Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

“I don’t have any painkillers suitable for humans on hand, I’m afraid,” Lazar replied in a low tone. “If I gave you the stuff we give coldbloods, it’d probably wipe you out for seventy-two hours… if not permanently.”

Remembering the effect that silver root stimulant had on me, I didn’t find that hard to believe. “Oh God,” I groaned, glancing again at Navan.

He swallowed, his brow creased in concern. “You don’t have to go through with this, Riley,” he whispered.

I shook my head, steeling myself. “No. I have to.”

“Will you be all right?” Lazar asked.

I nodded, biting my lip. “Let’s just get this over with.”

I braced myself, expecting a sharp pain. At first, that was all there was—the nasty, uncomfortable feeling of something cutting my fragile skin. That was enough to make me moan and break out into a heavy sweat, but then the scalpel blade hit a foreign object, and the agony that followed was not what I’d signed up for. A jolt of pure torture shot down my entire body, my muscles going into spasms. I bucked against the table, every cell ablaze with the force of the electric shock. Something was wrong.

“Is this supposed to happen?” Navan hissed, his hold on my hand tightening.

Lazar nodded. “The chip sends out miniature tentacles that embed into the nerves surrounding it. It gives a direct line to the brain’s pain center.”

I couldn’t bear it, a cry erupting from my throat. My body felt like it was on fire, my brain searing hot, my eyes fogging over, speckled with black dots. I gripped Navan’s hand as hard as I could, but nothing helped. He was just an anchor, grounding me in this sea of agony.

“Maybe we should stop,” Navan urged.

I shook my head violently. “No! Get it out!” I gasped, biting down on my lip, a trickle of blood meandering down my chin. Above me, I saw Lazar’s eyes home in on the scarlet rivulet, but I didn’t care. Right now, if he wanted to devour the very life from me, I wouldn’t stop him. I just wanted the pain to be over.

Lazar returned his attention to the task at hand, snatching up a pair of sharp-edged pliers. I whimpered as I felt something cut inside me, the sensation unbearably weird. Tears were rolling down my face, my lungs burning with the strain of trying to draw in breath.

“Only eight more,” Lazar said, his tone soothing.

“Can you speed up?” I hissed through gritted teeth, another jolt of electricity tearing through my veins.

Lazar nodded, and I felt another cut. Everything felt strange and messy, the world around me bending and swirling. Delirium was setting in, and the pain grew so fierce I was sure I was about to pass out.

Drifting in and out of consciousness, I felt cut after cut after cut, the snipping sound grating against my senses. My brain pulsed against the confines of my skull, feeling as though it were about to explode from its bone prison. My eyes bulged and my tongue swelled, my body breaking with every moment that passed. I couldn’t take it anymore, but I knew I couldn’t ask him to stop either—if I gave up now, there was no telling when another opportunity would present itself. Orion was under no obligation to remove it.

“One more,” Lazar promised.

The snip of the chip’s last tentacle rattled through me, making my teeth chatter. And then, the agony was gone, disappearing as quickly as it had arrived. I lay back, panting, still gripping Navan’s hand… It was over.

With a clink of metal on metal, Lazar deposited the chip into a basin beside him, before taking up a strange-looking gun. As he pressed the muzzle to my neck, a cold sensation trickled through the wound on my skin, soothing it.

“What’s that?” I wheezed.

“It will clean and seal the wound to prevent infection,” Lazar explained, lifting the gun away.

I waited, expecting more. When it didn’t come, I sat up on the table and turned to Lazar. “Is it out?”

He nodded, lifting the basin so I could see the offending article. A small, square object lay at the bottom of the metal dish, covered in blood and scraps of flesh. But it was there… It was no longer inside me, looming over everything we did.

Slowly, still doubting my pain receptors, I swung my legs over the edge of the surgical table and stayed there a moment. Navan moved toward me, enveloping me in his firm embrace. I nestled against his chest, feeling tears of relief trickle down my cheeks. I couldn’t speak, but I didn’t need to—Navan was here, his arms were around me, and we were safe from Orion’s threat.

I turned to Lazar, who was cleaning the soiled instruments in a small basin at the side of the room. “Thank you,” I gasped, finding my voice. The words were croaky, my throat tight, but the sentiment was clear. I had never been more grateful.

“It was nothing,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact and turning quickly back around. I frowned, finding his reaction odd. But knowing I wasn’t in my right mind, I brushed it off. I had more important things to focus on right now.

“Will there be any side effects from the chip?” I asked anxiously, needing to quell my fears.

Lazar shook his head, his back still to us. “No, the chip is out. There should not be any further repercussions,” he replied, his tone strangely flat. Was I imagining things, or was Lazar acting weird? At the very least, he looked uneasy. Perhaps he was having doubts about crossing Orion? I imagined that had to be it. The two of them had been in cahoots for so long, it couldn’t be easy to go against his wishes, even if Lazar didn’t agree with his chosen methods.

“Are you sure?” Navan pressed.

Lazar turned, a forced smile on his face. “I am certain. Seraphina has never felt any aftereffects. Now, we ought to get going before someone discovers us, and you ought to get Riley to bed—she has been through an awful lot this evening,” he said, putting the tools away.

It appeared the conversation was over. This was all the comfort I was going to get. Still, with that thing out of my neck, it felt good enough for now.

We left the Asterope, and Lazar accompanied Navan and me as we hurried back through the hangar toward the underground station. My legs still felt weak, but I had Navan to hold on to as we ran. A bullet train was waiting at the platform, the carriages empty, nobody else around. Quickly, we boarded, just as the doors were about to close.

Reaching the station at the other side of the tracks, we moved stealthily through to the elevator before heading up to the chambers Queen Gianne had given us. I was surprised to see that Lazar was coming with us this far—I’d expected him to turn off in a different direction.

As we reached the door to the chambers, he pulled Navan aside. “Might I have a word with you, before I retire?” he asked, his gaze intense.

Navan frowned. “Sure.”

I hovered on the threshold, not knowing whether to go into the chamber without Navan. “Do you need me?” I asked.