Page 116 of Only Cold Depths
Pollux glanced at her. “What?”
Esmina kept staring at me. “Fire the cannon, Vesper. Or Kyrion dies.”
Half of the mercenaries swung around, aiming their blasters at Kyrion. His eyes narrowed, and he glowered at first one enemy, then another.
I pointed the cannon at Esmina, who laughed. “Please. As much as you would love to shoot me, we both know you won’t risk your precious Kyrion’s life.”
A couple of mercs stepped forward and took a little better aim at Kyrion, who growled in response. His entire body strained, but he couldn’t break free of the bricks that encased him.
Kyrion stared at me again, then deliberately looked down and flexed the fingers on his left wrist, as though trying to tell me something.
I reached out with my magic and studied the stone around him, trying to find any weakness I could exploit. A faint silver light flared about ten feet away from Kyrion, near the bottom of the wall. My eyes narrowed. There. That might be something.
Ithadto be something. I only had one shot to make this work—literally—or Kyrion and I were dead.
“I could always shoot Nerezza.” I swung the cannon in her direction. This time, I had the satisfaction of making her flinch.
“Don’t be so dramatic, girl,” Nerezza retorted.
She was so busy sneering at me that she didn’t see the hopeful look that Esmina and Pollux exchanged. They wouldn’t care if I shot Nerezza. I was tempted—so verytempted—but I released the trigger. Killing Nerezza wouldn’t help Kyrion and me escape.
“Fine,” I muttered. “What do you want me to shoot to prove the cannon works?”
Esmina waved her hand. “Whatever you like. We’re far enough underground that no one is going to hear or feel the blast, if that was your hope. No one is coming to rescue you, Vesper.”
I ignored her insult and turned around in a slow circle, as if pondering what to shoot. The mercenaries eyed me with obvious wariness, but I had a far more important target in mind. I finally stopped and aimed the cannon at the spot in the wall my magic had highlighted earlier.
“Fire it,” Esmina commanded. “Right now. Or my men will drop you where you stand.”
The time for talking and stalling was over. Now I just had to trust that Asterin and Zane were in position, so I took a little better aim and squeezed the trigger.
Boom!
A blast of green fire shot out from the cannon, zipped across the cavern, and slammed into the wall. Huge chunks of stone blasted apart, and dust billowed up into the air in a thick, hazy cloud. But even more curious—and alarming—was the fact that the green energy blast pulsed around the massive crater it had created, as though it was a fire feeding on more and more of the surrounding wall.
My gaze locked onto the tiny cracks that were slowly but surely creeping through the stone in all directions, including over to where Kyrion was still trapped. Bull’s-eye.
“By the stars.” Pollux breathed out the words in an awed voice. “That cannon doesexactlywhat you claimed.”
“I told you how powerful it is,” Nerezza replied.
Pollux moved forward and held out his hand, an eager look on his face. Reluctantly, I passed the cannon over to him. The mercenary stepped away from me and ran his hands over the weapon.
“Lightweight, compact, easy to aim and carry.” He let out a low whistle of appreciation. “It’s an impressive weapon.”
“Nerezza was right. Even weak links are good for something on occasion.” Esmina sneered at me.
Once again, I bristled at her words. All my old doubts surfaced, whispering in my ears, but I ignored their idle chatter.
Nerezza snapped her fingers. Several of the mercs scurried forward, forming a loose circle around me.
“I gave you what you wanted,” I protested, even though I had been expecting the betrayal.
“Yes, you did, but we both know I was never going to release you or Kyrion. But the problem is you are both far too valuable to kill, which means I need to find another use for you.” Nerezza smiled. “Luckily for me, an opportunity has already presented itself.”
Horror swept through my body. Maybe it was my seer magic, but I knew exactly what she was going to say.
“You were right at the midnight ball, Vesper. Idoenjoy playing both sides against each other to get what I want.” Nerezza’s smile widened. “And Callus Holloway’s thirty-million bounty for you and Kyrion will go a long way toward funding production of my new hand cannons. Why, turning you both over might even convince Callus that I’ve seen the error of my ways and wish to return to the Imperium.”
