Page 98 of Bonds of Starfall

One of the figures, a smaller build. Female. Dark hood over her face, tilted at an angle as she glanced up at the small surveillance camera tucked under the awning of the motel. He captured the image of her face, clarifying it with just a click.

And Rhyden felt the blood he had just downed threaten to come back up.

It was her.

Vesperin.

After all of these years.Hundredsof years.

And she was back. Inhiscity. On his turf.

"My god," Rhyden whispered, staring at the paused image of her on the screen.

He left the screen that way, even as he grabbed his phone and the keys to his motorcycle, sending off a quick text to two of his… friends—no, Rhyden didn’t have friends, associates was a better term—to meet him at the address he forwarded.

The dark lights of Lunar City whizzed by as he pushed his motorcycle to its limits, the speedometer ticking up, up, up, as he wove through cars and ran red lights.

He didn’t fucking care.

He had one thing in mind.

Seeing Vesperin in the flesh, and figuring out if she was real or a sleep-deprived hallucination.

But god help her if she were real. She had some fucking explaining to do.

"There’s… only one bed."Rin stared at the small bed in the middle of the motel room, the ugly plaid comforter fraying at the ends.

Cyrus set his bag down on a faded blue recliner in the corner of the room, leaving wet footprints on the shag carpet. "We’ve shared a bed before, doll."

"Right." Rin grimaced.

On the outskirts of Lunar City, Scourge Motel had been a good choice to stay under the radar. All one level, with the doors opening to the outside—better for a quick exit.

The blinds were open, revealing a wonderful view of an overflowing dumpster, slow rain falling in the back parking lot. Rin placed her bag beside Cyrus’s, peering out the window at the foggy night. Satisfied no one was out there, she shut the blinds, casting the room in a low darkness, moonlight seeping through the cracks.

She fumbled for the lamp by the bedside, clicking it on as the yellow glow chased away the shadows. "There’s not much we can do right now. We’re both exhausted," Rin sighed. "Do you want to take a shower?"

Cyrus poked at the sheets, wrinkling his nose. He’d shoved back his hood, rain dripping from his red hair. "You can go first."

Rin wasn’t going to argue. Her eyes felt dry from the hours-long drive, staring at the empty road, and the split on her lip was stinging. They had to recoup before they looked into LunCo.

After a quick shower, with sputtering water oscillating between too hot and too cold, she dressed in black leggings and a soft grey shirt, finding some toothpaste and little toothbrushes wrapped in plastic under the sink, which she used to freshen up. Then, she combed through her hair with her fingers, pinching her pale cheeks to bring some color back.

As she stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, the yellow glow from the lamp revealed Cyrus staring out the window, parting the blinds with his fingers. He turned to her, letting the blinds fall closed.

His purple eyes dipped down her body. She had never felt so exposed.

"Your turn," Rin said quietly.

"You’re the prettiest thing in this room," Cyrus whispered. And the way he said it, as if it wasn’t flattery, but fact.

She fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist. "Hardly an achievement."

Cyrus grabbed some clothes from his bag, gripping the door frame to the bathroom as he leaned back and crooned, "You’re the prettiest thing in the galaxy." The door shut behind him, leaving her standing alone in the motel room, far in over her head.

She was going to share a bed with an incubus. Again.

Rin turned down the sheets, sneezing as dust wafted from them, and decided to sleep atop the covers. As she sat down and threw her legs over the side, she grabbed her phone, sending a quick message to Lucien: