Hotbloods 5: Traitors

I nodded, remembering the way Pandora would suddenly appear from nowhere, always running from job to job, as though she didn’t have enough time for it all. I supposed juggling two lives had to have been tricky.

“I know of this Orion,” Queen Brisha continued. “If he has managed to breach the security of my closest circle, I must discover where he’s hiding. Perhaps I shall enlist you and your friends to help me. At least some loyalty remains from all of this. Although, I have to say, I did not expect it to come from you.”

The prospect of Queen Brisha going in search of the rebel base terrified me. Of all the planets in all the universe, why the hell did Orion and his band of not-so-merry men have to choose my planet to use as their evil hideaway? My hatred flared.

“We’ve never given you any reason to distrust us, Your Highness,” I said boldly, knowing it wasn’t entirely true. Still, she didn’t know that—and that was the point.

The queen made a doubtful face but said no more about it. “Your friends have explained to me that you were kidnapped upon your return to Northern Vysanthe. They are most desperate to retrieve you. However, I would like to hear events from your mouth, before I make a decision. There is a war going on, after all, and I can’t risk more lives just to rescue you.”

“I completely understand, Your Highness,” I assured her. I couldn’t have put it better myself, especially with Gianne’s paranoia putting everyone in danger. As quickly as I could, I explained that one of the Idrax brothers had been responsible for my kidnapping, with the end goal of luring Navan and Bashrik back to the family home, in exchange for my safety.

Once I’d finished, the queen sat silent for a moment. Her painted face was blank, offering me nothing. Then, without warning or explanation, she scraped back the chair and stood up, before disappearing offscreen. I waited for her to come back, only to be met with the same empty background.

I flashed a look at Ronad, who’d been crouching to one side of the sofa this whole time, keeping his body out of sight and his mouth shut. He looked just as worried as I did.

“Where did she go?” I mouthed, keeping one eye on the screen.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but time’s running out. We can stay on this channel a while longer, but the executions will be over soon, and we need to make sure we leave enough time to get back,” he whispered.

“I really wish one of us had wings,” I muttered.

He smiled. “Me, too.”

We sat in tense silence for the next ten minutes, staring at the flickering screen, feeling our time dwindling. “I say we turn this thing off and get going. She’s obviously not coming back.” I sighed, cursing her under my breath. I knew she was busy being a military mastermind, but where did she get off, just leaving like that?

“Good idea,” Ronad agreed, moving forward to turn the device off. He was just about to power it down, when a shadow arched across the screen. Someone was coming. With a stifled yelp, Ronad jumped back to his corner of the sofa, his eyes wide with panic.

A moment later, Navan appeared, sitting down in the chair that Queen Brisha had so brusquely vacated. I was speechless at the sight of him, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. He was dressed in the green-and-silver uniform of a North Vysanthean soldier, his hair freshly buzzed on either side, some sections shaved into patterns similar to the ones painted across Brisha’s face. A smile tugged at his lips, making them more kissable than they’d ever been before.

“Navan?” I gasped, wanting to reach forward and press my hand to his, but the screen was too damn small.

“Riley,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ve been going mad without you, not knowing if you were okay. You have no idea how good it is to see your face!”

I smiled. “I’ve got some idea.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you so much.” I laughed through tumbling tears.

“I should never have let you out of my sight—I should have fought harder to keep Kaido away from you,” he insisted bitterly. “Is Ronad okay? Is he with you? Are you safe?”

I nodded, glancing at the man in question. “Ronad’s with me. He’s fine—we’re both fine. Stop blaming yourself for what happened. Kaido is a skilled fighter, and he hasn’t harmed us in any way,” I said firmly, wishing I could somehow flow through the screen, into Navan’s arms. “We can’t change what happened. We just have to figure out where we go from here.”

“How about a faraway moon with tropical beaches and scantily clad women?” Bashrik’s voice chimed in, shattering the somber mood.

“Hey!” Angie teased, punching him in the arm as they came onscreen, peering over Navan’s right shoulder. Lauren appeared over his left, waving enthusiastically.

“You look thin. Are you eating?” she asked, sounding like a mother hen as she squinted down the lens.

I grinned until I thought my face might crack. “I promise you I’m eating. In fact, if I never see another fruit platter again after this, I’d be totally fine with that,” I joked. “It’s so good to see you all! Are you being treated well?”

“It was touch and go for a while, but we’re okay now,” Lauren replied, making me frown.

“Wait, are you all fighting?” I asked, realizing that everyone was wearing a uniform. The two brothers were dressed identically, except for different badges on their chests and sleeves. Navan had two crossed swords, while Bashrik had crossed wings. My friends were dressed in similar clothing, but they wore lighter green jackets with two red stripes across each shoulder and a bottle of some kind on the badges.

Navan nodded. “We’ve been drafted to fight on the battlefields. I’m in elite infantry, while Bashrik is on aerial ops.”

“Yeah, and we’re in the medical corps, helping in the hospitals to heal the injured soldiers that get brought in from the fighting,” Angie added.

“And you’re all okay?”

They nodded, smiling. “We’re fine. Nothing to fear here!” Lauren confirmed.

“Well, aside from bombings and fighting,” Angie added with a cheerful grin, though I felt anything but cheerful.

“I thought you’d all be in a prison or something. I was so worried something awful had happened to you.” I felt a wave of emotion welling up inside me. “What happened to you after I got taken?”

“And tell us quick, because we’ve got to go really soon!” Ronad chipped in, ducking into frame. He put a comforting hand on my shoulder, easing the tension of so much pent-up worry and sadness. I saw Navan’s eyes flicker toward the hand, his brow furrowing slightly. Ordinarily, a glimpse of jealousy would have amused me, but right now all I wanted to see was love in his eyes. He would never have anything to worry about, where that was concerned.

“After Kaido took you, we hitched a ride on one of Brisha’s military ships,” Bashrik said. “Navan wanted to go after you straightaway, but I managed to convince him otherwise. We had no ship, no weapons, no resources. It would’ve been a pretty sad excuse for a rescue mission!” he added, laughing.

“Anyway, we got to Brisha’s palace and took the blood to her,” Angie cut in, the two of them making a cute double act. “She was overwhelmed with war stuff, and us turning up with a useless vial of blood—one that would poison any coldblood that ingested it—pretty much pushed her over the edge.”

Bashrik nodded. “She had us clapped in chains within about two seconds of telling her what had happened, but then Lauren came along and saved our skins,” he explained, gesturing to the woman of the hour.

Lauren blushed. “It was nothing, really. I just suggested we trick Gianne’s spies into believing that Brisha had finally made a breakthrough with the immortality elixir,” she said with a shrug. “I thought we could make some poisonous pretend samples for the spies to steal. Nobody would be any farther along with the elixir itself, but Gianne would end up with a nasty surprise or two.”

“Honestly, I had no idea our girl had such a deliciously devious streak!” Angie enthused, though Lauren didn’t seem too pleased by the accolade.