Page 148 of Bonds of Starfall

Auren looked to her and found she was already looking at him.

"You know?" Vesperin said simply.

Auren nodded, quiet, wishing he could lie. "They adopted you after the incident…"

She laughed bitterly, wiping an angry hand over the back of her dry eyes, then pulled it away and stared at it, as if affronted by the lack of tears. "And they’ve been the villains, all this time. Not Lucien, like I thought. But them. The same people who selflessly took me in after my own parents died. They gave me a home, when I thought I no longer had one. Even before that, they cared for me. I thought it was just because I was Kit’s best friend, but what if…"

"What if?" Auren questioned.

Vesperin turned, her knee brushing his as she faced him. That singular spot of contact lit him up. "What if they were using me the entire time?" She licked her lips. "What if everything I’ve ever known truly is a lie?"

Auren could say nothing, do nothing. She was not far from the truth—the truth that it had all been a lie.

Carefully, so as not to spook her, he placed his bare palm over her hand, holding it tightly. As he rested their clasped hands against her thigh, he said, "Sometimes lies are there to keep us from the truths that we cannot bear."

She nodded softly, as if the words pained her. "But what if the lies to cover the truth hurt more than the actual truth?"

"Then you persevere," Auren uttered. "You take it moment by moment. Day by day. For you, Hunter, can overcome anything. I believe in you, and I believe in your strength. The same as I believe, in this life, you have"—it took so much inside him not to slip up and say Lucien’s name—"many who will protect you."

Her eyes flicked between his, and he wished he could cut open his chest and reveal his heart to her, so she would see that he would give his own Soul if it meant she would be safe. Such was the nature of Soulbonds. It was no longer Auren, alone. But AurenandVesperin. And maybe, the others, as well.

"Sabine and Talor said they wanted to protect me, too. And I just discovered they’re most likely torturing innocentAetherborns to experiment on," Vesperin said. Her hands trembled under his. He could sense, so desperately, her need to believe, but it was that jaded cynicism that held her back.

Auren knew, then, what he must do.

Cyrus was facing the weapons wall, phone pressed to his ear. Rhyden still stared at the laptop.

Auren released Vesperin’s hands and moved to kneel before the couch. On his knees before her, he stared up at her. His fingers wrapped around the handle of his scythe, and he gently took her hand, unfurled her fingers, and pressed the handle into her palm, forcing her fingers to wrap around it in a sure grip.

"What are you?—"

Auren shushed her. "Just watch, Hunter." The scythe, which only activated with his touch, began to glow with a soft blue. Lines crossed over the gleaming blade and disappeared as they traveled in patterns down the curved side, disappearing as quickly as they came. "This scythe answers to my Soul—and now yours," he revealed. "I will always keep you safe. From whoever you need. This is my vow to you. My blade is yours. Do with it as you wish. Command me to fell your enemies, and it shall be done." He remembered the fragile, dying girl of his memories. She had been taken from him too swiftly, unable to fight—but in this life, her strength was evident.

Auren added with a soft smile, "Take my scythe, and fell them yourself, because you are powerful and capable, Hunter."

Crystalline tears pooled over Vesperin’s lash line, making her grey eyes appear as an uncharted ocean. She bent forward and, with her free hand, touched his cheek.

Celestials, her skin was so soft against his.

"Thank you, Auren," Vesperin breathed. "I think… I am glad you’re my Soulbond."

Auren did not move awayfrom her, not even as Lucien had arrived and the truth slowly unraveled. But not all of it. Auren could see that in the way Lucien held himself, cautiously loathing, as he still kept the root of the lies far away from Vesperin. The experiments, and the fact that she was his Soulbond, too.

"The Blackfalls have been forcing me to conduct experiments for them—on the Aetherborns." Lucien’s voice was taut. "Vesperin, I never,ever, hurt anyone. If you believe a word of anything I say, have it be that."

"I do," Vesperin said. Her voice was stronger, less fragile, after they’d talked. Auren’s scythe still rested by her knee. "I do believe you, Lucien. I just wish you hadn’t felt like you had to lie to me about this."

Auren fisted a hand, his nails cutting into his palm.This. As if Lucien’s being blackmailed was the worst of the lies. Vesperin had no idea the truth. That less than a day ago, she had been subject to the wicked experiments by the hands of her adoptive parents. If she knew the truth, perhaps she would turn the blade of his scythe on Auren and Lucien both, for keeping it from her.

"We need to take them down. To ensure the truth remains in the light." Auren held Lucien’s stare pointedly as he said this.

Lucien coughed lowly and looked to them all, settling on Vesperin tucked between Auren and Cyrus, while Rhyden leaned against the counter, watching, his laptop still open before him.

"That is what we were trying to do—take Blackfall Industries down," said Lucien. "I’ve been called to the lab in Nova Zone 21 to run basic tests. The same lab you came from. I don’t have clearance to venture to the lower levels. Last time, I was able to sneak down to search for evidence. There’snothingincriminating there. They keep everything that could be used against them locked up tight. No paper trail."

By his side, Vesperin shifted. Shock radiated from her in waves, but with every second that ticked by, it was replaced by steely determination. That was what Auren had meant—strength tempered with focus.

Vesperin’s soft voice cut in. "Sabine and Talor… the Blackfalls, they have sway over much. You know, at the Admittance Ceremony for the Hunter’s Guild Academy, President Shin came and spoke to me personally. He mentioned Sabine and Talor both. It made me wonder if they’d somehow bought my way onto the Alpha Team. I have good scores, but my Stella levels…" Her finger tapped a light rhythm on her knee, and the motion sent the dainty chain of a bracelet on her wrist tinkling. Cyrus reached forward and caught her hand, bringing it up to his mouth and rubbing the back of it over his jaw.