Hotbloods 5: Traitors

I took the basement steps two at a time, turning the corner sharply. All I could hear was the sound of my feet pounding on the sleek wooden floor and the rush of panicked blood in my ears. I trusted Ronad would be following close behind me and prayed Jareth—or whoever had been outside the door—hadn’t heard us hunting around the alchemy lab. If he had, our relative freedom to roam around the house would come to an abrupt end.

I was just about to round the corner that led to the main staircase when a figure appeared out of nowhere. I was going too fast to stop, and my body careened into the unsuspecting person with such force I felt the air knocked clean out of my lungs. Unfortunately for me, they were as solid as concrete, causing me to bounce backward, staggering away as I struggled for breath.

My knees almost buckled, but strong hands gripped my arms, steadying me. It was only then that I took notice of the person I’d barreled into. “Sarrask?”

He scowled, quickly removing his hands, as though I were something dirty. “You should watch where you’re going,” he grumbled, lowering his gaze. “You could have hurt yourself.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” I gasped, trying to slow my panting, my lungs burning.

He peered at me, a hint of suspicion in his eyes. “Why are you breathing so hard? What are you up to?” He glanced over my shoulder, looking down the hallway behind me.

I was about to answer when the thunder of footsteps distracted us both. Ronad appeared a second later in the corridor, running at a casual pace, looking decidedly less flustered than I felt.

“There you are, slowpoke!” I called, with forced brightness. He flashed me a subtle questioning look, glancing between me and Sarrask, evidently trying to gauge the situation. “I was just about to tell Sarrask the game we’ve been playing. I’m not sure it’s his style, though. What do you think?”

Ronad slowed to a stop, laughing heartily. “Nah, Sarrask is way too serious for this kind of thing. Although, thanks to him, you’re going to be pretty easy to tag!” he cried, lunging forward to tap me on the arm. “You’re It! And you thought you could outrun me!” A defiant expression of triumph crossed his face as he put his fists to his hips, striking a superhero pose.

“That’s not fair! You can’t tag me while I’m talking to Sarrask. I call for a time-out,” I declared, but Ronad shook his head.

“You have to say you need a time-out before you get tagged. Sorry, Riley, those are the rules, and you are still It!” He laughed.

I let out a deep sigh. “Thanks, Sarrask! I was doing pretty good until you came along,” I teased, touching his arm. “Now, if you were to join our game, I could take my revenge. How would you like to be It with me?”

Sarrask wrenched his arm away with almost comical violence. “The pair of you are acting like children. I would not be caught dead playing your juvenile little game,” he said sourly. “Some of us have actual business to attend to, instead of running amok.”

“Easy for you to say. You get to go outside,” I retorted. What right did he have to belittle me, when I was essentially a prisoner in his family home? “You have no idea how hard it is to stay cooped up in this place all day, every day, with no real way to exercise, and not much on the entertainment front. Sometimes you have to improvise!”

Sarrask’s eyes narrowed. “Well, it certainly looks like you’ve found something to distract yourself with,” he said, nodding pointedly at Ronad. “I bet the pair of you are really good at improvising.” A nasty look that made my heart clench passed across his face.

I glowered at him. “And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know exactly what that means, Riley,” he spat back, running a hand through his hair. “If Navan does bother coming back for you, he’s more of a fool than I thought. You don’t care about him at all. Look at you, parading around with that defiler! Two minutes away from Navan, and you’re already getting cozy with someone else!”

Ronad took a step forward, but I held out my arm, keeping him back. I didn’t need anyone to fight my battles for me, especially not where Navan was concerned. Sarrask had clearly decided he didn’t like me, but I wasn’t going to let him talk that way about my love for his brother.

“Let’s get a few things clear, Sarrask,” I began coldly. “Ronad is a friend, and that’s all. He still loves your sister, whom he didn’t defile—he loved her. He loved her the way I love Navan, and that kind of feeling comes once in a lifetime. So don’t you dare start making comments about something you know nothing about. I can’t help the fact that you’re jealous of people who actually have a heart, but you can keep your nose out of my business! I didn’t ask to be separated from the man I love, and I won’t have my feelings for him called into question by anyone. Do I make myself clear?” I stood my ground, my eyes burning into his.

Ronad took another step forward. “Naya is the only one I’ll ever love. You know that. If you speak about her memory like that again, you’ll wish you’d kept your mouth shut,” he added, folding his arms across his chest.

For the briefest moment, I saw something flicker across Sarrask’s eyes, and, to my surprise, it looked like respect. “Duly noted,” he said simply, a wry smile tugging at his lips.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked, eager to change the subject. I needed to calm down before the vein in my temple exploded.

Sarrask sighed. “I’m on lunch and thought I’d pay Mother a visit.”

“On lunch from what?” I pressed, realizing he was the only brother whose occupation I didn’t know.

“I’m a geologist. I work at a lab in the city, researching the mineral properties of stones that get brought in from other planets,” he replied, taking me by surprise. I’d expected him to stay tight-lipped, but, then again, that kind of job didn’t sound like something that needed to stay very secret.

“Huh. Not what I was expecting.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them.

He frowned. “Why? What were you expecting?”

I gave an embarrassed shrug. “I’m not sure, I just didn’t have you down as a geologist. Although, I’m sure it’s fascinating stuff,” I said lamely. In truth, I actually did think it was interesting, but I had a feeling Sarrask didn’t want to hear my opinion on the subject.

“Anyway, I thought I’d come and see her while I had an hour to spare. She wasn’t doing too well the last time I visited, and I had to run off midway through seeing her,” he explained, almost candidly. “To be honest, I’m worried she’s deteriorating. She’s never been this bad before, and I’m pretty sure it has something to do with you two.”

“Us?” I asked, incredulous. Lorela barely noticed me, and she certainly hadn’t been told the truth about my relationship with Navan. Jareth knew, but I didn’t think it was the kind of thing he’d share with his sickly wife.

“Your presence at the house agitates her,” he went on, focusing solely on me. “I might not like having him around, but it makes her happy to see Ronad. Even so, she can’t afford to have that kind of excitement; she’s not strong enough for it.”

“Surely, it’s better that she’s happy? Your mother’s illness is a mental one, as far as I can tell. If she can be surrounded by things that improve her wellbeing, that can only be a good thing,” I challenged.

He grimaced. “That’s not what I’ve been hearing from my father. Before you two came here, there were no night terrors, no fever, no physical side to her mental illness. Now, by all accounts, they’re present, and they’re getting worse. You two are the only thing that has changed.”

“Is your father here? Maybe we could talk to him about it,” I suggested. Ronad nodded in agreement, but Sarrask shook his head.