Page 41 of Only Cold Depths
We’d only been on Sygnustern a few hours, and we had already made a dangerous new enemy.
Bythispoint,thesun was setting, painting the sky in darkening shades of twilight gray and purple, and it was growing quite chilly outside, even with the warming shield. The three of us went back into the guest wing. Asterin led us to our suite, then bade us good night and disappeared into her own rooms.
Vesper stepped into our suite, and I shut and locked the door behind us.
The front part of the suite was a large sitting area with several tables and settees, along with cushioned chairs arranged in front of a stone fireplace. Flames were crackling behind the black iron grate, which featured the House Collier sigil, while thick, fuzzy blankets were draped over the backs of the chairs in case extra warmth was needed.
Just like in the main castle, all the furniture was obviously well made and extremely expensive, given the gold, silver, and colored glass accents. Still, despite the finery, I felt like a Frozon wolf that had just stepped into a trap and was about to get crushed by its sharp jaws.
Vesper went over to her duffel bag, rummaged around inside, and pulled out a device that looked like two halves of a broken tablet tied together with thick strands of solar wiring that snaked up and ended in a sharp, antenna-like point. She hit a button on the device, which started whirring, then moved through the sitting area and the attached bedroom and bathroom.
A minute later, Vesper returned to the sitting room, set the device down, and gave me a thumbs-up. “The suite is clean. No hidden cameras or listening devices.”
I nodded, although the lack of spy technology didn’t ease my worry. “Good. Because we need to leave. Right now. Slip out of the guest wing, get off the estate, return to theDream World, and get off this planet.”
Vesper frowned. “Why? Because Siya doesn’t want us here?”
“That’s one issue.”
I tilted my head, and she followed me over to a permaglass wall that overlooked the same central garden we’d seen from the terrace earlier. Down below, golden hoverlights bobbed up and down in midair, illuminating the House Collier guards patrolling through the topiary trees and hedges.
I stabbed my finger at the guards. “There’s the second issue. The Colliers have an incredible amount of security. The only reason you have that many guards on duty is if you’re worried about an attack.”
Vesper’s gaze moved from one guard to the next. “You pointed out the guards when we first reached the estate, but surely Asterin would have told us if the Colliers were in some sort of trouble.”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps Asterin doesn’t know anything about it. Either way, we have enough enemies without getting caught up in House Collier’s problems.”
Vesper held her arms out wide. “Say that we leave the estate and return to theDream World. Where do we go? Because the way I see it, we’re out of options.”
I ground my teeth. She wasn’t wrong, which only added to my frustration.
Vesper lowered her arms. “House Collier might be in trouble, but Aldrich and Verona have promised to shelter us, and I seriously doubt Verona would break that promise to her daughter. From everything I’ve read about Erzton society, honor iseverythingto them. Once Erztonians give someone sanctuary, they are duty-bound to maintain that sanctuary, no matter what threats or repercussions they might face themselves.”
“I trust other people’s honor as much as I trust Callus Holloway. Which is to say, not at all. We’re not safe here.You’renot safe here.”
“I’m not safe anywhere,” Vesper snapped back. “And neither are you.”
We glared at each other, and emotions crackled back and forth through the bond like lightning scorching us both. Vesper’s anger. My frustration. Her determination. My worry.
Vesper blew out a tense breath, and her face softened. “But I’m safer with you, Kyr, than anywhere else in the galaxy.”
For once, her saying my nickname only added to my misery, as did her unwavering faith in me. “You weren’t safe yesterday when those bounty hunters cornered you, along with Esmina and Pollux. Or today at the antiques emporium when Siya and the Hammers tried to capture us.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Wait. Is that why you made such a reckless charge toward the Hammer that was coming up behind me? Because you thought I didn’t see him, and he was going to hurt me?”
I stiffened. “Far better for me to be injured than you.”
Vesper’s eyes narrowed a little more. “Really? Because it sounds like you didn’t trust me to defend myself.” Despite her hot, angry glare, more than a little hurt rasped through her voice. “I amnota weak link.”
“I never said you were,” I replied, my voice harsher than I intended. “And of course I trust you. It’s just . . .”
“What?”
“I tried to warn you with my telepathy, but you didn’t respond. I also couldn’t . . . feel you anymore. Through the bond. It was . . . troubling.”
Some of the anger trickled out of Vesper’s face. “I couldn’t feel you either. The same thing happened on Tropics 44. You were talking to me through the bond, but after the bounty hunters abducted me, I couldn’t reach you anymore. It’s like . . .”
“What?” I asked, my voice losing some of its previous heat.
