Chapter 10
IMMINENT
Rin woke up to purple eyes staring down at her, so close she could count each eyelash framing the glittering depths.
It all came rushing back to her. She shot upright, sweat cooling on her chilled skin. The incubus sat back so she wouldn’t knock her forehead against his with her quick movements.
Dazed, she rasped, "Prince Cyrus Soltren thinks he’s my Soulbond."
The incubus—Cyrus Soltren—sat closer to her on her bed. He sat astride her lower legs, strong thighs splayed over hers, hands braced by her hips as he leaned over her. She nearly went cross-eyed as he drew closer, a long, pale finger brushing the tip of her nose.
"I don’t think anything. We’re Soulbonds," he nearly sang.
She was getting whiplash. She had never met anyone so mercurial before. One moment, serious and repentant, the next, playful. She would take either of those over his heady sensuality.
"How long was I out?" Rin asked, rubbing a hand over her chest. He had moved her to the bed, at least. And she tried to ignore the flipping in her lower belly at the thought of him carrying her.
"Just a few minutes," Cyrus answered, falling back when Rin reluctantly pressed a hand to his shoulder and shoved him away. She swallowed at the brief feel of him under her palm. "Is that… the Nova?" Serious again.
"Yeah, it is. Sometimes my heart rate gets too high, and I pass out. Tachycardia is the biggest side effect of the Nova. The doctors say it’s localized in my heart, but it’s everywhere, really." She shrugged a shoulder.
Cyrus’s throat worked. "Why are you acting like this is nothing new?"
"Because it’s not." Rin stared him down. "I’ve lived with this for five years, and I’ll keep living with it until I die." She wanted him to understand. This incubus Prince who followed her to Earth, kneeling, claiming they were fated.
"This isn’t normal, Vesperin. None of this is. You were supposed to see me, touch me, and remember. We were supposed to run away together." Sitting back on her bed, Cyrus looked up at her from under his lashes. "You weren’t supposed to run away from me."
"I didn’t run from you." But she had, hadn’t she?
"I ran from a ghost." She was still slightly groggy from passing out, but her heart didn’t thump so dangerously, returning to normal.
She stood, the petals of the forget-me-nots brushing her arm as she grabbed the picture with her and Kit, from before the accident.
They were standing on his front lawn, surrounded by flowers and perfectly cut grass.
It had been his birthday party. Rin had been the only guest.
She handed the photo to Cyrus, unable to look.
"Is this your family?" he asked, taking the picture and staring at it closely.
"In a way," she replied secretively. "A little over a month ago, um, there was a death. He died on a mission to Sibeth. The same mission I took. I thought if I followed in his footsteps, I could get over my grief, but it didn’t help. I think it just… made it worse," she said, voice soft.
Cyrus traced the shape of her face in the photo, elegant finger drifting to Kit’s. He seemed to understand she didn’t want to talk about this, so he nodded. "I’m sorry. I hate that that’s what it took for us to meet."
"Don’t distract me," she warned brokenly, shaking off her lingering grief and drowsiness. Lucien would be back soon. She expected a knock at any time. Her phone lay discarded on the bed; unlocking it, she found the notice still posted on her home screen. "You never told me you were the Prince."
He appeared sheepish. "Most recognize me, anyway. But why didn’t you?"
"It was dark," Rin said.
And she didn’t keep up with the royals on other planets.
Not like the other girls who often took trips to Sibeth, especially in hopes of winning the eligible Prince’s attention.
Rin had heard the stories. He was a troublemaker, constantly in the news for his exploits.
Getting drunk and making a fool of himself in public.
He was an untamable force. She couldn’t come to terms with the fact that they could be Soulbonds.
She didn’t know why she felt like he was telling the truth. She just did. She had felt drawn to him from the moment their eyes had locked. Never mind the fact that he knew her name without her ever even saying it, knew her Stella, and knew she hadn’t been born with white hair and grey eyes.
Cyrus hummed. "So, what now?"
That was the question.
"I don’t suppose you’d go back to Sibeth and leave me here?"
His purple eyes drifted down her body. "You’re stuck with me, doll. Forever."
"Do you have somewhere to stay?"
She knew his answer before he spoke:
"Sibeth coin doesn’t translate well to your dollar. Besides, I’m a wanted male." He grinned salaciously. "If my father finds out I’m here… let’s just say we want him nowhere near Earth—or you."
A threat was tucked between his words. But not at her. Almost as if he were gearing up to defend her against his father, the King of Sibeth.
Rin sighed, knowing where this was headed.
"Stay here. With me." She felt her cheeks warm as he stared at her intently. "It’s not like you can go anywhere else. And you’ll be safer here with me than out there. I have a roommate, Xara, but she’s not around much anymore. We’ll still have to be careful."
"Because of your lover?" Cyrus purred.
"Lucien’s not my lover, but…"
From outside her closed bedroom door, down the hall, a hollow knock sounded. He was back.
Cyrus unfurled from her bed, arms stretching above his head, cozy hoodie riding up to reveal a pale strip of his lean stomach. "The man himself." He made for the door.
She snapped out of it, moving to stand before him. "Where are you going?"
"To speak with the human who wants you, of course."
"He doesn’t want me," Rin stressed, "and he can’t know you’re here. Lucien’s done a lot for me, and I’m not going to get him in trouble by dragging him into this mess."
Cyrus’s eyes flashed with hurt, only briefly, before he covered it with a sensual mask. "I’m a mess, am I? I remember you being the mess when I was inside you, and you came around my cock."
Rin stumbled back. "Don’t talk about that," she managed lowly. She couldn’t meet his eyes. "Stay here. Let me deal with Lucien, and don’t make any more noise. If you’re going to live with me, there’s going to be rules."
Cyrus didn’t move, forcing her to squeeze by him to get to the door, her chest brushing his arm, his berry scent wrapping around her and making her nearly dizzy.
Right before her fingers wrapped around the handle of the door, he grabbed her arm, stilling her.
All her awareness honed in on the feel of his hand on her as he said, "I’ll always obey you, doll. I can be well-behaved."
Then, he let her go, and she stumbled out of her room and to the kitchen, where she opened the door and let Lucien inside, all while a stowaway, incubus Prince hid in her bedroom.
After Lucien left—with a soft touch to her cheek and a final worried glance—Rin had laid ground rules for the incubus.
The first, he was never to leave the apartment. Ever.
Second: he couldn’t leave her room unless she told him it was okay.
Xara had messaged that she’d be with Keir for the next few days, then off on assignment—so they were in the clear, for now. Except for Lucien and his cool observation. She had no idea how she was going to hide this from him.
And the third rule, most important, even as she had said it with burning cheeks and a flutter in her belly: he wouldn’t feed from her.
Cyrus had agreed too easily, which only made her wonder who he would feed from instead.
She shoved down the jealousy at the thought of him being with someone else.
What they’d done in the hotel felt like more than sex, more than feeding.
It had been a claim, even if she hadn’t known it at the time.
He knew who she was, then—thought she was playing some clever game of cat and mouse. Like she was that stupid. Or confident.
With the rules set, Rin left a few blankets and an extra pillow on her floor for Cyrus, her Echogun tucked under her pillow, hyperaware of the male lying on her bedroom floor. She heard every breath he took in the quiet.
She couldn’t sleep. Her mind wandered.
If he was… telling the truth, what did that mean for her?
She had a Soulbond. But she couldn’t remember—because of the accident five years ago. What if she had more? What if she had already met them and just didn’t know?
Her heart clenched, stomach roiling. Oh, god. Kit wasn’t her Soulbond. Neither was Lucien.
She knew them both before the accident, before the Nova had infected her body and changed her appearance.
It was that thought, that the two men she found herself dreaming of weren’t hers, that made the first tear leak from her eyes. Another soon followed. Silently, Rin cried. She mourned Kit, who never had her and never would be able to. And Lucien, whom she wanted—but fate kept them apart.
A part of her mourned the male sleeping on her floor. It wasn’t fair. She was destined to die; he was immortal. Fate was a sick, cruel joke.
Her thoughts drifted to the Celestials—the godly beings who had abandoned them long ago, said to be weavers of fate.
Rin’s lips formed the shape of words, not even a whisper, but a thought traced with the impression of her mouth, echoes of a curse drifting through her room, hoping that someone—something—out there was paying attention.
"Help us. Please. Let this all work out… in the end."
Living with an incubus took a lot of willpower.
On day two, Rin rose from her bed in sleep shorts and a rumpled shirt, hair mussed and eyes half-lidded as she stumbled to the bathroom.
Only, when she opened the door, a half-naked incubus stood at the sink, toothbrush hanging from his mouth, water dripping from his lean torso into the towel slung low on his hips.