Hotbloods 5: Traitors

We’d just stepped into the entrance hall when Jareth appeared at the top of the stairs. He was imposing at the best of times, but right now he looked terrifying. His eyes burned with rage, his muscles tensed. For a moment, I wasn’t sure he was going to move, but then he tore down the staircase toward me, reaching us before I had a chance to get out of the way. He seized me by the front of my t-shirt, pulling me in until he was nose to nose with me.

“Where is it?” he spat, his spittle flying in my face. Ronad tried to step between us, but Jareth shoved him squarely in the chest, sending him stumbling through the door of a storage closet. I heard a clatter before Jareth turned the lock, trapping Ronad inside.

“Where’s what?” I countered, heart hammering in my throat as Ronad slammed on the door.

A cold sneer curled up the corners of Jareth’s mouth. “Don’t play coy, Riley! Where’s the comm device? What have you done with it?”

So, he’d figured out it was missing. I thought about telling him that I had it on me, tucked into my waistband, but right now we had bigger things to worry about. He had bigger things to worry about. Mort hadn’t specifically said when Gianne was arriving, but it could be any moment.

“Never mind that, Jareth. You’re in danger,” I began to say, but his hand slid around my throat, squeezing my windpipe, stopping the words dead.

“Where is it?” Jareth raged, gripping harder.

I could feel my eyes bulging, my throat closing. “Gianne… is… coming,” I croaked.

“Another sly tactic from your box of wily tricks! You can’t fool me, Riley. I know you’re a deceitful creature, intent on destroying my family,” he hissed.

Black spots appeared in my vision. “Gianne… is coming. Navan, too. Hide… me… and Ronad. Hide… the truth!”

I glanced at the storage closet. At least Ronad was safely out of the way, but I was still out in the open. I couldn’t be here when Gianne arrived, yet Jareth was forcing me to be. I thrashed against him, trying to break free, but his grip was too strong.

“What have you done with it? Have you seen what’s on it? Have you told anyone?” Jareth barked, throttling me, shaking my body like a ragdoll. My consciousness was slipping away, but I held on. I needed to get through to him.

“Gianne… doubts… you.”

He released me suddenly, throwing me backward. I sank to the floor, clutching at my throat, dragging air into my lungs. A second later, a shadow stretched across me, and I braced for the impact of his angry grip.

“Get up!” he spat.

As I rose to my feet, a knock at the door thundered through the house—an ominous percussion, signaling the arrival of an unknown visitor. Was it Navan or Gianne? I wanted to believe it was good news, but I couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach.





Chapter Nineteen





“Here,” I gasped, pulling out the silver box and handing it to Jareth. “Get rid of it… before she sees what’s… on it.”

Jareth eyed me suspiciously but took the comm device anyway. As his hands danced across the controls, presumably deleting any evidence, he gestured to the hallway behind me. “If you head down that corridor and follow it all the way to the basement, you’ll find a wardrobe at the back, covered in a sheet. If you open the—”

I stopped him. “I know where the escape tunnels are.”

“How?” he spat, his eyes narrowing to almost-reptilian slits.

“That doesn’t matter now. If that’s… Gianne… you don’t want to keep her waiting!” I urged, catching my ragged breath. As if to back me up, a second knock boomed through the entrance hall. “Will Ronad be okay?”

I knew he was better off hidden in a closet, but that didn’t stop me from worrying. I wasn’t sure if Gianne had ever come across him before, but his lack of gray skin would definitely make him stand out. With all the paranoia racing through her head, she was bound to fixate on every little peculiarity.

Jareth shook his head confidently. “She won’t search the house. Even if she does, she won’t think anything of me keeping a slave in the closet to clean up after us. She knows I’m a busy man,” he explained rapidly. “You, however, are wanted for treason. If she finds you, we’re both done for. Now go, before she breaks the damn thing down!” A third knock punctuated his remark, sending a shiver of fear up my spine.

Without another word, I crawled away, heading for the escape tunnels. However, I couldn’t help pausing at the far end of the hallway to make sure I was hiding for a good reason. If it was Navan, or even Mort, come back to tell me something else disguised as Doctor Ulani, there would be no need for me to hide.

Tucking myself into the shadows, promising to only look for a moment, I watched with bated breath as Jareth walked to the front door and opened it wide. Two figures stood on the doorstep.

Queen Gianne had arrived, and Aurelius was at her side.

I took off through the ground floor labyrinth, not stopping until I reached the covered wardrobe at the back of the basement. Yanking it open, I jumped inside and closed the door firmly behind me. After opening the series of panels and doorways, I found myself in the relative sanctuary of the escape tunnels, with three options before me. First, I could hide in the passageway itself, until Gianne left. Second, I could go to the alchemy lab and hide under the cupboard, the way I’d done when Mort had appeared. Third, I could sneak up to Lorela’s room and hide in there. After all, nobody would be crazy enough to check under the bed of a desperately ill woman. Plus, since the queen was here under the pretense of visiting Lorela, I could eavesdrop on her conversation with Jareth, in case Gianne revealed any useful information. It would be easy enough to slip back down into the tunnel and escape.

Deciding on the latter, I sprinted through the hot, dusty tunnel until I reached the right set of stairs. Flipping the latch, I carefully clambered up and stuck my head through, settling on a halfway approach instead. If someone did look under the bed, I could duck down at the last minute and put the panel back in place.

I heard people approaching. There were three of them—Jareth, Aurelius, and Queen Gianne. I could only imagine the panic Jareth was experiencing, having his business partner and his boss in the same place, at the same time, not knowing who knew what. I barely had any sympathy for Jareth, or the choices he was making, but even I felt a twinge of concern for the guy. After all, the reasoning behind his decision wasn’t ridiculous; it was the person who had been chosen to take Gianne’s place that was ridiculous.

Gianne’s voice cut through me like a knife. “You’ve been avoiding me, Jareth.”

“No, Your Majesty, I swear I haven’t,” Jareth replied nervously. “My wife is very sick, and much of my time has been spent taking care of her.”

“If she is that sick, then what does she matter? You know we do not tolerate weakness, Jareth. Are you weak? Take her to the wastelands and be done with it.” I wasn’t even remotely shocked by the coldness in her voice. I was, however, stunned by the way Jareth held his ground.

“I am not weak, Your Majesty, but I care for my wife. I married Lorela, and I will not abandon her in a time of great need,” he insisted.

“Surely, your queen comes before everything else? You have been absent at the palace today. I cannot have such absences in my time of great need. If your loyalty is waning, you know what the price must be,” she said. “If your wife does not improve, then you will force my hand. I will do what you cannot, to ensure the full attention of my trusted advisor. There are so few left; I would not see you join those who adorn the spikes of my palace walls by defying me.”

“You have my unyielding loyalty, Your Majesty. I have been with you since your coronation, and I will not disappoint you.”

The queen snorted. “See that you do not. What’s wrong with her, anyway?”

“The doctors can’t quite tell, Your Majesty, though they believe it to be a virus that has infected her mind.” A loud bang vibrated through the floorboards, and I ducked into the safety of the trapdoor. “What’s going on, Your Majesty? What was that noise?”