Page 9 of Only Rogue Actions
Siya’s lips curled back into a derisive sneer.“As if I couldn’t see right through that pompous fool.Roderick Battis only cares about his own House and ambitions.And don’t even get me started on those ridiculous trips he goes on every few months.”
I thought of his earlier words.“Roderick goes to Frozon moons and other planets and hunts creatures?”
Such excursions were common in the Imperium, and I’d seen more than one gossipcast reporter follow a Regal lord or lady through a Tropics rain forest in search of tigers, dragons, and other large, dangerous predators.I suppose when you had more credits than you could ever spend, you needed some sort of challenge—even if it came with an alarming number of razor-sharp teeth and claws.
Siya nodded.“The more exotic and dangerous the creature, the better.He even has their heads stuffed and mounted.There’s an entire hall in Castle Battis devoted to Roderick’strophies.”Her lips curled back with even more disgust.“Roderick’s hunts are cruel and barbaric, just like he is, but Asterin only sees what she wants to see.”
“Why?”
Siya sighed.“I think Roderick reminds Asterin of a time when she was extremely happy.”
“Before her father died.”
Siya nodded.“Asterin adored her father, which is why she’s still convinced Urston isn’t to blame for the mining accident.”She shook her head and let out a tense breath.“But Asterin won’t listen about her father or Roderick.Sheneverlistens to me about anything important.”
“I’m sorry your relationship is so strained.”
Anger flared in Siya’s hazel eyes, making them shimmer brightly.“You should be sorry, Vesper.Things were finally getting better between Asterin and me, but then you and Zane Zimmer dragged her into your scheme to rescue Kyrion from the Serpens Corp mercenaries.You went against my father’s orders, and your rogue actions almost got Asterin killed, along with the rest of you.”
After we’d rescued Kyrion from Stardrop Falls, Siya and Asterin had gotten into a heated argument in a garden at the Collier estate.I hadn’t heard everything they’d said, but the two women had barely spoken to each other over the last several days.
“Asterin decided to help Zane and me of her own free will,” I replied.“Just like she helped Kyrion and me battle the Techwave at the Regenwald Resort and then escape from Crownpoint Palace.If you think anyone can drag Asterin Armas into anything she doesn’t want to do, then you don’t know her as well as you think.”
Siya’s right hand clenched around the war hammer on her belt, and green magic sparked, crackled, and hissed around the lunarium weapon, mirroring her anger.
My seer magic whispered a warning, but I gave Siya a cool look.Over the past few months, I had faced down one vicious enemy after another, and I wasn’t about to let the Hammer intimidate me.Especially since I would have gone rogue and done the exact same things again right now if Kyrion was in danger.
Siya removed her hand from the hammer.Her green magic vanished, although she kept glaring at me.“Let’s get this over with.The sooner you and Kyrion learn to fully control your truebond, the sooner the two of you can leave Sygnustern and take your problems back to the Imperium.”
She brushed past me and strode down the corridor.I blew out a tense breath and followed the warrior, but the harsh, uncomfortable truth of her words pounded through my body with every step.
Siya was right.My rogue actions had already caused a multitude of problems for her and Asterin.But the most worrisome thing was my seer magic, which kept whispering that only more troubles were on the way for us all.
CHAPTER THREE
VESPER
Siyashovedthroughadoor and stomped down a set of spiral stairs.The sharp, twisting curve reminded me of going down similar stairs into my mindscape, the place deep inside my mind, body, and heart where my seer magic resided.
Siya stopped at the bottom of the stairs and entered a code into a keypad.A light turned green, and she yanked the door open.
We stepped out onto the ground floor.From the upper level, the maze had looked relatively simple.But down here, the metal walls jutted up like a ring of silver teeth covered with the thick green film of the honeysuckle vines.The light was dim and murky, and the only sound was the faint hum of the facility’s ventilation system.A finger of unease slid down my spine, then plummeted into the sloshing sea of nervous energy that had flooded my stomach.
Siya walked over to a long metal panel bristling with lights, buttons, and levers just like the one Jeffrey had been operating in the control room.She bent down and started typing on a holoscreen.The lights hanging over the maze flashed in response, accepting her commands.
“You’ll enter the maze here, while Kyrion will enter from the opposite side.Then you’ll both be sealed inside,” Siya explained.“The goal is to use your truebond to communicate with Kyrion and find him in the center, no matter what physical obstacles get in your way.Verona suggested picturing the training exercise like you and Kyrion are two magnets that are slowly being drawn together.The closer you get, the stronger your connection should be until …smack!”She clapped her hands together, and I jumped at the sharp sound.“The two of you meet in the middle.”
I nodded.“Magnets.Got it.What sort of obstacles are in the maze?”
“That’s for you and Kyrion to discover.But the obstacles are designed to test your truebond and see how easily you and Kyrion can use both your own and each other’s psionic abilities.”Siya tilted her head toward the maze.“Although I will warn you that the maze is equipped with psionic dampeners and sensory-deprivation tools that deliberately make it difficult for bonded couples to tap into their connection.”
This would be a true test of how much progress Kyrion and I had made over the past two weeks.When the Serpens Corp mercenaries captured Kyrion, I hadn’t been able to sense his thoughts and feelings through our bond, and that aching emptiness had been one of the most hopeless, sickening things I’d ever experienced.Plus, it was just a matter of time before Callus Holloway, Nerezza, or the Techwave targeted us again.If the worst happened, and Kyrion and I were separated, this training might help me find him, or vice versa.
Kyrion had been right in the locker room.There were always consequences for failure, and ours could be imprisonment—or worse.The sloshing sea in my stomach rocked a little more violently.
“And if we can’t communicate and find each other using our bond?Or reach the center of the maze?”
Siya shrugged.“Asterin and I will be watching from the control room, along with Jeffrey, but you aren’t fighting other warriors, so you won’t get mock-killed, disqualified, and have to leave the maze like the House Battis Hammers we watched earlier.Instead, you and Kyrion will stay in the maze until you either find each other or admit defeat.Either way, Asterin and I won’t open the exits and pull you out unless absolutely necessary.”
