Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, the strain audible in my voice. “I’m just going to drop off these mugs downstairs.”

Hurriedly, I gathered up the tea mugs we’d been drinking from and rushed out of the room. On the top of the staircase, I took a deep breath. Some air—that’s what I needed. If I kept running through the mission and all that could go wrong in my head, I was going to explode.

After I’d dropped off the mugs on the kitchen counter and returned to the room, everyone was on their feet.

“There’s no time to waste,” Bashrik said, as he heaved every article of clothing his hands came into contact with into a beefy duffel bag.

“Yeah, except when you’re packing my bra,” Angie pointed out with a grimace. She lifted a slinky red lace balconette out of his bag. “What did you think it was?”

“My apologies,” Bashrik said, eyeing it with a wary sort of curiosity. “I thought it was a fancy doily.”

At this, Lauren, Angie, and I burst out laughing. Bashrik’s face went red as he upped his pack-heaving pace.

“Really, we do have to get going!”

“He’s right,” Ronad said, with a rueful smile of his own.

I zipped about the room, helping them finish packing their bags, and then we all but ran down the stairs and out of the bed and breakfast, saying a quick goodbye to the owner on our way out.

When we reached the ship, we rushed to clamber inside, and as soon as we were all piled in, Galo lifted off.

Angie was the one who broke the silence. “So it’s awesome that we got out of our bed and breakfast super duper fast, but for how long are we going to be squished together like this?”

I glanced back to see her, Bashrik, Ronad, and Lauren all side by side behind us, looking uncomfortably squeezed. Clearly, these ships had been designed to comfortably fit two lycans— and not one person more.

I smirked. “It’s not very far.”

“And seeing as Riley and I are the ones risking our lives, undergoing a cramped-but-brief trip is a minor price to pay,” Galo said, not looking up from the ship’s steering wheel.

“Yeah, maybe, but you’re not stuck beside some glaring monosyllabic jerk,” Angie said, making a face at Bashrik, whom she’d ended up beside in the melee.

“I could rip apart your stuffed rabbit again,” Bashrik offered.

“And I could solidify your eyes shut with Lauren’s coconut face mask again, but we agreed to get along better,” Angie shot back.

I resisted the urge to laugh. Clearly, Angie hadn’t been kidding when she’d said that Bashrik was driving her crazy. And I knew all too well how swift Angie’s justice was when it came to her enemies. I remembered how she’d slipped several spoonfuls of the spiciest chili sauce into the soup of an unsuspecting Andrea, a girl who’d bullied me in junior high. I could still remember her little cheeks puffed out like a squirrel’s as she held her mouth and raced to the bathroom.

“In any case, for how long in this direction am I expected to fly?” Galo asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I lost the map Navan and I had while trying to escape. But, like I said, the camp’s not far; we weren’t flying for long before the ship broke down. I’ll recognize the area when we reach it.”

“Okay, so maybe… in another ten minutes or so, we’ll land,” Galo said. “Better to be a bit too far than a bit too close.”

The ten minutes dragged on like half an hour. Everyone was tense, quiet. But sure enough, I recognized the area when we reached it—it wasn't difficult, thanks to Navan’s and my broken-down ship still parked there in the snow—and it ended up being about eleven minutes away. When we landed, we wasted no time in hurrying out of the cramped quarters.

“Thank God,” Angie said, sucking in several breaths of fresh air.

“Oh please,” Bashrik replied, looking down his nose at her. “I’m sure you’ve had worse travel companions.”

“You’d be surprised,” Angie replied, deadpan.

“So,” Galo said, clearing his throat.

Everyone quieted down, turning to look at Galo and me.

“Be careful, okay?” Lauren said, approaching me with teary eyes.

As she and Angie wrapped their arms around me, I hugged them back tightly. “I will,” I promised.

When we separated, Bashrik gave me a tensely nodded “Good luck,” while Ronad shook my hand with a kindly “Stay safe.”

“We will,” Galo commented, with an odd little laugh.

When I glanced at him, his eyes looked even greener than usual, perhaps from nervousness.

As we walked away, I looked over my shoulder one last time. I took in the scene carefully, trying to memorize every detail I could—Angie’s blond head held erect as she tried to look tough for me, Lauren adjusting her glasses with a sad smile, Bashrik, with his muscled arms folded across his broad chest, Ronad, waving, his lips set into a worried line.

I waved my hand once more, then turned and continued walking.

“I didn’t indicate this to the others,” Galo said in a low voice, “but you should probably know that our chances of success are not good.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I glared at his still-calm face. “Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No,” he replied. “It was supposed to inform you of facts. I am simply doing this—helping you on this mission—because it is right. Not because it is likely to be successful.”

“Okay, well how about this,” I said a bit testily. “You can think that this is a long-shot, and I’ll go on thinking that we can do this.”

I was stressed enough about what we were about to do; I didn’t need Galo making his dire, loopy predictions.

“As you wish,” he said. “Although we should probably put on the invisibility suits soon.”

“You’re right,” I said, pausing. “But for putting on the suits…”

“Yes, yes,” Galo interrupted, getting my drift immediately. “I’ll go over here, and you’ll go over there, and we’ll change without looking at each other.”

“Okay,” I said, sighing and walking off a few paces, before turning my back to Galo.

Really, I’d just made a point about the changing thing because I was irritated with Galo for being so calmly pessimistic in the face of our upcoming mission. For whatever reason, I trusted the man—not only in not being an old pervert, but also in having my back during this mission. It was weird—and maybe it was because of what Galo had said back on the ship—but I was feeling more and more like Galo was a sort of wise grandfather, one who had my best interests at heart. And I’d need that. This mission wasn’t important, it was essential. I had to rescue Navan. I hadn’t admitted it to my friends, but I was more in agreement with Bashrik than I’d let on. I wasn’t sure I could leave the camp without Navan. Not again.

And he’d be there. I’d heard them talk about using Navan as a pawn—he had to be alive. Or maybe hurt. Maybe they’d even sent him away, and if that was the case, I’d find out where and I’d go there. Whatever it took, that’s what I’d do to save Navan. I’d seen the protective look in his eyes when we’d kissed. I knew he’d do the same for me.

“You ready?” Galo asked from a few paces away, breaking through my thoughts.