Hotbloods 6: Allies

He grinned. “No way. I’ve got everything I need right here.”

Bashrik and Angie were following close behind, though poor Bashrik looked mortified at the sound of the alien women calling to him. Angie, on the other hand, was finding it hilarious, shoving him in the ribs and pointing up at a woman with long black hair and bright red fur covering most of her body.

“It’s just up ahead,” I whispered, my attention distracted by the glow of the green spot, which was now blinking rapidly.

Standing at the end of the road was a towering metal shack, made from the sleek sides of several wrecked ships. The green dot was inside, according to the map, which had shrunk down to show the layout of the Junkyard. This had to be where Lauren was being kept; we were getting painfully close now.

“We’ll have to take Stone and his cronies by surprise, in case they’re all in there too,” Navan suggested. All four of us stepped into the shadows of a nearby building so we could piece our plan together. If we messed it up now, there was no telling what Stone might do to Lauren.

“Especially considering his third eye. We need to make sure we avoid it at all costs,” I said, looking at the others. “If we can attack before he has the chance to remove his bandana, we might be able to dodge it altogether.”

Angie nodded. “It looks like there’s an alleyway down the side of the building. I’m guessing it leads around to the back. If two of us go that way, and two of us find a different way in, we’ll stand a better chance. I don’t want to risk using the front door.”

“Well, I’m not leaving your side, so it looks like you and I are going together,” Bashrik said, glancing at the towering structure. A few people had come in and out of the front entrance, but none of them were familiar.

I smiled at his attachment, knowing Angie would never allow him to get overly possessive. “How about Navan and I go around the side, while the two of you head around the back?”

“Sounds good to me,” Angie agreed, with Bashrik grunting his reluctant response.

“Then let’s go get our girl,” I whispered, feeling the nerves take hold.

Without another moment to lose, Navan and I headed for the side of the building, while Angie and Bashrik slipped around the back. There was a window cut into the sleek fa?ade, but no glass to keep anyone from clambering in, which was precisely what we did. Navan went first, making it look ridiculously easy, vaulting through the gap, before reaching through to help me climb up and over the ledge. The ragged sides of the frame scraped at my clothes as I pulled myself through and dropped down on the other side, sweating profusely.

“You okay?” Navan asked.

“I will be,” I replied, glancing around the room we found ourselves in.

It looked like an old-style smoking room of some sort, with tables and chairs spread out across the vast space, and a vaulted ceiling complete with dangling chandeliers crafted from broken bits of glass that had undoubtedly been reclaimed from the scrapyards. Nobody was in the room, however, the whole place steeped in dim light and a blanket of dust. Evidently, it hadn’t been used in a long time.

I took Navan’s hand as we crept toward the door at the far side of the room and paused beside the wall, listening for any sound. There was a splinter of light coming through a gap in the metal door, prompting me to duck down and peer through. I’d been expecting a hallway, but instead my eyes were met by an adjoining room, and my ears were treated to the sound of two people talking.

“It’s an intriguing prospect,” I heard a deep, masculine voice say.

“I hoped you might say that,” another male voice said.

I tried to get a closer look at the two people, but they were sitting at a funny angle, in a peculiar lounge that was empty except for them. From where I was crouched, it was impossible to get a good look at them, but I couldn’t ignore the familiarity I’d heard in both their voices.

“What can you see?” Navan asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“Not much.”

I moved around, hoping it might help me see them better. As I struggled to eavesdrop, waiting for the two individuals to speak again, I was reminded of the house where I’d first met Navan, back in the hazy heat of a Texan summer. I remembered lying flat on the ground, listening to Navan, Jethro, Bashrik, and Ianthan try to decide what to do about the three human girls they’d locked up.

It was so strange to think about it now, after everything we’d been through. I couldn’t imagine an existence without Navan in it, and yet I couldn’t help wondering what my life might have been like, if I hadn’t met him. Where would I be, if we’d ignored the cry in the night and lived out our final summer together, before college, the way we’d planned? I pictured myself wandering through a college hallway, books clutched to my chest, chatting away with some new friends I’d made and making eyes at a cute guy I’d seen in a seminar. Only, the girl in that image didn’t quite feel like me. She was the one I’d lost in coming out here, following the coldbloods; she was the girl I’d never see again. There was something deeply sad in that, but there was nothing I could do about it. It couldn’t be changed or reversed.

“Yes, I’m very glad you came to me with this,” the first, deep voice said.

“How could I not?” the second purred.

Their names were just on the tip of my tongue, when one of the figures leaned forward to pluck their drink off the table. I gasped instinctively, clamping my hands down over my mouth and praying they hadn’t heard me. Navan shot me a worried look, but I shook my head at him.

No, it can’t be. I must be seeing things, I thought, all of this suddenly feeling like some sort of horrible dream.

I peered through the gap again, wanting to be sure. As I did so, the other figure leaned to the side of their armchair, giving me a full view of half their face. Half was all I needed, to complete the nightmare that was playing out in front of me.

This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real, I repeated in my head.

Except, this was very real. There was a balding man with gray sideburns sitting in the nearside armchair, leaning to place his drink back on the table. Only, this wasn’t just any balding man—this was the president of the United States. And sitting across from him, half his face visible to my dumbfounded eyes, was Ezra.





Chapter Thirteen





“What is it?” Navan asked, ducking down beside me.

“Ezra… and the president of the United States!” I hissed, unable to believe that I was putting those words in the same sentence.

Navan’s eyes went wide with horror. “No way!”

“Yes way—I’m looking right at them!”

“What are they saying?” he pressed, resting his hand on my shoulder.

“It’s hard to tell,” I said. “Let me listen again.”

Ezra was staring expectantly at the president as he tapped his thick fingers on the armrest. Even though the chair was huge, Ezra’s imposing size seemed to dwarf it, while his menacing, dark eyes seemed to reflect the light, as though they were mirrored—a feature I’d almost forgotten. It had been so long since we’d encountered one another, and I wasn’t planning on coming face-to-face with him again anytime soon.

“These are big plans we’re talking about here. They could change a great deal and will certainly help with matters of security on Earth,” the president said, in that voice I’d heard a thousand times on the TV. I knew my parents hadn’t voted for him, but the populace seemed to like him well enough. He definitely wasn’t the kind of man I’d expected to be in cahoots with a villain like Ezra.

“What I’m offering can open up an entire universe, Mr. President,” Ezra said with a smirk. “These things are the secret to the stars, and I am willing to give you that secret.”

“For the right price,” the president remarked wryly.