Hotbloods 5: Traitors

I wished I was as hopeful, but a niggling fear remained in the back of my mind. This part of Vysanthe was getting more dangerous by the second, especially for outsiders like us, and we were risking everything for a communication device that might not even be there anymore.

“What if Navan is already making his way over here? What if we’re too late?” I asked, unable to help myself.

Ronad flashed me a comforting glance. “He’s not stupid, Riley. He’ll know he needs to wait until some of the heat has died down before he can come after us. Besides, he’ll have Queen Brisha to deal with before he can do anything about you and me.”

That thought didn’t exactly ease my racing mind. I still couldn’t shake the concern that Navan and the others hadn’t been well-received by Queen Brisha, not only because Pandora wasn’t with us anymore, but also because we’d come back with no solution to the elixir problem. At any other time, Brisha might have been more understanding, but she was at war—her people needed immortality more than ever. After all, it was a sure-fire way to win.

I was starting to realize that the gamble Kaido had taken in bringing us here was massive. Navan didn’t have an easy route back to Queen Gianne’s side. Plus, if they did make it over, that would immediately put us in Queen Brisha’s bad books. The whole thing was a complete mess, but even though it seemed like Kaido was to blame, I knew he wasn’t the puppet master; he was merely following the orders of Jareth Idrax, who wanted his sons home at all costs.

“You’re sure we can get in touch with the others through this black box thing? I’ve only seen Navan try to use one, and that wasn’t exactly a roaring success,” I muttered, as we continued on through the labyrinth of the Idrax house.

Ronad grinned. “Trust me, I can make this work. I can MacGyver anything.”

I laughed. “MacGyver anything? You really have watched too much Earth TV.”

“What can I say? I love a rerun!” Ronad said. “Do Navan and Bashrik have a comms device on them?”

I shook my head, remembering how Pandora had removed all personal devices. “We’ll have to get through to them via Brisha herself, or someone close to her. A soldier, a guard, an advisor—anyone in her court,” I replied grimly, knowing it was easier said than done. As I spoke, an idea popped into my head. “Or, we could try getting a transmission through to her central control room. I’ve seen Gianne hack the system, so we could always try that on a smaller scale. One screen would be all we’d need to hijack, to get her attention.”

“Damn, I can see why Navan likes you.” Ronad whistled. “Brains, beauty, banter… the ultimate trifecta. My Naya was the same.” I hadn’t wanted to ask too many personal questions about Naya, but piece by piece, he was giving me a better picture of her.

“This would be so much easier if Seraphina had just agreed to help us out,” I muttered. I was still disappointed she couldn’t do anything for us. Then again, I hadn’t exactly stuck my neck out for her either. Navan was still in the dark about her engagement to Aurelius. Now, I had no idea if I’d ever get the chance to tell him about it.

Shuffling off the guilt that stung me whenever I thought about Seraphina’s unfulfilled request, I focused on keeping up with Ronad. We’d gone down two floors, taking lefts and rights seemingly at random. It still surprised me just how many corridors and hallways there were in this place. Without a guide, it would be easy to get lost within its walls.

“I imagine she’s got a lot on her plate. She’s a busy woman,” Ronad said with a shrug. “I’ve got to say, I admire your balls where she’s concerned.”

I laughed. “You really shouldn’t go around admiring people’s balls.”

“No, I mean it. I’m guessing you know the situation between her and Navan. It can’t be easy, knowing he’s engaged to another woman,” he said. “I mean, obviously nothing will ever come of it, and he definitely doesn’t have romantic feelings for her, but it must still sting a bit. Jareth tried to marry Naya off to a bunch of unworthy dudes, and that almost drove me mad.”

The words twisted in my stomach. I really hoped that nothing would ever come of it, but then where did that leave Seraphina? I knew the choice would be taken out of my hands once the truth was truly out, especially if Navan returned here.

“So, once we’ve snuck out, what do we do then?” I asked, not wanting to dwell on the subject of Navan and Seraphina. Ronad didn’t know what I knew about Aurelius, and the thought of what might happen made me too sad.

Taking the hint, Ronad turned away. “Well, once we’re away from the house, we’ll need to get a cab. We can’t exactly risk stealing a Snapper, as much as I’d like to,” he said wryly. “The only problem is, we need some credit to pay for the cab. For that, we need a pay device.”

“The Idraxes must have one lying around somewhere…”

“Let’s hope so,” Ronad murmured. “I know Kaido has one, if you can figure out a way to get it from him.”

I frowned. “I’ll have to see what I can do. He seemed eager to stay in his lab all night, going over the findings of our experiment. If you show me where his room is, we can have a look around.”

A sad expression fell across Ronad’s face. “I’ll show you where it is, but I can’t go in there anymore.”

“Why not?”

“It used to be Naya’s room. Being the only girl, she always had the biggest room in the house, aside from Jareth and Lorela’s. When she died and everyone flew the nest, Kaido moved his things into her room,” he explained bitterly.

Now, I was beginning to understand where Ronad’s resentment stemmed from. Then again, I had a feeling Kaido probably had no idea he’d caused offense. He would have seen it simply as the biggest room, with the most space for his day-to-day needs. He wouldn’t have seen it as improper to take the room of a dead girl, because his mind didn’t work that way. That was my guess, anyway, but I imagined Ronad didn’t want to hear any of that reasoning.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, resting a hand on his arm.

He offered a sad smile. “Even with all her stuff moved into the attic, I can’t go into that room. I can still feel her presence there.” During the many times we’d scouted out the house, I had noticed that he avoided a certain hallway on the second floor, and now I knew why.

“Did you visit her there?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t overstepping any lines.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “I certainly did. It was easy when I lived here. I could sneak along the landing at night and wrap her in my arms. But when things got awkward, and I left, it wasn’t so simple. Still, we made it work. We stole any moment we could together.” He sighed wistfully, closing his eyes as though picturing her. “Rask, I miss her. What’s worse, she fades a little more each day—her face, her scent, her laugh, her voice. The harder I try and grab for her memory, the faster it slips through my fingers.”

I felt a lump in my throat. I couldn’t even begin to imagine his pain. “I’m sorry,” was all I could give in return.

“Her hair always smelled so sweet, like Sakaros, this flower that grows at the bottom of the Idrax garden. The other day, when I was in Lorela’s room, the same smell drifted toward me, and it all came rushing back,” he murmured. “Lorela had a vase full of Sakaros by her bed, and the scent almost killed me. I wanted my heart to stop, then and there, so I wouldn’t have to live another day without my Naya. But then the scent faded, and my mind cleared, and life carried on, same as always.”

“She sounds like quite a woman,” I said as we reached a stairwell on the lower ground floor. It led down into the darkness of what looked like a basement. I paused, uncertain about descending any deeper.