Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

Lauren grimaced. “Ask me in a few days.”

“As much as I hate to break up this charming reunion,” Navan interrupted, “we really should brief you all on what has been going on before Queen Brisha sends for you again. We have a very fragile position here, and we’ve been forced to tell a few tales to ensure we didn’t end up dead. So you’re going to have to get up to speed pretty quickly. Bashrik, I know I told you some of what Queen Brisha wants from you, but you’ll need to know the ins and outs of things, too. Hopefully by the end of this everyone will have the whole story instead of little fragments.”

Bashrik nodded, though his sapphire eyes were still flashing with annoyance as he glanced across at Angie and Lauren. “I still can’t believe you snuck on board my ship,” he muttered.

“No harm done though, right?” Angie said sweetly.

He scowled. “I’m sending you my medical bills.”

Navan coughed, diverting everyone’s attention, and I sat beside him, my hand on his. Once the whole group had gathered on the sofas, he began to tell the tale of what had brought us here. He told them all about the failed rescue attempt at the hidden rebel compound, and the promise we’d had to make to get out of there alive, which had led us to Vysanthe. I chimed in here and there, and together, we explained all about the chip, the undercover operation to garner intel for Orion on Queen Gianne’s queendom, and our escape over the border into Northern Vysanthe.

“Hence the arm,” Navan noted, lifting his bandaged limb.

“I was wondering about that,” Bashrik noted. “It’s not like you to get injured.”

“A lucky shot, nothing more,” Navan retorted.

Ignoring their brotherly banter, I pressed on, explaining Queen Brisha’s rules, and the need for outsiders to prove themselves. Here, we got to the grim part. Looking at Angie and Lauren, I went into detail about the blood and what she expected of them. Predictably, their faces twisted up in disgust.

“I hate needles.” Lauren shuddered.

“Yeah, and I’m not letting some nasty grayskin near me with something pointy!” Angie said.

Bashrik flashed her a look. “I’ve asked you not to call us that.”

She sighed. “I didn’t mean you. I meant the evil ones who want to take our blood.”

“Even so, could you not?” Bashrik remarked frostily. Not waiting for her response, he turned to Navan. “What about the pod with the blood sample in it? Do we know where it is?”

“Vanished,” Navan replied. “It had a tracker inside it, programmed to start flashing only when it reached a certain point, to keep the location of Earth secret, but the beacon went dead a few days ago outside the Ferrite System.”

Bashrik frowned. “Weird.”

Navan nodded. “Very weird. We just have to hope it’s broken down, or has been snatched up by someone who just wants the parts.”

“Do we really have to have our blood taken?” Lauren asked, bringing us back to the matter at hand.

Before I could answer, alarms erupted all around us, the sound piercing through my eardrums with a deafening shriek. It screamed in a very particular pattern, starting quieter before reaching earsplitting levels of loudness. Navan and Bashrik looked at each other, fear paling their faces. Lauren and Angie were looking at me like I ought to know what the sound meant, but I was just as confused as they were. The only thing I did know was that I had never seen Navan so frightened. He was truly rattled, his eyes wide in panic.

“What’s going on?” I asked frantically.

“It can’t be…” Navan whispered.

“Navan, what is it?!” I pressed, grabbing him by the face and forcing him to look at me.

“They’re air-raid sirens,” Bashrik hissed before Navan could reply. “We’re being attacked!”

A second later, Pandora burst through the door, wielding two crackling sabers in her hands. On her back, she had two silver rifles, and at her hips were four silver pistols, flanked by pockets of ammo. She looked intense, to say the least, but I knew she might be just the woman to get us the hell out of here.

“Follow me!” she roared, before darting out of the door again. We ran after her, Navan suddenly returning to himself as he sprinted out of the room and down the hallway, following Pandora’s lead.

She took us to the end of the corridor, pausing in front of what looked like an ordinary wall. Bracing herself, she heaved a booted foot against the surface of the wall, kicking it with all her might. Something finally gave with a deafening crack. The wall crumbled, revealing the shape of a door that had been concealed by a layer of plaster. It was ajar, and Pandora slammed her shoulder against it, pushing it wide open.

“This way!” she bellowed, disappearing through the doorway.

It led to a series of winding staircases, which we thundered down, the rickety metal frame trembling beneath our weight. My heart was pounding as we hurried farther and farther down into the darkness, the way lit only by the dim glow of emergency lighting that clung weakly to the slick walls of the secret passageway.

After what seemed like a lifetime of running down stairs, we emerged in a brightly lit cavern. My eyes blinked furiously, getting accustomed to the light again, and I realized we were in an underground bunker, deep beneath the foundations of the palace. It was gargantuan in size and hewn from the rock itself, much like the hangar in Queen Gianne’s realm, but there were no ships docked here.

Instead, there were hordes of military personnel running around, barking orders. Others sat in front of glowing blue screens, watching a series of images and camera feeds while their fingers danced across smaller screens laid flat on their desks. They were jotting down what they saw, I realized. Where we would have had a keyboard, they had these small screens instead.

It was then that I understood what this place was—we were in a command center. This was the hub of security activity for Queen Brisha’s queendom. I gawked at the extent of her military operation. No wonder she knew so much. There were cameras everywhere, watching everything.