Page 18 of Only Cold Depths
“Why would you think that?”
“Because your jacket and sword are covered with blood.”
I glanced down. The bounty hunters’ blood had sprayed across the dark blue fabric like raindrops, and even more of it had dried on my stormsword, turning the pale lunarium blade a rusty red.
Zane smirked at me. “Made you look. But that just confirms my suspicions. You and Vesper ran into some bounty hunters, and she was wounded. I will ask again: How badly was she hurt?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “And I’ll ask my question again: Why do you care?”
“I can’t very well deliver Vesper to Holloway if she’s hurt—or dead.” Zane snarled out the last few words, and his hands curled into fists on the desk. He was far more invested in Vesper’s health than he wanted me to know.
“You won’t be delivering Vesper anywhere. If you come near us, Iwillkill you, Zane.”
He flicked his fingers, dismissing my threat. “Please. Any true fight between us would be a toss-up at best. You might kill me, but I could just as easily kill you.”
“So our fight in the throne room wasn’t atruefight?” I countered. “Why would you say that? Unless, of course, you deliberately dropped your guard and let me wound you.”
Zane laughed again, but the sound was brittle and hollow instead of certain and mocking like before. “Please. I know better than toeverdrop my guard around you, Kyr. You got lucky that night. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Vesper’s jacket was still lying on the table, and an idea popped into my mind. I hesitated, wondering if I should give in to my foolish notion, but I needed more information about who was hunting us. That was the only way I was going to keep Vesper safe.
“Have you ever heard of a woman named Esmina? Red hair, pretty features, hangs out with a guy named Pollux who carries two war hammers.”
Zane’s eyes narrowed again. “Is that who hurt Vesper?”
“Not exactly.” I hesitated again, but I’d already told part of the story, so I decided to confess the rest. “They hired some bounty hunters to corner Vesper, but they weren’t interested in the credits. I don’t know who they are or what they want.”
“You’ve only been on the run a few weeks, and you already have mysterious new enemies chasing you and Vesper?” Zane shook his head. “You’re really excelling in your new station in life. Kyrion Caldaren, rogue Arrow and fugitive extraordinaire.”
My hands clenched into fists. I hated it when he was right.
Zane smirked at me a moment longer, then his face turned serious. “You didn’t answer my question: How badly was Vesper hurt?”
“That’s because it’s none of your bloody business. You have made your feelings about Vesper and me quite clear on the gossipcasts.”
“Oh, yes, my feelings about you are crystal clear, dear Kyrion. I despise you, and you despise me, and proper Regal lords we both be.”
I rolled my eyes. “Even for you, that’s a shitty bit of poetry.”
Zane grinned. “Aw, you think I’m a poet? And I didn’t even know it.”
I waited for him to make a similar quip about Vesper, but he didn’t. Strange. The Zane Zimmer I knew would never hesitate to talk trash and spout off a bad rhyme about anyone. Perhaps the fact that Vesper was his sister had made him grow a sliver of a conscience. Doubtful, but I hoped so, for her sake.
Vesper kept insisting she didn’t care about Zane, but I could hear the wistfulness in her voice and feel the same emotion rippling through the bond every time she talked about him. Thanks to Nerezza’s abandonment, Vesper had never had a real family, but the idea still meant everything to her. Another way in which she and Zane were eerily alike.
Zane gave me a look that was almost pitying. “You can’t protect her forever, Kyrion. Eventually, someone will be a tiny bit smarter, stronger, or luckier than you, and Vesper will suffer the consequences.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I snapped back. “Don’t you think that is my greatest bloodyfear?”
The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I had to grind my teeth to keep from spewing out all my worries about how I was going to fail Vesper, sooner rather than later.
“Then surrender, and let me bring you both in,” Zane replied.
For a moment, I considered it. I’d come so close to losing Vesper today. Even now, I could still see the bounty hunter shooting her, still hear Vesper’s cry of pain, still feel her agony pulsing through the bond. Like it or not, Zane was right. Eventually, our luckwasgoing to run out, and then one or both of us would wind up even more seriously injured—or dead.
Zane leaned forward, his gaze locking with mine. “Come on, Kyrion. Prove your truebond with my sister is about more than just the psionic power the two of you have. For once in your miserable life, do the right thing—for Vesper’s sake.”
More cold fury swirled through my body, and I stiffened as though someone had shoved a shock baton into my back. “I will doanythingfor Vesper’s sake. And if I have to kill every bounty hunter in the galaxy, then so be it.”
