Page 13 of Only Cold Depths
Tears of anger and frustration pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away and trudged toward the back of the junkyard. I just hoped Kyrion couldn’t sense all my emotions through the bond and that he didn’t realize how much of a failure I was at being his partner.
Kyrion had adapted to our new situation with ease, and he wielded his psion power as strongly and effortlessly as he had before. Me? I couldn’t even make it through a simple trip to a marketplace without getting cornered by bounty hunters, and my seer magic had been useless against Rina and her men.
This battle was just an example of a larger problem. Every time I thought I finally had a handle on my magic—and my combined power with Kyrion—it either didn’t do what I wanted or didn’t work at all.
You’re the weak link, destined to be broken.Esmina’s mocking voice zipped through my mind. This time, I didn’t feel the pain of her telepathically speaking to me, but I couldn’t ignore the uncomfortable truth of her words.
A truebonded pair was only as strong as its weaker member, and if I didn’t figure out how to wield my magic soon, then I was going to wind up dead—and kill Kyrion as well.
CHAPTER FOUR
KYRION
Vesperlimpedintoview.Weariness vibrated along the velvety ribbon of her in my mind, but she kept trudging forward, a large bag hanging on her shoulder. Even after everything she’d been through, she’d still grabbed the supplies we needed. Pride warmed my heart, along with more than a little frustration at her stubbornness.
My gaze dropped to the horrific wound in her arm, and the pain of Vesper’s injuries boiled up in my own body. My right arm pulsed with a vicious, staccato rhythm, the skin so raw and sensitive the mere touch of my tactical shirt made me grimace. As an Arrow, I’d been shot with a blaster more times than I cared to remember, but it was always a miserable experience, and Vesper’s wound was worse than most.
“Now what?” she asked in a tired voice.
More of her pain boiled up in my mind, and I swallowed a snarl. I might have absorbed the worst of Vesper’s agony, but Ihatedthe fact she had been injured—and that I had been too slow and too far away to protect her.
I cleared my throat and gestured to the right. “This way.”
Vesper followed me over to the fence that cordoned off the back of the junkyard from the rain forest. I used my stormsword to slice through the rusty metal links and then my telekinesis to peel them back and create an opening. I also held out my hand. Vesper sighed, but she passed me the shopping bag.
More sirens blared, the sound coming from the front of the junkyard. Vesper grimaced and ducked through the opening. More of her pain rippled through my mind, and I swallowed another snarl.
We plunged into the rain forest, moving from one tree to the next and heading back to the spaceport. It took us almost an hour, but we made it to the landing strip where our ship was parked without incident.
I drew my blaster and made Vesper stay behind me as we approached the blitzer, which was shaped like an old-fashioned arrow. The flight deck formed the sharp, triangular tip, then came a long shaftlike corridor that comprised the body of the ship. The corridor, in turn, flowed into the cargo bay, which spread out like a tuft of feathers at the back of the blitzer.
I reached out with my telepathy, but no thoughts twinged my power, and I didn’t sense anyone lurking on board with my telempathy. “We’re clear.”
I exchanged my blaster for my tablet and entered the access code to lower the cargo-bay ramp.
“I hate that you had to paint over the name,” Vesper murmured.
The gray hull used to boast large, dark blue letters that spelled outDREAM WORLD, but after we’d fled from Corios, I’d replaced them withVK4EV3Rto match the ship’s fake registration.
Vesper’s eyes twinkled with merriment. “I rather enjoyed having a ship named after my mindscape.”
I huffed, as though greatly annoyed, but I couldn’t stop a teasing tone from creeping into my voice. “As I’ve told you countless times, I had to name the blitzersomething. The fact that I once called your mindscape a dream world is entirely a coincidence.”
“Keep telling yourself that, my lord,” Vesper replied in a smug voice. “Maybe one day you’ll actually believe it.”
“I will believe anything you tell me to, my lady,” I drawled back.
She opened her mouth but then grimaced, and more of her pain boiled up in my mind. Even with my psionic shield, Vesper was still feeling her injury. More fury hammered in my chest. If I could have, I would have killed the bounty hunters all over again for hurting her.
“Come on,” I said in a gentle voice, taking hold of her uninjured arm.
Vesper didn’t protest as I helped her up the ramp and into the cargo bay. I hit a button on the wall, and the ramp lifted and closed behind us. I put her shopping bag on a counter, then unhooked the cannon from my bandolier and set it aside.
“The modifications you made to the Techwave cannon worked,” I said, trying to focus on something positive. “I got off five shots this time before it started to overheat.”
“Mmm. Yes, the cannon will fire a few times with my new solar magazines before it overheats again, but I haven’t figured out how to trulyfixit,” Vesper murmured in an absent voice, swiping through screens on her tablet. “The local gossipcast is already reporting about the bodies at the junkyard, but so far, there’s no chatter about who killed them. Looks like we got away clean.” A frown creased her face. “As did Esmina and Pollux.”
“Who are you talking about? All the bounty hunters are dead.”
