Chapter 16 Spark #3
Their three lives had been short-lived—each one. This one, Auren vowed, would be long and beautiful.
He sat beside her on the couch, and Cyrus left, her phone in his hand.
Rhyden was sucked into whatever he studied on the screen before him. It was like it was only Auren and Vesperin. Just the two of them. As it had been those few instances in the woods.
He rested his scythe on the side of the couch, clasping his hands before him.
Auren looked to her and found she was already looking at him.
"You know?" Vesperin said simply.
Auren nodded, quiet, wishing he could lie. "They adopted you after the incident…"
She laughed bitterly, wiping an angry hand over the back of her dry eyes, then pulled it away and stared at it, as if affronted by the lack of tears.
"And they’ve been the villains, all this time.
Not Lucien, like I thought. But them. The same people who selflessly took me in after my own parents died.
They gave me a home, when I thought I no longer had one.
Even before that, they cared for me. I thought it was just because I was Kit’s best friend, but what if… "
"What if?" Auren questioned.
Vesperin turned, her knee brushing his as she faced him. That singular spot of contact lit him up. "What if they were using me the entire time?" She licked her lips. "What if everything I’ve ever known truly is a lie?"
Auren could say nothing, do nothing. She was not far from the truth—the truth that it had all been a lie.
Carefully, so as not to spook her, he placed his bare palm over her hand, holding it tightly. As he rested their clasped hands against her thigh, he said, "Sometimes lies are there to keep us from the truths that we cannot bear."
She nodded softly, as if the words pained her. "But what if the lies to cover the truth hurt more than the actual truth?"
"Then you persevere," Auren uttered. "You take it moment by moment.
Day by day. For you, Hunter, can overcome anything.
I believe in you, and I believe in your strength.
The same as I believe, in this life, you have"—it took so much inside him not to slip up and say Lucien’s name—"many who will protect you. "
Her eyes flicked between his, and he wished he could cut open his chest and reveal his heart to her, so she would see that he would give his own Soul if it meant she would be safe.
Such was the nature of Soulbonds. It was no longer Auren, alone.
But Auren and Vesperin. And maybe, the others, as well.
"Sabine and Talor said they wanted to protect me, too. And I just discovered they’re most likely torturing innocent Aetherborns to experiment on," Vesperin said. Her hands trembled under his. He could sense, so desperately, her need to believe, but it was that jaded cynicism that held her back.
Auren knew, then, what he must do.
Cyrus was facing the weapons wall, phone pressed to his ear. Rhyden still stared at the laptop.
Auren released Vesperin’s hands and moved to kneel before the couch.
On his knees before her, he stared up at her.
His fingers wrapped around the handle of his scythe, and he gently took her hand, unfurled her fingers, and pressed the handle into her palm, forcing her fingers to wrap around it in a sure grip.
"What are you—"
Auren shushed her. "Just watch, Hunter." The scythe, which only activated with his touch, began to glow with a soft blue.
Lines crossed over the gleaming blade and disappeared as they traveled in patterns down the curved side, disappearing as quickly as they came.
"This scythe answers to my Soul—and now yours," he revealed.
"I will always keep you safe. From whoever you need.
This is my vow to you. My blade is yours.
Do with it as you wish. Command me to fell your enemies, and it shall be done.
" He remembered the fragile, dying girl of his memories.
She had been taken from him too swiftly, unable to fight—but in this life, her strength was evident.
Auren added with a soft smile, "Take my scythe, and fell them yourself, because you are powerful and capable, Hunter."
Crystalline tears pooled over Vesperin’s lash line, making her grey eyes appear as an uncharted ocean. She bent forward and, with her free hand, touched his cheek.
Celestials, her skin was so soft against his.
"Thank you, Auren," Vesperin breathed. "I think… I am glad you’re my Soulbond."
Auren did not move away from her, not even as Lucien had arrived and the truth slowly unraveled.
But not all of it. Auren could see that in the way Lucien held himself, cautiously loathing, as he still kept the root of the lies far away from Vesperin.
The experiments, and the fact that she was his Soulbond, too.
"The Blackfalls have been forcing me to conduct experiments for them—on the Aetherborns." Lucien’s voice was taut. "Vesperin, I never, ever, hurt anyone. If you believe a word of anything I say, have it be that."
"I do," Vesperin said. Her voice was stronger, less fragile, after they’d talked. Auren’s scythe still rested by her knee. "I do believe you, Lucien. I just wish you hadn’t felt like you had to lie to me about this."
Auren fisted a hand, his nails cutting into his palm.
This. As if Lucien’s being blackmailed was the worst of the lies.
Vesperin had no idea the truth. That less than a day ago, she had been subject to the wicked experiments by the hands of her adoptive parents.
If she knew the truth, perhaps she would turn the blade of his scythe on Auren and Lucien both, for keeping it from her.
"We need to take them down. To ensure the truth remains in the light." Auren held Lucien’s stare pointedly as he said this.
Lucien coughed lowly and looked to them all, settling on Vesperin tucked between Auren and Cyrus, while Rhyden leaned against the counter, watching, his laptop still open before him.
"That is what we were trying to do—take Blackfall Industries down," said Lucien. "I’ve been called to the lab in Nova Zone 21 to run basic tests. The same lab you came from. I don’t have clearance to venture to the lower levels. Last time, I was able to sneak down to search for evidence. There’s nothing incriminating there.
They keep everything that could be used against them locked up tight. No paper trail."
By his side, Vesperin shifted. Shock radiated from her in waves, but with every second that ticked by, it was replaced by steely determination. That was what Auren had meant—strength tempered with focus.
Vesperin’s soft voice cut in. "Sabine and Talor… the Blackfalls, they have sway over much. You know, at the Admittance Ceremony for the Hunter’s Guild Academy, President Shin came and spoke to me personally.
He mentioned Sabine and Talor both. It made me wonder if they’d somehow bought my way onto the Alpha Team.
I have good scores, but my Stella levels…
" Her finger tapped a light rhythm on her knee, and the motion sent the dainty chain of a bracelet on her wrist tinkling.
Cyrus reached forward and caught her hand, bringing it up to his mouth and rubbing the back of it over his jaw.
"It is possible," Lucien revealed, finger against his temple, deep in thought.
"Then what was their motive?" Vesperin questioned, breath hitching as she glanced at Cyrus, who still held her hand captive, then back to Lucien and Auren. "Why would they want me to risk myself like that on the Alpha Team?"
Auren and Lucien shared a look. Auren remembered that day, when that indescribable power had exploded from Vesperin in a glimmer of white.
Lucien merely looked down. Auren resisted the urge to shake his head.
The lies must end. He knew the truth would surface eventually, but how much damage would be done before then?
"So we try to get evidence another way? There has to be something. I mean, what we saw tonight—"
"Could easily be buried," Rhyden interjected. The vampire tapped his finger on the closed back of his laptop, rounded the counter, and came to a stop before them all in the small sitting area. "The Blackfalls have their hands in more goddamn pockets than you probably realize. If we jump in before we’re ready, all we’d be doing is putting a target on our backs. No, we need real damning evidence. That can’t be refuted, and can’t be swept away by the public.
Blackfall Industries has done a lot for pharmaceuticals and shit.
I bet the majority of the population of Solar City would be more than happy to ignore a little scandal if they kept getting their drugs. "
"You said we?" Vesperin tilted her head to the side, and the action was slightly kittenish in nature. It was wildly endearing.
Rhyden gave a half-smirk that didn’t reach his red eyes. "Did I? Well, I’ve embroiled myself this far, might as well take the plunge. You’ve always had a knack for pulling me in against my will. Like an enchantress." A dark, brittle huff of amusement fell from his lips.
"What do we need?" Vesperin leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. The action shifted the couch cushion, and Auren leaned in closer to her, their thighs brushing.
"A personal claim," Rhyden drawled. "Testimonial, with evidence to back it. Videos. Not photos, those can be doctored. That’d be pretty damning."
Lucien adjusted his glasses, cool green eyes falling to Vesperin. He cleared his throat. "I have something that could work—if we’re able to find proof."
Auren knew what the doctor was about to say. He leaned in closer to Vesperin, as if to ground her with his mere presence. Cyrus seemed to pick up on Auren’s tense manner, for the incubus’s fingers tangled with hers.
Auren should tell her—he should force Lucien to tell her. She had two more Soulbonds. One dead, one very much alive, yet thinking he was not worthy of her. She had been experimented on for much of her life.
But the words would not come. They stuck to his tongue.