Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

I watched as Lazar, Nestor, Cristo, Kalvin, and the two shifters, still shaped like Carokians, were pushed through doors. These were interrogation rooms. They couldn’t be anything else. I gulped, realizing we were all going to be questioned separately. I knew enough of the plan to muddle through, but I was convinced I’d get some part of it wrong.

Navan and I were held outside one particular door. The guard holding Navan knocked once, and it swung wide open. There was a squat, barrel-chested troll of a coldblood standing on the other side, his muddy brown eyes peering curiously from me to Navan, and back again. This must be Kiel.

“Commander Kiel, we have Navan Idrax. He insisted he bring his pet along—do you want us to put her in with someone else? Grillo might like a go at her,” the guard said, his tone menacing.

The pugnacious coldblood raised a bushy eyebrow, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Send her to Grillo,” he said, flicking his wrist down the corridor.

Navan strained against the man holding him. “She can’t be interrogated alone, not by a Vysanthean. She’s too weak—she’ll faint… and she’ll be useless to you and me, if that happens,” he added frostily.

“What is she?” the coldblood named Kiel asked, stepping closer to inspect me.

“Unknown species; I never thought to ask,” Navan said. “A weak, feeble little race, way off in the Severn Quarter. I could have wiped them all out with my bare hands—they break so easily, not much use to anyone. Couldn’t resist stealing this one away, though. I mean, could you?” I felt a little sick, hearing Navan speak like that about me, despite knowing he had to.

It seemed to please Kiel and the other guards, who laughed raucously. The guard holding me even brushed his hand across the curve of my neck, making me shudder. I was already shivering from the cold, but that creature’s touch added to it.

“How does she taste?” the guard asked.

Navan shrugged. “Not too good. Still, she’s a fun thing to have around.”

Another splinter of vile laughter echoed down the hallway. All I could do was stand there and listen, helpless to stand up for myself.

“Well, you’d both better come in here then,” Kiel said, and the two guards roughly shoved us both into the room, which seemed to be hewn from the cave itself.

Inside, there was a desk and two chairs and not much else, save for the rack of weapons that hung from the ceiling. The walls dripped, and the bitter cold began to seep into my bones, my body going into spasms. Navan flashed me a look of apology, but I didn’t respond, not wanting to give myself away.

“Do you think you could have some blankets brought? My slave isn’t used to the cold,” Navan said.

“What do you think this is, a hotel?” Kiel replied.

“She’ll die if you don’t, and I’m not finished with her yet,” Navan retorted.

Kiel sighed. “Fine,” he muttered, poking his head back out of the interrogation room to ask a passing guard to bring blankets.

In that brief second of time, Navan reached over and took my hand in his, lifting it to his lips for one daring kiss. It was a bold move that could have gotten us into a lot of trouble, but the small act warmed me. It steeled me against what was to come, knowing I had Navan by my side in all of this.

“You sure you’re an Idrax?” Kiel asked, turning back to the room.

Navan smiled coldly. “Last time I checked.”

Kiel pulled a face. “I’ve never known an Idrax to show sympathy to anyone, let alone a feeble specimen like this… however pretty it might be,” he sneered. I sucked in a breath at the suspicion burning in Kiel’s eyes. Clearly, the queen had told him not to trust Navan, despite his high status.

“Can we just get on with this?” Navan said tersely.

Kiel’s mood shifted in an instant. Grabbing a golden blade from the rack of weapons, he stormed toward Navan and shoved him into one of the chairs, resting the sharp edge against his neck. I started forward, but a look from Navan held me back. The blade crackled and pulsed, Navan’s eyes going wide as a bolt flew from the weapon and into his skin. His fingers curled over the armrests of the chair.

“Who are you?” Kiel demanded.

“Navan Idrax,” Navan replied, his voice thick with pain.

A second bolt flashed from the blade. “Why are you here?” Kiel asked.

“I have information… information about the rebels… I need to tell the queen.”

“Who are the people on your ship?”

“Rebels who have… come over to my side. I… convinced them to join me. They… wish to tell the… queen everything. They… want to… tell her… where the rebel base… is.”

“What happened to Jethro and Ianthan Plexus?” Kiel ventured, sending another bolt through Navan’s skin.

“They… betrayed the… crown!” he yelled, forcing the story from his lips. “They… wanted to… tell Queen Brisha… all of Queen Gianne’s… secrets. They wanted… to mount a… rebellion. They wanted… to get the… rebels to… fight for Queen Brisha. I… stopped them.”

“Are you sure you aren’t the traitor?” Kiel asked, reaching up to the rack of weapons for a strange, claw-like device.

“I’m sure!” Navan grated out.

“Are you positive about that?” Kiel smirked coldly before fixing the device into a slot in Navan’s chair and adjusting it so that it was against Navan’s chest, the sharp edges touching his flesh. The center whirred, a white glow emanating outward. Navan roared, his fangs flashing as he struggled to break free of the device.

“I am… no traitor!” he hissed, and every jolt he took, I felt. I could hardly bear to look at him.

Kiel grimaced. “We shall see,” he said, before mercifully leaving the room. Though, somehow, I didn’t get the sense that he was convinced by Navan’s tale.

Watching the door intently, I could hardly believe he had gone, but here we were, Navan and I, alone again. I ran over to him, but Navan forcibly raised a hand to stop me. As my skin brushed his, I felt a bristle of electricity snap between our bodies.

“It… will… hurt you,” he said, his chest heaving with the exertion of fighting against the device that Kiel had left in place. The glow had ebbed slightly, but I could see it was still causing him pain.

“Dammit, I want to get this thing off you!” I said, but he raised his hand again, pushing me away.

“No. Just… stand back,” he snapped. I staggered back, obeying his request even though it went against my every instinct. He then drew in a deep breath as if to calm himself, his eyes settling on me. “Just keep it together,” he said in a softer voice. “The queen is about to arrive.”





Chapter Seventeen





Barely a minute later, the door opened again and three coldbloods entered.

The first was a thin-framed, wizened coldblood with half a wing hanging from his shoulder-blade and milky eyes that barely seemed to see anything. The second breezed in behind him, her elegant, ruby-tipped wings tucked neatly behind her back. I recognized the vivid copper hair and almost-silver gaze in an instant. Queen Gianne had come to interrogate Navan herself.

My heart beat faster as she stopped in front of him. “Navan Idrax,” she announced, her intense gaze flashing to me. “And what are you?” Her nose wrinkled, as though she’d smelled something unpleasant.