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Sometimes in life, you have to do unpleasant things to get revenge. Like sit through a boring corporate meeting in the morning, train until your muscles scream at noon, and let yourself be bribed before midnight.
the only good lies were the ones you believed yourself.
I frowned. “A good enemy?” She nodded. “Yes, a good enemy. Someone who pushes you to dig deeper, work harder, be stronger, fight smarter. The only good enemies are the ones who have a chance of defeating you, which makes your victory over them even more satisfying.”
He was wrong. I did have other options—they were just exceptionally bad ones. Then again, that was the story of my life.
“Still worried that if I die, you’ll die too?” Vesper sniped. “Oh, no,” I drawled. “I already know you’re going to be the death of me, Lady Vesper. I’m just hoping to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.”
“Forty-two percent of all deaths in and around spaceships and ports are due to a lack of oxygen,” I said in a defensive voice. He huffed again, the sound even more derisive than before. “Well, if you’re ever on a ship without any oxygen, then you’re probably going to die anyway, even if it is forty-two percent slower than everyone else.” I brightened. “Well, at least I would have the pleasure of watching you die first, my lord.”
But now . . . now I was wondering if it was all just Vesper herself, slowly but surely threading her way deeper and deeper into the black canyon of my heart where my inner monster had dwelled in solitude for so very long.
I wrung the unwanted emotions out of my heart, then bricked it up. The name didn’t mean anything, just like our kiss didn’t mean anything. We had both been angry and frustrated, and each of us had a convenient set of lips that appealed to the other. Why, I bet if you put two other people in the same situation, the same result would have occurred. I should conduct an experiment at Quill Corp to confirm my theory. For science, of course.
She gestured at Kyrion, who was still talking to Daichi on his tablet. “Much like your volatile nature balances out Kyrion’s colder one, and vice versa.” I laughed. “Me? Volatile? Hardly. He’s the most notorious killer in the galaxy.” “And yet you’re the one trying to get revenge on the people who wronged you.” Hmm. Maybe I was more volatile than I’d realized.
“You trust me to watch your back?” I asked in a low voice. “Even though I’m not an Arrow?” His eyes locked with mine. “I trust you more than any Arrow I’ve ever fought with.”
“Is something wrong?” Touma asked. “What is that awful noise? Kyrion sounds like a deranged dragon.” “I believe that is some sort of laughter,” Daichi replied in a dry tone. “Nah,” Leandra chimed in. “Your uncle is right. Kyrion is cackling like a deranged dragon.”
Part of me had been so bloody angry with my father for not being able to deal with his grief, for attacking me in his drunken madness, for forcing me to kill him to protect myself. But now . . . now I understood how Chauncey had felt. Because I would have killed all the suns, moons, and stars if it would have brought Vesper back to me.
Perhaps I really was a coldhearted bastard—but not with her, never again.
“I would burn down the galaxy for you,” I said in a soft, fierce voice. “Just for you, Vesper Quill. Not for anyone or anything else, and especially not for a bloody truebond.”
“You’re so lovely,” he rasped. “Inside and out. Much too lovely for a monster like me.” I cupped his face in my hands. “Nonsense. I happen to adore the monster inside you. It perfectly matches the darkness in me.”
