Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

Several minutes later, the sound of the ship’s siren blared in my eardrums, the red light flashing once more. Queen Gianne was calling.

Navan immediately hurried toward the cockpit door, disappearing inside. This time, I didn’t follow him. Instead, I stayed in the main space of the ship, watching as the screen flickered to life again on the far wall.

“It seems you passed my test, Navan Idrax,” Queen Gianne said, smiling coldly. “Your father will be so happy to see you’ve returned.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Navan replied, his tone tight. “I look forward to an audience with you, so we might exchange information.”

Queen Gianne laughed. “We’ll see,” she murmured, before the screen went dead. In place of Queen Gianne’s face, a message appeared. Permission to dock, it said, flashing repeatedly.

Lazar moved away from the others and entered the cockpit, with me following close behind. I sat down on one of the chairs in front of the command module and let Navan and his uncle get to work, flicking switches and moving levers to bring the ship down to the planet of Vysanthe.

“Would you like to see?” Navan asked, turning to look over his shoulder at where I sat.

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to see this new planet or not. He pressed a button, and the shimmering fa?ade of the ship’s front fell away, revealing the expanse of space beyond the glass. In front of my eyes lay a dark planet with two icy tips at either end—the planet’s bitter poles, no doubt. Across the surface were glowing lights, a sign of the cities and towns there. It was strange to see a new civilization rising up in front of me, with people milling about below, going on with their lives, oblivious to our presence above them.

It did not look like Earth, with its welcoming blue and green, its swirling white clouds streaming across the atmosphere. This was its gloomier, darker twin. This planet was far larger than Earth, though I could make out expanses of black water tinged with the pale blue of ice. There were certainly no welcoming vibes. In fact, everything about it screamed a warning to turn back, and run as far from it as possible.

Unfortunately for me, that wasn’t an option.

“It’s… something,” I said, unable to find the right words for my fear and awe.

“A savage beauty,” Lazar murmured, his eyes drawn to the sight of his home planet. “Just like its queens,” he added, almost to himself.

Slowly, the Asterope began to descend, the planet drawing closer. The stars disappeared as we powered through Vysanthe’s atmosphere, following the Impaler ship that flew ahead of us, its engines glowing blue in the darkness.

We seemed to be heading for mountainous terrain, with not a city in sight. I thought it a little strange, but I didn’t even know what strange was anymore. Everything was weird. A vast peak rose up, the apex topped with snow, the sky around it stormy. Rain lashed against the windscreen of the ship, the water running down in fierce rivers. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a crack of lightning shot out across the bruised storm clouds, lighting everything up for just a moment with its angry glare.

After navigating through a wide, gaping entrance in the side of the snowcapped mountain, Lazar landed the ship a short distance away from where the Impaler ship docked. We were in some sort of cave, though it wasn’t the usual kind—the floor was polished stone, and there were monitors and screens everywhere, running through diagnostics of the ships beside them. Coldbloods wandered around, helping ships to land and fixing any that might be broken, their heads buried inside the bellies of these mechanical beasts.

Some of the ships looked like ours, superficially—with the same shimmering, almost liquid surface—while others were far bulkier and less sleek. That was good, because it meant the Asterope could blend in, and they hopefully wouldn’t notice that, under the hood, it was more advanced than their ships. I realized this must have been how Navan had managed to keep his advanced ship, Soraya, a secret—he’d made the exterior blend in with other regular Vysanthean ships.

“Are you ready for this?” Navan asked, as two clamps extended from the cave walls and gripped the Asterope. A jolt told me it had been secured.

I shook my head. “Can I go home if I say no?” I half joked.

“I’m sorry, Riley,” he said, looking crestfallen.

With a smile that belied my terror, I walked over to him and looped my arms around his neck, not caring that Lazar was there. Gently, I kissed him on the cheek, and looked up into his eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Navan.”

He exhaled, taking my hands in his. “Stay close to me.”

He then led me out of the cockpit and into the main space, where the rest of the team was waiting. There was a nervous energy in the room that was hard to ignore, but I did my best as we headed for the ship’s exit.

As the door slid up, we stepped out into the cave. The cold hit me like a slap to the face, but that wasn’t the worst of my problems. Coldblood guards swarmed us in an instant, brandishing the electrically charged pikes and spears they seemed to favor. One grabbed me, pulling me roughly to one side. Navan tried to keep hold of me, but another guard stepped forward and slammed the staff of his spear down on my wrist, forcing me to recoil from Navan’s touch.

All around me, the other members of the Asterope crew were being manhandled, pulled and pushed in every direction by the armed guards. It all happened in a blur.

“I demand to know what you’re doing!” I heard Lazar call out.

“We’re taking you for interrogation,” one of the guards barked back, hauling him toward the exit of the cave.

“Stop!” Navan shouted. “I will keep my slave with me, or you will answer to Jareth Idrax. She is my property. I will not allow her to be sullied by your hands!” I wasn’t sure I liked the way it felt to be called his property, but I knew he was doing it to keep up appearances. I was supposed to be his personal slave, after all. Besides, I knew it pained him to have to use his father’s name to get something.

The guard holding me relaxed his grip slightly. “Boss?” he asked, turning to one of the other guards, who was evidently their leader. On his face, he bore a tattoo, just below his eye. It was a fanged animal of some sort, though it wasn’t a creature I recognized.

“Keep the girl with Idrax,” he muttered, clearly disliking having to bend to superiority. “We’ll leave it to Kiel to decide.”

With the decision made, my guard shoved me toward the vast door that yawned at the far edge of the cave. It led into a long tunnel, which branched out into several smaller tunnels. The guards took us along the one at the very end of the passageway, stopping in front of a hallway of doors.