Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

She smiled warmly. “Of course, Riley. If you take the staircase over there it should take you up to the right tower,” she instructed, nodding to one of the doors in the side of the rockface. “I’ll see you again soon.” With that, she excused herself, heading toward the hut area at the side of the underground chamber.

Feeling a sense of relief at the small period of freedom that lay ahead of me, I hurried toward the staircase she’d gestured to and ran straight to the very top. As I reached our floor, I was breathless, my lungs burning, but I knew I was mere minutes away from standing beneath the comforting cascade of hot water. The thought spurred me on, leading me into Navan’s and my chambers.

I froze when I saw the figure standing in front of the roaring fireplace, his back facing me.

“Navan? What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised. Then again, this was exactly like him—he must have known where I’d be headed, and here he was, waiting for me.

“Where did you go?” he asked, his eyebrows raised as he turned to face me. “When you mentioned taking a shower I thought I’d come and join you, but when I went to the showers at the back of the hut village, you weren’t there… so I thought I’d wait for you here in case this was where you meant.”

I blushed. The thought of Navan and me in the shower together was just the kind of image my mind needed right now, after the turmoil of everything else. It beat solitude any day. Still, he was going to need an explanation for what I’d been up to, and I had to tell him, even if it meant distracting him from that delicious idea.

“I was talking to Pandora,” I said, biting the bullet. “I asked to join the next round of army training.”

Navan’s jaw dropped, his face aghast. “Why… Why didn’t you say anything? Couldn’t you have at least run it by me first?” he replied, a look of horror on his face. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s going to be—and how dangerous?!”

I sighed. He sounded just like Bashrik when his voice rose like that. “I knew you’d have been against it if I’d tried to speak to you about it. Besides, who says I have to ask your permission for everything I do?” I pouted at him. “Now that we’re here on Vysanthe for the foreseeable future, I can’t rely on you to always be there. Army training will ensure we’re as close to each other as possible, but it will also teach me to be a strong fighter. I’ll end up more capable of protecting myself, which is what you want, right?”

Navan’s features softened, his disbelief fading. It surprised me to see him accepting my words so quickly, but I was glad for it. Perhaps Navan was finally learning to trust my Earthen judgment. It made me smile, his acceptance of me making him even more attractive in that moment.

“You’re right that it will make you a stronger fighter,” he said, taking a step closer to me. “And I want to be close to you, too… Plus, they’d never put you on a real battlefield—I’d make sure of that.”

That promise calmed a lot of my nerves about the idea. I wanted to learn to be a soldier, but the idea of actually being one didn’t really sit well with me. I didn’t think I had it in me to actually kill someone.

“Please don’t be afraid to talk to me, though, Riley,” Navan said, closing the gap between us. He took my hands in his, gazing down into my eyes. “I want you to feel like you can tell me anything. I know I’m not always the best at… communication, but I promise I’ll try harder to listen to you first before freaking out over things.”

“You mean you’ll be Sexy, Amazing Listener Navan?” I asked.

He smiled. “With emphasis on the Sexy.”

I grinned, allowing his arms to slide around my midriff, while draping my own over his shoulders. It seemed we were making progress, Navan and me. Although the universe’s future looked stormy and uncertain, our future seemed to be burning brighter.

He leaned in, pressing his cheek to mine, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the rough stubble of his jaw.

“Now, how about that shower?” he whispered huskily in my ear.

“Sounds like a plan,” I breathed back.

He moved in to kiss me, and as his lips caressed mine, all the pain and suffering of the past two weeks ebbed away, my world becoming what I could hold in my hands. My skin tingled as his hands traced my waist, and I trailed my hands through his hair, drawing our kiss deeper.

In this room, with him, I could imagine we were anywhere. Vysanthe didn’t exist. Orion didn’t exist. The queens didn’t exist. As long as we were in here, alone together, then the bubble of bliss wouldn’t burst. Outside, I knew the uncertainty of a dangerous future loomed over our heads, wielding a pin that could dissolve our bubble with one jab, destroying it forever.

But for now, for this moment, we were safe inside it.





Epilogue





PANDORA





I waited until darkness fell, and the hallways of the palace grew quiet. After the events of the day, Queen Brisha wasn’t likely to sleep tonight, but I knew she wouldn’t call for me again until morning. I had told her I was retiring to bed, which was true… But there was something I needed to do first.

I made my way to the old galleria. Dustsheets covered the aging statues and portraits from the days of Queen Brisha’s parents, the pale shapes looking like ghosts in the dappled moonlight.

Reaching the small broom cupboard at the back of the hall, I glanced over my shoulder once, then shut myself inside. Another door lay ahead of me, hidden behind rows of forgotten cleaning equipment. I opened it softly, emerging at the top of a winding stairwell. I swept down it, careful to keep my footsteps light, then drew out the set of keys in my pocket and unlocked the metal door at the bottom.

Stepping out into the crisp night air, I inhaled deeply, allowing myself to pause as I looked around. The gardens were shrouded in shadows and silence, the icy stillness almost unnerving. It was hard to believe that just hours ago the city had been under attack.

The shriek of a throat-tearer broke the calm, causing my heart to skip a beat. As the large bat flapped out from the branches of a nearby tree, I took it as my cue to keep moving.

Spreading my own wings, I took to the air, soaring high over the grounds. I flew until I reached the tallest tree that stood on the perimeter of the royal property, where I descended and settled myself among the sharp leaves. My eyes drank in the sprawling view of the city, falling briefly on the ruins of the bombed alchemy lab. Then I drew my wings around me like a shield, blocking out the harsh gusts of wind, and focused on the task at hand.

I reached for one of the two comm devices attached to my belt and switched it on. Punching in the only code I used with this device, I waited. It dialed. Once, twice, thrice.

And then a familiar baritone voice answered, infused with expectation.

“Pandora?”

I drew in a deep breath, knowing this conversation wasn’t going to be easy.

“Orion, we need to talk.”



Ready for the next part of Riley and Navan’s story?



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