Soulbond."

"And now you have us, Hunter,"Aurensaid. His blue eyes gleamed as he stared at Cyrus, then Rhyden, resting upon Lucien.

A twinge of pain twisted in her gut. She was selfish, greedy. She had three Soulbonds. One professing love, one unpredictable but protective, and the last thirsting for revenge—but the two she longed for would always remain beyond her reach.

Thoughts for her alone. Thoughts she could never voice.

Rin shivered as the lampshade made the shadows in the room seem larger.

"Vesperin, go lie back down." Lucien’s voice turned clinical, undercut with concern.

"I’m… fine," she managed, still unable to wrap her head around the fact that her three Soulbonds were immortal.

What cruel, sick joke was this?