Page 5 of Only Cold Depths
“Ten million credits? Is that all?” I said, as though the amount didn’t make me want to clutch my chest in shock. “Holloway is low-balling you. Ten million credits isn’tnearlyenough to risk your lives trying to capture me.”
Rina let out a merry laugh, and her men joined in with hearty chuckles.
Since they weren’t intimidated by me, I tried a different tactic. “Like you said, I’m a Regal lady. The head of a powerful, wealthy corporation. I’m sure we can come to some arrangement. Something that’s a lot more rewarding than ten million credits.”
Rina laughed again. “Nice try. You’ve been a Regal lady for about three seconds. I seriously doubt you have ten million credits to toss out to every bounty hunter who crosses your path.”
I opened my mouth to try again, but she cut me off.
“Where is your other, more lucrative half?” Rina scanned the alley. “An experienced warrior like Kyrion Caldaren wouldneverlet his truebonded partner get too far away, especially a seer like you.”
More annoyance shot through me at her snide tone. As a seer, I was also considered to be a psion, a catchall term for spelltechs, siphons, and anyone else with extraordinary abilities. Some folks even referred to such abilities as magic, since no one had ever been able to figure out where psionic powers came from or how to consistently replicate them with science and technology.
Magic or not, most folks scoffed at my seer abilities, especially when I told them how silver flares of light often appeared around people or objects that were going to be important, useful, or even harmful to me in some future way. Or how I could often just look at a faulty brewmaker or a misfiring blaster and immediately see how to fix it. Or how I sometimes saw memories of things people had done in the past or things they might do in the future or even the objects they desired the most, like the vision I’d had of Rina and that bag of coins.
My seeing things simply wasn’t as visually impressive—or, admittedly, as cool and deadly—as a psion like Kyrion using his telekinesis to send his stormsword spinning through a roomful of enemies and skewering them one after another. Even calling my seer abilities magic didn’t make them any more respected.
“Caldaren letting you out of his sight is a good way for you both to get killed,” Rina continued.
I grimaced at the reminder. A truebond might make two people much, much stronger, but in some ways, it also made them exceedingly vulnerable, especially when it came to experiencing each other’s pain and injuries.
I had no desire to die and kill Kyrion in the process, and if Kyrion died, I selfishly didn’t want to perish from a broken heart, as was the common notion when it came to couples who had a romantic truebond. But I had accepted our bond, and so had Kyrion, and it was one of the many risks that went along with all the power we were supposed to have—power I could have used to escape the bounty hunters, if only I could figure out how it worked and especially how to tap into it on a regular basis.
“So where is he?” Rina asked, an eager note creeping into her voice. “Where is Kyrion Caldaren?”
“We split up weeks ago. For all I know, Kyrion Caldaren is on a Frozon moon on the other side of the galaxy.”
Rina rolled her eyes. “You’re even worse at lying than you are at disguises.”
She shoved her shock baton back onto her belt, then jerked her head. The four male bounty hunters surrounded me.
Another cruel grin spread across Rina’s face. “Bring her.”
Thebountyhuntersforcedme to leave the alley and step back out onto the street. Rina led the way, while the four men kept their blasters trained on me, and we quickly made it back to the main square where the marketplace was.
One of the bounty hunters shoved me toward a path that led into the rain forest, but Rina punched him in the shoulder.
“No!” she barked out. “Not that way.”
The bounty hunter frowned. “But what about—”
“Forget them!” she barked out again. “Change of plans. Let’s go. Double time.”
The male bounty hunters eyed the rain forest, but once again, they forced me to follow their boss.
I glanced back over my shoulder, but I didn’t see anyone or anything moving in the thick, dense greenery. Why had the bounty hunters changed direction?
Rina skirted around the marketplace, then moved through several streets. The tourist shops and restaurants quickly vanished, replaced by squat, grimy buildings, and the few people in this area either studied us with open suspicion or ducked back into their businesses, clearly wanting no part of whatever trouble I was in.
While we walked, I reached out with my magic and touched the sticky cobweb of Kyrion in my mind.Kyrion? Can you hear me? We’re moving into the industrial part of the city.
No response. I could still feel Kyrion, but I couldn’t hear his thoughts anymore. I also couldn’t tell where he was or what he was doing, and I couldn’t access any of his telempathy, telekinesis, or other abilities.
Kyrion? Kyrion!
Still no response. His icy fury was a nugget buried deep in my mind, and no matter how much I hammered at it with my own magic, I couldn’t crack through the cold, hard shell. It was like having a stone in my boot that constantly scraped across my skin but that I could do nothing to remove.
I chewed on my lip, even as needles of worry and dread pricked my heart. Why couldn’t I communicate with Kyrion? Was something wrong with the bond? Was something wrong withme?
