Page 175 of Bonds of Starfall

The Aetherborn yelled, tendons in his neck straining as he lifted his palms and sent a wash of blue Stella right at the bars.

Sabine met Kit’s eye, a command there. "You know what to do."

Kit did not even move from his spot. His fingers twitched, and the very air in the Aetherborn’s lungs was sucked away. The man dropped in a heap to the ground, seizing, clawing at his chest for air, while the Stella slammed against the bars of the cage, then fizzled to nothing with the invisible force field.

"Extra precautions," Talor said. "The force field keeps the ones who try to attack away from the rest."

"Our weapon. Project Phoenix." Sabine gestured to Kit, who stared down the thrashing Aetherborn as he used his Stella to suck the air from the area around the Aetherborn, incapacitating him.

The surrounding guards were used to Kit’s lethality—but not the newcomers. They clapped. As if Kit were something to be approved.

A distant part of him wondered if they’d like an encore.

He bared his teeth at them.

The sound tapered off.

The two-way mirrortinted everything in a dark haze, but that didn’t stop Kit from staring at the thrashing girl held captive in a chair on the other side.

Her eyes were wide and wild, and her white hair was tangled around her face, soft waves falling from a bun at the back of her head.

His dark uniform covered him from his neck to his ankles, gloves over his hands to keep his prosthetic hidden.

His thick boots thudded against the dark floors as he inched closer to the door leading into the room. He needed to go to her. Desperately.

"Hello!" she called, and his heart rate picked up.

The doctors would interrogate him about that later—his vitals were constantly monitored. Anything out of the ordinary, they inspected unceasingly in his sessions, until whatever had caused such a reaction was kicked out of his brain with a cocktail of drugs and electroshock therapy.

"Don’t hide like a coward." Her grey eyes pierced right through his, as if the mirror weren’t even there. "Come out and speak to me!"

Before he realized it, his feet were already carrying him to the door.

The small chip implanted in his eye read off his orders. The words were typed and stilted, imprinted over the sight of the door as he pushed it open.

Go into the room.

Kit watched as her eyes widened, staring at his boots and tracking up to his face.

He knew her, but he didn’t care.

Talk to her.

"Hello, Vesperin," Kit said.

Vesperin. That was right. That was her name. It echoed through his empty mind like marbles rolling on tile.

Her entire body trembled and shook like a leaf. Kit cocked his head. Was she cold? Was she scared?

He hadn’t felt fear in so long—he forgot the way it made a body submit to its whims.

"Kit?"

She said his name with thick emotion, clouding her tone. So curious. So strange.

She pleaded with him, begged him.

The chip honed in on her body, displaying her body temperature, heart rate, and Stella.