Chapter 4 Heart #2
The side of his lips quirked up, and she took him in—from the tip of his studded boots, to his ripped jeans and distressed shirt.
She couldn’t help it; she frowned.
His slanted, blue eyes grew wide in feigned shock. "Ouch, you’re a bit of an ice queen, huh?"
Rin didn’t know what to say to that.
She reached out for Xara’s shoulder, fingers tangling with hers. She squeezed in a silent plea for help, but the other girl only looked at her with mirthful eyes, content to watch Rin flounder in the face of flirtations.
"No, thank you," Rin said coolly, using her grip on Xara’s hand to lead her around the outskirts of the crowd in the center of the building, sticking close to the shadowed edges with tall, cement pillars.
But the stranger did not get the hint.
"Come on, at least tell me your name," he said, following after her.
Xara tugged her hand free, nudging Rin back. "Just try. Remember, meet people."
Rin’s heart kicked up with nerves, and her face became uncomfortably hot.
She hated romantic interactions. Was something wrong with her?
She just… didn’t care. But maybe she should.
Maybe Xara was right—the only way to meet people was to get out there, and what better place than under a shroud of neon?
Rin rolled her shoulders back and turned, facing the man. He smiled, and Rin saw tiny fangs poking his lip.
"Oh, that?" he said, running his tongue over the tip of a fang. "I’m a half vampire. My mom is from Sangreal."
That made Rin take a step back. Vampires were feared. Dangerous. It was a wonder he even got clearance to live on Earth. Beings from other planets had to undergo a strict background check and meet a multitude of various requirements to obtain Earthen citizenship.
"Don’t worry, I don’t bite. I’m Jasver." He held out a hand.
Jasver. The same one that Keir had mentioned?
Rin ignored his proffered hand and said softly, "I’m Rin."
"Rin, a pleasure." Jasver gave a mock bow. "So, about those drinks?"
"Maybe another time," she said.
Jasver craned his head dramatically, searching in the darkness behind her. Rin started to look, too, but his exaggerated sigh gave her pause as he said:
"Goddamn, I see a trail of broken hearts behind you."
Liar. But maybe that was the problem.
Xara’s high laughter made Rin look away.
Her first experience with flirting as a trainee, and she had an audience.
What happened to the confident girl who had teased Kit about kissing?
Never mind that her only kiss had been with him—a dare when they were younger, and still all she could think about.
"Do you know where the… rise is?" Rin hedged, desperate to end the conversation.
Jasver ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to sweep away her disinterest with ease. "Over there"—he pointed behind him, toward the far side of the building—"next to the bar. Trust me, you can’t miss it."
Rin nodded. "Thank you." She grabbed Xara’s hand, once more, and started toward the direction he had pointed.
"Need an escort, ladies? I’d be happy to offer my services. For a price, of course. Wait. That sounded bad. I meant just—fuck. Buy me a drink or something?"
Xara bit her lip to stifle a smile, and Rin didn’t bother hiding hers. She could see why Keir would be interested.
It was Xara who spoke up:
"Sure. I’m Xara. First year. Earthborn—and that’s all you’ll get, unless you want to buy me a drink."
"Well, then. Follow me." Jasver took Xara’s elbow, leading the way, with Rin trailing along, fingers entwined with Xara’s.
Was this what it felt like to belong?
Jasver led them along the outskirts of the crowd. It was thick and hot. Rin’s shirt stuck to her spine, sweat sliding down the knobs of it.
Curious eyes fell upon her, and she felt her cheeks grow warm as she looked away, attention fixed on Xara’s back as Jasver stopped, finally, at a break in the crowd.
He stepped to the side, leaving Xara and Rin to stare at what was accurately called the rise.
A huge hole was in the side of the warehouse, cracked stone clinging by thin wires, pieces wavering in the breeze of the night as neon lights flashed all around. Outside, the dark forest beckoned, leaves inky black and shadows thick.
Was the Soul Searcher out there?
Rin tipped her head back, following the sound of calls and laughter as they reverberated around her, floating down the cavernous space.
She could see all the way to the top of the warehouse from here—each story, filled with bodies and lights.
Jagged edges of the floor stopped harshly, and small bits of sediment fell as boots scuffed far too close to the edge.
And there, at the far wall below the towering levels of the warehouse-turned-club, Rin spotted Keir.
He lounged against the wall, a drink held lazily in his hand.
The neon lights flashed dangerously over his dark skin.
His eyes found Rin first, and he gave an impish finger wave before seeing who she was with.
His smile faltered when he noted Jasver, then returned when he spied Xara, who tucked a piece of dark hair behind her ear.
Xara nudged Rin with an elbow. "You didn’t say your friend was cute."
Rin hummed. She supposed he was, colloquially. But she certainly wasn’t attracted to him.
Jasver overheard her. "He is," the man sighed. "Too bad he’s such a prideful dick."
That made Xara arch a brow. Rin tuned them out as Keir walked closer.
Keir sidled up beside Xara, completely ignoring Jasver, who rolled his eyes.
He held out a hand. "I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Keir."
Xara laughed under her breath and reached forward to take his hand. "Xara," she said, and just as their fingertips brushed, it happened.
Rin wasn’t sure the exact moment that all the breath was sucked from between the concrete walls, but somewhere between the third year trainee falling to his knees, the cup dropping out of his limp fingers, and Xara’s eyes brimming with tears, she realized they were Soulbonds.
Oh.
Keir was on his knees, motionless and shocked.
Tears fell freely from Xara’s eyes as she wept. "Oh, god. Keir."
Xara knelt before Keir, hands shaking as she cupped his cheeks. As they met eyes, Rin realized the sound of the crowd had grown hushed, watching this union forged for too many lives, most likely.
The neon lights kept pulsing, the bass of the music thumped through the room, rattling the walls like Rin’s heartbeat, and she was left on the fringes. Watching. Always watching.
"My Keir, my sweet, handsome boy," Xara cried as she cupped Keir’s cheeks. At her touch, he seemed to break free of his stupor, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and tugging her closely to his chest.
"I’ve missed you," Keir breathed.
The crowd applauded, and cheers swept through the warehouse.
Rin was speechless. A small part of her was… jealous.
Not jealous of Keir or Xara, but the fact that they had each other now, while Rin had no one.
An arm was slung over her shoulders. "Well, there goes my chances of fucking Keir again. Or Xara."
Rin tore her eyes from the reuniting, teary-eyed Soulbonds. "Yeah," she said, but her voice was toneless.
Jasver sighed. "Oh, don’t get sad. Get used to it," he said, not unkindly, as he waved a hand toward them. "That? Most of us won’t get that this time around. Just by being in the same room as them, our chances decrease drastically."
Ouch. But he wasn’t wrong.
"So… want a drink?" Jasver asked.
Rin blew out a breath, knowing her friends were going to be occupied now. She shook her head, quietly stepping away from him.
Her chest seized. When had the concrete walls she first thought were beautiful, cast in an array of neon, turned stifling? She felt trapped.
"I have to go," Rin whispered, already tearing away from the couple and Jasver, who raised a hand out toward her in question.
She walked fast, shoving past faceless bodies and finding her way to a staircase.
She took one step, then another. Then another.
Until she was running up the stairs in her heeled boots, heart thundering in her chest. As she knocked into people, shouts rang out after her at her rudeness. She didn’t care.
She wanted freedom. To see the Stars.
Rin didn’t stop until she broke free at the very top of the winding staircase, chest heaving as the night air kissed her flushed face.
She bent on her hands and knees, breath ragged. But at least she was free now.
The sound of the pulsing music was underneath her, echoing up the stairs and the floor of the roof she stood upon.
She fisted her hands in her shirt as she walked toward the edge of the roof. The ledge was crumbling, barely there. She could fall easily without a barrier.
She was destined to die, loved to flirt with death.
So, she did not care as she stepped closer, without hesitation, toward the edge of the roof, the tips of her boots hovering over the drop below.
She stared out at the field of deadened grass and parked trucks and cars, bodies weaving in and out as they left, searching for dark corners to give in to desire.
So small from way up here.
Hundreds of lives and stories and pasts, all converging at this tiny spot in the woods.
Rin stared up at the night sky. The Stars were gorgeous, and something deep inside her felt melancholic, nostalgic for something she couldn’t remember.
She would be up there one day. It was as inevitable as the sun rising and the moon falling. No one and nothing could stop it—least of all, little old her.
She sighed. No use speeding it up with an incessant spiral of thoughts—or reckless actions. She would find out the secrets death held eventually—sooner than most, if the doctors were right about the Nova shortening her lifespan.
Stepping away from the ledge, she sat down, legs dangling over the air. The concrete was cold under her, seeping into her skin.
Isolated as it was up here, that was, perhaps, why she started to mumble aloud: