Hotbloods 6: Allies

Stone had saved him from certain death.

I didn’t have much time to think about it, as something shot through the clouds. Ezra had stunned Bashrik, using the moment’s distraction to dive for the hatch of his ship, the door rising rapidly as he approached. Before anyone could stop him, he was safely inside the metal armor of his vessel, the hatch crashing back down behind him. A moment later, the engines rumbled, and the turrets of his ship’s guns whirred. The pirates, realizing they were in trouble, started to flee, but Ezra fired on them as he lifted his ship into the air.

I was expecting the rebels to make a run for it, but instead Ezra’s ship hovered a short way above the ground, the front of the vessel poised toward the thieves. He continued to fire at them, but they’d already disappeared down the alleyway at the side of the Salty Siren, taking a good chunk of his shipment with them. He edged closer to the inn, before disappearing over the roof and into the endless stretch of junk, evidently trying to pick the thieves out of the Junkyard’s labyrinthine streets.

Casting a strange look back at me, Stone took off after the thieves with Lauren running after him, fending off any attackers with a whirl of her golden staff. Xiphio and Angie were in hot pursuit, sprinting after the unlikely pair, following them down the shady alleyway.

I stood in the middle of the clearing, not knowing which way to turn. On the ground by one of the archways, Bashrik was crouched beside Ronad, handing him a vial of medicine we’d picked up from the market. Mort was nowhere to be seen. I’d lost track of him in the chaos. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see him again. We just had to hope he didn’t run back to the cruiser and try to steal it out from under our noses. If he did that, I swore I’d track him to the ends of the universe.

“Riley, I’m going to take Ronad back to the ship,” Bashrik called, hoisting Ronad’s arm over his shoulder. “I’ll come back and give you a hand with Navan.”

Too distracted to think straight, I nodded. “I’ll hold down the fort until you get back.”

Shaking off a million thoughts, I ran to the spot where Navan had been gently placed on the ground, and tried to wake him, shaking his shoulders. I couldn’t believe Stone had saved his life, though I still hated him for what he’d done to Lauren. Not only that, but he’d almost agreed to give the notebook to Ezra as part of the weapons bargain, adding another strike to the list of reasons I loathed him. Truthfully, my brain was in turmoil over what to make of Stone.

“Navan? Can you hear me?” I asked desperately, but he didn’t stir.

As I searched his face for any sign of life, comforted only by the slow rise and fall of his chest, I noticed a figure creeping out of the junk on the other side of the Salty Siren Inn. Her purple-and-blue skin gave her away, making camouflage almost impossible. Somehow, she’d managed to hide herself from me while I’d been chasing her. Kirin ducked out of her hiding place, still clutching the two items she’d stolen from Stone’s ship. The sight of the notebook made my heart clench. It was within my grasp again.

Reluctantly, I left Navan on the ground and snatched two knives out of my bandolier, hurling them in her direction. They found their mark, cutting through the indentations above her armpits with surprising force, pinning her to the wooden door that had been propped up against the mountain of junk. She tried to stagger forward with the door on her back, but it was too heavy, her knees buckling underneath the weight.

I ran toward her and pushed the door backward, leaving her writhing around on it like an upturned tortoise. She scowled at me, flashing her needle-like teeth, a flush of deep purple rising to her cheeks as she fought to free herself. Unfortunately for her, the knives were buried deep in the wood behind her; it would take a long time to get her body loose again, if she didn’t want to tear her muscles to shreds.

“Hey, I thought we were pals!” Kirin complained, glancing down at the two knives sticking out of her shoulders. They didn’t seem to be causing her too much pain, but they looked nasty.

“All’s fair in a pirate’s world,” I replied, picking up the two objects from where she’d dropped them. “Let’s just call this payback for the booze you made me drink. You promised me that stuff had no alcohol in it.”

“I didn’t think it did!” she protested, though her wry smile gave her away. “Anyway, what’re you gonna do with a flamethrower? Lower your number—big money, big risk?” A laugh bubbled up from her throat.

“I’m going to secure the bounty that none of you managed to get!” I fired back, grinning. I didn’t really need a flamethrower, but I figured it might come in handy. It was really only the notebook I was after, but if I made it look more important than anything else, I knew I might draw attention to the value of it.

Kirin tried to shrug, but the knives held her arms down. “What’d you expect? We’re pirates. We go after the shiniest thing.”

“Still, I’d have thought one of you might have tried to take Stone.”

A mischievous look flitted across her face. “What can I say? Old feelings die hard.”

“Well, best of luck with finding Captain Notley someday,” I said, unable to hold a grudge against the funny half-fae, half-merevin.

She spat at my feet. “Yeah, yeah. Go get that Stone of mine, Fed-Smasher!” Kirin called after me as I ran back to Navan with my new items tucked under my arms.

The battlefield had gone silent, with most of the participants having retreated into their holes. I knew Xiphio and Angie were still running after Stone and Lauren, so at least my mission hadn’t entirely failed, giving me a moment to stay with Navan. I knelt beside him and tried to wake him again, cradling his head.

“Navan, can you hear me? You have to wake up,” I urged, but he was still out cold. I shook his shoulders, knowing we weren’t safe out here in the open. Yes, Stone and Ezra had left, but that didn’t mean we weren’t still a target. I lightly smacked the sides of his face, willing him to open his eyes and stand up. I was getting desperate now.

A murmur had just escaped from his lips, his lashes flickering, when a ship appeared overhead. I’d have known that ship anywhere. Ezra had come back. The vessel hovered above the clearing, the hatch opening. Ezra flew out of the gap, setting down in front of me.

“Your hair might be different, but I’d know Navan’s little pet anywhere,” he said. “You give yourself away, fawning over him like that. Disgusting.”

“Back off!” I snapped, trying to keep a lid on my anger.

He smirked. “I don’t remember you having such a temper, Riley,” he said, arching an eyebrow. “The mouse turned into a lion. That’s the Earthen analogy, right? Now, I hear that you are the one responsible for my sister’s death. Tell me, mouse, did you do it?” His voice was thick with menace, his near-black eyes narrowed.

My whole body tensed for action, my fingertips itching to reach for Kaido’s vial of strength serum, which was still tucked away in my pocket. I guessed Ezra was only delaying his attack because he was under orders to capture us all for Orion, rather than kill us on sight. I was pretty sure Orion would want to see me suffer with his own eyes, instead of hearing the news secondhand.

“You shouldn’t listen to rumors,” I replied, forcing the tremor out of my words.

“It’s not something you should be ashamed of,” he mused, still smiling. “I’m grateful to you for killing her. Pandora was too much of a distraction to Orion. They were always mooning over each other. He wouldn’t agree to anything without consulting her first, and it was starting to grate on me.”

I gaped at him. “She was your sister.”