CHAPTER FIFTEEN

VESPER

T he Hammers made sure all the mercenaries were either dead or taken into custody, then did a thorough sweep of the shipping yard, the mineral exchange, and the surrounding area.

The mercenaries had only stunned the guards and workers inside the mineral exchange, so no innocent people had been killed. Since most of the mercs were dead, the Hammers were able to recover the majority of the stolen House Collier materials, but Pollux had been wearing a large backpack, and he and Esmina were long gone with those goods.

Two hours later, I was back at the Collier estate. Asterin, Kyrion, and I were in the library, along with Aldrich, Verona, and Leland. Siya and Rigel were also here, and more Hammers were standing guard outside the doors. We were all clustered around a table that featured a large holoscreen.

"Three mercenaries are still alive and are currently being questioned," Leland said, scrolling through screens on his tablet. "But none of them knows anything useful. They were contacted, hired, and paid to break into the mineral exchange through anonymous channels. We're trying to trace the payments, but so far, they're all a dead end."

Aldrich rubbed his temples. "What were they after?"

"They targeted the jewel repository."

Leland swiped his finger across his tablet, and a couple of holograms appeared. The first image showed a heavy-duty vault with its door intact, while the second showed the same vault with its door peeled back like the lid on a tin can.

"The mercenaries took out the security cameras first, so there's no footage of them entering the shipping yard or the mineral exchange," the chief of staff said in an apologetic voice. "It appears the mercenaries neutralized the House Collier guards, then went straight to the jewel repository, disabled the anti-theft measures, and cut through the vault door with a plasma torch. They grabbed all the jewels they could stuff into their backpacks and left the mineral exchange."

Leland cleared his throat. "Although the mercenaries didn't get very far, thanks to Lady Vesper using the crane magnet to destroy their transport."

He smiled at me, but the expression didn't quite reach his eyes. Then again, no one here had any reason to smile. Not given the mercenaries' attack.

Verona frowned at the holograms. "Why would they break into the jewel repository? Why not steal from the lunarium reserves instead? Lunarium is much more valuable than diamonds, sapphires, and the like."

Leland swiped his tablet again, making the vault holograms disappear. "I'm not sure, my lady. Perhaps the thieves simply couldn't breach the lunarium repository given its thicker vault and more extensive security measures. If you ask me, this whole thing has the feel of a slapdash, smash-and-grab operation." The chief of staff let out a little sniff, as though greatly affronted by such low-class, common thievery.

Nothing about this had been slapdash, and the Erztonians were focusing on the wrong things or, rather, the wrong people.

"Forget why the mercenaries broke into the mineral exchange. Has anyone spotted Esmina Reston?" I asked.

Leland froze, as did Verona. Aldrich blinked in surprise, Siya sucked in a startled breath, and even Rigel frowned in a rare show of emotion.

"How do you know that name?" Aldrich asked in a sharp voice.

"Kyrion and I ran into Esmina Reston on Tropics 44. She's working with a man named Pollux Lamont, and they hired some bounty hunters to kidnap me."

Siya sucked in another breath. Rigel's frown deepened, and his hand curled around the hilt of the hammer hanging off his belt.

"Pollux Lamont?" Siya asked, her voice just as sharp as her father's. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Here. See for yourselves."

I pulled out my own tablet and called up the footage of Esmina and Pollux confronting the bounty hunters. I stopped on a clear image of the two mercenaries, placed my device on the table, and flicked the footage up into the air so everyone could see it.

A heavy blanket of silence dropped over the library, and the air practically dripped with tension, like water oozing out of a sodden towel.

"What do you know about Esmina and Pollux?" Kyrion asked. "Who are they to you?"

Aldrich and Verona looked at each other. Magic surged off them, along with the whisper of a telepathic conversation, although I couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Your facility was breached by two very powerful psions," Kyrion continued, his voice growing more suspicious. "This is no time to keep secrets."

The couple looked at each other again.

"If Esmina and Pollux are back on Sygnustern, then today's attack is even more serious than we realized," Verona said. "Kyrion and Vesper deserve to know, as does Asterin."

"Deserve to know what?" Asterin asked.

Aldrich grimaced. "Esmina Reston is an Erztonian. So is Pollux Lamont." The lord hesitated. "They are both originally from House Collier."

Shock jolted through me, zipped along the bond to Kyrion, and bounced back. Asterin frowned at her stepfather, but then her confusion slowly cracked away, and her eyes widened in growing recognition—and horror.

Aldrich waved his hand at Leland. "Show them the files."

The chief of staff hesitated. "Are you sure, my lord?"

Aldrich nodded, a resigned expression on his face. Leland swiped through a few screens on his tablet, causing more holograms to appear. More shock jolted through me. The images showed a younger version of Esmina glaring at the camera with a sour expression.

Aldrich stared at Esmina's photo. "Esmina's father, Stefanos, was one of my best friends, and they were both part of House Collier. When she was twenty, Esmina formed a truebond with Micah Dilson, a twenty-year-old who also belonged to the House."

"I remember hearing about that," Asterin said. "Didn't House Collier throw a party for them?"

Verona nodded. "We did, although you were away at university at the time."

Kyrion frowned. "I've never heard of a truebond being formed at such a young age. Most truebonds don't form until people are in their late twenties, after their psion power has fully matured."

Verona gave him a grim smile. "Neither had anyone else in the other Erzton Houses. We all thought it was a marvelous blessing." Her smile vanished. "But Esmina did not."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Even back then, Esmina was an extremely strong psion." Verona's gaze flicked over to me. "A seer."

Like you. Verona didn't say the words, but they whispered through the air anyway.

Aldrich picked up the story. "Micah was also a seer, although he wasn't nearly as strong as Esmina. The two of them were at Stardrop Falls with some other young people from House Collier. Esmina had climbed down to take pictures of the waterfall when her safety rope snapped. She tumbled down the cliff face several feet and would have fallen to her death if Micah hadn't grabbed the rope and caught her. That's when the truebond formed."

His words sank into my mind, and my magic surged to life. Suddenly, I could see it all happening. Esmina and Micah on a jagged cliff face studying the waterfall. Esmina's rope snapping. Micah reaching out to catch it. The two of them staring at each other, even as pale gold magic sparked, hissed, and curled around them . . .

I blinked, and the vision vanished, although the young couple's power kept crackling around me like static electricity.

"At first, everything was fine," Verona said. "Even before the bond formed, Micah had feelings for Esmina. The two of them had grown up together, and he was thrilled to be connected to her."

"But?" Kyrion asked.

Verona sighed. "But Esmina was not thrilled. She wanted to explore the galaxy and already had plans to attend a university on another planet. Micah offered to go with her, and we thought the matter was settled."

"What did she do?" Kyrion asked, his voice sharper than before.

Aldrich nodded at Leland, who hit more buttons on his tablet.

The image of a young man hovered over the table. Dark splotches of blood covered his chest, and his legs were broken in multiple places and twisted at impossible angles. His mouth gaped, and his sightless gold eyes bored into mine in a silent, frozen plea. My stomach roiled with nausea.

"Esmina killed him," Aldrich said in a flat voice. "She lured Micah to the waterfall where he had saved her and shoved him off a bridge. He fell into a deep chasm."

Once again, my magic surged to life, and I could see everything playing out as though I had been there. Esmina smiling and crooking her finger at Micah. The two of them admiring the waterfall. Then Esmina sliding to the side and shoving her hands into Micah's chest, pushing him off the bridge. His terrified screams ringing out even louder than the falling water. And then the sharp, sickening crack of his body hitting the bottom of the chasm . . .

I flinched at the phantom sound, and Micah's screams continued to echo in my mind. "Micah fell, but he didn't die right away."

Aldrich and Verona shared a surprised look. Then the lord shook his head. "No, the fall didn't kill Micah."

My magic surged up again. Micah's screams cut off, and everything went dark. Then light flared, and Esmina appeared. She unhooked herself from the rope she'd used to climb down to the bottom of the waterfall, then crouched down beside Micah. Tears streamed down his face, and his chest rose and fell in a frantic rhythm as he struggled to breathe.

Help . . . me . . . please . . .

Micah was too injured to speak, but his telepathic thought rasped through my mind, making me flinch again. Esmina stared down at him with a cold, dispassionate expression. Then she drew a lunarium dagger off her belt, leaned down, and cut his throat.

Blood spewed everywhere, coating the dagger, and the lunarium blade started glowing with a bright golden light that was the same color as Micah's eyes. Esmina tightened her grip on the dagger, and gold sparks exploded in her green eyes. Magic coiled around her, and a satisfied smile slowly spread across her face . . .

"Esmina killed Micah," I whispered. "She killed him so she could take his magic."

My words startled Aldrich and Verona, who shared another surprised look.

"Yes, Esmina took Micah's magic," Aldrich said. "How do you know that?"

I shook my head. The awful vision faded away, but the coppery tang of Micah's blood flooded my nose and slithered down my throat, adding to my nausea.

Shock pulsed off Kyrion and whipped through the bond to me. "Esmina took Micah's power? How is that even possible ? I thought only siphons could take another psion's power for their own."

Verona gave a helpless shrug. "We don't know, exactly. But Esmina broke her truebond with Micah and took his magic."

"I thought if a truebond was broken, it was almost impossible for the other person to survive." Asterin looked at her mother. "Unless the remaining partner had an extremely strong reason and the determined will to live."

"Not if you break the bond yourself," I murmured.

As soon as I said the words, I could see how it all worked. Esmina and Micah's bond had formed, but it hadn't solidified, and it wasn't stable. Maybe Esmina's seer magic had whispered the truth to her, or maybe she'd discovered it another way. But somehow Esmina had figured out the same thing I just had: if you severed the bond yourself , then the loss of the connection wouldn't kill you like the romance serials, fairy tales, and folk legends claimed. Instead, the other half of the bond would flow to you—and make you even stronger .

The hard truth slammed into my heart like a meteor hitting the ground and leaving a devastating crater behind. Everything Kyrion and I thought we knew about truebonds was wrong .

The bond wasn't an inevitable, undeniable thing that just happened because of karma or destiny or fate or whatever label you wanted to use to explain the mysteries of the galaxy. That was certainly part of the connection, but having a truebond was also a choice —and Esmina had made a very cruel choice indeed.

Leland swiped through some screens on his tablet. Micah's bloody, broken body vanished, replaced by current photos of Esmina, but these shots had all been taken from a distance through security cameras.

"After she killed Micah, Esmina fled from the city," Aldrich continued. "The House Collier Hammers chased after her . . ."

"But she was always one step ahead of us," Rigel said, his voice a low, angry growl. He glared at the images of Esmina, and his fingers twitched, as though he wanted to strangle the holograms.

Aldrich nodded. "Eventually, we received reports Esmina had developed a new ability that let her see danger coming before it actually reached her."

His words made the gears grind in my mind, and once again I could see how it all worked and just what kind of magic Esmina had. She was a seer like me—and so much more .

"Precognition," I said, looking at Kyrion. "Esmina can see things before they happen. That's why she retreated on Tropics 44. She knew you were coming to help me and that we would kill the bounty hunters."

Kyrion frowned again. "Precogs are extremely rare, and the number of visions they have often overwhelms them and drives them mad. How has Esmina managed to control her power?"

"We don't know," Verona replied. "For the most part, Esmina steers clear of Sygnustern, as there are still warrants out for her arrest. This is the first confirmed sighting of her on-planet in more than three years."

Asterin stared at the holograms. "So whatever Esmina is planning, it's important enough to risk returning here and being captured by the Hammers."

"Or someone is paying her enough credits to take the risk," Siya muttered.

The two women shared a look. They were now standing shoulder to shoulder, but for once, they didn't move away from each other.

"What about Pollux?" Kyrion asked. "How does he fit in?"

Leland flicked his fingers. More images appeared, showing a younger version of Pollux, grinning wide, clutching two war hammers, and standing with a group of people wielding similar weapons.

"Pollux was a Hammer," Kyrion muttered.

"One of the best Hammers in all the Erzton Houses. I trained him myself." Rigel's lips curled back in disgust, and his fingers twitched again as he glared at his former pupil. "Pollux and his sister, Derissa, were in a transport crash, and they were trapped for more than a day before they were pulled from the wreckage. During that time, Pollux and his sister each formed their own truebond with two other survivors."

"Let me guess," Kyrion said. "Pollux killed the person he was bonded to and absorbed their power just like Esmina did to Micah."

Rigel jerked his head in confirmation. "Pollux was friends with Esmina. We think she told him how to do it, and he fled with her."

Siya drifted over to Rigel's side in a silent show of support.

"Eventually, Esmina and Pollux started hiring themselves out as mercenaries," Rigel continued. "And they've bloody excelled at it. Thanks to Serpens Corp, they have enough credits, weapons, men, and resources to go anywhere and do anything they want."

"So why have they returned to Sygnustern?" Asterin asked. "Why now? They couldn't have possibly known Vesper and I would be at the shipping yard. Not even a precog could see that far into the future . . . could they?"

Her words triggered a memory in my mind. "Asterin is right. Esmina was surprised to see me. She didn't realize I was at the shipping yard, at least not until I dropped the magnet on the mercs' transport . . ."

Kyrion finished my thought. "Which means Esmina and Pollux were there to steal from House Collier first and foremost. Why steal from your House? Surely there are other mineral exchanges that aren't as well fortified and heavily guarded."

Aldrich cleared his throat. "Thanks to Serpens Corp, Esmina has become quite wealthy and powerful. Our spies have heard rumors she wishes to return to Sygnustern and use Serpens Corp to establish her own House."

Asterin frowned. "But Erzton law dictates there can only be a certain number of major Houses. How could Esmina establish her own House without usurping one of the established Houses? Without destroying . . ."

"Without destroying our House?" Siya answered the question in a flat voice. "She can't."

A tense, heavy silence filled the library, and worry crackled through the air.

"So Esmina wants to destroy House Collier and replace it with her own House." Kyrion glanced at Rigel. "Well, that certainly explains all the guards on the estate."

Rigel grunted in response.

Asterin turned to Verona. "Mother, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Perhaps if you'd come home once in a while instead of gallivanting around the galaxy chasing ghosts, you would be more up to date on House Collier enemies," Siya replied in a sarcastic voice.

Asterin's eyes glittered with anger. She opened her mouth, but Verona shook her head. Asterin swallowed her harsh words, but she kept glaring at Siya.

Leland delicately cleared his throat. "My lord, perhaps we should cancel tonight's event. The gossipcasts have already gotten wind that something happened at the shipping yard. I've been spinning the story as an industrial accident, but the reporters won't stop digging until they uncover the truth. Stories about Serpens Corp mercenaries breaking into the House Collier mineral exchange will only embolden Esmina and her supporters among the other Houses."

Aldrich squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. "All the more reason we should proceed as though nothing is wrong. Besides, Verona put a lot of time and effort into the marriage mart, and I don't want it to have been for nothing."

"Oh, no," Siya piped up again. "We wouldn't want to scare off any of Asterin's potential husbands."

Asterin shot her stepsister another angry look.

"Enough!" Aldrich barked out. "You both know tonight's event is a tradition, one that House Collier is honored to host this social season." He looked at Kyrion and me, cold calculation sparking in his gaze. "The two of you are more than welcome to attend."

Leland blinked in surprise. "My lord, are you sure that's wise?"

Aldrich waved his hand, dismissing his chief of staff's concerns. "As I said, we need to proceed as though nothing is wrong. Besides, having Lady Vesper and Lord Kyrion attend will give the gossipcasts something else to focus on besides what happened at the shipping yard."

My eyes narrowed. "You want to use us as a distraction while you search for Esmina and Pollux."

Aldrich nodded. "Absolutely."

"Bloody Erzton games are just as bad as Regal ones," Kyrion muttered.

Verona gave us a deceptively bright smile. "I was hoping you would attend the marriage mart as our honored guests, so I already made the preparations. You will find appropriate clothes and everything else you need in your suite."

Kyrion crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't want to attend the Erzton event. Neither did I, but we were at our hosts' mercy. I would much rather play along with the Colliers and return to the relative safety of their estate than go on the run again. Besides, if an Erzton ball was anything like a Regal one, then everyone would be gossiping about everyone else, and I wanted to see what information we might discover about Esmina and Pollux and their feud with House Collier.

Leland cleared his throat again. "We need to discuss a few final details about the marriage mart, and I'm sure Siya and Rigel would like to update the security plan."

Verona turned her bright smile to her daughter. "Asterin, I sent some things to your suite too. You should go get ready."

Asterin stiffened, but she tipped her head to her mother, then stalked out of the library. Kyrion and I followed her. None of us spoke as we left the main castle and headed toward the guest wing, but thoughts swirled through my mind like a kaleidoscope shifting from one enemy to another.

I'd thought Callus Holloway was the most dangerous psion in the galaxy, but Esmina Reston had the full power of a truebond running through her veins. She had all the strengths and none of the vulnerabilities of being connected to another person. Plus, she'd had years to learn how to wield her magic. So had Pollux.

I couldn't see as far and as clearly into the future as the other seer could, but dread vibrated through me that Esmina and Pollux were going to be the death of me and Kyrion.