Hotbloods 6: Allies

“It’s the perfect thing to say!” I assured him. “She’ll know it’s coming from Angie and me if you say that.”

“I’m not sure I should mention another male. Perhaps you could think of something else—a book she likes, or some music that pleases her, or activities she prefers to do,” he pressed, making it seem like he was after a cheat sheet of how to woo her, rather than a way of letting her know he wasn’t the enemy. He had a dreamy look on his face. Somehow, the vague description we’d given of Lauren had charmed him. I guessed he and Killick really were alike when it came to the emotional, hopeless romantic nature of merevins. He’d only heard about Lauren secondhand, and already I could tell he wanted to fall in love with her—I guessed it was like falling for a character someone had only read about in a book.

I shook my head. “No, it has to be Seamus Barton kissing her on prom night. That’s the only thing that’s personal enough for her to know you’re a safe rescuer.”

He pouted, folding his arms across his chest. “From what poor soul did you steal this ship, anyway?” he asked, apparently noticing the fancy interior of the vessel for the first time.

“A merevin like you, actually,” I said. “His name was Killick… Lollipop, or something like that?”

Xiphio gaped at me. “Wait, whose ship is this?”

I wracked my brains. “Killick… Loligo. Yes, it was Loligo.”

“My goodness, you’ve stolen this ship from one of the most respected noble families in all of Almaghura!”

“Yeah, he said something about that. His dad is Orcino Loligo, right?”

Xiphio nodded effusively. “He is, and what a man Orcino is!”

“So I’ve heard,” I said with a smile. “How come your species are always on the prowl for a date, anyway? Our friend Mort tells us your planet is covered in beautiful women, so how come you keep looking elsewhere?” It was something that had piqued my curiosity, ever since meeting Killick.

Xiphio’s cheeks flushed again. “While it is true that the women are beautiful on my planet, there are not nearly enough females,” he explained. “The merevin population is, sadly, 80 percent male, so we are forced to find love elsewhere. It becomes a little difficult when it comes to fathering children, since we are the ones who carry the infants, but that does not always translate with other species. The production of a cross-species child is extremely rare, though there are cases of it occurring. Indeed, it is somewhat frowned upon in our culture to produce a crossbreed, unless they are on the designated list of amphibious species.”

“Can’t you just couple up with some mermaids?” Ronad asked. “They live on a different planet.”

“Ah, yes, but they see us as inferior, for the most part,” Xiphio replied reluctantly. “They’re not particularly friendly, nor do they wish for us to bother them.” I wondered if he knew that from personal experience.

Ronad, Angie, and Xiphio continued making small talk as I looked around at the gathered group. With the pirate horde now at our disposal, if only temporarily, and a Fed agent on our side, we’d ended up with an unlikely number of allies. The prospect buoyed me up with a rush of hope.

Stone didn’t stand a chance now.





Chapter Seventeen





I jolted awake, sitting bolt upright in bed. It was early, and the dingy sun that shone down on the Junkyard was barely visible through the smog, as seen from the bedroom window. I wasn’t sure what had woken me up, but there didn’t appear to be any intruders. The hatch was still firmly closed, but Navan wasn’t sleeping beside me. He was nowhere to be seen. I wondered if that was what had woken me, but Navan often slipped out of bed to go to the bathroom or the kitchen, and it rarely disturbed me.

I glanced over at the locator compass, which I’d set on the nightstand the previous evening, leaving the celestial map in holograph mode. A new green dot had appeared, flashing rapidly from a location nearby, and was approaching fast. It hadn’t quite zoomed into the more detailed town map, but was still a fair distance away, letting me know that the human was beyond the atmosphere of the Junkyard, but heading inward with every minute that passed.

A ripple of anxious excitement pulsed through me, though I hoped it wouldn’t be crushed by the sight of the president again. This time, it had to be Lauren, landing with Stone. It just had to be.

I peered at the trajectory again. They seemed set on a specific course, heading diagonally across the map. I couldn’t be sure whether their destination was the Salty Siren Inn, not without the help of the ship’s navigation system. Throwing on clothes, I picked up the compass and sprinted out of the room, barreling through the corridors of the ship toward the cockpit.

“We’ve got a new dot!” I shouted on repeat as I ran, bringing everyone out of their chambers. Most of them looked sleepy, and Mort looked furious, but I didn’t care. Lauren was on her way, and we had to be ready for her.

Ronad was sitting in the pilot’s seat of the cockpit when I skidded to a halt, brandishing the compass at him. Bashrik, Angie, and Xiphio were following behind me, dragging their feet. Mort had shut the door as soon as I passed. Xiphio was the only one who seemed sprightly, though Angie didn’t seem too appreciative of the attention he was giving her as they walked, starting a morning tirade of endless questions about Lauren.

“Look!” I yelped excitedly.

Ronad smirked. “I know. I heard you from the other end of the ship!”

“I thought it’d be a nice wake-up call,” I protested, cradling the compass in my hands. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen Navan this morning, have you?”

Ronad gave a half-shrug. “He told me he was going out for a while. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Did he say why?”

“No, but I figured he wanted to scope out the spot where we’ll be ambushing Stone. You know, map out all the blind spots and escape routes, that kind of thing.”

I frowned. “Without the rest of us?”

“I guess so,” Ronad replied, his tone noncommittal. “Maybe he was worried we’d attract too much attention if we all went together. He didn’t look particularly concerned or anything, so I wouldn’t get too stressed about it. I’m sure he’s fine.”

It seemed odd that Navan wouldn’t even wake me to tell me where he was going, especially as he knew I’d worry, but maybe Ronad was right. If a group of us went to scope out the Salty Siren Inn and all of its surroundings, people would probably start to get suspicious, especially if we were being watched from the skies.

“Hey, Bashrik, can you prick your finger on the end of this needle?” I asked, turning to him and shifting the dial on the locator compass to open up a new canister.

“Uh… I don’t really like needles,” Bashrik said, inching away from me.

I took a step toward him. “If we add your blood to the locator, we can see when and where Ezra is approaching the Junkyard to rendezvous with Stone.”

Angie put her hand on his arm. “Yeah, I doubt there are too many coldbloods on this planet.”

“Maybe we should wait and ask Navan,” Bashrik said, glancing down at the needle. “He might have already scouted out Ezra’s location.”

“Come on, Bash, it’s just a tiny little needle,” Angie urged.

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to have our species’ location visible for all to see,” he protested, but I could tell he was starting to relent. He’d have done anything to prove himself in front of Angie.

“It’ll only be visible to us,” I replied.

“Yeah, for now, but what if it falls into the wrong hands?”

I smiled, knowing he was playing for time. “We’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“I could always do it, if you don’t want to,” Ronad offered.

“I’m not sure it’ll work with your blood, given the change you’ve gone through,” I said, glancing at him. “We might end up with an entirely different marker, if it can’t quite tell what you are through your altered blood.”

Ronad frowned a little, and I felt bad. “I hadn’t thought about that.”