Hotbloods 5: Traitors

“I’d have it out of your hands before you could even release it,” Jareth challenged.

“You know, I wasn’t just standing around in Northern Vysanthe, doing nothing,” I said, my tone dripping with menace. “I guess I’m fortunate that Queen Brisha doesn’t have the same prejudices you have. I’ve trained with coldblood soldiers, and I’ve got news for you… I’m one of the best.” He didn’t need to know that it was only in the field of knife-throwing.

He turned to Ronad. “Throw me whatever you’ve got hidden under there,” he demanded, gesturing at the cupboard.

Reluctantly, Ronad reached in for the cloak and threw both items at Jareth, who caught them deftly. He lay them out on the island, checking the pockets, keeping one eye on me and my knife as he searched. Before long, he found the black box device, his brow furrowing with annoyance as he retrieved it.

“Tell me you weren’t out there trying to contact your precious Queen Brisha? Tell me you aren’t that stupid?” he growled.

I smiled sweetly. “Actually, we were contacting Navan. We wanted to make sure he and Bashrik were still alive.” Now that I’d found my courage, it was showing no sign of leaving. Jareth Idrax would never scare me again. Well, not as long as I had a knife in my hand.

To my surprise, the news seemed to calm Jareth down a little bit. “Thank Rask for that. There is a brain cell between the pair of you!”

“Wait, you don’t mind?” Ronad asked, incredulous.

“As long as you didn’t take any unnecessary risks and weren’t spilling secrets,” Jareth replied with a heavy sigh. “My only concern is word finding its way back to Queen Gianne that someone has been contacting Brisha’s side. If she finds out it has anything to do with me, she’ll have my head covered in sap before you can say ‘for the South!’” A weariness washed over him, making him look older than his years.

Ronad glanced at him as though he were a stranger. “I told you, we were careful.”

Jareth nodded. “I hope you were careful enough. What was the verdict?”

“Navan and Bashrik have agreed to sneak back over to rejoin Queen Gianne’s side, as soon as they’re able,” I said, the white lie tripping easily off my tongue. I hated saying the words, wishing they weren’t true.

Jareth’s entire face seemed to crumple with relief as he took a seat on one of the island stools, his shoulders slumped. “I hope their return will make some difference,” he mumbled, almost to himself. “I do what I can for my Lorela, but she seems to be failing regardless. I can’t bring the light back to her eyes. She calls for her missing boys every day, and I just want to give them back to her, so she can be at peace.”

I’d never seen Jareth Idrax so open and vulnerable, looking like a scared old man at the end of his tether. By the looks of him, he wasn’t angry anymore. He was just exhausted. The two most important women in his life were floundering, losing their minds, and there was little he could do for either of them. Had it been anyone else, I might have felt bad about the lie I’d just told, but a weary face didn’t erase the bad things he’d done.

“Do you really think it’ll change anything?” Ronad asked.

Jareth looked up at him. “I’m willing to try anything. I only hope Navan and Bashrik can get here without Queen Gianne noticing.”

I realized he had the same doubts we did, as to whether Gianne would pardon Navan, or simply kill him on sight. If her right-hand man was dubious, now I was downright petrified for Navan’s safety. I glanced at Ronad and saw my expression mirrored on his face. Navan was entering a risky game, with no assurance of winning. His immunity had been taken out of the equation.

“I must go to my wife,” Jareth murmured, heading for the kitchen exit. He turned on the threshold. “In the wake of what you have done today, I will be inviting Sarrask to stay at the house. He can bring his work here and keep an eye on you. I will not have a repeat offense.”

“We understand,” Ronad replied coldly.

“Oh, and if I find out you’re telling me lies, and Navan and Bashrik don’t come home soon, I will let Queen Gianne deal with the pair of you in any way she sees fit,” he declared, his words sending a chill up my spine.

What exactly did he mean by “soon”? If only Navan came back, would he take that as an acceptable alternative? It was all too vague, and I needed answers. I was about to ask him to elaborate, when he turned his gaze on me.

“And if you ever threaten me with a knife, or any other implement, again, I will make you wish Navan had never brought you to this planet. Moreover, I will make him watch whatever fitting punishment I have in mind,” he hissed. A malicious smile spread across his lips. “Have you ever seen a creature flayed alive?”

I gulped.

“Pray you never do.”





Chapter Thirteen





Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, but there was still no sign of Navan. Jareth’s warning weighed heavily on my shoulders. Every time we saw each other on the staircase or happened to be in the same room, I could tell he was growing impatient.

Hell, I was getting impatient. Since Brisha had given Navan direct permission to rescue me, I’d expected him to arrive a few days after we spoke, but the knock on the door never came. Now, I was in a constant state of worry, pacing the hallways of the Idrax house, fearing not only what Jareth might do, but what might have happened to Navan, too. The only thing that brought me any comfort was the flash of my climpet, pulsing steadily.

Then there was Ronad to worry about. If Navan did turn up, and we made it back to the North, I knew there would be some explaining to do, where our former-coldblood friend was concerned. Maybe Brisha would find him interesting. Maybe she would find him disgusting. Or maybe she wouldn’t care. There was no way of knowing with her.

Moreover, Jareth had made good on his threat to bring in a constant babysitter, in the form of Sarrask. We’d overstepped the line of Jareth’s trust, and in doing so we eliminated our freedom. Sarrask wasn’t exactly watching us, per se, the way Pandora had, but he had the uncanny ability to be everywhere at once, wandering around with a book in his hands, or inspecting a rock on the go, or sitting in the living room watching the video screen, or working away at the kitchen counter. Every room I wanted to be in, he was already there. I had no idea how he did it, but he always seemed to be one step ahead, guessing where I’d be before I’d even decided.

It was more inconvenient than anything else, made all the more frustrating by the fact that I was desperate to get down to the basement again. I wanted to sneak back through the passageway to Jareth’s alchemy lab, in the hopes of stealing back the black box device so I could figure out where the hell Navan was. Regardless of the time of day, or where I’d last spotted Sarrask, he would always be just around the corner when I turned.

Kaido hadn’t been as friendly toward me after discovering he’d been duped. Ronad had taken the blame for the deceit, but I could tell it would take some effort to rebuild the bond that had been developing between us. The only sign of him thawing a bit was him asking me to participate in another of his experiments two days ago. He said he’d come and get me when the time was right, but that day hadn’t arrived yet. Even so, I was determined to repair the broken trust between us.