Hotbloods 6: Allies

“Nice!” she said. “There are a bunch of us here, hiding all over the place. It’s turned into a bit of a competition. Ten thousand credits is nothing to sniff at!”

I looked up at the churning clouds above our heads, expecting the two ships to appear in the expansive clearing. The compass said they were due any moment, but the dense, gloomy cloud cover concealed most of what was going on overhead. My heart was pounding, adrenaline coursing through my veins, my throat dry with anxiety. This was probably our one shot to get Lauren back, and I was going to fight with everything I had.

“Here he comes,” Kirin hissed, pointing at an emerging shadow.

A split second later, Stone’s familiar ship landed beside the first archway, where I knew Xiphio and Mort were hiding. It looked as scrappy and patched-together as it had the last time I’d seen it, though there seemed to be a few new panels and a fresh infection of rust running across the hull. I held my breath, watching it settle on the ground, hearing the clunk and rattle of the engine as it came to a standstill.

One of Orion’s deep-space ships landed deftly beside it, taking us all by surprise. I’d known it was coming, from the blue dots on the locator compass, but it had sped down from the cloud cover like a specter, appearing as if from nowhere. I wasn’t sure which ship scared me more, though I knew we had all our bases covered when it came to our enemies trying to make a run for it on foot.

The hatch of the scavenger ship wheezed upward, revealing the familiar members of Stone’s crew. They strode down the gangway without a care in the world, walking with a swagger that made me certain they had no idea what kind of trouble they were in. First came the Rexombra, whose name I remembered was Alfa. Next came the Darian, then the lycan, then the Carokian, but I could only recall the Rexombra’s name—well, his and Stone’s.

Speak of the devil, I thought as Stone appeared in the hatch of the patchwork ship. He paused for a moment, turning to talk to someone inside the ship. I held my breath as Lauren walked up beside him. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to stop a gasp from escaping. She looked totally badass, dressed all in black, wearing heavy-duty boots, with a bandana tied across her head, her hair held back in two braids, and her glasses gone.

I reached down and gripped Angie’s hand, internally cheering at the sight of our best friend, even if she barely resembled the girl who’d been snatched all those weeks ago. We exchanged a glance, both of us elated, as Lauren walked down the gangway at Stone’s side, her boots clomping on the metal ramp.

From the deep-space ship, another hatch opened and Ezra stepped out, descending his gangway toward the junk-scattered ground. There were two rebel coldbloods with him, as we’d expected, and a shifter in tow. Neither of the two parties seemed particularly glad to see the other, but then, this was just business to them. A simple case of supply and demand.

“A pleasure, as always,” Ezra said coldly. I could just about hear their conversation from where I crouched behind the metal barrels.

“How ‘bout we skip over the niceties, boss,” Stone replied, his tone amused. “I got the goods. You want ‘em or not? ‘Tis a simple state o’ affairs.”

“That depends. Are the weapons really made of pure serrantium?” Ezra asked.

I hadn’t even realized that weapons could be forged from serrantium, but it made for a bleak picture. If the rebels managed to figure out the key to the immortality elixir, they’d end up with indestructible weapons for their indestructible soldiers. An all-powerful force that could destroy anything and everything in its path. We had to hope that Stone hadn’t figured out what was in Yorrek’s notebook.

“’Course they are. What d’you take me for?” Stone said coolly. “I always deliver what’s promised.”

“Can I see them?”

Stone nodded. “So long as yer don’t try before you buy. I don’t want ‘em scuffed up before you take ‘em, so you can turn round and blame me for the scuffs, then try and get me to knock the price down. I been in that situation afore.”

“I wouldn’t cheat you out of your hard-earned credits, scavenger.” A cruel smile twisted up the corners of Ezra’s mouth. I could already picture him thinking about using those weapons on poor, unsuspecting victims, relishing every life he took and planet he conquered.

“In that case, I got something else to tickle yer fancy,” Stone said. “I got an alchemist’s notebook, nicked from Northern Vysanthe. Came from the brainiest one of them alchemists, by all accounts.”

Ezra looked positively ravenous at the news. “Toss it in with the rest of the goods. I’m sure it won’t be of any use to you. I’ll pay extra,” he replied, seeming to physically force the excitement out of his voice. “Show me the notebook.”

Stone grinned, folding his arms across his chest. “You think I was born yesterday? How ‘bout we settle on a price, then I’ll show you round your goods.”

Suddenly, Ezra’s eyes flickered toward Lauren, who was standing a short distance behind Stone. Until then, she’d been obscured by Stone. Now, however, she was exposed, and Ezra had seen something he didn’t like. His entire body language changed in a split second, his hands balling into fists, two protrusions appearing in the back of his coat, though his wings didn’t fully emerge.

“A human?” he hissed, stepping toward Lauren. Stone moved in front of her, blocking Ezra.

“Those what travel in my crew are no business of yours,” Stone said.

“You sly little creep,” Ezra spat. “You followed me there, didn’t you? You followed me to the rebel base—you’ve been trying to disrupt the rebels’ plans, haven’t you?” I noticed he didn’t say the word “Earth” out loud, in case anyone was listening in. I was pretty sure he had absolutely no idea just how many people were eavesdropping at that very moment.

“I care nowt for politics, coldblood. Rebel or not, it makes no matter to me,” Stone said calmly. “I follow no one, ‘cept my crew. You want the goods or not? I can find another seller quicker than you can say ‘Orion.’”

I waited for the flare, knowing it was the prime moment to set it off. Stone’s hatch was open, and Lauren was out in the open. If we had a distraction, it would be the perfect time for us to get inside and find the notebook, while the other half of us snatched Lauren. A bristle of tension was extending between the buyer and supplier, but it wouldn’t last much longer. It was clear enough that Stone hadn’t intervened with anyone on Earth, and Ezra’s anger would soon pass. I guessed Navan wasn’t setting it off because he wanted to see what else Ezra and Stone said about Orion, in conjunction with this trade, but the hiding pirates had other ideas.

Before Navan had the chance to set the flare off, Kirin and the other pirates surged from their hideaways, racing forward to take Ezra and Stone by surprise. Stone was the only one with a bounty on his head, but I knew Ezra would likely get caught in the crossfire, which could only work in our favor.

The time for lurking in the shadows was over. Now, everyone would have to fight.





Chapter Nineteen





Angie and I sprinted toward Lauren, skirting around the side of the parked ships. Xiphio had been hiding inside the archway closest to Stone, and he surged forward with the rest, trying to put himself between Stone and Lauren.

The pirates, Navan, and the others were all a blur in my peripheral vision. I knew they were running alongside us, but I couldn’t pinpoint any particular direction or target. I could barely even see Ezra and his three crew members, but I knew they were trapped amidst the chaos, unable to seek out an escape route. The path up to their ship was blocked, and so were the exits.