Page 102 of Only Cold Depths
Aldrich’s face hardened, and anger flared in his hazel eyes. “As long as you are under the protection of my House, thenyouwill do asIsay.”
“Then I reject the protection of your House.” I spat out the words. “I would rather die trying to save Kyrion than sit here and twiddle my thumbs while the lot of you blunder straight into Esmina’s trap.”
Verona’s face paled, and Asterin sucked in a breath. Beatrice and Wendell were also shocked by my harsh words, but Zane nodded, as if I’d done exactly what he’d expected.
Even more anger flared in Aldrich’s eyes, and he straightened up to his full height and peered down his nose at me. “If that is what you wish,” he said in a cold, clipped voice. “Consider the protection of House Collier revoked.” He stabbed his finger at me. “But if you try to interfere with Siya, Rigel, and the Hammers in any way, you will be taken into custody, and I will ship you back to the Imperium and Callus Holloway the first chance I get.”
It wasn’t an idle threat, and he meant every word he said. Well, me too. Esmina was playing yet another deadly game with the Colliers, even if they were too stubborn to admit it. I might only have the smallest chance of saving Kyrion, but I had to try.
“Very well,” I replied, my voice just as cold as Aldrich’s. “I will return to my suite and pack my things. I’ll be gone within the hour.”
“No,” he replied. “You will stay in your suite until the Hammers apprehend Esmina and Pollux. Then you can do whatever you want. Is that understood?”
“Understood, Lord Collier.” I tipped my head to him one scant inch. “Good luck with your hunt, even if it is a fool’s errand.”
I glared at him a moment longer, then whirled around and stormed out of the library.
Ididn’tevengethalfway down the corridor before a couple of House Collier guards appeared. I marched past them, but the two men followed me, their hands on their shock batons, ready to subdue me if I did anything they didn’t like.
I ignored my watchers and strode from one corridor to the next, leaving the main castle. I entered the guest wing, went to my suite, and locked the door behind me.
The first thing I did was whip out my tablet and message Daichi and Tivona, telling them what was happening. But my friends were on the other side of the galaxy, and there was nothing they could do to help me.
I would just have to help myself, the way I always did.
I didn’t believe for one second that Esmina would be at the geotagged location she’d sent the Colliers. She was too smart for that, but she still wanted me to find her and bring her the fixed Techwave cannon. Esmina had to have left some clue behind in her crowing confrontation with Aldrich in the library, and thanks to the spy camera hidden in the House Caldaren sigil in my jacket, I had a recording of the whole thing.
I stripped off my jacket, placed it on a holoscreen embedded in the table in the corner, and downloaded the camera footage. I played the recording, but I didn’t see any hidden clues in Esmina’s words, just her mocking derision and supreme confidence that she had already won. I also studied the image of Kyrion, but he was anchored to a stone wall that could have been anywhere.
I paced back and forth, watching the video again and again. No new information revealed itself, but the answer to where Esmina wanted to meet was in the footage. Iknewit was, although it wasn’t going to do me any good if I couldn’t figure it out. And if I didn’t figure it out, Kyrion would die anyway, no matter what Siya, Rigel, and the Hammers did.
My heart seized at the thought, but I forced myself to turn off the footage. Whenever I was stuck on a project in the R&D lab, it always helped to take a break and return to a problem with fresh eyes, so I went over to the permaglass wall that overlooked the topiary garden. Many of the trees and hedges had broken branches, scorched leaves, and other battle damage, but I looked past them, studying the chasm that dropped away from the edge of the estate.
I don’t know how long I stood there, staring at the landscape without really seeing it, but Esmina’s voice started whispering in my mind, and I thought of all the odd little things she’d said to Aldrich—things that had no place in a ransom demand.
Watching the House of Collier take such a great fall . . . It reminded me of old times . . . Let’s go back to the beginning . . . Let’s hope there are no messy mistakes on your end and that history doesn’t repeat itself . . .
I thought Esmina had just been mocking Aldrich and Verona, but what if there was another meaning to her words? But what would House Collier and great falls and history repeating itself have to do with where she was holding Kyrion?
House of Collier . . . great fall . . . history . . .Esmina’s smug voice whispered through my mind again, although this time, it was followed by Aldrich’s regretful tone.She lured Micah to the waterfall where he had saved her and shoved him off a bridge . . .
My eyes widened. I knewexactlywhere Esmina wanted to meet. Of course. She had been camped out under the Colliers’ noses all along, and I could have smacked myself for not seeing it sooner.
Esmina was at the underground mining museum, at Stardrop Falls, where she’d killed Micah, severed their truebond, and taken his magic all those years ago.
Leland must have told Esmina that I knew what had happened at the waterfall, which was why she’d dropped all those little hints into her mocking message. With her precog magic, Esmina had known just what to say for me to figure out her location.
According to Asterin, the mining museum had long been abandoned, making it the perfect place to hide. Esmina probably appreciated the irony and loved thumbing her nose at the Colliers, even if they didn’t realize she was doing it.
New determination blazed through me, and I marched into the bedroom and sorted through the gear Kyrion and I had brought to the estate. My stormsword was hooked to my belt like usual, and I grabbed Kyrion’s sword and a few other things I thought might come in handy, then stuffed them all into my duffel bag.
Five minutes later, I was ready to leave, but I couldn’t go out through the main suite door, since the two guards were waiting outside. So how was I going to get from this level down to the ground?
My gaze zipped over to the bed. I went over and shoved the mounds of unnecessary pillows aside, revealing the thick blankets and fine sheets. A grin spread across my face.
“The classics never go out of style,” I quipped, then got to work.
I stripped all the blankets and sheets off the bed and knotted the ends together. Next, I tied one end of my makeshift escape rope to a heavy wooden nightstand. I jerked on all the blankets and sheets several times, making sure the knots would hold, then opened a glass door and stepped out onto the balcony. No one was watching my suite, so I tied my duffel bag to the end of my makeshift rope and lowered the bag to the ground. Then it was my turn.
