CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

VESPER

T he Hammers were busy getting ready to go after Esmina and Pollux, while the House Collier guards and servants were still assessing the damage and cleaning up the mess from the mercenaries' attack. Everyone was distracted, and it was surprisingly easy for Zane and me to sneak into the transport garage. I hot-wired a hoverbike, which he insisted on driving. My big brother had some deep-seated control issues.

Gossipcasters had already gathered at the end of the drawbridge, so Zane steered the hoverbike into the woods and skirted around the cameras. No one saw us, and we went down the mountain and made it back to the city without any problems.

Zane maneuvered the bike into an alley, then stopped. "Now what? Do you know where you're really supposed to meet Esmina? Because she's obviously not going to be at the geotagged location she gave to the Colliers."

I might have been forced to let Zane come with me, but this was the moment when things got serious, and I had to decide whether to trust my brother—or not.

But once again, I didn't have a choice. Not when Kyrion's life was in danger. And maybe it was weird, but part of me wanted to trust Zane. I wanted to believe in someone and be proven right for once in my life, instead of Nerezza always proving me wrong.

"You're right. The meeting location Esmina sent the Colliers is a distraction, a way to get rid of the Hammers, so she can get what she really wants." I gestured at the weapon slung across Zane's back. "Esmina has been after the Techwave cannon all along, so I'm going to give it to her."

Zane's eyebrows shot up. "Earlier in Aldrich's library, you said you didn't know how to fix the cannon."

"I still don't know how to fix it, not exactly, but I have to try—or Kyrion is dead."

We left the House Collier hoverbike in the alley. This time, I took the lead, and we moved from one street to another until we reached the antiques emporium. I skirted around the emerald-green dome, and a few minutes later, we reached the street where Asterin's workshop was located.

No guards were posted outside, but the door was cracked open.

Zane noticed it too, and we both drew our stormswords. His blade shimmered like an icy moon, while mine blazed with dark blue fire. Zane nodded at me, and I yanked the door back so he could rush into the workshop. I barreled in behind him into the dark space—

A light snapped on. Zane and I both spun in that direction. A shadowy figure was sitting at a table, a silver blaster glinting in their hand.

Zane stepped in front of me and lifted his sword. "Who are you?"

The figure got to their feet and stepped into the light. Asterin grinned at Zane, her silver eyes bright and her blaster leveled at his chest. "I'm really starting to enjoy meeting like this."

"You just want to shoot me," he countered.

"Absolutely," she agreed.

The two of them stared at each other for several long, tense seconds. Then Asterin huffed out a breath and lowered her blaster.

"Maybe one day I will actually get to shoot you," she said.

Zane's head tilted to the side, and a bit of magic sparked in his eyes. "Perhaps you will. But today is not that day."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

Asterin shrugged. "I spotted you climbing out of your suite. I knew you would come here to try to figure out how to fix the Techwave cannon, and I want to help."

"But what about your mother and stepfather?"

"Verona and Aldrich are wrong to shut you out, Vesper. Esmina is obviously setting a trap for the Hammers, even if Siya and Rigel are too stubborn to admit it." Asterin's face softened. "Besides, I know how much you care about Kyrion, and not just because of the truebond."

She was right. Ever since Kyrion had been taken, I hadn't given the bond one blasted thought. His magic and the bond and our combined power didn't matter to me. Not really. No, I loved Kyrion Caldaren for himself— for the caring, considerate person he was, for all the ways he listened, supported, and comforted me when I needed it most.

Deep down, I had known the truth for a while, but I hadn't wanted to admit it. I hadn't wanted to give Kyrion the ability to break my heart the way Nerezza had so many times in the past. For as much as I trusted Kyrion, I hadn't trusted myself .

Nerezza had abandoned me, and Beatrice had ignored me. If my own mother and grandmother wouldn't—or couldn't—love me, then who in the galaxy ever would? But over the past few days, I'd realized loving someone was a choice. I wasn't being influenced by the truebond. Not in the slightest. Even if the bond and our psion power and all the rest of it vanished, I would still feel the exact same way about Kyrion. It was a choice—my true choice—to love Kyrion, and it was the easiest decision I'd ever made.

Zane's eyes narrowed, as if he could hear my whispered thoughts with his telepathy. "You actually love the broody bastard, don't you?"

"With all my heart."

I should have told Kyrion that I loved him and wanted to be with him no matter what dangers the galaxy threw at us. But once again, all my old issues with Nerezza—and my new ones with the Zimmers—had held me back. Well, no more. I was going to save Kyrion, and then I was going to tell him exactly how I felt.

But first, I had to give Esmina what she wanted, so I turned to Zane. "Hand over the Techwave cannon."

"You've only been my sister for a few weeks, and you're already making demands of me? Typical for a Zimmer." Zane let out a long, loud, dramatic sigh, but my brother's lips quirked up into a smile as he slid the cannon off his back and passed it over to me.

Strangely enough, I was smiling too.

M y mind and especially my heart were still churning with worry, dread, and fear about everything that could go wrong. The Colliers realizing what I was doing. Siya, Rigel, and the other Hammers storming into the workshop. Esmina growing impatient and killing Kyrion before I figured out how to fix the cannon.

But worries were as useless as wishes, as Liesl used to say, so I laid the weapon on a holoscreen. I also fished Kyrion's stormsword out of my duffel bag and set it on another table. Then I got to work.

The first thing I did was set an alarm on my tablet, counting down the time until Esmina's deadline. I had roughly three hours to fix the Techwave cannon and figure out how to defeat the mercenaries.

No pressure.

I pulled up all the 3D scans of the cannon I'd made over the past few weeks, along with the failed simulations Wendell and I had run earlier today. Asterin pulled up her own notes and experiments on another holoscreen, but no matter what calculations we tried, the simulations kept failing, and the cannon kept overheating.

Zane leaned his hip against another table, swiping through holograms. Asterin had reluctantly given him access to the House Collier archives, and he was studying images and blueprints of the Stardrop Falls mining museum.

"This place is a death trap," he grumbled. "Esmina and Pollux could have multiple squads of mercenaries tucked away on the various levels, or even hiding in the bloody gift shop, and we won't know until we stumble right into the middle of them."

I rubbed my aching head, staring at yet another failed simulation. "You're not helping."

"Just making an observation. I don't want the two of you to blame me later for not adequately mentioning the absurd amount of danger we are putting ourselves in."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll have plenty of other reasons to blame you," Asterin muttered, swiping through her own failed simulation at another table.

Zane rolled his eyes, but he went back to plotting how we could best slip into the museum. I focused on the cannon again.

Back on the Dream World , I had fixed the Techwave cannon enough so that it would fire, so long as the user popped in a new solar magazine on a regular basis. Rigel had confiscated that cannon from my suite, but he, Siya, and the Colliers didn't know about the solar magazines, so that cannon wouldn't work for more than a few blasts.

Asterin and I still thought sapphsidian was the key to stabilizing the cannon, so I rummaged through my duffel bag and pulled out the chunk of sapphsidian I'd taken from the dead Serpens Corp mercenary during the attack on the mineral exchange. I hadn't had any sapphsidian to work with on the Dream World , so I hadn't been able to properly test my theory.

I handed the chunk of sapphsidian to Asterin, who used a laser cutter to slice it into smaller, usable pieces. Once that was done, I threaded a few tiny bits of sapphsidian onto the solar wiring in the cannon's magazine. I ran one simulation after another, adding different amounts of sapphsidian to the lunarium and solar wiring, but nothing worked, and the cannon kept overheating.

Frustrated, I swiped away the latest failed simulation and started pacing through the workshop.

"Our father does the same thing whenever he runs up against a tricky problem in his lab," Zane said. "Some of the similarities between the two of you are rather uncanny."

I shot him an aggravated look and kept pacing.

"On the bright side, if we fail to rescue Kyrion, I'm calling dibs on his stormsword," Zane said, tracing his finger along the blade, which was still lying on a table. "I've always wanted a second weapon."

A snarl rose in my throat, but before I could tell him to stop coveting Kyrion's sword, Zane turned the blade to the side. The bright workshop lights hit the large arrow-shaped sapphsidian jewel in the hilt, making it wink at me like a mocking eye.

My own eyes narrowed, and my gaze darted over to the stormsword belted to Zane's waist. It too featured sapphsidian jewels, just like my own sword did.

"Give me that." I snatched Kyrion's sword away from Zane, then held out my other hand. "And your sword too."

Zane grumbled, but he passed me his weapon. I laid all three stormswords on a holoscreen and made 3D scans of them. Then I studied the resulting holograms, which listed the parts, pieces, and components of the three weapons. The swords were all slightly different shapes and sizes, but they all had one thing in common: the ratio of sapphsidian to lunarium was exactly the same.

Of course. I could have smacked myself for not seeing it sooner. I'd literally been carrying the answer around on my belt this whole time.

"Vesper?" Asterin asked. "What have you figured out?"

"I'm not sure yet," I replied in a distracted voice.

I was dimly aware of Asterin coming over to stand beside me, with Zane hovering on my other side. I quickly assembled a new magazine, adding what I thought was the correct amount of sapphsidian to the lunarium and solar wiring. Now came the moment of truth.

I laid the magazine on the holoscreen, hit some buttons, and ran the same simulation I'd performed a dozen times before.

Testing . . . testing . . . testing . . .

The holoscreen repeated the words over and over again. I clutched the edge of the table, my breath stuck in my throat.

"How long is this going to take?" Zane asked.

"Shh!" Asterin replied.

Zane shot her a dirty look, but he fell silent. The holoscreen flickered once, twice, three times . . .

Testing complete. Simulation successful. Predicted rate of success is 98.3 percent.

I pumped my fist in the air in triumph.

"You did it," Asterin whispered. "You figured out how to fix the cannon. Way to go, Vesper!"

She held her hand up, and I gave her a high five. But my triumph quickly faded away, and my arm plummeted to my side. "It's just a simulation. It would still need to be rigorously tested before the cannon could be mass-produced."

"But?" Zane asked.

I blew out a breath. "But we still don't know what Esmina and Pollux want with the weapon."

"You mean besides destroying House Collier?" Asterin muttered.

"Tearing down House Collier and replacing it with her own House is one of Esmina's goals, but I still feel like something else is going on. Like there's some other player in this game we don't know about. Someone had to tell Esmina about the cannon in the first place."

Zane leaned an elbow down on the table. "Like the Techwave? Perhaps Esmina and Pollux are working for General Orion Ocnus. I'm sure he'd love to get his hands on you."

Asterin shook her head. "If the Techwave were involved, General Ocnus would have sent Black Scarabs to attack the estate, just like he did to my lunarium mine on Tropics 33. Not common mercenaries."

"There was nothing common about those mercenaries," Zane replied. "They were some of the best fighters I've ever seen. If Esmina and Pollux are working for someone, that person must have credits to burn, especially given all the attacks the mercs have launched over the last few days."

His words made me think back over everything that had happened. Esmina and Pollux had tried to kidnap me on Tropics 44, but Kyrion had stopped them. Two days later, they broke into the Collier mineral exchange to steal gemstones to try to fix the Techwave cannon themselves. Trying to capture me again in the shipping yard had been a last-minute addition after I'd destroyed their transport. And finally, earlier today, the mercenaries had stormed the Collier estate with the goal of kidnapping Kyrion, to make me fix the cannon and deliver it to them, and they had succeeded.

Those were all logical, rational steps—for someone who knew I might be able to fix the weapon. But Asterin was right too. There had been no sign of Black Scarabs, and I couldn't imagine General Ocnus sending anyone but his own troops after Kyrion and me.

Who else knew the Techwave cannons were faulty? Who else would want to use the weapons against their enemies? I felt like the answer was right in front of me, but I couldn't quite see it—and I desperately needed to see it if I had any chance of saving Kyrion.

My hands moved over the stormswords, sliding the weapons back and forth in time to my turbulent thoughts. I found myself studying Zane's sword, which featured tiny Z s representing House Zimmer. The same sigil adorned the pommel of my own sword.

I traced the symbol with my index finger, my skin sinking into the grooves in the silver. For months, I'd thought the sigil was an N and an unfortunate reminder that Nerezza was my mother, but I supposed the hard truth was the symbol represented both halves of my family, for better or worse.

"Vesper?" Asterin asked. "What are you going to do?"

I dropped my hand from my sword. "No idea. I fixed the cannon to have something to bargain with, but I can't just hand it over to Esmina and Pollux."

"Not even to save Kyrion?" Zane asked.

Tears pricked my eyes, and my heart squeezed tight. "No, not even to save Kyrion. Esmina and Pollux will use the weapon to hurt— kill —more innocent people. We all saw what they did at the estate with standard weapons. If Esmina and Pollux give the Techwave cannons to their men, there will be no stopping them."

A tense silence dropped over the workshop as we all contemplated that horrible possibility.

Someone cleared their throat. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance."

Asterin drew the blaster from her belt, while Zane and I grabbed our stormswords. We all whirled around, weapons up.

Wendell froze, his eyes wide as he looked at first one weapon, then another.

I hissed out a breath, lowered my sword, and set it back down on the table. "How did you find us?"

Zane cursed and glanced down at his jacket. "You planted a tracker in one of my buttons? Again?"

Wendell bobbed his head. "I thought it prudent with everything that was going on."

Zane let out a rueful laugh, then glanced over at me. "Our father likes to keep an eye on things, even if that means planting his own spy gadgets on family members."

"I wouldn't have to resort to such extreme measures if my children weren't so determined to always sprint headlong into danger," Wendell quipped.

My children. He said the words naturally, without hesitation, as if he'd known he had two children his entire life. My heart squeezed. I'd come so close to losing Wendell when the mercenary had tried to kill him at the estate . . .

Wait. Why had the mercenary tried to kill Wendell? He was a well-regarded spelltech. If anything, the merc should have tried to kidnap Wendell in the hope that he might be able to fix the Techwave cannon in case I couldn't. But the merc had said he would get a bonus for taking out Wendell, so who would want my father dead? And why now?

I chewed my lip and tapped my fingers on the edge of the table hard enough to make my stormsword vibrate with the motion. The sigil on the pommel glinted in the light, while the sapphsidian eyes in the hilt winked at me . . .

I froze, my fingers stuttering to a halt, although a sick realization bloomed in my mind. I'd been right before. There was another player in this deadly game. Of course. I should have realized who it was before. Maybe I would have if I hadn't been so busy trying to escape Esmina's traps.

A bitter laugh spewed from my lips. Then another one . . . then another one . . . The loud, harsh sounds startled Asterin, Zane, and Wendell, who all exchanged worried glances.

"Vesper?" Wendell asked. "What's wrong?"

My laughter finally died down. I opened my mouth to tell him what I'd figured out, but at the last second, I clamped my lips shut. The information would only hurt his feelings, which was the last thing I wanted to do right now.

"Everything's wrong," I muttered.

"Well, I'm here now," Wendell said in a gentle voice. "Perhaps we can figure out a solution together. How can I help?"

Once again, my heart squeezed at his words, but I hesitated. I still wasn't sure if I could fully trust Zane and Wendell, especially with a weapon that could so greatly benefit House Zimmer, but Zane had already seen me fix the cannon, and Wendell was bound to figure out how to do the same thing. So I showed Wendell the lunarium and solar wiring inside the magazine and explained how adding the right amount of sapphsidian was the key to stabilizing the cannon's power source.

His face brightened. "Of course! I should have thought of that myself, especially given all the stormswords I've examined over the years."

"But now I have another problem. I can't give the cannon to Esmina and Pollux."

Or their partner in crime, although I didn't mention that. I needed some time to think about the person pulling the mercenaries' strings—and figure out how I could use the information to my advantage.

Wendell's gaze flicked over to the cannon, then up to the holograms still hovering in the air. "You're wrong, Vesper. You can give the cannon to Esmina and Pollux."

"What do you mean?"

He stabbed his finger at my last simulation, the one that had finally been successful. "You give the weapon to them—and then you take it away."

Wendell swiped his fingers through the hologram, removing the sapphsidian pieces and leaving behind the original magazine—the one that would only fire a few times before it overheated and fried the cannon.

"You could even add a little something extra to the cannon." He tapped some keys, running another simulation that had a very interesting result.

Asterin nodded. "That's brilliant."

Wendell shrugged. "I have my moments. If Vesper thinks it will work? It is her design."

"Asterin's right," I replied. "It's brilliant."

A sly grin spread across my father's face, and I found myself grinning back at him.

"I hate to break up the father-daughter bonding moment, but we have another problem," Zane said. "Esmina and Pollux will let Vesper walk right into the mining museum, but they won't be so kind to Asterin and me. The mercs will shoot us on sight."

Wendell squared his shoulders. "I'm coming too."

" No ," Zane and I replied in unison.

The two of us looked at each other, then Zane focused on Wendell. "You've done your part, Father," he said. "Fixing things is what you do best. Well, fighting is what I do best, so leave it to me."

After a few seconds, Wendell gave a reluctant nod.

"Zane is right," Asterin chimed in. "We need to find some way to sneak into the museum, but how? The mercenaries are sure to have the latest scanners and equipment."

"Actually, I have an idea about that." Zane pulled up his jacket and shirtsleeve, revealing a wide silver band circling his left wrist.

My eyes narrowed. "Is that Jorge Rojillo's temperature-shielding wristwatch? How did you get one of those?"

"I stole it," Zane replied in a cheerful voice. "Lord Jorge tossed it across his workshop in a fit of temper the night of the summer solstice, and I thought it might come in handy."

Asterin frowned. "How will climate-control tech help us sneak past the mercenaries?"

Zane grinned at her. "I'm glad you asked, although you just answered your own question."

Asterin and Wendell exchanged confused looks, but the longer I stared at the wristwatch, the more my mind started to churn. Suddenly, I could see exactly what Zane was talking about.

"The watch lets the wearer set the ambient air to their preferred temperature," I said. "But if you set it to the actual air temperature, then a scanner would just read you as a blank space—not a person with body heat that would ping thermal imaging."

Zane shot his thumb and forefinger at me. "Exactly."

Grudging admiration filled me. "You really are quite clever."

"I have my moments." Zane repeated his father's words, then pointed at another table. "And I also spy another one of Lord Jorge's devices right over there. Your handiwork, I presume, my lady?"

"Actually, it was a team effort," Asterin replied. "I made the watch, but Vesper modified and improved it. Here, let me show you."

She strapped the watch around her wrist, then turned the knob on the side, making sparks of electricity zing out of the device. Zane jerked back to keep his eyebrows from getting singed off. He scowled at Asterin, who gave him an innocent smile in return.

Beep-beep.

An alarm blared out of my tablet, startling us all.

I shut it off, although my stomach quickly tied itself into worried knots. "We have an hour to get to the museum."

Asterin nodded. "Then we need to gear up."

She started grabbing blasters and other weapons from the racks on the walls. Zane and Wendell helped her, but I stayed where I was. My gaze dropped to Kyrion's stormsword, and I traced my fingers over the large sapphsidian arrow embedded in the silver hilt.

"I'm going to save you," I whispered.

Maybe it was my imagination, but the arrow glittered brightly for a moment, almost as if Kyrion could hear me through our bond. I added his sword to my weapons belt, then headed over to help the others get ready.