Hotbloods 5: Traitors

“Are you sure? I know it’s a lot to ask.” Seraphina paused, a wave of uncertainty moving across her face. She started shaking her head, her body shaking violently. “No, I should never have asked it. Goodness, this is a mess. You must hate me, Riley. No, it was silly of me to even think about it—I can’t ask you to do this. I thought I could, but now that I see you together, I’m not sure I can.”

Navan stepped forward and put a comforting hand on her back. “It’s a lot to ask, but we’ve talked about it, and we’re happy to do this for you. This is what’s best for everyone involved,” he promised.

“Except Riley… What does Riley get out of this?” Seraphina shivered, covering her face with her hands.

I smiled warmly. “It’s a piece of paper that saves you from a lifetime of misery, Seraphina. I know what I’m getting into.”

“Riley and I have spoken about this. We wouldn’t do this lightly. There will be no pressure on us. You won’t ever have to be my actual wife, in the… physical sense.” Navan choked uncomfortably. “I just want to protect you from Aurelius, and so does Riley. Think of it as a favor instead of a marriage.”

“Romantic, right?” I joked, wanting to ease the tension.

To my delight, Seraphina laughed, her whole body relaxing in front of my eyes. “I’ll leave his romantic side to you!”

“So you’re in this with us, then?” Navan urged.

“I will tell my parents that you’ve agreed to the wedding, and they will begin preparations as quickly as possible.” She chuckled tightly, turning to me. “They’re desperate to see their aging spinster of a daughter get married, regardless of who the husband is. As long as he has ample wealth, they couldn’t care less who stands at the Binding Font with me. He could be a gangster or a pirate, and they’d still be thrilled.”

I realized that Aurelius and the rest of the soldiers had kept their word to Gianne, and news of Jareth’s arrest had yet to filter out into the population, thus protecting his status in the eyes of Seraphina’s parents. If they knew he was a traitor, they might have been forced to rethink whom they married their daughter to, regardless of his wealth. A gangster or a pirate would have been fine, but a traitor to the crown… that was probably where they drew the line.

“How long will the preparations take, do you think?” I asked, trying to keep the bitter edge out of my voice.

Seraphina hesitated. “Given their connections, and their sheer desperation to see me married off… my parents will barely need a week.”





Chapter Twenty-Six





After leaving the school, we took a walk in a nearby park, ignoring the disapproving looks that passersby shot in our direction. I wanted a moment to breathe before we headed to the palace. Neither of us had spoken much about what had just happened, and I kept telling myself it wasn’t a big deal, that it was just a piece of paper that meant nothing. The only remaining problem was, once they were married, Navan could never marry me. I mean, we could technically marry on some other planet, but he would still legally be Seraphina’s husband here, and I didn’t feel like making a bigamist out of him. More than that, I was worried it wouldn’t be special—the whole idea of marriage tarnished in his eyes. It wasn’t something I was looking to do with any kind of urgency, but I owed it to future-me to think about these things.

I kept worrying about Queen Gianne popping up, wondering what the hell had happened to the Idrax mansion. She’d surely have found out by now that the whole thing had gone up in flames, and all her evidence with it. Then again, she had Jareth Idrax in custody. There really wasn’t anything else she could do about the lost information, except keep him around and try to pry the intel out of him. She might come after Sarrask and Kaido to make an example of them at one of her executions, but surely she would realize the corner she’d backed herself into. She couldn’t strike at any of Jareth’s family now, not if she wanted a sliver of progress with the immortality elixir. It all came down to what she cared about more—the elixir, or loyalty. It didn’t take a genius to figure out which she’d choose.

Jareth Idrax, you clever bastard, I mused.

“Do you want to go to Gianne?” Navan asked, as we paused beside a bizarre tree. Black petals cascaded down like blossoms, reminding me of the ash that had drifted across Tristitia Lake. I knew we had to, but I didn’t feel ready to hold my breath through another meeting with her.

“We should give the boys a call first, let them know how we’re doing,” I suggested. “Are the comms back up?”

Navan took out his comm device, and a dialogue box popped up on the screen. “It says domestic range only.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I can only transmit to somebody within a short range of the comm towers.”

I frowned. “Is Sarrask’s house close enough?”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” he said, as he connected his device to the black box we’d left with Ronad. It rang for what seemed like an eternity, the screen blank.

“Hello? Navan, is that you?” Ronad’s voice crackled through. I could hear raised voices in the background, but I couldn’t see who was yelling. A moment later, a holograph shot upward, feeding us a video stream. Taking my hand, Navan pulled me into a nearby shelter, both of us tucking into the corner, out of sight. There weren’t many people around, but neither of us felt like drawing more attention to ourselves.

“Ronad, is everything okay?” Navan asked. The video stream was a little on the fuzzy side.

“Will you two cut it out!” Ronad snapped over his shoulder, before turning back to the camera. “Everything will be fine, once these two stop trying to kill each other.”

Sarrask came into view, brandishing what looked like one of Kaido’s plants. “I would stop it, if Kaido would stop putting his things all over the place. If he wants a private lab, he’s going to have to use his ship. He can’t spread his gear all over my house!”

“I need space to work, Sarrask. My neurobotany is vital, and I am making groundbreaking discoveries!” Kaido insisted, also popping into frame. “If you do not allow me to continue my work, with the correct special requirements, then you and I are going to have a falling out.”

“We’re already having a falling out, Kaido! Your crap is all over my kitchen, and I want it gone!”

Ronad rolled his eyes. “They’ve been like this since you left.”

“Wait, let us listen in,” I said. Ronad gave me a funny look, but he nodded.

“You’re throttling my Illumine Budanska!” Kaido cried, trying to snatch the plant from Sarrask’s hand. “Do you have any idea how rare those are, and what they are capable of? No, of course not, because all you ever want to look at are rocks! Big, ugly, useless rocks!”

“I’ll crush it, if you don’t take all of this back to your ship!” Sarrask yelled, gesturing to what I presumed to be the kitchen.

“No!” Kaido shrieked. “It will be years before I can find another one to study. They only bloom naturally once in a century, you lumbering oaf!”

Sarrask smiled coldly. “You scared I’m going to kill your little plant friend?”

“They are not my friends! A plant cannot be a friend!” Kaido shook his head. “Even so, my plants are more intelligent than you, rock-lover! If I were to inject one of my serums into your brain, I am certain I would find that your frontal lobe has been compromised!”

Sarrask looked at his brother in confusion. “Look, if you don’t move your stuff, your plant gets it! And I will work through every plant you own, until you have nothing. Then, maybe, you’ll learn.”

“What’s going on here?” I shouted, attracting the attention of the two warring siblings.

Sarrask moved toward the screen, peering at it. “Riley, is that you?”

“Stop yelling at each other,” I demanded.

“I can’t stand having this geek in my house!” he grumbled, shoving Kaido away as he tried to look over his brother’s shoulder. “He’s messed up my kitchen, and there are plants everywhere. Not just here, but in the living room, in the bedrooms, in the bathtub—I can’t move around, there’s so much foliage!”

“They’ll die without space and water!” Kaido said.