Chapter 15 #3
He did not know how long he stood there, but the moon seemed to still in shared grief, as if waiting for him to wake from a fugue state before time ticked on.
Stars dazzled the dark sky, and Auren broke, slashing his scythe through the air with frozen, stiff fingers as he stepped through the portal.
Rin woke up to an absence. She felt the cool spot on the mattress beside her—where Auren had fallen asleep, now empty. Her eyes moved to the bedside table, and she found it barren of his scythe, where he had leaned it before getting into bed.
He was gone.
Slowly, Rin sat up. The others’ quiet breaths filled the room.
She crawled out of the bed on her hands and knees, movements torturously slow.
As she stepped onto the ground, her bare toes nudged an arm.
She looked down and found Rhyden, sleeping on the floor—as always.
His arm was behind his head, his hand on his lower stomach.
His dark, fitted shirt had ridden up above his navel, revealing his muscled stomach and a strip of hair that disappeared beneath his unbuttoned jeans.
Had he meant to fall asleep? she wondered as she stared at his clothes and the gun resting by his shoulder, within arm’s reach.
Rin let herself stare at him for a second and wondered if she’d misjudged him—her vampiric captor. He was running himself ragged, nursing them back to health. Who was taking care of him?
A soft clatter from beyond the closed bedroom door made her jerk her head up. She tiptoed to the door and closed it softly behind her. She kept her hand on the wall to trace a path, following the sound. She wasn’t scared for some reason, already knowing...
Auren was in the kitchen, hands braced against the kitchen island, head bowed. He wore his cloak, hood pushed back. His scythe lay on the ground, as if he’d dropped it.
"Auren?" Rin questioned quietly.
The wide windows in the open living and kitchen area let in dull moonlight, shrouded by fog.
Auren didn’t move. She padded toward him, staring at her small, pale hand as she gently touched his back. His muscles flexed beneath her hand. His cloak was ice cold.
"Are you okay? What happened? Was it another call?" She knew how the violence of reaping got to him.
He turned to face her then, gripping her shoulders. His blue eyes shone with tears, red-rimmed like his wind-chapped cheeks. "Vesperin," Auren murmured. And that word—god, it held so much pain. "Vesperin, I need—" His mouth opened, lips moving. No words came.
Rin reached up to touch his cold cheek, her fingers grazing the bottom point of the Star on his face. "What do you need, Auren? What can I do?"
Auren’s brows furrowed as he made an agonized sound. "Come somewhere with me. Please. I need… you."
She thought that wasn’t what he was going to say, but the plea came anyway.
"Okay. You have me," she consoled. "Where do you want to go?"
"I owe you a cup of cherry blossom tea."
The first impression Rin had of Auren’s mountain cottage was peace.
It was night. The windows revealed shadows of swaying tree branches with thick foliage. She thought she heard a distant trill—a Rogue?
Auren took her hand, distracting her. "It is safe." He didn’t meet her eyes. "Any Rogue that comes will meet its end at my blade."
The wooden floor creaked under their feet. In the darkness, she trusted him to lead her. The backs of her legs pressed against something soft.
"Sit," Auren told her. "You—you must be cold. I will light a fire."
Rin sat, a soft cushion dimpling beneath her. With a soft hiss, golden firelight filled the room. She took in the space. Low couches, with a polished wooden table before her. The wooden walls were lined with shelves of stacked books.
She was enchanted by it all.
Her fingers tangled in a throw on the cushion beside her, and she dragged it over her lap. "It’s beautiful, Auren," she said delicately, sensing something was amiss with her Soul Searcher.
Two steaming mugs of tea were in his hands as he sat beside her, pressing one into her palms. "Careful, do not burn yourself."
Rin’s pinky brushed his as she took it, hissing as heat slipped through the porcelain into her palm. She cradled it by the handle. Auren tsked, gripping his own mug without care as he set it on the table.
He took her hand in his, stretching her fingers out as he studied her reddening palm. He brought it up to his mouth and blew a cool breath over her flesh. Goosebumps traveled up her arm, settling somewhere deep between her thighs. She pressed her legs together.
"I warned you, Vesperin. These smooth, beautiful hands—far too pretty to be a Hunter." His fingers traced over the lines of her palm.
Though the delicate, floral aroma wafting from their mugs was enticing, she forgot all about her tea. She stretched forward and placed her mug beside his. Twin plumes of steam curled around each other above the cups.
"Auren, what happened?"
The change in him was immediate. His expression shuttered, yet she saw the pain in his eyes. "Why do you think that… something happened?"
"Our Souls are tied. I think that I’m beginning to know you more and more. Something’s bothering you. What is it? You can tell me, Auren."
"Can I?" he asked lowly. She started to reply, but he tutted.
"That was not for you to answer. Forgive my bitter tone.
I am not angry with you, but because I—" His features drew tight with pain.
"I have to—to tell—you that—Celestials, they do not make it easy to burden me so.
" He dropped her hand and gripped his hair. "I cannot do this," he gasped.
"Do what? Auren?"
He stood quickly, knee banging into the tabletop, making the tea cups rattle.
He paced away, fingers tearing at his cloak before he tugged it off and threw it against the wall with a roar. She’d never seen him like this before.
Rin went to him, placing her hands on his back. He tried to shove her off, but she only gripped him tighter, until he settled with a tense sound.
"What happened? Don’t lie to me, Auren. You’re mine, aren’t you? Soulbonds don’t lie. We made a vow to each other—no more lies. Will you break your oath so easily?"
Auren scoffed, the sound bitter and ragged, speaking of centuries of suppressed feeling. "Why do you torment me so?"
She thought it was another question not meant for her to answer, until he turned and pinned her to the spot with his sparkling blue eyes, like ocean waves under sunlight.
Rin just… stared up at him, unspeaking.
He was illuminated by the firelight, his shadow swallowing hers. "If I did not know any better, I would think that the Celestials gave you to me as a punishment."
"What?"
"Your words—you have no idea the weight they carry," Auren continued. "Everything about you. It has ruined me."
She stepped closer until her breasts pressed against him.
She felt his heaving chest scraping against her nipples with each breath—and realized she was still dressed in her sleep clothes.
His eyes raked over her with stark agony, settling on her nipples, visible through her thin shirt, the long, pale line of her legs, bared by her shorts.
"I have been existing as nothing for so long.
Unfeeling in immortality. The only bit of feeling I have ever been granted was when I knew you.
You died so quickly. This time, I thought it would be different.
Celestials, I love you, Vesperin Vox. I have since I first laid eyes upon you on that beaten dirt path, bloodied and ready to depart for the Stars.
Then, you awoke something in me. This visceral need for things I had buried for centuries. With you, I feel like a man."
Here he was, bearing his Soul. She gathered the pieces he offered, clutching them close to her chest as she rose on tiptoe, cradling his jaw and pressing her lips firmly against his.
His kiss was unpracticed. She fumbled, too, used to letting others lead. Each thrust of their tongues or nip of their teeth laid more and more of their Souls bare. She lost herself in him.
When she had to breathe, she broke away, calves aching from standing on tiptoe so long.
Auren’s wet mouth rested on the bow of her lips. "With you, I do not feel like what I was called to be, but like I could be something more than what we have been given this life."
"You are, Auren. You’re more to me." Rin’s nose grazed his. "You’re everything to me. Whatever’s plaguing you, I’m here. You can tell me."
"I…"
Rin held her breath.
"I cannot tell you."
She lowered her heels to the floor.
"Can’t or won’t?" she countered.
His lips kept moving strangely, forming the shape of words that never quite made it to the air.
"You do not understand, Vesperin. I would slice open my chest with my scythe and let you see the depths of my immortal Soul if you wished, but I cannot give you this.
I cannot." He thumped a fist over his heart. "I am bound. I… vowed."
"You should never bind yourself to anyone but me." Rin stepped closer to him, hating this distance, and so fucking angry with the way life had turned out. Maybe she should’ve just drunk her tea and talked sweetly to him, instead of pushing and pressing.
Auren said he wanted to feel? Then she would make him feel.
She placed her palms over his chest and shoved him. "You’re mine. You don’t get to make vows to anyone but me."
A shuddering breath left him.
"Say it," she demanded. "Say you’re mine."
"I’m yours."
Her heart was thundering, weakening her knees. She fell against his chest. Together, he walked them to the couch.
The cushions were soft against her back as she gripped the neckline of Auren’s shirt and pulled him atop her.
"Say you love me again?" This time, her voice was tremulous.
"I love you. To the end of this Earth—and always thereafter."
Rin kissed him desperately. "I love you," she said against his lips, hoping the words would find their way into his lungs.
As they kissed, he learned. He was a fast learner.