CHAPTER FIVE

KYRION

I stepped out of the cargo bay, entered the long corridor that made up the center of the blitzer, and went to the flight deck at the front of the ship. I dropped into the pilot's seat, fired up the engines, and took off from the spaceport. A few minutes later, the Dream World was rocketing through space, on course for Sygnustern. No proximity alarms sounded, and no other ships were tracking us. Good.

I left the flight deck and headed into the kitchen. I put away the food Vesper had bought in the marketplace, then entered a room I'd turned into a miniature version of my library at Castle Caldaren. A large table stood in the center, while wooden cases flanked the walls, each shelf filled with real paper books, which Vesper loved to smell for some strange reason. Comfortable chairs were stuffed into the corners, and a window in the far wall offered a view of the glimmering stars in the distance.

I might be expecting the galaxy to take Vesper away, but until the worst happened, I was going to do my best to protect her, especially from Callus Holloway. The greedy bastard wanted to siphon off our truebond power and take it for his own, just as he'd done to my parents. Holloway had eventually taken too much of my mother's power, causing Desdemona's wasting sickness and death. My father, Chauncey, had gone mad with grief at the loss of my mother, and he had attacked me in a drunken rage, forcing me to kill him in self-defense.

Cold fury flooded my body, drowning out the faint echoes of Adria's mocking laughter. My inner monster roared with determination, and I slapped Vesper's ruined jacket and the Techwave cannon down onto the table hard enough to scatter some plastipaper schematics lying there.

We were not going to end up like my parents.

I waved my hand over the table, activating the embedded holoscreen. While it downloaded the battle footage from the camera in Vesper's jacket, I called up Celestial Stars , a popular gossipcast that covered the Imperium. I flicked through one story and video after another, tracking the sightings of the Arrows, but none of them were close to Tropics 44. A small but welcome favor. Right now, I would take every single favor and scrap of luck the galactic gods deigned to toss my way.

After I mapped out the Arrows' latest locations, I searched for information on another enemy: Nerezza Blackwell.

During the midnight ball, Vesper had outed Nerezza as a Techwave spy, thus ruining her mother's standing among the Regals. No one had seen Nerezza since she had fled from Corios, but according to the gossipcast reports, she had emptied out the House Blackwell accounts, which meant she had more than enough credits to go anywhere she wanted.

Since there was no news on Nerezza, I moved on to yet another enemy: the Techwave.

A few weeks ago, several of the Techwave's mechanized Black Scarabs had rampaged through the summer solstice celebration at Castle Rojillo in the Corios countryside. None of the Regals, servants, or guards had been killed, but a Techwaver named Silas had infiltrated the castle, stolen some temperature-shielding technology created by Lord Jorge Rojillo, and sent the data to General Orion Ocnus.

Asterin Armas, an Erzton lady, had been at the solstice celebration, along with Tivona Winslow and Leandra Ferrum, our other friends. Asterin had snuck into the main research-and-development lab inside the castle, and she had sent us copies of the temperature-shielding technology, which was designed for people to wear like an old-fashioned wristwatch to cool and heat the air around them. Vesper had studied the schematics, but so far, she hadn't figured out what the Techwave wanted with something so seemingly simple—or how they were planning to weaponize it.

I watched one gossipcast after another, but each theory was wilder than the last, and no one had any concrete intelligence about Nerezza or the Techwave. I let out a frustrated growl and swiped my hand across the holoscreen, cutting off the feeds.

A soft ding sounded. The battle footage from Vesper's jacket was ready, so I watched it, grimacing when Vesper was shot. The footage rewound and started playing again, but this time, I froze it, stuck my fingers into the hologram, and focused on Esmina and Pollux.

As an Arrow, I'd dealt with scores of terrorists and criminals, but neither one of them was familiar. I'd been taking cover behind a pile of junk, so I hadn't gotten a good look at the pair. My throwing a ball of explosives at them had been a lucky break—or perhaps an unlucky one, since it hadn't killed them.

I flicked my fingers, unfreezing the footage and studying how Esmina and Pollux moved, communicated, and attacked.

Pollux was obviously a psion like me, and I was willing to bet he also had strength and speed enhancements. You didn't carry around big, heavy weapons unless you had the skill to wield them to their fullest, deadliest potential.

I froze the footage again and zoomed in on one of his war hammers. Long hilt, flat head, spike on one side, razor-sharp edges all around. The lunarium weapon matched those used by the Hammers, the elite warriors of the Erzton, although Pollux's weapons were larger than normal. With his psion power and strength enhancements, bashing in skulls was child's play, and he could probably crack open a mountain with those hammers if he wanted to.

Being the head of the Arrows meant spying on the Hammers, but Pollux's face had never appeared on any rosters or missions I'd reviewed. Still, I was willing to bet he either had been part of the Hammers at one time or had been trained by the warriors. Either way, Pollux was just as dangerous with his war hammers as I was with my stormsword.

Next, I focused on Esmina, who was also obviously a psion. I couldn't figure out what powers she had, but she was definitely the leader, and thus more dangerous. An alpha warrior like Pollux wouldn't follow anyone who wasn't stronger than himself.

I watched the footage a few more times, but no more clues presented themselves. Two new enemies had just dropped out of the sky and landed on top of the mountain of people already chasing us. Terrific. Just bloody terrific.

I swiped my hand across the holoscreen, cutting off the battle footage. For several seconds, I glared at the empty air where the hologram had been. Then I raked a hand through my hair, exhaled, and bent down over the table.

I sent Daichi the footage, then straightened up. I needed to check on Vesper—

A soft ping sounded, then repeated itself in rapid succession.

Ping-ping-ping .

I glanced back down at the table, but the alert wasn't coming from the encrypted group channel that Vesper and I used with our friends. No, the pings were emanating from a channel used on an Arrow mission last year, and only one other person knew about it.

If I ignored the alert, the cocky bastard would just keep trying to make contact. He could be annoyingly persistent, so I waved my hand, activating the holoscreen again. I hit a few buttons, and a man popped into view.

Longish blond hair, ice-blue eyes, and skin that was somehow always perfectly tan, despite the amount of time he spent in the black void of space. An ice-blue jacket stretched across his broad shoulders, and the curlicued Z of House Zimmer was stitched on the fabric, right over his rotten heart, if he even possessed such an organ.

"Finally," Zane Zimmer drawled. "I was starting to think you were never going to answer."

I glowered at him, but Zane grinned, laced his hands behind his head, and leaned back in his chair.

I studied the hologram, but there wasn't much to see. Just Zane, a desk, a chair, and a small, round window in the background. I squinted. What were those flickers of light rushing by in the distance? I couldn't tell, but the Arrow wasn't in his tower library in Castle Zimmer on Corios.

"Nothing to say, Kyr?" Zane drawled again. "I didn't reach out just to watch you brood in stony silence."

Kyr. When Vesper called me that, it was a lovely endearment. Coming from Zane, it was a mocking curse.

"What do you want? Because I have far better things to do than listen to you crow at me."

Zane sniffed. "Please. I haven't even begun to crow at you yet."

"That's debatable."

He waved away my snarky words. "Pish-posh. We both know when I'm crowing, and this is not it." A sly smile split his lips. "Not yet, anyway."

My eyes narrowed. "Why do you look so smug?"

Zane's smile widened. "According to some people, namely you, I always look smug."

"Smug and annoying. Has anyone ever mentioned you have a very punchable face?"

"Frequently," he chirped. "And yet it's usually the other person who ends up getting punched."

"That's not what happened during the summer solstice attack. Hard to miss the giant black hole in your jacket from where that Techwaver shot you point-blank with a hand cannon."

Zane ran his hand down his jacket, right over the Z stitched into the fabric. His face remained calm, but his left eye twitched as if he found the reminder he'd almost died as unpleasant as I found the fact he'd managed to survive. "Yes, well, that Techie is dead, and I'm not, so I got the better end of that deal."

"Yes, well, from what I hear, the entire evening was an unmitigated disaster. Let me guess. Lady Halecia didn't want you to cut down any of her prize pink-star honeysuckle bushes, and Lord Jorge didn't implement any of your security suggestions, thus allowing the Techwavers' attack to succeed." I clucked my tongue in mock sympathy. "Such things wouldn't have happened if I was still the head of the Arrows."

Zane's eye twitched again. "True, but you threw away your position the night you and Vesper escaped from Crownpoint. I'm the head of the Arrows now, for better or worse."

"Oh, it's definitely for worse. I'm sure the Regals who attended the summer solstice ball would agree with me." I snapped my fingers. "Oh, wait. They have been agreeing with me. Loudly and repeatedly on the gossipcasts."

Zane's nostrils flared with anger, but he quickly smoothed out his features again. "Be that as it may, I'm calling to speak to my little sister. Where is Vesper?"

I stiffened. Of course he would call now , when Vesper had been injured. Sometimes I thought bad timing was one of Zane's special skills. "Vesper is sleeping."

" Sleeping ?" he snapped, his voice sharp with suspicion. "Funny how that seems like another word for wounded . What happened?"

"None of your business. And why would you care, anyway?"

Zane's face remained calm, but something flickered in his pale eyes. The emotion was gone in an instant, but the fact that it had been there at all made me even more wary.

Callus Holloway had ordered Zane to find Vesper and me, and the other Arrow had tracked us to Tropics 33, where we had gone to help Asterin fight off a Techwave attack at her lunarium mine. Zane had helped Adria and Dargan Byrne subdue Vesper and deliver her to Crownpoint.

Of course, Zane hadn't known Vesper was his sister back then, but even after I'd told him the truth, he had still watched while Holloway siphoned off my magic, and he'd chased after Vesper and me to try to keep us from escaping.

Oh, yes, Zane had done everything he was supposed to that night, but I couldn't help but feel like he had also done other things—like deliberately lowering his guard and letting me cut him with my stormsword while we'd been fighting in the throne room. The injury had severely hampered Zane, and it was one of the reasons he'd been unable to capture us.

Vesper didn't think Zane was capable of such a selfless action, but I'd known Zane Zimmer our entire lives, and family meant everything to him. The Arrow might be a monster, the same as me, but he was a monster who would do anything to protect his father and grandmother. Would that same protectiveness extend to a sister he never knew existed until a few weeks ago? I didn't know, but the answer would go a long way toward determining Vesper's fate, along with my own.

"I care what shape Vesper is in because it's my duty to return her to Corios," Zane replied. "Along with you, dear reckless, rebellious Kyrion."

Icy bits of anger swirled up in my chest like a blizzard roaring to life. "I've seen your press conferences vowing to bring Vesper and me before Callus Holloway so we can face Imperium justice." I let out a derisive snort. "As if Holloway knows the slightest thing about justice . He just wants to use Vesper and me as his battery."

"Holloway is rather determined to doom you to the same gruesome fate as your parents, but that's not my concern."

I put my hands down on the table and leaned forward. "What is your concern?"

"Are you really trying to intimidate me through a holoscreen?" Zane chuckled, rocked forward in his chair, and dropped his hands to his sides. "You couldn't intimidate me in person, Kyrion. Don't waste your time and energy trying to do it when you are millions of miles away."

His eyes narrowed. "My concern is Vesper. How badly was she wounded? None of the Arrows has reported sighting you, so I'm assuming you tangled with some bounty hunters. Several, from the looks of it."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because your jacket and sword are covered with blood."

I glanced down. The bounty hunters' blood had sprayed across the dark blue fabric like raindrops, and even more of it had dried on my stormsword, turning the pale lunarium blade a rusty red.

Zane smirked at me. "Made you look. But that just confirms my suspicions. You and Vesper ran into some bounty hunters, and she was wounded. I will ask again: How badly was she hurt?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "And I'll ask my question again: Why do you care?"

"I can't very well deliver Vesper to Holloway if she's hurt—or dead." Zane snarled out the last few words, and his hands curled into fists on the desk. He was far more invested in Vesper's health than he wanted me to know.

"You won't be delivering Vesper anywhere. If you come near us, I will kill you, Zane."

He flicked his fingers, dismissing my threat. "Please. Any true fight between us would be a toss-up at best. You might kill me, but I could just as easily kill you."

"So our fight in the throne room wasn't a true fight?" I countered. "Why would you say that? Unless, of course, you deliberately dropped your guard and let me wound you."

Zane laughed again, but the sound was brittle and hollow instead of certain and mocking like before. "Please. I know better than to ever drop my guard around you, Kyr. You got lucky that night. Nothing more, nothing less."

Vesper's jacket was still lying on the table, and an idea popped into my mind. I hesitated, wondering if I should give in to my foolish notion, but I needed more information about who was hunting us. That was the only way I was going to keep Vesper safe.

"Have you ever heard of a woman named Esmina? Red hair, pretty features, hangs out with a guy named Pollux who carries two war hammers."

Zane's eyes narrowed again. "Is that who hurt Vesper?"

"Not exactly." I hesitated again, but I'd already told part of the story, so I decided to confess the rest. "They hired some bounty hunters to corner Vesper, but they weren't interested in the credits. I don't know who they are or what they want."

"You've only been on the run a few weeks, and you already have mysterious new enemies chasing you and Vesper?" Zane shook his head. "You're really excelling in your new station in life. Kyrion Caldaren, rogue Arrow and fugitive extraordinaire."

My hands clenched into fists. I hated it when he was right.

Zane smirked at me a moment longer, then his face turned serious. "You didn't answer my question: How badly was Vesper hurt?"

"That's because it's none of your bloody business. You have made your feelings about Vesper and me quite clear on the gossipcasts."

"Oh, yes, my feelings about you are crystal clear, dear Kyrion. I despise you, and you despise me, and proper Regal lords we both be."

I rolled my eyes. "Even for you, that's a shitty bit of poetry."

Zane grinned. "Aw, you think I'm a poet? And I didn't even know it."

I waited for him to make a similar quip about Vesper, but he didn't. Strange. The Zane Zimmer I knew would never hesitate to talk trash and spout off a bad rhyme about anyone. Perhaps the fact that Vesper was his sister had made him grow a sliver of a conscience. Doubtful, but I hoped so, for her sake.

Vesper kept insisting she didn't care about Zane, but I could hear the wistfulness in her voice and feel the same emotion rippling through the bond every time she talked about him. Thanks to Nerezza's abandonment, Vesper had never had a real family, but the idea still meant everything to her. Another way in which she and Zane were eerily alike.

Zane gave me a look that was almost pitying. "You can't protect her forever, Kyrion. Eventually, someone will be a tiny bit smarter, stronger, or luckier than you, and Vesper will suffer the consequences."

"Don't you think I know that?" I snapped back. "Don't you think that is my greatest bloody fear ?"

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I had to grind my teeth to keep from spewing out all my worries about how I was going to fail Vesper, sooner rather than later.

"Then surrender, and let me bring you both in," Zane replied.

For a moment, I considered it. I'd come so close to losing Vesper today. Even now, I could still see the bounty hunter shooting her, still hear Vesper's cry of pain, still feel her agony pulsing through the bond. Like it or not, Zane was right. Eventually, our luck was going to run out, and then one or both of us would wind up even more seriously injured—or dead.

Zane leaned forward, his gaze locking with mine. "Come on, Kyrion. Prove your truebond with my sister is about more than just the psionic power the two of you have. For once in your miserable life, do the right thing—for Vesper's sake."

More cold fury swirled through my body, and I stiffened as though someone had shoved a shock baton into my back. "I will do anything for Vesper's sake. And if I have to kill every bounty hunter in the galaxy, then so be it."

Zane shook his head. "You stupid, stubborn fool. You're going to get yourself killed, and her along with you."

"Perhaps," I admitted. "But I'd rather be dead than be Holloway's battery or wind up in some Techwave lab, and I'd rather die fighting for Vesper than anyone else."

"I will catch you," Zane snarled. "And then the two of us are going to have a reckoning."

"Do your worst, Zane." I snapped my fingers again. "Oh, wait. You actually have to find us first, something you are failing at miserably."

"The two of you have led me on a merry chase, but all good things come to an end."

I eyed him, but Zane stared right back at me, his face calm. As with many strong psions, his telepathy and telempathy often canceled out my own abilities, and I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or if he really did know where Vesper and I were going. The other Arrow had always had an excellent poker face, and I had never been able to read him as well as I wanted to.

A faint noise sounded on Zane's end of the holoscreen, and he looked at something I couldn't see. After a few seconds, Zane focused on me again.

"Duty calls," he drawled. "Tell my little sister I hope she recovers quickly from whatever injury you inflicted on her with your stubbornness."

"Fuck off," I snarled.

Zane smirked back at me. "See you soon, Kyr."

He sliced his hand over his holoscreen, cutting the connection.

For several seconds, I glared into the empty space where his smug face had been. Then I shrugged off my anger, hit some buttons, and ran a diagnostic scan on the encrypted channel he had used. Zane was nothing if not clever, and it would be just like him to bait me into a conversation so he could try to track the signal back to the Dream World and get a lock on the ship's location.

The scan came up clean, thanks in large part to all the security measures Daichi had installed. But Zane hadn't even tried to trace the signal, which made me even more wary.

Did Zane realize we were going to Sygnustern? But how could he possibly know that? Vesper and I didn't have any obvious allies among the Erzton, and the group's leaders would be reluctant to take us in, since that could severely damage the Erzton's relations with Callus Holloway and the Imperium.

Still, Zane's parting words indicated he had some plan to find us. The other Arrow had always been a tricky enemy, and in some ways, he was the most devious and dangerous person I had ever met. Zane's cleverness was another thing he had in common with Vesper.

But what annoyed—and worried—me the most was that he was right. Vesper was in danger every single moment she was with me, and sooner or later, someone would get the better of us. Zane, the other Arrows, another group of bounty hunters, some criminal conglomerates looking for a quick payday. Then Vesper and I would be captured and shipped back to Corios, to suffer Holloway's wrath.

I just wondered how much longer Vesper and I could keep running—and what would happen when our luck finally ran out.