Page 75 of Bonds of Starfall

I’ll be there soon. Wrapping up with a patient now.

She sighed, fingers hovering over the screen as she watched bubbles pop up, then disappear as Lucien typed.

Next time, give me greater notice, Vesperin. I would have picked you up.

Rin typed a quick reply, fingers cold and trembling.You have patients… I’m okay.

His reply made her heart stutter in her chest.I would have cleared my schedule if I knew you were coming home early.

She locked her phone and set it on the counter, bracing her hands on the smooth top as she hung her head low, slightly damp hair falling into her face.

Had she made a mistake? With… what she had done on Sibeth?

Rin had taken the same mission that had killed her best friend; she had eliminated the Rogue and given up her innocence in more ways than one. None of it helped. She still felt hollow. And she still saw Kit everywhere.

A small bottle of her pills rested on the counter near her phone. Maybe death would be a mercy.

She gritted her teeth.

"No," she said aloud. "I can’t think that way. I have… people depending on me. I’m not alone. Right?"

The only answer was a soft rap at the door.

She picked her head up, eyes finding the clock above the microwave. 8:11 PM. Lucien already?

Her bare feet padded to the door of the apartment-style dorm she shared with Xara, who spent more time at Keir’s place than anywhere else as of late. Rin was strangely grateful; she didn’t want or need sympathy. It was stifling.

She opened the door, and what she saw on the other side made her stumble back, her stomach dropping to her toes.

"Hi," said the incubus who had taken her virginity.

Rin floundered, numb hands finding the door, which she was just aware enough of to slam shut in the red-haired incubus’s face.

Her breath ratcheted out of her chest as her head thumped on the back of the closed door.

Was thisreal? Was he here? Was she hallucinating? Had she passed out or something?

"Oh my god." Rin stared at the door. "What the fuck?"

Another soft rap, and his voice was so close when he spoke, it was like the door wasn’t even between them.

"Let me in.Please? There are a lot of humans out here, and they’re staring at me."

"Why should I?" she called out.

A beat of silence and a soft rustling noise. She imagined Cy leaning his own head against the door, red hair falling into his purple eyes.

"I came all this way for you. Isn’t that reason enough, Ves?"

It was that name that made her unlatch the lock and open the door.

Under the yellow lighting in the hallway, his complexion was more sallow. Yet, he was no less enticing.

He was just as she remembered, but so, so different.

For one, he wore a plain, rumpled hoodie, but upon closer inspection, the material was too soft to be anything but high-quality. The hood was up, pushed back so far it threatened to fall off his head. No gems on his cheeks. Those had been fake, then. His purple eyes were wide, casting glances down the hall as the occasional trainee passed, shooting curious looks at him and Rin.

Rin fidgeted, feeling too exposed in her cozy, cotton shorts and long-sleeved, blush pink top. She tugged the sleeves over her hands, and his eyes fell, an adoring smirk tipping up his sensuous lips momentarily—lips she had tasted…