Page 41 of Bonds of Starfall

Lucien knew the feeling well. He released the blinds and crossed to Kiton, resting a hand on his shoulder. "She’s alive. And she needs us to ensure she stays that way."

"Right." Kiton exhaled sharply. "I’ve been doing this just as long as you have, Lucien. From the very first day I met her. It hurts me"—he thumped a fist over his chest—"knowing that she doesn’t know the lengths I’ve gone for her."

Lucien shook his head. "You think you’re the only one who feels that way?" He let his hand fall from Kiton’s shoulder. "It’s hell looking at her and knowing that she doesn’t feel the same way. Doesn’t know the depth of my—what I feel for her. It is not just you who has gone to such lengths." Lucien held Kiton’s eyes, noting the deep shadows underneath. "Do not forget yourself, KitonBlackfall."

"Don’t ever use my family name against me," Kiton seethed. "I fucking hate them for everything they’ve done.Theyare to blame for her memories."

He stepped closer, until he was nearly nose-to-nose with Lucien, rage flickering hotly across his features.

Lucien often forgot that this man was a well-trained Fleet pilot, and his razor-thin control was clearly evident in the way in which he held himself, jaw ticking as he stared Lucien down.

"They used me, too.Hurtme," said Kiton. The thin streams of light coming in through the tiny cracks in the blinds cast shifting shadows across his face, making the hollows under his eyes appear starker.

Lucien knew—god, did he ever. Kiton was as much a victim as Vesperin.

It was Blackfall Industries that was the villain here.

After Vesperin’s world had been upended when she had been seventeen, the Blackfalls, ever opportunistic, had stepped in as her saviors. But Lucien knew better.

The experiments had started long before that, tucked in the shadows of childhood sleepovers with Kiton. Back then, Kiton had revealed his parents would drug them both—him, to sleep deeply and be unaware; and her, to be unconscious so they could take her to their basement and run tests on her Stella.

Lucien surmised that those early experiments were to blame for why she didn’t remember their past life when their hands brushed that day.

It wasn’t until she took the Blackfall last name and moved into their home for good that they truly revealed the depths of their depravity.

Starting with bloodied syringes and ending with selective pieces of her memories being wiped.

Still, Lucien would not be walked on. Not by his Soulbond’s other piece.

Kiton and Lucien were both Vesperin’s Soulbonds. They should get along, and they did—sometimes. But they only did so knowing it was for her benefit.

That was why Lucien swallowed his pride. "I am sorry. You’re right. It is easy to become blinded by rage, knowing how thin a line we truly walk." He sat on the edge of the hospital bed with a heavy sigh, taking off his glasses and scrubbing a hand over his weary eyes. "I thought we had discussed this, though.You said you were going to keep your distance once she entered the Hunter’s Guild Academy. If your parents realize you stillremember…" He let his words linger.

Kiton leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he stared down at Lucien. "You think I don’t know that,doctor? After they wiped Rin’s memories and tried to wipe mine, I’ve had to act like the very sight of her doesn’t make me weak. But trust me, they have no clue the experiment didn’t work on me." His lips tipped into a sardonic smirk. "I can be a good actor when I want. Same couldn’t be said for you—the people in this room care about you."

Lucien grimaced, but remained quiet.

Kiton continued:

"It wasyouwho expressed how important it is for both of us to keep our distance. Remember that the next time you berate me for caring about her."

The other man was hot and cold. For Vesperin, only hot—hotter than the sun. But to everyone else? He was stoic and closed off. From more than his training for the Fleet.

What his parents had done had irrefutably changed him. Lucien didn’t blame the man. He doubted anyone could face such psychological torture from a young age and not come out on the other side unchanged.

Vesperin was changed, too. Even though her memories had been wiped, the hurt was still there, bubbling underneath the layers of her skin like magma.

Lucien could see it in the pale grey of her eyes, the way she tensed when anyone got too close, how she softened only around Kiton.

The man claimed she did not remember—but a part of her did. Or else she wouldn’t be so sweet with him and so poisonously aloof with others. Even Lucien.

The procedures that had wiped selective memories had been experimental. It hadn’t worked on Kiton, even when they tried and tried again. Tried so many times that he showed up at Lucien’s apartment with dried blood under his nose and trembling limbs, unable to hold himself upright as he cried and pleaded, banging his fist against Lucien’s chest.

Vesperin had never known, then. Totally unaware with no memories of any of it—she did not remember that Kiton was her Soulbond.

It had been five years, and Lucien felt like each day brought them nearer to the close of their act.

It had to come to an end, eventually.