Hotbloods 5: Traitors

“Keep an eye on the door. I’ll get the device,” I said, with a twinge of guilt. It felt wrong to drug a sick woman so that we could steal a money device that was, presumably, intended for a getaway. But we needed it.

Ducking down, I slipped under the bedframe, noting the outline of the trapdoor beside me as I slid on my back, using the wooden slats to pull me along. There, still wedged between the mattress and the bedframe, was the circular payment device. I tried to remove it, but it was stuck.

“Can you roll Lorela over to you?” I asked, feeling stifled by the confined space.

“Sure thing,” Ronad replied. A moment later, the mattress shifted, the pressure lifting off the side of the mattress where the device was caught.

I tried to remove it again, only to find that it was strapped in place by two bands of elastic crossed over the device. It was annoying, making its retrieval even more difficult, but at least it confirmed that the device had been deliberately placed there. After some shifting and pulling, I released the object from its prison, gripping it tightly in my hand as I pulled myself out from under the bed.

I brandished it triumphantly. “Got it!”

“Good job. Thought I’d lost you under there for a moment,” Ronad teased, rolling Lorela back over and tucking her in, plumping the pillows around her head. I could see he felt bad about what we’d done, too. We slipped out into the hallway.

“How do we find out how much is on this?” I asked.

Ronad took the device from me and turned it on. A small screen lit up. He let out a low whistle.

“There is a lot of money on here,” he whispered.

“Like, a getaway amount of money?”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah. This is like a ‘fake your own death and move to a tropical island’ kind of amount.”

“I guess we’ll have to put it back as soon as possible,” I said, feeling suddenly sick with nerves. If anyone realized money was missing, we’d be in serious trouble. I leaned against the hallway wall, holding my head in my hands, trying to shake off the nausea.

Ronad put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. The cab won’t cost that much. Nobody will notice that such a small amount is missing.”

“You swear you’ll help me put the device back, as soon as we’re done tomorrow?”

“I swear it. I wouldn’t do anything to put you in harm’s way, Riley. I wouldn’t do that to Navan.”

The sound of Navan’s name took the edge off the nausea. I longed to hear his voice again. The promise of it gave me the courage I needed. Navan’s life relied on us getting word to him. Not only that, but the lives of Bashrik, Angie, and Lauren relied on our bravery, too. I wasn’t about to let any of them down.

“We should get out of here before Kaido finishes his findings, or Jareth gets back,” I warned, looking down the hallway.

“Good idea,” Ronad agreed. We closed the door to Lorela’s room and left her to a deep, dreamless sleep, making our way back to the privacy of our shared tower room. It was still way too early to go to bed, but I felt like I needed to lie down.

I padded over to my single bed and lay down on the covers. Ronad walked over to his bed, following suit. It still felt weird to be sharing a room with him, but I’d grown used to his energy. Plus, he wasn’t a snorer, which was nice.

Resting my hands on my stomach, I stared up at the arched ceiling, thinking about what had just happened. “What do you think she meant by a ‘key’?” I asked, listening to Ronad rustle around.

“I really don’t think she meant anything by it,” he replied. “It’s best we forget she said anything. Otherwise, it might drive us both crazy.” The note of amusement in his voice eased my racing mind. Maybe he was right. After all, he knew this family way better than I did.

“Do you think we’ll manage to get out and back in tomorrow, without being seen?” I asked.

“I hope so,” Ronad said. “We have a pretty good chance, I think. Everyone will be at the execution. There won’t be anyone around to spot us.”

“You really think so?”

“You know, Naya used to ask a lot of questions when she was nervous,” Ronad admitted unexpectedly. “She’d chatter away when something was on her mind, and she wouldn’t be satisfied until something else had taken over her thoughts. I had a way of distracting her, when we were older, but I definitely wouldn’t try that on you!” he joked, making me laugh.

“I should hope not!”

“But, before all of that even began, I remember it used to drive Navan nuts. She’d ask him question after question, and he’d try to be patient, but he’d always end up completely at his wit’s end,” Ronad said, his voice full of humor. “He’d beg her to stop, but she’d keep going, chirping in his ear. The more he pleaded, the more it spurred her on to keep asking things. He locked himself in a cupboard once, to get away from her.”

I grinned at the image. “What did she do?”

“What do you think? She kept asking them through the cupboard door, only then he was trapped and had nowhere to run!” Ronad laughed.

“Tell me some more stories,” I urged quietly. I guessed it had been Ronad’s intention all along, but I found I wasn’t thinking about tomorrow anymore. Instead, I was envisioning the life that Navan and his siblings had lived, before he’d ever even heard of Earth, and me, and all the things that had happened since then.

“What do you want to know?”

I smiled. “Everything.”





Chapter Seven





I awoke, disoriented by the light streaming in through the narrow windows. I couldn’t remember falling asleep, but the sour taste in my mouth suggested I’d been out for a while. The last thing I remembered was Ronad telling me about a grand party that had been thrown at the house, where Bashrik, Ronad, and Navan had been sent to their rooms for trying to steal cups of the adults’ punch. The elixir had been created from a rare kind of blood, and made them feel loopy.

I recalled Ronad saying something about a teenage Bashrik starting to do a striptease in front of several very important members of the Vysanthean court, but after that, I had no memory. Sleep must have taken me.

Rolling over to relieve the stiff ache in my shoulders, I realized I was alone in the tower room. Ronad’s bed was neatly made, evidence that he was already gone. That wasn’t so strange—I was used to him rising early, so he could visit Lorela before breakfast—but I’d only dozed off for a late-afternoon nap. The light from the window was unbearably bright. Surely, the sky should have been darkening, ready for the evening?

This house was already weird enough without time playing tricks on me. Mystified, I hurried out of the room, my head fuzzy. I took the stairs as fast as my sleepy legs would carry me. Someone was clattering around in the kitchen, just down the hallway.

“It lives!” Ronad laughed, grinning as I entered.

I made a confused face. “What do you mean?”

“You, sleeping like the dead! I tried to wake you up a couple of times, but you were out like a light. I figured you were tired, so I let you rest,” he replied, his laughter fading.

“Wait, what day is it?” I sat on a kitchen stool and held my head in my hands. Had I been asleep since yesterday afternoon? I mean, I felt rested, but I didn’t feel that rested.

“It’s sneaking-out day. Are you feeling okay?” His face showed a growing concern. “Do you feel sick?”

I shook my head. “I feel fine… I just don’t feel like someone who’s been asleep for more than twelve hours.”

“It might’ve been whatever Kaido put in your system during his experiment,” Ronad reasoned. “He came upstairs last night, looking for you, but I told him you were resting. He didn’t seem surprised. He muttered something about temporary side effects, but I tend to ignore most of what he says.”

“This time, it might’ve been nice if you’d actually listened,” I said, instantly regretting the grumpiness in my voice. “Sorry, my head feels like it’s full of fluff.”

He smiled. “Apology accepted. I can only imagine what that plant stuff must have done to your brain.” He pulled a funny face, making me laugh. He had a way of doing that—always cracking a joke or doing something silly to let me know we were cool again.