Page 75 of Only Cold Depths
“Well, that settles things,” I said, grateful that my voice remained calm and steady. “Beatrice was happy to pretend I didn’t exist for the last thirty-seven years, and I see no reason to upset the status quo.”
Wendell leaned forward again, a pleading look on his face. “But you’re mydaughter. That means something to me.”
The sincerity in his voice almost made me reconsider—almost.
I shook my head, shoving away the softness that kept threatening to creep into my heart. “Well, it doesn’t mean anything to me.” I stabbed my finger at Beatrice. “You knewexactlywhat Nerezza was like, how she would try to use me against House Zimmer, and you left me with her anyway.”
She nodded, but her posture slumped, and something that looked like genuine regret crinkled her features. “I understand.”
Wendell looked back and forth between the two of us. “But youdon’tunderstand. You might think we’re all monsters, Vesper, and maybe we are, but Zane helped you during the midnight ball, even before he knew who you really were—”
Zane shook his head the tiniest bit. The motion was almost imperceptible, but Wendell abruptly cut off his thought.
“I knew it,” Kyrion said. “Iknewyou lowered your guard and let me cut you when we were fighting.”
Zane flicked his fingers in an airy, dismissive motion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You wounded me fair and square, Kyr.”
As soon as he said the words, my seer magic stirred to life, and a second image of Zane appeared in the air. The mirror image of Zane fought with Kyrion just as he had during the ball, and I finallysawit—the moment when Zane lowered his guard a fraction of an inch.
“That’s not all your brother did,” Wendell continued.
“Father,” Zane warned in a sharp voice. “Stop talking.”
Wendell kept pleading with me. “Zane gave one of the servants a hairpin dagger to give to you. The butterfly dagger you wore to the midnight ball.” His gaze flicked to my throat. “It looks just like the necklace you’re wearing.”
Surprise shot through me, and my hand crept up to the brooch hanging on the black velvet ribbon. My gaze swung over to Zane, who shifted on his feet.
“Were you trying to give us a sporting chance then too? Just like you did when you tripped Adria Byrne in the rain forest on Tropics 33? Or when you turned on the spy camera you found in Kyrion’s blitzer so he would know that Holloway had sent you, Adria, and Dargan to track us down?”
Zane didn’t respond, and his face remained smooth and calm. That familiar spark of hope flared in my heart again, burning through the icy numbness that gripped my body. Maybe Zane really had done all those things so we could escape . . . but then he’d spent the last few weeks vowing to hunt down Kyrion and me.
I ruthlessly crushed that spark of hope, snuffing it into oblivion, then encased my emotions in a layer of ice. Zane did whatever was easy or convenient or best for him, just like Nerezza always had. Just like Wendell had by never considering the consequences of his relationship with my mother. Just like Beatrice had by letting Liesl take care of me instead of acknowledging my existence and making me a part of House Zimmer, and especially a part of her family.
I’d never had a real family before, and despite my longing for one now, I wasn’t going to settle for leftover table scraps, for whatever meager crumbs of affection Zane, Wendell, and Beatrice deigned to dole out. Nerezza had made a fool of me for years, and I would not make the same mistake again.
Never again.
Weariness crashed through my body, along with more of that numbness, but I dug my hands into the thick cushions and hoisted myself to my feet. Beatrice and Wendell also stood up. Zane pushed away from the wall, as did Kyrion.
“Thank you for telling me what happened,” I replied, my voice eerily calm. “I understand why you did the things you did. I know better than anyone else how dangerous Nerezza is. How she will use anyone at any time to get what she wants. She even has a name for her manipulations: social engineering.”
An eager look filled Wendell’s face. He opened his mouth, but Zane moved forward and laid a warning hand on his father’s shoulder.
“But?” Beatrice asked.
“But you still abandoned me, just like Nerezza did, and I don’t think I can ever forgive that,” I said, even as the ice crystallized and sharpened into spears skewering my heart. “Even more important, I am no one’s dirty little secret. Not anymore.”
“So where does this leave us?” Zane asked in a low voice.
“Return to Corios and your regularly scheduled lives. If there’s any mercy in the galaxy, we’ll never have to see each other again.”
Wendell clearly wanted to protest, but he chewed on his lower lip and remained silent. Beatrice tipped her head to me, although she didn’t look as relieved as I’d expected.
Finally, I turned my attention to Zane. “Make no mistake. This changesnothingbetween us. If youevertry to take Kyrion and me back to Holloway, then we will kill you, and your father will have no children left, secret or otherwise.”
Wendell gasped. Beatrice’s face paled at my threat, but Zane studied me with an unreadable expression.
I stared at my unwanted brother a heartbeat longer, then whirled around on my heel and strode out of the library, leaving my so-called family behind.
