Page 78 of Only Cold Depths
When Wendell had looked at Vesper in the library, a combination of guilt, pride, and hope had boiled off him like steam from a red-hot teapot. Most Regal lords were cold, pompous bastards, but Wendell was the exception to the rule. Even my mother had liked him.
“This was your idea, wasn’t it? Bringing your grandmother and your father to Sygnustern so the three of you could have this impromptu family reunion. So your father could try to build a relationship with Vesper.”
Zane’s eyes glinted with a mixture of fury and disgust. “It’s hardly a reunion when no one ever mentioned you had a sister in the first place.”
“You feel likeyou’rethe one who’s been wronged because Beatrice never told you about Vesper?” I shook my head. “By the stars, you are even more selfish than I imagined.”
A muscle twitched in Zane’s jaw, but he quickly smoothed out his expression. “It doesn’t matter how selfish I am. Vesper ismysister, andyouare bonded withher.” He crossed his fingers together. “You and I are stuck with each other, dear Kyrion, glued together by your bloody truebond, whether we like it or not.”
“You call Vesper your sister like it actually means something to you.”
Even more fury flared in Zane’s eyes, making them gleam like icy Frozon moons. “It meanseverythingto me, which you damn well know. You told me Vesper was my sister before the midnight ball in hopes I would help you both escape. You werecountingon it. You think I’m a manipulator? Yes, I am, but you, dear Kyrion, are just as diabolical.”
“Not me,” I snapped back. “I didn’t care what happened tome. I wanted you to helpher. Unlike you, Zane, I will always put Vesper’s well-being above my own.”
Zane huffed. “It’s easy to be self-righteous when your family is dead, and you don’t have anyone else to care about—or who cares about you in return.”
Asterin sucked in a breath. I glowered at Zane, who smirked back at me. He’d scored a direct hit with that verbal barb, and the worst part was that he wasright.
Ever since my parents had died, I had been on my own, more or less. Oh, Daichi and Touma had been my friends for years, and now I had new friends in Asterin, Tivona, and Leandra, but Vesper . . .
Vesper was the one I loved.
The knowledge flooded my mind like a sun rising above the horizon, banishing the shadows, and revealing a planet’s surface, but my heart had known it for quite some time, like a blue moon that was constant and steady in the sky, even if you couldn’t always see it.
Vesper was my blue moon. My sun, my stars, and everything else that was bright and beautiful and lovely in the galaxy.
Perhaps I had fallen for Vesper during the Regal ball when she had outsmarted Holloway by covering the marks on her hand when I had cut my own hand as part of the truebond test. Or perhaps it had happened when we’d shared a quiet meal on theDream World. Or the first time I’d kissed her. Or when I’d pulled her out of the dark depths of her mindscape and back into the real world. Or perhaps I had loved her through all of that and just hadn’t wanted to admit it to myself until right now.
But I loved Vesper, which meant Zane was right—the two of us were stuck with each other. Vesper might claim she didn’t want anything to do with the Zimmers, but I’d felt her longing in the library. Despite everything Beatrice had done, a small part of Vesper still wanted to give the Zimmers a chance, and I would never deny her that opportunity, even if I deeply despised her unexpected brother.
“What do you want, Zane?” I asked again, tired of his theatrics.
“What does anyone in the galaxy want? Love, peace, happiness, prosperity,” he drawled. “Perhaps a basket of corgi puppies and boodle kittens for good measure.”
“You really are insufferable,” Asterin muttered.
Zane gasped and clutched a hand to his heart. “You wound me, fair lady. Why, I have notbegunto be insufferable yet.”
Asterin’s fingers twitched as though she wanted to throttle him, a sentiment I shared.
“As I said before, it’s more about what my father wants, and that is a chance to get to know his daughter.” Zane waggled his finger back and forth between Asterin and me. “The two of you willnotinterfere with that, so no whispering in Vesper’s ear about how horrible we Zimmers are. That might be true for Beatrice and me, but it’s not for my father.”
Once again, Zane was right. His father had always been courteous, and even kind, to me. And after I’d killed my own father in self-defense, Wendell and Beatrice had been the only Regals who had voted against my being executed.
“You don’t know Vesper at all if you think I or anyone else could convince her to have a relationship with your father,” I replied. “Vesper makes up her own mind.”
Zane tipped his head, conceding my point. “Yes, but for some reason I will never understand, your opinion matters greatly to her. So do us both a favor and keep quiet about how much you hate me, okay?”
I laughed. “I don’t need to give Vesper a reason to hate you, Zane. You did that all on your own. Or do you not remember calling her my conquest when we were sparring at Castle Zimmer a few months ago?”
He shifted on his feet. “Yes, well, Vesper retaliated by building a science experiment of a blaster and burning my clothes, so I’d say the two of us are even.” He shrugged. “Besides, siblings fight.”
Siblings?What was he playing at? Was he actually . . .sincere? Despite his breezy tone and arrogant smirk, Zane’s posture was tight and tense, and he kept rubbing his fingers over theZsigils carved into his stormsword. Even more telling, cold worry kept wafting off him and twinging my telempathy, like a lonely winter cloud spitting out hard bits of snow.
Zane reallydidview Vesper as his sister, and he actually wanted this crazy gambit to work. He truly wanted Vesper to be part of the Zimmer family—hisfamily.
“Kyrion isn’t the one you should be threatening,” Asterin chimed in, fury rippling through her voice. “You came tomyplanet and invadedmymother’s home. You have no interest in the Erzton marriage mart or especially in courting me.”
