Page 76 of Only Cold Depths
CHAPTER TWENTY
KYRION
Wendellhurriedforwardandstretched out his hand, as though he was going to go after Vesper. I blocked his path.
“Don’t,” I warned in a cold voice. “Don’t youdare.”
Wendell’s hand wilted to his side.
“Perhaps we should retire to our suites,” Beatrice said. “We had a long trip from Corios.”
“I don’t care where you go or what you do,” I said, my voice even colder than before. “Just stay away from Vesper.”
Beatrice harrumphed. “You are in no position to tell me what to do, Kyrion. You’ve made my granddaughter a fugitive, and yourself one too. And your mother would roll over in her grave if she heard the impertinent tone you’re taking with a Regal lady.”
Icy fury roared through my body at her tossing Desdemona’s devotion to manners in my face. “My mother would heartily applaud my tone—and then she would march over there and slap you across the face for abandoning your own granddaughter.”
Beatrice’s spine stiffened.
“You should be glad my mother’s not here,my lady, because she was certainly no fan of yours. Desdemona always said you cared more about avoiding scandal than anything else, including your supposed claims about familyalwayscoming first. My mother saw you for what you truly are—a bloodycoward.”
An angry blush stained Beatrice’s cheeks a dark, mottled red, and her hands fisted in her skirt.
“Come,” Wendell said in an anxious voice, glancing back and forth between me and his mother. “You’re right. We should retire to our suites.”
Beatrice lifted her chin and followed her son out of the library.
“That went well,” Zane drawled.
I spun around on my heel and strode out of the room. Like Vesper, I’d had more than enough of the Zimmers.
Asterin was waiting in the corridor, a sympathetic look on her face. “Vesper said she wanted a few minutes alone.”
I reached out with the bond. Emotions vibrated along the velvety ribbon of Vesper—hurt, anger, confusion, longing. As much as I wanted to find Vesper, put my arms around her, and tell her everything was going to be okay, I respected her desire for privacy, even as a sense of helplessness cascaded over me. Her unwanted family was one hard problem I couldn’t solve with my stormsword.
“Let’s fix your nose,” Asterin said. “Then you can check on Vesper.”
The confrontation inside the library had been so tense that I’d forgotten about my broken nose, but as soon as Asterin mentioned it, a fresh wave of pain throbbed through my face.
Footsteps sounded, heading in this direction, and a cool, familiar presence oozed around me like space sludge.
Zane swaggered to a stop beside me. “Your nose is a spectacular shade of blue, black, and green. Not to mention the blood crusted on your face. Youreallyshould get that looked at, Kyr.”
Asterin sighed. “Why don’t you do us all a favor and leave, Zane?”
He grinned. “And miss all the fun of watching Kyrion scowl while you wrench his nose back where it’s supposed to be?Never.” He bowed to her, then held his hand out to the side. “Lead the way, my lady.”
Asterin huffed, but she set off down the corridor. I followed her, and Zane fell into step beside me. He studied every door, window, and archway, along with the guards. Zane was making sure he knew where all the entrances and exits were, just like I had done this morning.
Asterin stepped into an infirmary made of pale green tile. Several medtables were spaced throughout the room, while clear polyplastic cabinets along the wall contained vials of antibiotics, skinbond injectors, and other supplies.
Asterin gestured for me to sit on a medtable. I did as she asked, although the table was cranked up so high my long legs dangled off the side, making me feel as though I was a child.
Zane leaned a shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, studying everything in the infirmary, although his gaze kept straying back to Asterin. Curious. Perhaps he was worried about Asterin grabbing a laser scalpel and cutting his tongue out of his mocking mouth. The thought had certainly crossed my mind, but I doubted even that drastic action would silence Zane. The clever bastard would no doubt find some new way to torture me.
Asterin grabbed a skinbond injector and stabbed it into my upper left arm. She tossed the used injector into a recycler, then stepped closer to me and flexed her fingers.
“I need to put your nose back into place before the skinbond kicks in. Otherwise, it might heal crooked.” Asterin gave me another sympathetic look. “This is going to hurt.”
