Hotbloods 5: Traitors

“I just wanted to do something that might reduce the number of bombings—give Gianne something else to think about,” she mumbled.


I couldn’t quite put into words how much I admired Lauren. Even with war already raging and lives being lost on both sides, she was thinking of ways to reduce the conflict. Yes, the poison samples might hurt a few people, but she was right about keeping the queens distracted. As long as their minds were on the elixir, they wouldn’t start trying to one-up each other with weapons instead.

“What about you? What are your plans?” Navan cut in, his eyes sad. “Are you coming back to us, or do you want us to come to you?”

My expression turned stern. “You can’t come here—none of you can. Gianne has pretty much lost her mind, and if she finds any of you on the wrong side of the barrier, she’ll kill you. Any promises she made before this war began can’t be trusted anymore,” I warned. “She has weekly, screened executions. It’s why we need to hurry now. We only have until the executions finish to get back to the house before someone notices we’re gone.”

“What if she finds you?” Navan pressed.

“She won’t,” Ronad assured him. “Your father is keeping us hidden, and he’s doing a nice job of it. Well, aside from us sneaking out, but that’s on us.”

“For now, we need to do what we can, on both sides,” I insisted, feeling the pressure of time. “But there are two things I need to tell you before we go.”

Navan frowned. “What?”

“Bashrik, Navan—your mother is ill. She’s not well at all. It’s why Kaido kidnapped us, to lure you both back to the house. Your father wants you back here, too. He thinks it might help her. Obviously, I don’t want either of you to risk Gianne’s wrath to come back, but I can’t make that choice for you.”

There was another choice I couldn’t make for Navan, either, but I was working up the courage to get the words out.

“My mother has enough siblings to take care of her,” Navan said, with surprising coldness. “It pains me to hear that she’s unwell, but I doubt our presence would do anything to help her. Besides, I’m not exactly eager to do anything that pleases my father.”

“You can’t forgive her?” Ronad asked.

Navan flashed him a look. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Can you guys figure out a way to contact the Titans while we’re separated? We need to make some headway, especially since we’ve got no idea when we’re going to be together again,” I interjected. “In the meantime, we’ll try and come up with a way back.”

“Actually, it might better if we did come to you—me and Bashrik,” Navan said suddenly, making my heart jolt in my chest. “Gianne will pardon me, as she promised. I’m sure of it. And I can always say that Bashrik was taken prisoner. Gianne won’t kill an Idrax.”

I shook my head furiously. “You have no idea what’s going on over here. Everything has changed! Nobody is safe. Navan, you can’t come here. Just stay where you are and try and contact the Titans. If we’re going to get anywhere, we need to—”

“I’m sure Queen Brisha would like to have her say in the matter, as you are her loyal subject,” Navan said loudly. His tone was weird, and I soon realized why. Queen Brisha reappeared behind the chair where my friends were gathered, though they dispersed as she arrived, with Navan offering up his seat. She refused it, allowing Navan to remain. I looked to my side, but Ronad had already dropped off the edge of the sofa.

“I have decided to allow Navan to travel to you on a rescue mission, though Bashrik and your Kryptonian friends will remain here, as collateral,” she announced. “You are my trusted subjects, and I wish to have you back in the North, where you belong.”

“But—” A warning look from her pale eyes silenced me.

“I will have you back,” she repeated, before vanishing from sight once more.

If Navan was coming here, against my will, I knew that meant the time had come. I had to tell him about Seraphina. Perhaps we could figure out a way to spirit her away too, without inciting Gianne’s wrath. After all, if Brisha was planning to keep hold of Bashrik, Angie, and Lauren, then staying in the South wouldn’t be an option. We’d have to come up with something, now that the two queens had kindly wedged me between a rock and a hard place.

“Navan, there’s one other thing I have to tell you,” I said frantically. “If I can’t stop you coming here, then you have to know that Seraphina—”

The video feed cut off before I could say anything else. Navan’s face disappeared, and I could’ve sworn I felt my heart crack with the dimming of the screen. With Brisha’s blessing, he was about to risk everything, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.





Chapter Eleven





Tears fell from my eyes as I watched the blank screen. I didn’t know whether Brisha had cut the feed, or something had gone wrong on their end, but Navan was gone and I had no time to sit around feeling sorry for myself. Wiping away the tears, I snatched up the black box and headed for the door, with Ronad following.

We headed back out into the cold afternoon. Ronad locked up the cabin behind us, tucking the key beneath the fake rock. I didn’t know if we’d have a reason to come back here, or if anyone would ever visit this place again. There was something innately macabre about that, like seeing abandoned theme parks in the middle of nowhere. Maybe Ianthan’s cabin would become a similar artifact, forgotten in the woods.

As we walked, I chucked the black box at Ronad. “I’ve got no idea how to turn this thing off,” I admitted, keeping my eyes on the road ahead.

“See this symbol here?” he said, lifting the screen to show me three chevrons on the side of the device. “That’s the symbol for power. So, in this case, on and off.” He pressed it, and the screen turned completely black.

“Good to know,” I said, as he folded the screen down and put the device away in his coat pocket.

“How are you doing, anyway?” Ronad asked, as we fell into step beside each other.

I shrugged. “How do you think I’m doing, knowing that Navan is ignoring everything I’ve said and coming anyway? It’s like he wants to put himself in danger, just to prove a point.”

“Love makes us all act like idiots.” Ronad laughed. “He wants to prove himself to you.”

I shot him a look. “Why? What does he need to prove? I love him, and I want to keep him safe. That should be enough.”

“There’s something you’ve got to understand about Navan,” Ronad said solemnly. “He’s had to share affection his entire life. He’s never really had anything that’s entirely his. Then you come along, and bam! He has something he can call his own, and while that might seem like a beautiful thing, it also means he stands to lose something. He’s probably terrified you’re going to get taken away from him.”

I pulled a face. “That’s ridiculous!”

“That’s Navan.”

“I can take care of myself—he knows that. He’s risking way too much, when he really doesn’t need to!” I insisted.

The truth was, as long as Navan stayed in the North, Gianne couldn’t suddenly decide to make an example of him. But then there was the Seraphina situation, too. If Ronad was right, Navan and I shared the same fear, and if he stayed in the North, he couldn’t be taken away from me. I knew it was horrible and selfish, and I’d promised to put Seraphina’s feelings before my own, but my heart was a wild thing that wouldn’t listen to my brain’s reason.

As soon as he gets here, you have to tell him, I repeated in my head. No matter what happened now, it was clear that Navan would be rescuing somebody—it just wasn’t necessarily going to be me.

“It’s his way of showing you that he cares.” Ronad sighed. “Yes, it’s totally stupid and dangerous, but that’s just the way he is.”