CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

VESPER

M ore Hammers arrived, along with Aldrich and Verona. The Hammers secured the scene, making sure all the Serpens Corp mercenaries were dead, along with Pollux and Esmina. There was no sign of Nerezza, but that didn't surprise me. She had more lives than a cockroach, and she always managed to scurry away when the fighting started, even when she was the cause of it.

Eventually, Kyrion, Asterin, Zane, and I were escorted back to the Collier estate. Beatrice was seated in a chair in Aldrich's library, while Wendell was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace.

"Thank the stars!" Wendell said.

He rushed forward and enveloped Zane in a tight, bone-crushing hug. Then, to my surprise, he did the same thing to me. I just stood there, my mouth gaping, my eyes wide, my arms hanging limply by my sides.

I glanced over at Zane, who rolled his eyes. Have you never been hugged before?

The uncomfortable truth was that yes, I never had been hugged before. Not by a parent.

Zane's face softened with understanding. Well, don't ruin the moment. Hug him back, you idiot.

I glared at him over Wendell's shoulder, but my arms crept up, and I returned my father's hug. It felt . . . nice, safe, comforting. Everything I had always thought a father's embrace would be. Everything that had always been missing my entire life. Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away.

Wendell hugged me a second time, and I glanced over at Beatrice, who nodded at me. After a moment, I returned the gesture, my chin scraping against my father's shoulder. I still didn't know how I felt about Beatrice, but I could at least be civil to her for Wendell's sake.

"Sorry," Wendell said, clearing his throat and dropping his arms. "I didn't mean for that to go on quite so long."

Zane clapped his father on the back. "It's okay, Father. I think Vesper has realized you're a hugger."

An embarrassed blush tinted Wendell's cheeks a bright pink, but a grin crept across his face.

"At least some of us are getting hugged," Zane added in a low voice only Wendell and I could hear.

I followed his gaze across the library. Verona was clasping Asterin's hands, but her eyes were cool, and her face was unreadable. Aldrich was staring at his stepdaughter, a tense line creasing his forehead. Guilt spiked through me. The last thing I had wanted was to cause any friction between Asterin and her family.

I glanced at Kyrion, who nodded back. Together we went over to the Colliers. Verona dropped Asterin's hands and stepped back beside her husband. Aldrich regarded us both with an icy expression.

I squared my shoulders. I wasn't going to apologize for going after Kyrion. I would have done the same thing again right this very second. But I could at least try to smooth things over for Asterin.

"You should know that Asterin found me in her workshop trying to fix the Techwave cannon. She tried to stop me, tried to get me to call the Hammers and tell them what I was doing, but I refused. I forced her to let me go to the cavern."

Zane stepped up beside me. "And I helped. I trussed up Asterin like a ham just waiting to be baked for winter solstice dinner and dragged her along with us."

Asterin glared at him, her left eye twitching in obvious fury, but she didn't refute his lies.

"Is this really true?" Aldrich stared at me. "Or is it just a convenient story?"

"More or less," I replied. "I'm happy to give you all the details about how Zane and I snuck out of our suites and off the estate."

Zane snapped his fingers. "And we should tell them where we stashed their hoverbike. The one you hot-wired and I drove right out of their transport garage."

Siya sucked in a breath and opened her mouth, but Rigel touched her arm and shook his head, and she swallowed her angry words.

Aldrich kept staring at me, and I looked right back at him.

"I don't approve of your reckless actions," he said in a stern voice. "You disobeyed your host's orders, escaped from custody, stole House Collier property, and commandeered House Collier resources."

"But . . ." Verona prompted in a gentle voice.

Aldrich blew out a breath. "But House Collier owes you a great debt. Without you confronting Esmina and Pollux, we never would have found their base and realized just how close they were to launching another attack."

The Erzton lord didn't say anything else, and that was as close to an apology as I was getting. I was okay with that. I was alive, and so were Kyrion, Zane, and Asterin, and that was all I cared about right now.

Aldrich gestured over at a couple of chairs close to his desk. "I'd like to debrief you both. We already have teams combing through what's left of the cavern, but I want to know everything Esmina and Pollux said. They might have had other allies we don't know about."

I looked at Kyrion, who nodded. Together we stepped forward and sat down.

K yrion and I told Aldrich, Verona, and the others everything that had happened. While we talked, Hammers, guards, and servants came and went, bringing updates along with them, as well as food, drinks, and more skinbonds.

By the time we were done, it was well past midnight, and yet I wasn't tired. Maybe it was funny, but everything that had happened made me feel more alive than ever before. One by one, the others left the library to get some sleep, although Aldrich and Verona remained behind.

Kyrion and I were the last to leave, and on our way out of the library, Verona stopped me and touched my arm. Kyrion raised his eyebrows in a silent question, and I nodded, telling him to go ahead. He strode down the corridor, leaving me alone with Verona.

"Congratulations," she said. "You and Kyrion solidified your bond."

I blinked. I hadn't thought about the bond in hours, not since Kyrion had used his telekinesis to fish me out of the chasm, along with Zane's help. But Verona was right. The bond felt different now—stronger and sturdier—and Kyrion's magic and mine flowed alongside each other like twin streams of power in a way they never had before. Somehow I knew I could dip my hands into his stream of power and use it just as easily as I could use my own seer magic.

"Did you know what was wrong with us? How we were both so worried about letting the other person down that it was interfering with the bond?"

"I suspected as much. Aldrich and I had a similar problem when we bonded. But our problem wasn't worry." A shadow passed over Verona's face. "It was guilt."

"Because you were both moving on and finding happiness again?"

She nodded, her hands twisting together. "I felt so much guilt over Urston's death, and Aldrich felt the same about Opal. It impacted our bond for a long, long time. And of course, it still impacts other people to this day."

I knew she was talking about Asterin and Siya, but I didn't say anything.

Verona's hands stilled. "But we can't live our lives in the past. We only have the present and the future we hope to make for ourselves. Once Aldrich and I accepted that, our bond finally solidified." She looked at me with a serious expression. "Just because you are part of a truebond, even one as strong as yours and Kyrion's, doesn't mean you stop being an individual person or that all your fears, worries, and guilt vanish."

"Then what does it mean?"

"A true partner makes your strengths stronger and your weaknesses easier to manage." A genuine smile lit up her face. "And whatever else you want it to mean. You'll figure it out, Vesper."

I nodded. "With Kyrion. Together. Tried and true."

"Tried and true," she echoed, then slipped into the library and shut the door.

Still thinking about Verona's words, I went through an archway and stepped onto a bridge that connected the main castle to the guest wing. To my surprise, Zane was standing in the shadows and leaning against the railing. I glanced down, wondering what had caught his attention.

In the garden below, Siya and Asterin were facing off, their arms crossed over their chests. Their heated voices drifted up to me.

" . . . can't believe you did something so reckless . . ."

" . . . Vesper and Kyrion needed my help . . ."

" . . . you put House Collier at risk . . ."

" . . . I helped save House Collier . . ."

I walked over and stepped into the shadows with Zane. "I never took you for an eavesdropper."

Zane straightened up and let out a low, rumbling laugh. "Oh, my dear sister, I wouldn't learn anything or be privy to such juicy gossip if I didn't eavesdrop. Why, eavesdropping is a skill every Regal develops practically as soon as they can walk. We really must expand your education. We have a lot of work to do to catch you up on everything you've missed while you've been away from House Zimmer."

His tone was breezy, but a serious undercurrent rippled through his words. My heart squeezed with longing.

"Is that what you want? For me to actually become part of House Zimmer?" I paused. "Even though it's already crystal clear I will be Wendell's favorite?"

"Teasing me already? How delightful! I've been the favorite for the last thirty-eight years. I think I can share the spotlight with you." He paused. "For a while. Until I decide to take back the favorite-child crown."

Even though I was the one who'd started the teasing, an exasperated huff escaped from my lips. "Can you never be serious?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

I tried again. "I felt your magic in the cavern. You used your telekinesis to help Kyrion haul me up out of the chasm. He wouldn't have been able to do it by himself. You saved my life, Zane."

He shifted on his feet. "Yes, well, you'd gone to so much trouble to kill Esmina. It seemed a shame to let you plummet to your death after all that bloody effort."

"You can't even say it, can you?"

"What?"

"That you were concerned about me." I poked my finger into his shoulder. "That you, Zane Zimmer, actually like the idea of being a big brother and having me for a sister."

He arched an eyebrow in a challenging look, then poked me right back in my own shoulder. "That depends. Can you say it?"

"Say what?"

His eyebrow arched even higher. "That you were just as concerned about me as you were about Kyrion when we were fighting Pollux. That you would have been devastated if I had been killed."

I hesitated. Despite everything that had happened, all my old fears arose once again, but this time, I swatted them aside. Verona was right. We only had the present to live in, and I was done letting Nerezza's cruel actions dictate anything about my life. In the cavern, I had trusted my magic, and now it was time to trust my instincts about Zane.

"I know what you did for me and Kyrion the day of the midnight ball," I said in a soft voice. "I saw it all from your point of view in my mindscape."

His lips puckered in a sour expression. "Bloody seer magic. Seems you have a much easier way to eavesdrop than I do."

"Kyrion and I wouldn't have reached each other in the throne room if not for you. Kyrion and I wouldn't have been able to unleash our truebond magic, and we wouldn't have escaped from Crownpoint. We would still be sitting in a cell, forced to let Holloway take our power." I shuddered. "I saw that future too, and it was more horrible than I ever imagined. So thank you, Zane, for saving us."

He didn't say anything, but emotions flickered in his pale eyes. Wariness, worry, and just the faintest bit of hope. That spark of hope ignited the one that had been flickering in my chest ever since I'd learned that Zane was my brother, and for the first time, I let it ignite into a flame of caring.

"When I was a kid, especially after Nerezza abandoned me, I would daydream about what my father was like, what his family was like. But in all my daydreams, I never thought I would have a brother like you."

"Like me?" Zane asked in a guarded voice.

"Someone so cocky and arrogant and overall infuriating."

He nodded. "Those are some of my best qualities."

"And someone so fierce and loyal and devoted to his family." I had to stop and swallow the knot of emotion in my throat. "Even the sister he never even realized he had until a few weeks ago."

Zane blinked, as if he was having trouble understanding my words. He opened his mouth, but I shook my head and cut him off.

"Don't ruin the moment. Hug me, you idiot."

He blinked again, then stepped forward and slowly, tentatively put his arms around me. I hugged him back just as tightly as Wendell had hugged me.

We stayed like that for several seconds, then broke apart. Zane cleared his throat. I did the same and swiped a tear out of the corner of my eye.

Then Zane's face brightened, and he slung his arm across my shoulders as though he'd been doing it for years. "Well, now that we've got all those pesky emotions out of the way, the first thing we need to talk about is your horrid taste in men. Kyrion Caldaren? Really, sis? You couldn't pick someone more suitable?" He shook his head. "I've been stuck with that broody bastard my whole life, and now you've made him part of our family."

Our family. My heart squeezed tight. I loved the way that sounded, and as weird as it seemed, I loved Zane's teasing. In that instant, I felt like we had known each other our whole lives instead of just a few months.

I lightly jabbed my elbow into his side. "Well, if you want to talk about horrid taste, look no further than your shampoo commercial. Galactic Suds for Studs? Really, bro? I'm never going to forget the image of you bare-chested, splashing around in a bathtub surrounded by bubbles and rubber duckies."

Zane gave me a sour look, but it quickly melted into another arrogant smirk. "You wouldn't be making fun if you knew how many credits Galactic Suds paid me to hawk their product. And then, of course, there is the lifetime supply of shampoo . . ."

He proceeded to tell me exactly how many credits it was, along with all the other inane details of the commercial shoot and how he had already promised to do another one, this time for conditioner.

It was fantastic.

Z ane practically talked my ear off as we walked over to the guest wing. We finally went our separate ways, and I returned to my suite. Kyrion had already gotten cleaned up, and I did the same, taking a long, hot shower to wash away the grime, dust, and blood of the cavern fight.

The memories would be much harder to slough off. I would have nightmares about Esmina attacking me for a long, long time, but I would manage them—with Kyrion's help.

I got dressed, then went into the sitting room. Kyrion was standing beside a holoscreen, updating Daichi and Tivona on everything that had happened. A gossipcast was also flickering over the table, although Kyrion had muted the sound.

"What's your next move?" Daichi asked.

Kyrion shrugged. "Lord Aldrich has agreed to let us stay here as long as we like. We'll probably take a few days to regroup and see if we can find any trace of Nerezza."

"Do you think she died when her ship exploded?" Tivona asked.

My gaze flicked over to the gossipcast, which featured an excited reporter pointing at the sky, along with footage of a ship exploding into an orange fireball.

The news had broken while we'd been in Aldrich's library. A ship had taken off from a private spaceport at the edge of House Collier territory. Sixty seconds into flight, the ship had exploded in spectacular fashion, although it was unclear whether anyone had been on the transport. According to the gossipcast, the cause had yet to be determined, but I knew it was thanks to the bombs Esmina and Pollux had planted on board.

"Even if Nerezza survived, her scheme still failed," I replied. "She didn't get her hands on the Techwave cannon."

"No one did," Daichi replied in a dry tone. "Since you blew it up."

"Sometimes destruction is the best course of action," I quipped back.

Daichi rolled his eyes, while Tivona laughed.

Kyrion and I promised to check in with our friends again in the morning. We all signed off, although the news about the ship explosion kept playing on the holoscreen.

"Vesper?" Kyrion asked in a soft voice. "Are you okay?"

"No," I replied, jerking my chin at the footage. "If Nerezza was on that ship, then she's dead. I should feel relieved, but instead, I just feel . . . empty."

Kyrion wrapped his arms around me. "It's all right," he murmured. "It's all right."

I clung to him, resting my head on his shoulder and soaking up all the care and comfort he so freely offered. Behind him, the ship continued to burn on the holoscreen, and a few tears trickled down my cheeks. I wasn't sure if they were tears of relief that Nerezza might be out of my life for good—or tears of worry that she might come back and hurt me and Kyrion yet again.