Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

A look of amusement and surprise flickered across the queen’s face. “Well, well, well, I’m sure Seraphina will be thrilled to find out that Navan Idrax is capable of some sort of affection, even if it’s just for a silly little pet,” she sneered. “Now, if you can learn to wean yourself off unworthy creatures, you might end up half the man your father is. A servant does not need your sympathy, need I remind you?” A disgusted look glinted in her eyes as she scanned me, judging me on the spot.

But all my mind could focus on in that moment was: Who is Seraphina?

“It is not sympathy, Your Highness, merely necessity,” Navan replied, his head hanging low. He could not look at me, and I didn’t know why.

Mentally imploring him to glance my way, I hoped she was his mother… And yet, there was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that wouldn’t go away.

“Fine, then I have no more use for you,” Queen Gianne sighed, flicking her wrist in irritation. “Be off with you. And do not be late for tonight’s celebrations. Do I make myself clear?”

Navan nodded, rising to his feet. “I won’t, Your Highness.”

“Good.” She smiled triumphantly. “Oh, and your uncle was looking for you earlier—he is doing some work in the Atrium. I suggest you attend to him.”

“I will, Your Highness,” Navan replied.

A few moments later, we were out in the main hallway of the palace, heading for the exit. I was excited by the prospect of seeing Lazar again so we could update him on Orion’s mission and see what the others had been up to, but I couldn’t ignore the sense of dread niggling away at the back of my mind.

“Who is Seraphina?” I asked, after a long, tense pause.

Navan grimaced. “She’s not important,” he said, still unable to meet my gaze.

I sucked in a breath, unwilling to let this one go. I gave it another few seconds before trying again. “Navan… who is Seraphina?”

He lowered his eyes to the floor, his jaw tensing.

With every second of silence, my worry grew. “She’s not your mother, is she?” I said quietly.

He shook his head.

“Then… who?”

Navan finally looked at me, everything on his face screaming discomfort. Pulling me behind a pillar that was sharpened to a point like an icicle, he took my hands in his.

“Seraphina is… my fiancée,” he whispered, a look of misery in his eyes.

Instantly, I staggered back, my hands slipping from his grasp.

He was engaged.

And there I’d been, thinking he’d chosen the bachelor life. Ha!

Suddenly I felt incredibly stupid. Of course he wasn’t a bachelor. Of course somebody like him was attached to somebody else—he was beautiful, charming, handsome.

The rational half of me could understand that this had to be his parents’ doing, but the emotional half was stinging. Why hadn’t he been upfront about this? I could accept this was an arranged marriage, but... suddenly learning your boyfriend had a fiancée was kind of a big deal.

Why had he kept it a secret from me? He’d had plenty of opportunities to tell me—he could have done so when the topic came up just yesterday.

And for how long would he have kept me in the dark, if the queen hadn’t outed him?

Not to mention, who this woman even was and how she would feel if she found out she was being double-played. I might not be the biggest fan of coldbloods, but I was sure whoever this woman was had feelings. How would I have felt to learn my fiancé was cheating on me?

“Do… Do you know how sketchy that is?” I managed, taking another step back from him.

“Riley, please. I swear, this wasn’t a match I chose for myself! This is my father’s handiwork. It’s like I was saying to you—he has these plans for all of his children, and my marriage to Seraphina is supposed to unite two well-respected coldblood families— ”

“And you didn’t think that was something I ought to know?!” I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice low, but, God, it was difficult.

I turned and strode toward the palace exit. Rask knew, I needed some fresh air right now.

“I don’t want it, though!” Navan hissed, catching up with me. “I don’t love Seraphina! I have no affection for her whatsoever except that of a friend. I don’t want to marry her. Everyone thinks the marriage is going to be a disaster, and they’re right—it is, because I’m not going to be forced—”

I breathed in deeply as I stepped out through the main doors, my eyes fixed on the Snapper as I tried to tamp down the intense feeling of disappointment that was threatening to overwhelm me.

“So when were you going to tell me? As you were walking down the aisle?”

“Look, I’m sorry, Riley. I should have told you sooner. I just—”

“Just what?” I asked. We’d reached the ship, and I grabbed hold of my side door and swung it open, flinging myself into the passenger seat.

Navan followed suit and closed his door behind him, sealing us inside, where we could finally be less controlled about our volume.

“I kept wanting to tell you the truth, but the moment never arose,” he groaned, slumping back in his chair and running his hands down his face.

A laugh escaped my throat, a high-pitched thing that sounded close to hysterical. “Oh, bull! Yeah, we’ve had our hands full, but we’ve had plenty of downtime too. If you’d wanted to tell me, you would have found the time.”

As I glared at him, he kept his face resting in his hands, though from what I could see of his cheeks, he was flushing deeply. This was clearly uncomfortable for him, but it was for me, too. I didn’t let up my glower. I wasn’t fond of surprises on the best of days, but this… This was seriously not cool.

He let out a long, tortured sigh, then finally removed his hands to look at me. His eyes were shrouded with disgust and regret, his mouth turned downward as if he’d just sucked on a lemon. “You’re right,” he said. “I didn’t want to tell you.”

I stared at him. “That’s not exactly the answer I was expecting.”

He exhaled again. “I know—because there are still things you don’t know about me.”

I bugged out my eyes. “Clearly.”

“I’m a chronic procrastinator when it comes to things I’m very nervous about, okay?” he burst out. “That’s all there is to it. I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over your eyes, or deceive you. I was just being a damn coward. Things between us happened so fast—one minute, we were working together as partners, the next, we had kissed. And with all the other crazy things that were happening, it was all too easy to find reasons to push this unpleasant little tidbit to the back of my mind, telling myself I’d tell you later. You can ask Bashrik how bad of a procrastinator I can be and he’ll tell you. Hell, it’s why I wasn’t the one who kissed you first. I would have done it that night in Siberia, you know, when we were dancing under the stars after I got you back from that man-child Donnel—but nooo… Procrastinator Navan took over, and like the dumbass I am, I listened to him. So I’m sorry, Riley—I’ve done it again. You fell for a master procrastinator. But… if you’ll forgive me, I hope I’ll have finally learned my lesson, and promise to try to be less of one.”