Chapter 15 Collision #3
He’d driven through the quiet, dark streets, windows down—tempting fate with the increased Rogue warnings.
As if propelled by his subconscious, he had found himself at the Academy gates, walking up the stairs of the sleep-soaked dorms. It was nearing 4 AM, hours before the trainees would stir, and these lonely halls would be filled with people.
As he opened the door to her apartment, he stared at his phone in his hand, the chat with her opened, waiting on pins and needles for another text from her.
The door closed behind him—he didn’t lock it—and he held his breath, staring into the dark, empty kitchen.
Her roommate wasn’t home.
Lucien sighed, fumbling for the light switch. It flicked on, illuminating the kitchen. The blinds in the tiny living space were drawn, but he knew it was still dark as pitch outside.
Why was Lucien here? This was a new low, even for him.
He turned to leave, but the soft click of a door opening made him stall.
He clenched his jaw as he turned to the hallway, still cast in shadows.
A man with deep red hair rounded the corner, a soft word trailing from his lips like smoke. "Vesper…" The man paused, a hand on the wall. "You’re not Vesperin."
Lucien called on his Stella. Vines curled around his fingers in warning. "Who are you?"
The man stumbled. As he inched out of the shadows of the hall and stepped into the light of the kitchen, Lucien saw it.
Purple eyes.
"Incubus," Lucien breathed. Vines shot forth, tangling around the incubus’s wrist and pinning him to the wall. He gasped, the back of his head slamming into it.
"Wait—wait!" the incubus pleaded. "I’m not a threat." He struggled against the vines, and Lucien twisted his fingers, making them tighten. Thorns dug into the incubus’s wrists, blood dripping down his pale flesh onto the floor.
Lucien stalked forward, fear gripping him, tightening around his chest. Oh god. Vesperin. He raised an arm, slamming it against the incubus’s chest and pinning him harder to the wall. He was shorter than Lucien. More lithe.
But Lucien knew incubi and succubi could be deadly. They hid behind a guise of enticing beauty.
"Why are you here, incubus?" Lucien demanded.
The incubus’s brows furrowed, and he gasped as Lucien shoved him harder into the wall. A choked sound fell from his lips. "Lucien? You’re Lucien, aren’t you?"
Lucien bared his teeth. "How do you know my name? Why are you here in Vesperin’s apartment? Did you hurt her? I’ll kill you." The vines grew, tangling around the incubus’s chest like a snake.
Lucien rarely used his Stella to hurt, but in this moment, he felt unusually powerful.
Red hair tumbled over his purple eyes as his head fell back against the wall. He gasped, "No, never. I wouldn’t hurt her, Lucien. Stop—"
"Wait, wait! Lucien. Cyrus? Oh god, s-stop!" Suddenly, Vesperin was there, and her hands wrapped around Lucien’s shoulders, yanking him back from the incubus.
Lucien had been so wrapped up in his rage, he’d missed the sound of the door opening. He stepped between her and the incubus, an arm shoving her away. "Vesperin, are you hurt?"
"No, Lucien. Please. D-don’t hurt Cyrus," she begged, hands wrapping around the back of his shirt.
Her breathing was ragged—and that drew his attention more than the fear in her voice.
Her skin was ghastly pale. Deep shadows under her eyes.
And she blinked furiously, like she was trying to clear her vision. She wavered. "Please, don’t fight…"
Lucien let go of the incubus to catch her just as she fell. She was light as a feather. "Vesperin, my sweet girl, what happened? You’re back? How do you know this incubus’s name?"
Her fingers tangled in his shirt as she peered up at him. She stood on her own two feet, just barely. Her tired eyes focused on the incubus. "Let Cyrus go," she demanded weakly.
Lucien stood between them, arms tightening around her in protectiveness. God, she was small. "Why, Vesperin?"
Her tongue poked out, wetting her lips, and Lucien’s eyes dipped. Blood flecked the corners of her mouth. The fear grew.
"Cyrus is my Soulbond."
Lucien’s control on his Stella snapped, and the vines loosened enough for the incubus to break free of them, backing up and rubbing his head, a hand held before him.
"Lucien Quenlan, I’m Cyrus Soltren. Vesperin’s Soulbond," the incubus revealed, an ever-present silken lilt underlining his words.
Lucien’s knees grew weak, but he kept himself strong to ensure Vesperin was safe. "Soltren… You’re the missing incubus Prince."
"The one and only," he replied, wincing as he rubbed his head.
In his arms, Vesperin said, "We should talk."
Rin felt groggy. After dinner with her parents, she had grown so tired. Sabine had urged her to stay there for the night. Rin barely remembered the walk to the bed.
She’d woken up just after 3 AM with a pounding head and stumbled to the bathroom to expel the contents of her dinner.
She had ridden her motorcycle back to the dorm, feeling strange about staying in her old room, where Kit still haunted her. The ride had been a blur. As Rin had stumbled up the steps, exhaustion making the trek take far longer than it should have, she’d worried for Cyrus.
That worry hadn’t been misplaced, but felt for all the wrong reasons.
Because when she opened the door to see vines curling across the floor and the pained sounds of Cyrus’s voice, panic had broken through her daze.
Now, the three of them sat in her locked room.
"My V girl," Lucien mumbled, wiping a wet cloth over her mouth. She swallowed, shaking slightly. He had helped her onto her bed, perched on the edge, while Cyrus sat at the foot of it, eyes wide with fear.
"I’m okay," she mumbled awkwardly as he swiped the cloth gently over her lips. "I just think… I ate something bad for dinner."
Lucien’s green eyes were cool behind his glasses. "Vesperin, I didn’t know you were back in Solar City. Why didn’t you tell me?" He set the cloth down and pressed his fingers under her jaw, feeling her pulse as he counted each beat.
Lucien’s words danced around the truth that hung over them all.
She felt her heart, a weak, tired thump in her chest.
"I…" She couldn’t tell him.
Cyrus saved her. "It’s been hours, Ves. I thought something had happened."
She looked up, meeting his eyes. Her head felt too heavy for her neck. "I fell asleep after dinner." She closed her eyes as memories fell through her fingers like sand. "I went to my room and slept."
Lucien’s hand went utterly still on her. He caught her chin and lifted her face to his. "Vesperin, where did you go?"
"Sabine called me after we got back. She asked me over for a late dinner. I felt bad telling them no. I ate, and I fell asleep," Rin repeated.
Such strong anger, the likes of which Rin had never seen before, swept over Lucien’s face. "You saw Sabine and Talor?"
Rin nodded.
"You went to their house?"
She nodded again.
Suddenly, Lucien pulled her close and held her tightly. She melted into his arms, forgetting to be wary of him.
"Vesperin, I’m so—" He cut off, pressing his lips to her temple.
It was a rare show of emotion, but he pulled away all too quickly, settling her back against the pillows. But she was done sitting back.
Rin pushed herself up, legs curling under her. The room spun, but she gritted her teeth. She was used to sickness. She could get over food poisoning.
She looked to Cyrus first, then Lucien. It was surreal, the both of them here on her bed. She’d been away from Lucien for what felt like years, but now, sitting before him, she realized how wrong she’d been to suspect that he’d ever hurt anyone—especially her.
"Lucien, Cyrus is my Soulbond," Rin said softly. The blue forget-me-nots on her dresser fluttered in a strange breeze. A shadow shifted along the wall.
And Rin told Lucien everything.
Starting with that grief-filled time on Sibeth, when she’d stumbled to a club in search of something, something that had found her in the form of the incubus sitting by her feet.
She purposefully left out what they’d done in that hotel—how he had moved inside her in a place in which no one had ever touched. Unwilling to share that with him, but as she met Cyrus’s eyes, she stumbled over her words.
And as Rin skimmed over her self-appointed mission to Lunar City, she could barely look Lucien in the eye.
She knew it was the right decision to tell him, but she didn’t.
She merely held fast to her lies. An assignment for Alpha Team.
Lucien hadn’t yet earned her reasoning, but god, she wanted to tell him.
Cyrus tapped her foot as she spoke, silent encouragement.
Their eyes met, and within the purple depths of his irises, she saw devotion and understanding.
Faith. Cyrus would do whatever she said.
So, this, Rin knew, would be kept secret.
Something just for her, the incubus… and the leader of Noctis.
She stalled as she first spoke of Rhyden Valkar, giving Lucien a glossed-over version of events. That was when Rin silently extricated herself from them, as they had inched closer over the hours of her talking.
In the kitchen, she found her phone on the counter, where she had thrown it when she stumbled inside and saw Lucien cornering Cyrus.
Vesperin picked it up and sent a message out to an unknown number.
She glanced up and saw Cyrus and Lucien both standing there. They had followed her.
"Who did you text?" Lucien asked, voice whisper-thin with shock.
She looked between them both, hands on the countertop to keep herself steady. She still felt weak and tired, but less so after the hours had passed. Just spoiled food, like she’d thought.
"Someone who should be here for this conversation—even though I really don’t want him to be."
Auren stepped through the portal made by his scythe, right into the dimly lit bathroom of Vesperin Vox’s apartment. The end of his scythe scraped over the tile.
"Quiet," Lucien hissed, fumbling for the tap to turn on the water.