Hotbloods 5: Traitors

Navan grimaced. “I know he had a few secret switches and buttons set up all over the place, Your Majesty, but I always presumed they were there in case of a house invasion, or a robbery.”

“I knew it!” she roared, kicking the head off a plump black rose. “I knew my men should have checked the house more thoroughly! I’ll punish them, too, the way I’m going to punish Jareth for what he’s done.”

“If I might ask, Your Majesty, what do you plan to do with Jareth?” I asked, finding my voice.

She looked outraged that I’d dared to speak. “Ah, yes, you were there at the house, weren’t you?” she mused, her features softening. “You were the one who crept out from under the bed and exposed Jareth’s abominable lie, correct?”

I nodded nervously. “That was me, Your Majesty.” I wondered just how addled her mind was, if she couldn’t remember seeing a human like me running around the place. I didn’t exactly blend in.

“If it hadn’t been for your bold move, I would have killed that frail old woman in the bed, and I’d never have known the extent of Jareth’s dishonesty,” she said brightly. “He wasn’t going to tell me what he was up to, you know? If you hadn’t emerged when you did, he would have let me smother that poor wife of his. Well, we showed him, didn’t we, creature?”

“I suppose we did, Your Majesty.” I chanced a look up at Navan, who was staring straight ahead, a look of sadness glittering in his eyes. I hadn’t told him the finer details of what had happened in that room. He already hated his father enough—I hadn’t seen the point in adding Lorela’s near-death experience at the hands of Gianne to his list of reasons to despise Jareth. I’d already told him the story of his mother’s attempted suicide.

“Anyway, the sly old devil destroyed all of his secrets, didn’t he?” Gianne continued, her tone bitter. “How did you and those three dimwits get out, anyway?” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“There was an explosion in the basement first, Your Majesty,” I explained. “As soon as we heard the first tremor, we got out of there. We managed to escape unscathed, though we had to watch it burn down.”

She nodded sympathetically. “Yes, I suppose he would only have cared if that stern son of his got caught in the blast. He definitely wouldn’t have been fazed by the deaths of a mentally stunted strangeling, a former coldblood aberration, and… whatever you are,” she mused. “Although, it’s a tragedy, really, considering the amount of intel that man had at his disposal. Anyway, thanks to his deceitful little trick, I have to keep him around.”

“So you’re going to keep his arrest a secret, Your Majesty?” Navan interjected.

“I have to, sadly, though I’d love nothing more than to swipe the head clean off his neck, in front of everyone, and stick it on a pike to adorn my palace walls.”

“And you’re really going to pardon Navan, Your Majesty?” I chimed in.

She smiled. “You really are obsessed with this pardon, aren’t you, little creature? Well, as I said before, I am a woman of my word. I said I would pardon him, and I will,” she declared. “And I offer you my blessing for your upcoming marriage, Navan.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” he replied solemnly.

“Indeed, your wedding will mark a one-day ceasefire, which my sister has already agreed to, vowing on the rules of war,” she continued. “I remember when my parents called a time-out during one of our childhood games of electroball. I was winning, so Brisha asked for a break. I knew there was nothing the matter with her, but she said she had an ache in her side, or something equally ludicrous. Naturally, my parents believed her, because they always believed every word she said, lapping it up like the saps that they were. Goody Two-shoes, bookworm Brisha could never do any wrong in their eyes, while ditzy little Gianne was always messing up and disappointing them.” Her eyes glazed over for a moment, carrying a faraway look. Navan and I shared a glance.

“Anyway, I was forced to interrupt my momentum, and she knew I’d never get it back again. That’s why there are no breaks in electroball, but she just had to win,” Gianne muttered. “She did it on purpose, knowing it would give her the chance to regroup. Of course, after the break, she was the victor. She snuck in and took the ball when I wasn’t looking. I wasn’t even sure we were playing again! Well, now I’m stealing a page from her rulebook. If she thinks she can win this war by being the underhanded sneak, she has another thing coming. Let’s see how she likes a break in her momentum.”

“Underhanded sneak, Your Majesty?” I asked, curious.

A flicker of rage glittered in her eyes. “That sour-faced daughter of a frostfang fed my spies false information,” she explained, spittle flying in anger. “I don’t know how she fooled them, but she pretended her alchemists had cracked the code, conjuring up a viable batch of immortality elixir. She put crates of the stuff onboard a cargo ship heading out of Vysanthe, knowing I’d follow. I stole the goods and brought them back, only to watch my people suffer in agony as they drank the trick vials. But it will all come to an end soon enough… Oh, yes, it will come to an end when she least expects it!”

I realized Lauren’s plan had come to fruition. Brisha had tricked her sister, and now Gianne wanted revenge. Part of me wanted to give them both a good shake, to force some sense into them, but I knew it would make no difference. They’d entered a cycle of vengeance, and there were only two ways of stopping it—if someone called a truce, or one of them died. I doubted either of them would settle for option one.

“We’ve taken up enough of your time, Your Majesty. We should let you get back to your…” Navan paused, looking at the rodents dangling from the branches. “Whatever it was you were doing when we interrupted.”

“What delightful things do you have planned?” she asked cheerfully, her former anger dissipating in the blink of a maniacal eye. “Are you off to visit your beautiful fiancée?”

“Actually, Your Majesty, I was hoping to visit my mother.”

I nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty, do you happen to know where Doctor Ulani took her?” I hoped that, wherever Lorela was, Mort was with her. If he could help with the Titans, then I could finally have something to look forward to.

Gianne looked thoughtful for a moment. “I believe he took her to the Vitalis Facility on the edge of the city. You might find her there. If not, I can’t help you. That woman is of no concern to me. No offense, Navan.”

“None taken, Your Majesty,” he replied through gritted teeth.

With that, we said our farewells and backed out of the botanical garden. She watched us intently as we left, leaving me deeply unsettled. My discomfort didn’t ease up as we made our way back to the elevator and out of the palace entirely.

My mind was racing as I contemplated all the horrible things Gianne might conjure up to win the war against her sister. I’d read about the terrible things that humans had done to one another during times of war, and I’d seen parts of it for myself, staring dumbfounded at airstrikes on the news, and the scattered bodies of the innocent dead. Our weapons were small and feeble in comparison to the Vysanthean arsenal. What kind of devastation would Gianne wreak across the surface of this planet, just to gain the upper hand? What lengths would she go to, to be the only queen left?





Chapter Twenty-Eight





“What’s on your mind?” Navan asked, as we stepped back out into the bitter afternoon.

“Nothing,” I lied, smiling at him. “I’m just glad that’s over and done with.”

“It’ll be you and me again in no time,” he promised, pulling me into an embrace. There was only so much we could do here without attracting unwanted attention, but I was only too happy to steal a kiss or two. Right now, I really needed it.

We’d just gotten into a sky-cab when Navan’s comm device sounded. He picked up the call, and a hologram rippled through the air. Seraphina stared back at us, an anxious expression written across her face.