Hotbloods 6: Allies

His voice caught in his throat. “For what?”

“I need a decoy to flirt with.” I beckoned for him to follow me as I ascended the marble staircase, wiggling my hips from side to side, giving him the full Jessica Rabbit treatment with my fiery new locks and my enticing dress. Part of me wished it were purple, to complete the look, but emerald green would have to do.

The bouncers at the doors to the Galactis Club worried me. They were big and muscular, their bulky arms folded across their chests. Navan wasn’t exactly following the dress code, and I was sure they’d stop him. Compared to the rest of the clientele, he might as well have been wearing rags. Still, I thought he was better-looking than anyone in here. As we approached, I realized the bouncers were too busy staring at me to say a word about the way Navan was dressed. It was a weird feeling, to have them gawking at me so intently, but I was relieved they weren’t quizzing Navan.

“Have a good night, miss,” one growled as I passed. I flashed him a flirty smile and stepped into the Galactis Club, feeling like an unstoppable femme fatale.

Inside, the bar was as sleek and refined as the exterior, with waterfalls tumbling into pools, radiating with pulsing light that beat to the rhythm of pounding music. The traveling, universal elite were all here, sipping drinks at small chrome tables set up around the edges of glittering streams that branched away from the pools. Their shrill laughter was almost louder than the music, their obnoxious voices ringing in my ears. Still, I noticed I was getting a few looks from them, too; I just hoped I didn’t run into the woman whose dress I’d stolen.

Given that we had no credits to spare, I led Navan over to a table by the window, which someone had recently vacated. Two half-empty cocktails in martini-like glasses, the liquid the color of aquamarine, stood waiting to be cleared away. We sat down before the bar staff saw that anyone else had left the table, giving the impression we’d been there all along.

“So, what do you do, stranger?” I asked, putting on my huskiest voice.

Navan looked amused, playing along like we’d agreed on the way up to the bar. “Why do you want to know?”

“I want to know everything about you, stranger. You think you can come up to a girl in a bar and not tell her anything about yourself? I bet you see yourself as the mysterious type.”

Navan smiled. “I don’t think I’m mysterious.”

“Well, I think you are,” I purred, picking the small berry out of the cocktail by the stem, and putting it in my mouth. I bit off the fruit with a wink, instantly regretting it—whatever the fruit was, it wasn’t a cherry or an olive, but something incredibly sour.

“Why do you think I’m mysterious?” Navan smirked, seeing me struggle with the sour fruit.

“You tell me. You come over here and offer me a drink, and I don’t even know your name. I’d say that’s pretty mysterious,” I replied, leaning forward on the table. “What other secrets do you have?”

“I don’t have any secrets.”

“I bet you’re a spy,” I murmured, toying with the stem of the cocktail glass. “I’m right, aren’t I? I bet you’re an intergalactic man of mystery with a lady like me on every port-planet.”

“You know you’re the only one for me,” he said, looking deep into my eyes.

“You’re supposed to be pretending,” I whispered. It was hard not to smile at the sweet expression on his handsome face and feel a little bit fuzzy inside, knowing that he couldn’t even bring himself to flirt with an imaginary character I’d created.

Glancing over Navan’s shoulder, I saw Killick—the merevin I’d overheard had narrowly avoided getting mixed up with a gold-digger—watching me shyly from the next table over. He wasn’t with the older merevin from earlier, but another younger merevin I hadn’t seen before. I realized Killick must have headed back in while I was stealing my killer gown, evidently refusing to learn his lesson. Knowing a target when I saw one, I caught his eye and flashed a smile, prompting him to turn away with a purple flush of his cheeks.

“Maybe I’m mysterious, maybe I’m not,” Navan said, attempting to act uninterested.

I leaned closer to him, twirling a strand of bronze hair around my forefinger. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

“Well, I, uh…” he replied uncertainly.

“Pretend you aren’t interested,” I murmured, flashing a devilish smile over Navan’s shoulder toward Killick. He turned to his friend and said something I couldn’t hear, a curious look twinkling in his huge blue eyes.

“When you look like this?” Navan murmured back. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

I touched his bicep and giggled flirtatiously, keeping my gaze on the merevin. “Just pretend I’m in my pajamas.”

He grinned. “That would still turn me on.”

Knowing I had to up my game to keep Killick’s attention, I turned sideways on my stool, re-crossing my legs. The movement pulled up the slit of the emerald gown, revealing the length of my thigh, almost to the leg band of my underwear. A familiar, glazed-over expression fell across Navan’s face as he stared at my bare leg, a muffled groan leaving his throat.

“You’re making this very hard,” he whispered.

“I bet I am.” I giggled, leaning right over the table toward him, showcasing the plunging neckline of the emerald gown, revealing an enticing display to my mark, whose enormous eyes practically fell out of his fishy head. “Anyway, I’m in need of a ride. You know anyone who might give me one?” I ventured, finally speaking loudly enough for the merevin to hear.

Navan cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, miss. I’m just a mechanic on one of the cruisers. I don’t have a ship for you, though I really wish I did.” His voice was thick with lust, his eyes glinting with every single thing he’d like to do to me, if we weren’t midway through a mission.

Behaving this way made me feel like I was in a spy movie, enticing wealthy men and getting away with crimes. Navan’s reactions were making me feel unbelievably sexy. I’d never really felt sexy before, but now I was attracting attention from all over the place, and I wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed or excited.

“Well, stranger, that is a shame. I would’ve loved to have taken a ride with you.” I smiled seductively, letting the merevin know that my date was a dud. In reality, I wanted to knock the glasses off the table and jump Navan’s bones right then and there.

“Me too, but I only fix ships—I don’t own them. If it’s a ride you’re after, I’m not your man.” Navan sighed, his gaze resting on the lowest point of my neckline. “Speaking of which, I should be getting back. I was only here to order some bottles of Liberatum for the boss, when you caught my eye. I only wish I could do more to satisfy your needs.”

I almost choked at the sound of his words, flashing him a sultry look as he walked off, leaving me alone at the table. Toying with the stem of the glass once more, I gazed out the window at the docking yards below, watching the ships come in and fly out again. I hoped I looked lonely and elegant to the merevin, instead of sexually frustrated. Either way, I was almost certain that Killick or some other desperate guy would come over.

After all, this scheme had to work. It was our only hope of getting a ship and heading back out into space, where Lauren was waiting to be rescued. And with Yorrek’s notebook out there, the universe needed this to work, too. I had always thought of myself as a good person, but I was willing to sacrifice that image to do what I had to.