Page 35 of Only Hard Problems

I glanced back and forth between my father and my grandmother, and anger spurted through me, burning away my weariness. I had been waiting for them to reveal the truth about Vesper for the last two weeks, but they had remained silent, and they would continue to remain silent—unless I dragged this unexpected family secret out into the light.

I straightened up on the settee and put my feet on the floor. I studied my father and my grandmother, plotting the best method of attack. Then I cleared my throat, drawing their attention. “There’s something else. I’ll be leaving soon. Perhaps in a day or two.”

Beatrice frowned at me over the rim of her brandy snifter. “To go where and do what?”

“Hunt down Kyrion Caldaren and Vesper Quill,” I replied in a calm, even voice. “I’ve finally figured out where they’re hiding. Or at least where they are going to hide.”

My father tensed. “What will you do once you find them?”

I shrugged. “Exactly what Holloway has ordered: drag them both back to Corios. Given tonight’s attack, Holloway will be even more eager and desperate to take their truebond power so he can shore up his rule.”

Wendell glanced over at Beatrice, whose fingers tightened around her brandy snifter. She shook her head the tiniest bit in warning. My father’s jaw clenched, and his hands curled into fists.

More anger flooded my chest. They were still clinging to their stubborn silence. Well, the time for secrets was over. Now it was time for us all to face some hard truths.

“I’ll concentrate my efforts on Vesper,” I continued in a light, breezy tone. “She will be much easier to subdue than Kyrion. I captured her before on Tropics 33, and I have no doubt I can do it again.”

“Holloway wants Vesper brought back to Corios unharmed, yes?” my father asked, an apprehensive note creeping into his voice.

I laughed, but it was a low, ugly, mocking sound. “Of course not. Holloway told me to do whatever is necessary to separate Vesper from Kyrion. Holloway doesn’t care what shape Vesper is in when I dump her at his feet, just that she’s alive enough for him to siphon off her power.”

I gave my father a careless shrug. “I’ll probably have to chop off a few of her fingers, maybe even a toe or two, to break her spirit, but sooner or later, Vesper will do whatever Holloway wants. She’ll quickly become his living, breathing battery. So will Kyrion, just like Desdemona and Chauncey Caldaren before them.”

My father jerked upright in his chair, and all the color drained from his face. “No! No, Zane, you can’t do that! You can’t hurt Vesper!”

“Why not? Vesper Quill is just some little lab rat who lucked into being a Regal lady.” I gave him another careless shrug. “No one important enough to care about.”

My father recoiled as if I was some horrific monster he had never seen before. Wendell might know I was an Arrow, might know about all the horrific things I did to please Holloway and help maintain House Zimmer’s exalted status, but to him, the battles and killings and assassinations were abstract theories. Whereas to me, they were only cruel choices and the evil constants that shaped my existence.

“Zane is right,” Beatrice said in a cool, measured voice. “Vesper Quill is no one important, and she won’t escape Holloway’s clutches, no matter how powerful her truebond is with Kyrion Caldaren.”

My father jerked in his chair again, and his mouth gaped as he looked at my grandmother. Beatrice shook her head again, a clear warning to stay quiet. My father’s mouth snapped shut, and an angry red flush zoomed up his neck and stained his cheeks, but he remained stiff and silent in his chair.

Something cracked open deep inside my chest, and a laugh burst out of my mouth, like water spurting through a broken dam. Then another one . . . then another one . . .

My father and my grandmother both frowned, clearly confused, but I couldn’t stop my loud, harsh, mirthless cackles, even though they made my ribs ache and brought tears to my eyes.

Finally, all the laughter had escaped, although a cold, bitter sensation flooded my chest in the empty space that was left behind.

I looked at my grandmother. “I’ve watched you plot and scheme and manipulate people my entire life. And I’ve endured your plots, schemes, and manipulations myself, including your attempts to force me into a relationship with Lady Asterin, all so you—and by extension House Zimmer—can get your hands on the mineral rights she controls. But . . .” My voice trailed off, and I shook my head.

“But what?” Beatrice asked in the tense, charged silence.

I stared her in the eyes. “But this is the first time that I’ve ever been ashamed of you.”

Beatrice flinched as though I had slapped her.

I leaned forward and stabbed my finger at her. “My whole life—my whole bloody life—you have drilled one thing into my head: Family first, House Zimmer second, then the galaxy could take everyone else. It’s practically our family fucking motto, but it’s all a lie. You haveneverput family first.”

I leaned forward a little more, and when I spoke, my voice and body vibrated with dark fury. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have abandoned your own granddaughter.”

Beatrice’s lips pinched together, while Wendell sucked in a ragged breath. I kept staring at my grandmother. Her perfect posture slipped, and she slumped down over her desk.

“You know about Vesper?” my grandmother asked in a high, shaky voice.

“That she’s my sister? Oh, yes. Kyrion informed me of that pertinent fact right before the midnight ball. And then, of course, we all heard Vesper confront Nerezza Blackwell about being her biological mother.”

I swung my furious gaze over to Wendell, who grimaced and shot a guilty look up at Miriol’s portrait. “Don’t worry, Father. I’ve done the math. Your affair with Nerezza startedaftermy mother died.”

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