Page 149 of Bonds of Starfall

"It is possible," Lucien revealed, finger against his temple, deep in thought.

"Then what was their motive?" Vesperin questioned, breath hitching as she glanced at Cyrus, who still held her hand captive, then back to Lucien and Auren. "Why would they want me to risk myself like that on the Alpha Team?"

Auren and Lucien shared a look. Auren remembered that day, when that indescribable power had exploded from Vesperin in a glimmer of white. Lucien merely looked down. Auren resisted the urge to shake his head. The lies must end. He knew the truth would surface eventually, but how much damage would be done before then?

"So we try to get evidence another way? There has to be something. I mean, what we saw tonight?—"

"Could easily be buried," Rhyden interjected. The vampire tapped his finger on the closed back of his laptop, rounded the counter, and came to a stop before them all in the small sitting area. "The Blackfalls have their hands in more goddamn pockets than you probably realize. If we jump in before we’reready, all we’d be doing is putting a target on our backs. No, we need real damning evidence. That can’t be refuted, and can’t be swept away by the public. Blackfall Industries has done a lot for pharmaceuticals and shit. I bet the majority of the population of Solar City would be more than happy to ignore a little scandal if they kept getting their drugs."

"You saidwe?" Vesperin tilted her head to the side, and the action was slightly kittenish in nature. It was wildly endearing.

Rhyden gave a half-smirk that didn’t reach his red eyes. "Did I? Well, I’ve embroiled myself this far, might as well take the plunge. You’ve always had a knack for pulling me in against my will. Like an enchantress." A dark, brittle huff of amusement fell from his lips.

"What do we need?" Vesperin leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. The action shifted the couch cushion, and Auren leaned in closer to her, their thighs brushing.

"A personal claim," Rhyden drawled. "Testimonial, with evidence to back it. Videos. Not photos, those can be doctored. That’d be pretty damning."

Lucien adjusted his glasses, cool green eyes falling to Vesperin. He cleared his throat. "I have something that could work—if we’re able to find proof."

Auren knew what the doctor was about to say. He leaned in closer to Vesperin, as if to ground her with his mere presence. Cyrus seemed to pick up on Auren’s tense manner, for the incubus’s fingers tangled with hers.

Auren should tell her—he should force Lucien to tell her. She had two more Soulbonds. One dead, one very much alive, yet thinking he was not worthy of her. She had been experimented on for much of her life.

But the words would not come. They stuck to his tongue.

For now, Auren would keep his silence and let Lucien do what he thought he must. It was cowardice and mercy braided into one.

"Vesperin, I’m so sorry," Lucien uttered. "I think Sabine and Talor may have played a part in Kiton’s death.

Lucien must leave.Again. It was a thousand cuts against his flesh to leave her here, but if he was to continue protecting her, he would endure any pain.

Vesperin was curled on the couch, a blanket over her lap, staring at the plain dark wall, deep in thought. It had been two days since she’d come back from scouting the underground lab in Nova Zone 21. Two days since she’d shared with him her understanding of Sabine and Talor’s deception. And two days since he had revealed his hand—the first of many:

His belief that the Blackfalls had orchestrated Kiton’s death to get Vesperin alone. An easy target.

A haze of disbelief and ghost-like entrancement had befallen her in the days since. Similar to the one that had gripped her after Kiton’s death—yet wholly different. For this one held an underlying strength and determination that frightened Lucien to his core.

He passed a hand over the back of the couch, fingers tickling the ends of her hair where it was draped over it. She didn’t jolt. "Vesperin," he murmured, careful of his words; though, the others were out—Rhyden doing god knew what, Auren reaping, and Cyrus… Lucien was not sure where the mercurial incubus was, and that was alarming. "I hate leaving you here."

She finally turned to stare up at him, and he was shocked to find her grey eyes clear and bright. "I understand," she saidsimply. "You have to do what you must, Lucien." She mumbled something under her breath that he couldn’t quite catch.

"What?"

Vesperin shook her head. "Nothing. Go." Standing, she kept the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, small fingers curled in the front of it. The lights in the flat were low, shadows pooling in the corners. "I feel like we always leave each other. Ships in the night." She smiled, and the edges cracked and bled. A blanket-covered hand reached for his chest; even through the barrier, he felt her touch. "We weren’t meant to be, anyway. Some ships may never pass, and some are meant to sail alone."

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I am sorry, you know. For all of it. I’m sorry that—that things couldn’t be different… between us."

"Me too," she whispered. "I’ll always wonder…" She trailed off, and when she met his eyes again, there was a fire within them, so hot the flames were pure white. "Blackfall Industries will burn."

"All fires start with a spark, my V girl, and we’ve yet to find theirs."

"That’s where you’re wrong, Lucien." She shook off her blanket, and it pooled to the floor, revealing her tight leggings and large shirt. Her bare palms pressed to the tiny bit of skin revealed at his chest, where the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. "We know exactly what the spark is; we just have to light it."

Understanding hit Lucien. "You do believe me, then? That Sabine and Talor may have…" He hesitated to say it, but she was steel before him, so he would be, too. "Orchestrated Kiton’s death?"

She gritted her jaw. "I do. It’s all too much of a coincidence not to be. I’m remembering things now. Little things. The way Kit would talk about them, how he’d hate going home for familydinners, but would do it for me, to be there for me. It’s like, understanding that, made it all click in my head."

"I hate this, Vesperin," Lucien shared. "So much. I hate it for you… and Ihateit for him."