Page 22 of Bonds of Starfall

The silver blade of his scythe lit up with a soft glow, just as she took a rattling breath. Her hair was a light brown, silky strands falling in soft waves over her pale cheeks, eyes wide pools of molten brown.

"Auren." Vesperin pressed a hand to his cheek. She was so cold. "Please. It’s okay." Her words were filled with pain as thered slashes from the dagger on her chest seeped blood. Too fast to be healed. "You’ll find me. Take me—take me to the Stars," she gasped with pain, "and I know you’ll… see me safely on my journey h-home."

"No, Vesperin, no," Auren sobbed. "I just found you."

In a small village on Earth, the peasant girl had been attacked at night, left to die on a lonely trail in the woods. Auren had felt the call of a Soul to be reaped, which led him here. To her.

"Next time—maybe our story will be different," she breathed. Her brown eyes grew dull and cloudy, her head lolled to the side on his lap, and she stared unseeing at something unknown to even an immortal such as he.

"I love you," Auren whispered over her, but she was beyond hearing.

From her body, an amorphous light drifted, warm as it hovered before him.

Vesperin’s Soul.

He heaved with awful sobs as he gently laid her down on the trail, pressing a kiss to her brow. He felt the call, unable to be ignored. His scythe pulsed, and he reached for it, lifting it with shaking hands.

Vesperin’s Soul swayed gently, and right before he swept his scythe down, he vowed, "Never again will I find you too late, my love."

"There’s no Souls around tonight." Her voice, harsher than the soft melody of his memory, broke him from his remembrance.

She was different this time around.

"How would you know?" Auren arched a brow. "I see no Soul Searcher mark on you."

"I am a Hunter," Vesperin affirmed.

His greatest fear—her, in danger. Celestials, she had always loved making him worry.

"What is a small thing like you doing as a Hunter?" he asked, voice calm, but inside, he was anything but.

She jabbed the muzzle harder against his temple. Her white hair fell in a shock of brightness around her shoulders, words dripping with acid. "That is none of your business. And don’t underestimate me, Soul Searcher. I’m the one with a gun at your head."

What had happened to her in this life? She looked no older than her early twenties. Had she been hurt so badly this time around, to already be jaded?

And what was the incessant buzzing sound that emitted from her? A power of which Auren had never sensed before, thrumming off her in waves.

His curiosity was going to kill him.

"I was distracted," Auren supplied.

"By your imaginary Soul waiting to be reaped?"

Auren told the truth. "By you."

Her grip grew slack on the gun, and Auren found he had wasted enough time here tonight. No Souls were waiting to be reaped, the call had dimmed, and he was faced with much more pressing concerns after finding her: discovering the truth.

With one hand, he reached for her arm that held the gun, gripping her wrist and twisting it just enough to make her gasp and drop the gun on reflex. Then, he stepped to the side in a blur of white, reclaiming his fallen scythe as he stood behind her. The move had only taken a few seconds, and he watched as she struggled to catch up.

Soul Searchers were gifted many talents—speed and agility, two of his favorites. And he had had centuries to hone them even greater. He hadlether press her gun to his head. Now, she knew it.

Vesperin dove for her gun, turning swiftly with a speed that made his brows raise. She was nimble, too—for a human. But no match for him.

She trained the gun on him. Her shirt was molded to her skin, revealing her shape. Celestials, it had been so long since he had known her so intimately.

"You… you—" She was speechless.

Auren inclined his head, taking her in; he never wanted to forget what she looked like, even with her odd white hair and strange grey eyes. "Farewell, Hunter."