Page 36 of Only Hard Problems

His grimace deepened, and regret sparked in my chest. My father hadn’t known about Vesper until the night of the Regal ball. For that, he was blameless, although I was still pissed at him for keeping this secret from me for the last few weeks. Then again, I supposed I had done the same thing to him.

“I understand,” I said in a softer, gentler voice. “You were grieving Mother’s loss, and Nerezza was Nerezza. It’s not your fault.”

I stabbed my finger at my grandmother again. “It’sherfault.”

Beatrice lifted her chin and straightened up in her chair. “I did what I thought was best for our family. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Another harsh laugh erupted from my mouth. “But you did a whole lotlessfor Vesper, didn’t you?”

Beatrice glowered at me, her icy eyes glittering with anger. “You have no idea what I’ve done for Vesper.”

Given my own research and the information my sources had uncovered, I had a pretty good idea of the things she’d done, but that didn’t matter right now. I surged to my feet. So did Wendell, who glanced back and forth between Beatrice and me. My grandmother remained in her chair, although she sat up even straighter and stiffer than before, as if girding herself for the battle she knew was coming next.

“Tell me, Grandmother. When Vesper revealed that Nerezza was her mother, how desperate were you to keep your bastard granddaughter a secret from the other Regals?” I asked, my voice a low, dangerous snarl. “Would you have let Holloway kill Vesper the night of the Regal ball? Because it sure looked like you weren’t going to lift a finger to help her.”

“Holloway was never going to kill Vesper or Kyrion,” she countered. “His lust for truebonds is too strong. He would have kept them both alive as long as possible, just as he did to the Caldarens. Sooner or later, I would have found some way to help Vesper.”

I stabbed my finger at her yet again. “But you knew—you bloody knew—that Holloway had sent me to drag Vesper back to Corios. I told you how he siphoned off her magic in the throne room before the midnight ball, and I even gave you the footage from the spy camera hidden in my Arrow jacket. You saw exactly how much Holloway hurt Vesper when he took her psion power, and yet you still saidnothingabout our connection.”

Beatrice shook her head. “There were extenuating circumstances. I had my suspicions, but I didn’t know who Vesper truly was until after she confronted Nerezza at the midnight ball.”

I kept glowering at her. “It doesn’t matter when you found out who Vesper really was. You didn’t tell me Vesper was part of ourfamily, the one thing you’ve always told me—ordered me—to cherish, protect, and defend above all others. Well, you might not have done your job, but I didmine.”

My father’s eyes widened in surprise. “Youhelped them escape. Somehow you helped Vesper and Kyrion get out of the throne room and out of the palace the night of the ball.”

“Of course I did,” I snarled. “The two of you weren’t going to do anything, so I took matters into my own hands.”

Beatrice’s fingers clenched into fists on top of her desk, worry creasing her face. “What did you do, Zane?”

“Nothing that can be traced back to me. Vesper’s friends did most of the heavy lifting. I just gave her and Kyrion a little push when they needed it most.”

I’d given them a literal push. During the throne room fight, I had used a tiny bit of my telekinesis to help Vesper and Kyrion wriggle free of the Imperium soldiers and Bronze Hand guards attacking them so the couple could finally reach each other and unleash their truebond power.

Wendell exhaled a relieved breath and raked his fingers through his hair. More disgust shot through me.

“I might have done a lot of horrible things in my life, Father, but even I draw the line at murdering my own sister.”

He flinched again, but I ignored his hurt and turned my attention back to my grandmother.

“Why did you do it?” I demanded. “Why did you keep Vesper’s existence a secret all these years?”

“Because Nerezza Blackwell would have used Vesper to sink her claws into your father, into House Zimmer,” Beatrice said, a defensive note creeping into her voice. “I couldn’t let that happen. Nerezza would have ruined our family.”

She drew in a breath, then let it out, along with a rush of words. “Nerezza wouldn’t have been satisfied with being Wendell’s wife. Sooner or later, she would have moved against us and tried to position herself as the sole head of House Zimmer. Me, your father, even you, Zane. Nerezza would have eliminated us one by one until only she was left. I could see it all playing out so clearly—the deaths of everyone I loved.”

That familiar chime rang in my mind, and my power whispered the truth of her worries. My grandmother might have been wrong about everything else, but she had been right about Nerezza. The Regal climber would have eliminated us one by one—and perhaps even Vesper too—in order to take complete control of House Zimmer.

Beatrice shuddered as though the visions still haunted her. Then she straightened up in her chair again, her face as hard as granite. “I couldn’t let that happen to our House, and I would notletthat happen to my family.”

“So you sacrificed an innocent child to hold on to your position. Just like Nerezza abandoned Vesper to become a Regal climber.” I shook my head, more disgust filling me. “Perhaps you and Nerezza are more alike than you think.”

Beatrice’s lips pinched together, but she remained silent.

“Vesper isnotNerezza,” I snapped. “You could have gotten to know her when she came to Corios a few months ago, but you didn’t even give her a chance. Well, that was a grave error on your part, because Vesper isamazing—smart, strong, capable, and exceptionally clever. And now she has a truebond with Kyrion, which makes her even more dangerous and powerful. Why, Vesper Quill could be the queen of the whole bloody Imperium if she wanted to be.”

Once again, that soft, telltale chime sounded in my mind. Vesper Quill, the queen of the Imperium? Now,thatwould be an interesting wrinkle.

“If you didn’t know the truth about Vesper, then you would do exactly what Holloway ordered. You would drag Vesper back to Corios, cut off her fingers and toes, shove her in one of the palace medical labs, and not think twice about any of it,” Beatrice snapped back at me. “In some ways, you’re even more vicious and ruthless than I am, so don’t be so damn self-righteous with me, my darling boy.”

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