Chapter 16 #3
Cyrus leaned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed and mask pulled under his chin.
Red filled the air, almost too faint for anyone to notice.
But not her. She knew the sensation of him feeding.
If the others knew, surely they’d warn him to stop.
She needed strength—they all did. But that was why she let him feed.
He only took faint sips, making her heart flutter like a hummingbird’s wings as the space between her thighs tingled. The incubus gave her a knowing look.
"Now would be a good time to tell you, this isn’t mine." Rhyden’s voice made Rin look to him, where he lined up lighters.
"What?" Rin asked.
"All of this." Rhyden gestured to the living room, with its snaking vines from pots, marble floors, and gilded paintings. "I bought it at a… good deal, let’s say."
Rin was confused. "Okay… Why tell me this now? You mean the decor isn’t yours? I figured so."
"No, I mean I bought it while we were still in Lunar City. Maybe I orchestrated some things to have this apartment open up to me. Real estate is expensive this close to the Academy."
"You didn’t kill anyone, did you?"
"If I did?" Rhyden placed the last lighter down and took a step closer to her.
She lifted her chin. "Then, I would have to turn you in."
He barked a sharp laugh. "To who? Your Academy’s just as corrupt as I am—if not worse."
"Did you kill anyone?" Rin’s eyes narrowed.
"No, wife. I didn’t kill anyone for this apartment. I actually did a good thing. You’d be proud of me." Rhyden said no more on it, turning to his spread of illegally modified weapons. He lifted a sleek pistol and threw it to Lucien, who fumbled to catch it. "For you, doctor."
Rin was still trying to understand what Rhyden Valkar would consider to be a good thing.
"I do not know how to shoot." Lucien stared at the weapon in his hands as if it’d bite him.
Rhyden rolled his eyes. "Then that makes you a liability. Does your code of ethics keep you on such a tight leash, you’d rather take a bullet to your brain—or your Soulbond’s—than kill the person trying to hurt you?"
Lucien’s nostrils flared. Thorny vines shot out from behind his nape, curling around the pistol and whipping it toward Rhyden.
Rhyden swept to the side, a blur of motion, disarming Lucien’s vines before aiming the pistol at them and firing. The suppressed shot struck one of the larger vines, and it collapsed into dust.
Lucien groaned.
Rin gasped and went to him. "Lucien!" She placed her hands over his, as if looking for blood. But she knew there was nothing. "Are you okay?"
Lucien flipped his hand up to lace their fingers, mouth in a thin line as he stared at Rhyden. "I’m fine, my V girl. I know when not to play with dangerous weapons indoors—unlike some."
Cyrus clapped his hands, the sharp sound ringing in her ears. "Alright. Enough playtime. We have an Academy to burn."
Rin rode on the back of Rhyden’s motorcycle, while Lucien drove one of the vampires’ armored vehicles with Auren and Cyrus.
After the short drive, Rhyden cut the motorcycle’s engine off, leaving them in silence. They both got off, and Rin removed her helmet, watching as Rhyden pushed the motorcycle the last few feet until it was hidden in an alley. They were right outside the Academy rear gates.
Headlights cut through the city’s darkness as Lucien pulled the large armored truck into position.
"The backup generators are most likely focusing on the needed areas, and even beyond into the city.
When I—" Rin bit her lip. She hadn’t exactly told them why she left to see Xara—not that she could explain it herself.
"When I went to my dorm, the lights were off.
I only realized after I left that it was because they were trying to consolidate power.
Why run a generator in the dorms and the main Academy building if all the Hunters are out?
" Rin lifted her watch so they could see.
"An all-call notice. I saw it right after the blackout. "
Cyrus took her wrist and lifted her hand to his face, squinting. "What’s that mean?"
"It means—" she started.
"Shit hit the fan," Rhyden interjected.
Rin knocked her elbow into his ribs, then winced. She heard his huffing laughter.
"It means," Rin asserted, "that all trainees have been called. No matter their station or team. The Academy is vacant."
"And it is the perfect time to enter and get rid of any research they are keeping below," Lucien murmured, contemplative.
Rin touched his arm. "Exactly. We have to do this. Now."
No planning—maybe that was what would make this work. She just knew, she felt it in her bones, that time was running out. They had to get rid of that research below. The drawing of the Nova Spire haunted her…
It felt inevitable.
"I will take the underground by myself," Lucien said.
Rin immediately stopped him. "No, Lucien. You’re not going down there alone. If any place will have surveillance, still, the underground will."
"That is why I must do this, Vesperin. That research is mine. My past has caused this nightmare." His voice was rough. "I have to be the one to get rid of it—to protect you."
"Lucien," Rin beseeched, "you can’t. Please. Take one of the outside corridors. It’s safer."
Lucien cupped her cheeks, thumbs on the edge of her mask. "I will be okay, my V girl. I swear it to you."
"Fuck it." Rhyden sighed sharply. "No, you’re not. I’ll go underground. You and the others take the above-ground corridors and the perimeter."
Lucien’s eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Rhyden reached into his pocket for a lighter. It was black, faded from wear. And something was etched onto the surface of the paint, revealing the silver casing underneath. He rolled it around in his hands, then tossed it to Rin. She caught it, then lifted it to read the engraving:
V. V.
Rin ran her thumb over the letters.
"Because the thrill of danger makes me hard," Rhyden finally answered. "Isn’t that what you expected me to say?"
"That’s my line," Cyrus purred, wrapping an arm around Rin’s shoulder. He shoved his mask down then pressed his lips to her ear, breath hot. "Thank you for letting me feed, doll. I felt your pleasure when you looked at Auren. What have you two gotten up to, hm? Want to tell me?"
Rin’s cheeks warmed. "Nothing," she mumbled.
Cyrus’s tongue traced the shell of her ear, making her earrings tinkle softly. "Later, then. Maybe you’ll get loose-lipped after I wring a few orgasms out of you." He let her go, laughing sensually as she stumbled, weak-kneed.
Auren plucked at the hem of his dark shirt, as if unused to such form-fitting clothing. "We must go if we wish to do this tonight. I do not believe that it is wise to be away from each other. It makes me feel… unpleasant."
Rhyden clapped him on the shoulder harshly. "That’s the adrenaline. Catch up, Soul Searcher."
"It will be okay, Auren. Won’t it? The Academy’s empty. It’s like everything has aligned perfectly for this. The Stars are on our side." Rin wanted them to be, but prayer and hope never worked for her.
"Perfection has a cost, and I am not prepared to pay it. Not yet," Auren added lowly.
The others took their gasoline cans and lighters and walked to Rin. Lucien pressed a soft kiss to her temple. Auren took her hand in his, whispering something against the back of it. And Cyrus grabbed her by the waist and kissed her lips over the mask.
Rhyden touched her shoulder harshly. "You’re with me. Think you can keep up." His words were low, careful of the retreating form of the others. Auren’s boots scuffed over the pavement. She had a feeling he wasn’t going to stay away from her long.
"Of course," Rin said, flicking the lighter. Fire sparked. "V.V.?"
Rhyden stared at the flames and the small black lighter held in her pale hand.
"They used Stella suppressors in Dark Star Hold. Five hundred years without fire. I grew impatient, paid a guard to bring in a lighter. Anything was better than nothing. I had to be careful about the flame. Fire was coveted. I didn’t want it as a weapon, though; I wanted it as a reminder.
Every time I flicked that flint wheel and saw the flame, I thought of my revenge—I thought of you.
When the fuel inside was used up, and it ran dry, I still needed a reminder, so I carved your initials.
" Rhyden lowered his head to the side of her face, staring ahead, yet his jaw brushed her cheek as he spoke. "Vesperin Vox, the con artist."
He pulled away, and Rin felt unmoored.
"I thought you started to believe me," she said softly, sadly. Wishing she could remember in truth what had gone wrong in her life on Sangreal. She didn’t think herself capable of the treachery he spoke of.
"I don’t believe in a lie. I still want my revenge"—his eyes raked down her body, her skin-tight shirt and black pants, molding to her small breasts and the delicate swell of her hips—"but not in the way you’re thinking. I think I’d get a lot more fun out of you with my fangs buried in your neck than my blade in your heart.
I still think about the taste of your blood.
You know you robbed me of our wedding night—my first taste.
" The tip of his boots knocked into hers. "I plan to collect."
His words made her belly flip, heat dripping down her spine. But he didn’t fool her with his big talk of revenge. Not after he’d gone in Lucien’s place underground.
"You’d do that for him?" Rin didn’t extrapolate.
"I’d do that for you, wife," Rhyden rasped.
Atlas ensured it all worked perfectly.
He had allowed such terrible things to happen to Vesperin and those around her. It was not over yet.
Inside the main building of the Academy, it was dark and empty.
They stood at the maintenance door—the same one they’d used at the gala. The lack of power meant the electronic locks didn’t work. The door opened as she turned the handle.