Hotbloods 5: Traitors

I grabbed him by the wrist, instantly regretting it. “Why are you in such a rush?”

“I’ve been found out, Riley!” he whispered, flapping his lipless mouth. “I need to cash in my side of the deal. I have to escape, ASAP!”

“Why?” I urged.

“The proverbial throat-tearer dung is about to hit the proverbial fan!” he hissed, dragging me toward the prison exit as his flesh oozed over my hand. The others followed, looking appalled. I wasn’t sure Navan would ever want to touch my hand again, after seeing that.

I rolled my eyes. “You need to stop with the vagueness, Mort! What the hell is going on?”

“It’s all about to go down in Northern Vysanthe! Gianne’s ships are poised and ready to strike, and when the retaliation comes, it is NOT going to be pretty!” he explained frantically. “I’m talking fountains of blood, limbs flying everywhere, and ash raining down like a volcano just went off!”

I shook my head, struggling to understand. “That’s not possible, Mort. Gianne announced a ceasefire for the wedding, and Brisha agreed to it. There’s some rule in the ‘big book of war’ that says it’s allowed. They have to abide by the terms of it.”

Mort laughed bitterly. “You think Gianne gives a hoot about what some book says? That stubborn wench does what she likes. She’s always played dirty, and right now she’s up to her creepy little eyeballs in muck. She’s even invited a star guest for the occasion!”

“What do you mean?” I murmured, stealing a glance at the others, who looked just as stunned. Even Navan, who’d spent most of his life in Gianne’s court, seemed shocked at the news that she was planning to break a ceasefire treaty.

“They always say there’s an evil twin, don’t they?” Mort mused.

“Mort!”

He lifted his gooey hands in apology. “She’s unleashing her secret weapon on Goody Two-shoes Brisha.”

“What is it? Can we stop it?” I asked desperately, knowing it would mean the death of countless innocents—not to mention the fact that my friends and Bashrik were still over there.

“Not what. Who.”

I grimaced, about ready to smack him. “Who, then?”

His mouth melted all the way down to his chest, but not before I heard what he said.

“The Titans.”





Chapter Thirty-Four





“The Titans have allied with Gianne?” I asked, the news hitting me like a punch to the gut.

Mort nodded, giving up on his disguise and morphing back into his natural form. “They’ve gathered just outside Vysanthe’s solar system, where they’re waiting for Gianne’s signal.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“Why do you think I was dressed like the bloodsucker?” He grinned. “I was persuading the general to tell me what Gianne was up to. I told him I’d protect innocents like his son, if he gave me some intel. He bought it and told me everything. I mean, I had to get the jump on her, in case she was plotting something exactly like this. His mind is basically soup after she killed his son, but she still comes to him for military advice.”

Navan walked toward the prison exit, cursing loudly. “That unforgivable, Horerczy-sucking daughter of a mangy frostfang!” he shouted, scuffing his boot against the floor. “That ceasefire is supposed to last until sunset tomorrow. She’s really going to break it?”

Mort nodded. “How many more times do I have to say it, grayskin? Is your skull too thick to retain that much information?”

“Don’t test me, Mort—not now!” Navan fired back.

Ronad was surprisingly silent, his face pale. Taking the ID device off Navan, he jogged to the holding pen and swiped the device over the control panel, opening up the door. The guards were still out cold, but they wouldn’t be for long.

“Do you think we can persuade the Titans not to strike?” I suggested halfheartedly. “Maybe we could get in contact with that seller and see if they’ll still drop the item off—we could use it to tempt the Titans. I’m guessing you didn’t have time to rearrange plans with them, Navan?”

He shook his head, looking sheepish. “It slipped my mind. All I could think about was getting here and making my father pay for what he’s done. I completely forgot to send a message to the seller.”

Reluctantly, he took out the black box device and read the screen. By the look on Navan’s face, I doubted it was particularly good news.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a message from the seller. He says he’s on his way to the rendezvous point. The message was sent about half an hour ago—we’ll never get to the groundskeeper’s hut in time to meet him,” he muttered. “There’s a warning at the bottom… ‘Don’t be late.’”

“Do you think he’ll take the credit amount anyway?” I asked anxiously. It was a hell of a lot, and I knew we might need it to buy our way out of Vysanthe.

Navan shook his head. “The money can only be taken once the exchange has been made. No item, no credits.”

“Can you at least tell the seller that the deal is off, or apologize for the delay?”

He cursed under his breath. “He’ll have already come and gone. It’s too late to call it off.”

Mort flashed Navan a nasty look. “If you end up lowering my rating on the darkstar market, I’ll make you pay for my yearly subscription to The Legless Merman!”

“Hey, I didn’t mean for this to happen!”

“No, you never mean for anything to happen, do you, bloodsucker?”

“Stop it, both of you!” I yelled. They turned to look at me. “We need to face facts here. I highly doubt a suit of armor is going to entice the Titans away from whatever Gianne offered them. We couldn’t buy that kind of leverage in a million years! So, I suggest we get going, because our friends are stuck in the North, and they have no idea what’s coming for them!”

As soon as I’d heard the news, my first thought had been of Angie, Lauren, and Bashrik. They would be enjoying the ceasefire while it lasted, unaware of anything sinister lingering in the distance. Everyone would. Right now, we needed to get to Northern Vysanthe, gather up our friends, then get off this planet, preferably before any giant, war-loving enemies arrived.

If that meant we lost some of Brisha’s favor, then so be it. I wasn’t prepared to stay on Vysanthe while their war heated up. I didn’t agree with Gianne breaking the twenty-four-hour treaty, but that didn’t mean I had to lose anyone I loved. As selfish as it sounded, this wasn’t my war—this was two sisters caught in a squabble that had gotten way out of hand. I couldn’t ignore the impending slew of suffering and devastation the two queens were about to rain down on the innocent Vysanthean civilians, but there was little I could do to stop that now.

I had to focus on what I could control, and that was getting my friends out of the North.

“We should head for the border immediately,” Navan said. “Knowing Gianne, she’ll get the Titans to strike at night, when Brisha least suspects it.”

“Well, unless she wants to see her handiwork in glorious daylight,” Mort chimed in.

“Do you know something we don’t?” Navan narrowed his eyes.

“Nope, just throwing in my opinion, given what I know about Gianne.”

I had a feeling the two of them were going to be at each other’s throats the entire way back to Sarrask’s cottage, and beyond. Mort wanted revenge on Orion for what the rebel leader had done to his friend, so there was no telling when we could drop him off somewhere and continue our travels in peace. Eventually, I supposed they’d wear each other out.

“Is nobody thinking about Brisha here?” Ronad asked suddenly. “We need to tell her what’s going on so she can rally her forces. We’re wasting time.”