Page 37 of Bonds of Starfall

Lucien crouched by the crate, hand hovering over the bars. "I will not hurt you, and I will not keep you here to be studied as though you are an object."

The girl did not seem to believe him, so Lucien tried a different approach:

"I am Lucien Quenlan, and I swear to you, I will never do anything to hurt you, nor will I ever use you or your body for evil purposes."

He crouched there for some time, trying to get her to understand. His legs tingled, so he sat and studied the bubbling vials and cool streams of gas that emitted from the compressed chambers lining the walls.

Eventually, a broken, soft voice made his head perk up.

"Vesperin Vox."

Lucien turned to watch the girl. She slowly crept from her hiding spot, knees digging into the cold floor of the crate.

"Lucien." She spoke slowly, the words slightly accented, as if his language was hard to articulate. It was heavily advanced. How did she know it?

"Out—free."

Her hands curled around the lower bars, and he wasn’t fast enough. Before he could move his hand away from where it rested on the ground, jammed against the bars, her pinky brushed his wrist.

And everything fell into place.

No memories—this was their first life, and Celestials, Lucien would make it count.

"Soulbond," she breathed, wide eyes filled with awe.

Lucien met her gaze, feeling like everything in his life had led him to this moment. He would never let her come to harm.

Vesperin’s eyes grew glassy, and from her lashline, a singular tear spilled, falling over in watery elegance, and just as it hit her cheek, the tear hardened, turning to a shimmering droplet. Barely the size of a fingernail.

It plinked against the ground and rolled by her thigh.

A diamond.

"Vesperin." Lucien tasted his Soulbond’s name on his tongue. "I will free you. Tonight. When everyone sleeps, you and I will run away."

He did not know how much of his words she understood, but she gave a hesitant smile…

It had been such an effort to stand straight and not fall to his knees as the memories hit him. As her death had hit him. They hadn’t even made it past the gate surrounding the research compound before the first attack had hit. The guards had taken them down easily. Earth Stella to trip them, Fire Stella to surround them in swaths of flames, and Air Stella to supply their bodies with too much oxygen, leaving them passed out and pliant.

The royal house had executed her first, forcing Lucien to watch as a Waterborn executioner crafted a pool in the center of the room, forcing her under.

Lucien had not met such a cold, lonely end.

His death had been fiery. An example of the cost of rebellion—burned before the masses, the only thing that had made it all worth it, was knowing he could look for her in his next life…

In this life, the only reason Lucien hadn’t fallen on the ground in anguish was that Vesperin stared at him like nothing had changed, like he was still the older boy she was trying to impress, as she flipped on her trampoline while he ran out to check the mail.

That had led him into a spiral of research—why did she not remember?

And his research had led him to Blackfall Industries.

The founders of which were living at the same house she had gone to spend the night as a child with their son, Kiton Blackfall. The same man he had come to know right before the accident five years ago.

Lucien had been pulled into Blackfall Industries and their corruption as he had risen to be one of the top doctors in Solar City. When the most influential science and research group wanted you to do something? You did not refuse.

Not if you wanted to live.

It was a morbid mirror of his past life, a trap he had fallen into and did not know how to break free of. This time, he would not have it end in their deaths. Never again.