Page 16 of Bonds of Starfall

The girl deflated.

Kit walked to Rin, ruffling her white hair as he stopped at her side. "I’ll leave you two to it." He leaned down to press a kiss to her brow, murmuring softly, "You sure you don’t want to stay at the house and just commute?"

Rin cast a surreptitious glance at Xara, who had moved to grab plates from the sparsely stocked cabinet. "No." Rin shook her head. "I want to stay here."

Kit sighed, patting her head one last time. "If that’s what you want. You have everything you need?" She nodded, and his light brown eyes warmed as he stared down at her. "You call me if anything happens, okay? I don’t care what time it is, I’ll be there for you."

She knew he was talking about her heart.

Rin dug her fingernails into her palm to stop the burn behind her eyes—she doubted crying at being left alone would make a good impression on her roommate.

"Okay," she managed.

"Love you," Kit said, his hand leaving her head reluctantly. He headed for the door, calling out, "Don’t forget to call me tomorrow after your first day."

"Love you," Rin whispered too late. The door had already shut, leaving the echo of his presence in the room and a pang in her chest.

Rin hated crying, especially in front of others. She scrubbed the back of her hand over her eyes, looking up to find Xara staring at her with a strange glint in her eyes.

"You sure he’s just an adoptive brother? He sure as hell doesn’t seem to think so."

Rin scoffed, sitting at one of the barstools as she grabbed a small porcelain plate, topped with breaded chicken and rice. "No, that’s weird," she forced herself to say. But she wouldn’t be lying to say she hadn’t thought of it herself.

"Just saying. I mean, he’s not related to you by blood, right?" Xara shrugged a shoulder. "Stranger things have happened. I heard some of the rarer shifters mate with their own blood to keep the bloodlines pure." Xara shuddered.

Rin poked at her food. She always felt so out of place. Like everything inside her mind was too much to let her be at ease and speak with the usual freedom that others seemed to possess. "Well, neither of us are related, and we’re not shifters," Rin said.

They ate in relative silence, but not uncomfortably. Once their plates were finished, Xara pulled a small bottle of light alcoholic juice from the plastic bag near her elbow, tipping it into two cheap cups. Rin waved it off with a faint smile—she wanted a clear head for her first day tomorrow, and she had promisedLucien that she would limit her alcohol intake. She was set to see him next weekend, and really didn’t want to have to lie to him.

"So," Xara started, the lip of her cup hovering by her mouth, "what’s your Stella?"

Rin let out a sigh. She knew it would have come up eventually, but…

Maybe a small bit of alcohol wouldn’t hurt. It wasn’t like Lucienownedher. She was an adult.

Rin brought the plastic cup to her mouth, mumbling around it, "I’m an Aetherborn."

She tipped the drink back quickly, eyes squeezing shut so she wouldn’t have to see the other girl’s expression.

"No shit!" Xara exclaimed, eyes growing wide. "That’s so cool. I’ve never met an Aetherborn before. What level are you?"

Rin took a moment to survey her, searching for any small bits of envy or—even worse—worship. Finding none, she spoke timidly, cheeks warming from more than just the alcohol. "I’m a level one."

"That must be hard—knowing even if you met your Soulbond, you won’t have any memories…"

Surprising. That was the first time she had heard anyone mention what plagued her in the night, when no one was around to hear the sound of her quiet sobs.

"Tell me about it," Rin mumbled. "And that’s even if I meet them in this life. I’d have more luck marrying some prince than meeting my Soulbond in my first life."

Xara huffed a laugh and refilled their cups. "I’m sure meeting your Soulbond isn’t all it’s made out to be. My oldest brother met one of his a few years ago. A wolf shifter from Praed. She’s a handful." Her eyes widened with humor. "Who needs Soulbonds, anyway?" She lifted her cup, silently urging Rin to tap hers against it.

Rin smiled softly. The other girl wasn’t fooling anyone—Rin had noticed the way her eyes had seemed to glow. She was only downplaying her interest for Rin’s benefit. No one valued being a level one.

At five years old, it was common to take a standard neuropsychological exam to gauge Stella levels by examining the correlation between neurological functions, psychological behaviors, and how they interacted and impacted Stella levels. It wasn’t foolproof, but the lower your Stella ranked, the higher the probability that this was your first life.

Stella manifested anywhere from a few years old, all the way up to late teens. But even without it, scientists could sense what Stella one would have and use that to determine a rough estimate of prior lives.

As a level one with basically no Stella to speak of, it was obvious she was on her first life. Level tens were the highest ranking, with scientists gauging that those of that level have lived a thousand or more lives.