Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

“After everything, you still don’t trust me?” Lazar countered.

I stared at him defiantly. “I don’t, Lazar. I’m sorry, but I don’t. What you’re asking me to do is a pretty big deal. I made a promise to Navan to do as he told me when the time came, but you never came into the equation. If now is the time, I need to hear it from Navan.” I just hoped I wouldn’t live to regret those words. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to believe Lazar’s motives were pure. Something fishy was going on, and I wasn’t about to leave Navan on the brink of uncertainty.

“Riley, listen to me,” Lazar pleaded. “Navan needs you to go, now. His life is on the line if you don’t—you will hold him back. He will try to protect you, and it will undoubtedly get him killed. Is that what you want?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Then go, now!” he hissed.

Just then, the sound of footsteps reverberated around the throne room. From both sides, two parties approached—the rebels on one side, Queen Gianne and Navan on the other. Meeting in the middle, they all sat back down, and Queen Gianne called for dessert to be brought. She didn’t seem to mind that the rebel coldbloods had gone for a wander. Nor did she seem particularly perturbed by the fact that one of the Carokians was missing—the male shifter—his seat standing empty too. Which was good. I didn’t feel like witnessing another one of her tantrums.

As dessert was served, I could feel Navan’s eyes on me, forcing me to look up and meet his gaze. And as our eyes locked, I realized I must have made a mistake. He looked unsettled, if not outright shocked, to see me still sitting at the table.

Apparently, that moment with Lazar had been my window of opportunity after all. A window I had just slammed shut.





Chapter Thirty





“What happened?” Navan asked, as he and I arrived back in our chambers. After finishing the meal in intense silence, Queen Gianne had dismissed us and we had abandoned the palace (though not before Lazar had narrowed his eyes at me and told Navan, “I think you and Riley may need to have a few words…”).

“Uh, I was about to ask the same of you,” I said, gesturing to the small, silvery pod now hovering outside our bedroom window. “You were expecting me to just take off with Lazar like that?”

“What happened exactly?” Navan asked, eyeing the pod.

I exhaled. “When Queen Gianne took you out of the room, the rebels all left too, except for Lazar. It was just me and him in there, and he told me that this was my moment to escape—that he had already triggered a pod to wait outside my room, and I had to climb into it and it would shoot me off into space, alone, and you would apparently come floating out to find me at some unspecified point in the future… That was really your plan?” I raised my eyebrows, hoping he realized how sketchy that must have sounded to me at the time, especially coming from Lazar.

Navan grimaced. “Well, not exactly—it’s been hard to predict the exact moment we’ll be able to get out of here, with so many moving pieces. But I told Lazar to be on the lookout for escape opportunities, too—so yeah, you should have done as he asked.”

“You know, it would have been really helpful if you’d told me that last night, instead of the cryptic gibberish you gave me. I promised you I’d jump when you said—not when Lazar said. I didn’t know if I could trust him about something as big as this!”

Navan sighed. “Seems like we really need to work on our communication skills.”

I widened my eyes at him. “Excuse me, our?”

“Okay, mine.”

“I mean, honestly. Is this one of those ‘Procrastinator Navan’ things again?”

He sighed. “Miscommunicator Navan. Gets ahead of himself when he has a lot on his mind and presumes others understand things he hasn’t actually explained.”

“Sounds about right. He and his twin brother are probably enough to drive me crazy.” I was starting to realize coldblood men really weren’t that different from human men.

“I shall endeavor to stick to Sexy, Amazing Communicator Navan in the future.”

I suppressed a smile. “I’d love me some of him… But, seriously, what now? I’m fine to leave this place as long as you’re close behind. Also, what did the queen talk to you about?”

Navan winced. “She wants me to depart with several squadrons tomorrow, to lead the attack mission on the rebel planet… I may need to keep up the pretense a while longer, or else she’ll suspect foul play. Once we’re far enough away from Vysanthe, I’ll do what I can to escape, and join you when I can.”

“So you’re not escaping with me?” I gasped, wondering what the hell that meant for the both of us.

“I don’t know what else to do, Riley,” he replied in frustration. “She wants me to leave the rebels behind, too—she doesn’t trust them enough, and she wants to see what other information she can extract from them. If I leave now, their lives will be forfeit. Lazar’s, too.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, terrified by the prospect of drifting alone in the gaping vacuum, God knew how many millions of miles away from home.

“Lazar would arrange a pickup to take you back to Earth,” he said. “I would keep Lazar in the loop regarding where I was, so he could pass messages to you, and then I’d join you when I could. I would never leave you alone out there, Riley. I’d find a way to get to you.”

I still couldn’t believe what I was hearing. In theory, if all went according to Navan’s plan, I could make the journey back by myself, but I’d be a nervous wreck. Not only at the idea of the ship breaking down or any number of other things going wrong, but also because I didn’t want to leave Navan here, not knowing what might happen to him. What if, somehow, he couldn’t get away?

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words froze on my lips as a cry rang out, piercing the air. It was coming from outside, just beyond the door of the chamber. Whirling around, I glanced back at Navan, my nerves shot.

“You heard that, right?”

Navan nodded, brushing past me to reach the door. He flung it open, and a second later, Lazar tumbled into the room, collapsing on the floor, his arms reaching out for us. Dark blood smeared his face and soaked his clothes. His features were battered and bruised, one eye closed up entirely.

“Lazar!” I cried, running to his aid. With Navan’s help, I hauled him up onto a nearby chair. As I ran to get water to sponge some of the blood away, I could hear him croaking out words.

“The queen… She knows,” he said, his voice strained. “Soldiers are… coming.”

Navan paled. “Now?”

Lazar nodded, wincing in pain. “I… just managed… to get away… in time.”