Hotbloods 6: Allies

“What do we do?” Angie asked frantically, looking up the gangway. Lauren was nowhere to be seen, though I didn’t know whether she’d gone inside or had taken refuge somewhere else. Right now, we needed to get inside that ship and get the notebook back. If Lauren was in there, we’d be able to get her back, too.

As if answering the question for us, the pirates stormed past us, hurrying after Stone, who had retreated into the now-open hatch of his ship. It was the perfect time to strike. Stone would be distracted by the horde of pirates who were trying to get into his vessel, leaving us to slip through unseen, able to steal the ship with Lauren, the notebook, and the weapons on it. We could deal with any pirate stowaways later.

“Follow me!” I whispered, heading up the gangway with Angie in tow.

Stone had reappeared at the entrance, holding out the glowing blue bracelet, struggling to get a shield to surround his ship. Every time he managed to get some of it covered, a pirate knocked into him or pushed him to the side, overwhelming him, forcing him to start from scratch. As far as I could tell, the problem was the pirates were already within the domain of where he wanted to put his shield, meaning they were protected within it, too. Which, presumably, wasn’t what he wanted.

However, that wasn’t the only thing perplexing me. It appeared the pirates were running past Stone, not toward him. They were delving into the depths of the patchwork vessel, pretty much ignoring Stone altogether. I wondered what they were doing, since they were supposed to be capturing Stone for the revenge bounty. It seemed like they had something a bit more immediate on their minds—they were stealing weapons from Stone’s ship. In small clusters, they emerged from the shadowy interior carrying armfuls of guns, knives, bows, blasters, everything.

Only, these weapons were made from a very unusual-looking metal. It was a dull, dark gray color that seemed to suck in the light around it. I realized Ezra’s shipment was being carried off in the arms of pirates. Evidently, they’d overheard Ezra mention they were made from serrantium, which was far more valuable in that kind of quantity than the bounty I’d offered for Stone.

His crew ran to his aid, wrestling the serrantium weapons away from the thieves and throwing them out of the ship. A few groups of pirates had managed to get away with their goods, sprinting beyond the reach of Stone’s crew. I couldn’t help staring at the Rexombra, who moved like liquid through his assailants, casting them aside as though they weighed nothing. I noticed he didn’t kill any, however, which seemed strange considering his species were notorious assassins.

Glancing at the gangway, it seemed Stone’s crew had managed to rid the ship of pirates, but the incessant flood was threatening to overcome them. For every one they got rid of, another three were approaching the gangway, ready to try their luck with Stone and his crew. Lauren had appeared again, running down the gangway, wielding a twisted golden staff in her hands, holding off the aggressors with a skilled twirl and swipe of her weapon.

“Lauren!” I shouted to her, willing her to look at me. For a split second, her gaze flitted toward me, before flitting away again. I was desperate to know what was going on with her. Why was she helping Stone like this? There was no other explanation for it… Stone had done something to her.

“Alfa, get the ship in the air!” Stone yelled, his voice carrying up to the crew inside the vessel. “I’ll hold off this ‘ere rabble!”

“We can wait, Stone!” Alfa insisted. “We can help you take them.”

Stone shook his head. “Take the weapons and be off with ye! If I get outta this mess alive, ye know where to meet me!”

Alfa nodded reluctantly and disappeared inside the ship, retracting the gangway and shutting the hatch with a hefty wheeze of machinery. Stone and Lauren jumped off the metal ramp, landing deftly on the ground, fending off the still-approaching pirates, who now seemed disgruntled that Stone was taking away their chances of pilfering a few serrantium weapons.

Another figure emerged at the very last moment, sneaking out of the shadows of Stone’s ship, clutching stolen goods to her chest. Kirin scrambled over the top of the ship and dropped down over the front of it, avoiding Stone, before hurrying through the crowd, a delighted look spreading across her unusual face as she sprinted for the alleyway beside the Salty Siren. Peering closer, I realized she’d managed to steal something from the ship. In one hand, she held a vicious-looking serrantium weapon, though I wasn’t quite sure what it was. In the other, she held Yorrek’s notebook.

“The notebook!” I hissed at Angie, pointing it out. “We need to get after it!”

Angie glowered. “That little weasel!”

“Come on, this is our shot.”

Ahead of us, Lauren was still battling her way through the pirates. I’d never seen her that way before, her hands a blur as she twisted the staff, smacking her opponents on the head and abdomen, sending them scattering out of her way. Stone had his fists and his blue shield, which he used to cover Lauren as well as himself. They moved through the throng of pirates as Stone’s junk ship lifted off the ground in a flurry of gritty dust. I covered my eyes as the vessel soared up and disappeared into the cloud cover, shooting past the swooping figures of Navan, Bashrik, and Ezra, narrowly missing Ezra’s head by less than a few feet.

“We need to get our girl, too—they’re heading in the same direction!” Angie shouted above the noise of clamoring pirates.

I nodded, yelling after her. “Lauren! Lauren, come back here!”

“Snap out of it, Lauren! It’s us, Angie and Riley!”

Lauren hesitated for a brief moment, flashing an uncertain look over her shoulder at us. Shaking her head ever so slightly, she turned on her heel and set off again, hurtling across the battleground. I didn’t know whether that was the real Lauren poking through the brainwashing or whether it was just my wishful thinking.

We raced after Stone and Lauren, who were already halfway across the open clearing outside the Salty Siren, heading for the alleyway that ran down the side. Evidently, Stone was looking for an escape route, and he was determined to bring Lauren with him. No matter where he ventured, he seemed eager to have Lauren constantly at his side, even if it meant heading into certain danger. Yeah, he’d definitely done something to her, and I was going to make him pay for it.

The only problem now was, I’d lost Kirin. I’d had her in my sights all the way across the clearing, but she’d disappeared. Even so, I was determined to find her again, even if I had to raid every seedy spot on this planet. I had to get that notebook back.

“Forget about the nobodies, you idiots!” Ezra’s voice bellowed from above, taking me by surprise. I couldn’t quite see him, his voice startling me for a moment as he directed his wrath at the rebel coldbloods and the errant shifter. “Get after the pirates with the weapons! Retrieve them, at any cost!”

The words had distracted Navan, too, who was peering at the crowd of fleeing pirates below. I gasped as Ezra darted out of the thick fog and brought his stiffened palm down on the back of Navan’s neck—an Aksavdo move I’d seen before. Navan’s body instantly went limp, and he plummeted toward the ground, his already-damaged wing curving uselessly around him.

“NAVAN!” I screamed, turning away from Lauren and Stone and running toward his falling body. He tumbled from the sky, unconscious and helpless to do anything to save himself.





Chapter Twenty





I didn’t know what good it would do to run toward Navan, but I couldn’t just stand there and watch him fall out of the sky. Bashrik had moved to go after his brother, but Ezra had clawed him back, forcing him to fight. A bestial roar rose from my throat. I wasn’t even saying words anymore—I just wanted him to stop falling.

Suddenly, a disc of blue light appeared, the middle sinking down to form a giant bowl as it caught Navan in midair. The disc moved slowly downward, bringing him safely to the ground. I turned sharply to see Stone with his wrist raised, the glowing bracelet aimed at Navan.