Hotbloods 6: Allies

“See, when Navan and I met each other, he was this angry, gray-skinned creature, and I was a stubborn, na?ve girl who’d never so much as left the country she was born in,” I explained, chuckling. “I was terrified of him to begin with, and would’ve done anything to get away from him, but then I saw him sitting on top of a house, staring out into space. I’d never seen anyone look sadder or more vulnerable, and even then, I felt drawn to him. I didn’t like him much, but something was pulling us together.

“He tried to frighten me once, by going into what I like to call ‘beast mode.’ I should’ve known then not to get involved with a guy who can grow wings and fangs at will.” I laughed, and Navan chuckled too. “In fact, I would’ve been willing to just turn my back on what I’d seen and go back to my normal life, but then things got in the way. Someone he’d considered a friend stole my blood because he thought my species was the key to immortality. So, Navan, Ronad, and Bashrik were forced to intervene. I was introduced to a world of lycans, shifters, coldbloods, everything… and I’ve never looked back. Had it not been for all of that, I’d never know what true love feels like. And frankly, it was worth it. Because there’s always a price, like you said, Stone.”

Navan grinned, sliding his arm around my shoulders. Xiphio was staring at us with twinkly eyes, looking like he might cry at the pure romance of it all. Even Stone looked moved, which surprised me a bit. The other four were smiling too, remembering what it had taken to bring us all here.

“Yeah, if we hadn’t been perving on you all with your shirts off, we’d be living different lives right now!” Angie declared. “I always knew boys would get me into trouble. My mom always said they would.”

“Freaking lumberjacks, ruining everything,” Lauren teased.

Bashrik smiled shyly. “You weren’t the only one to find something wonderful, Riley.”

“I wouldn’t swap you for the universe,” Angie chimed in, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him fiercely on the lips. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, the rest of us looking away in amused awkwardness.

“Well, if this is gonna turn into some sort o’ love-in, I might have to skedaddle. I’m feelin’ a little too bonded to yer all right now,” Stone mumbled. “Just gonna take this with me, keep the celebration going.” He leaned over and plucked the bottle of blue liquid off the tray, tucking it under his arm as he got to his feet.

“You never leave a party early. What’s up with you?” Lauren teased.

“Feelin’ weary, that’s all.” He smiled awkwardly at her, before making a swift exit out of the observatory.

“Wonder what’s gotten into him,” Lauren mumbled, though it was clear to the rest of us what was going on. Well, to those of us who weren’t glued to each other’s faces.

“I think I might hit the hay, too,” Ronad said, standing up.

“No! Don’t go!” I called to him, but he just smiled.

“Always leave them wanting more,” he said, laughing to himself as he left.

“Well, if everyone’s going to bed, I might as well go too.” Lauren sighed, scrambling to her feet. I watched Xiphio’s face, realizing he wanted to say something to her, but it seemed he’d lost his nerve as she stretched out, yawning dramatically.

“Might I walk you to your chambers?” he asked, finding his voice.

Lauren smiled. “It’s only up the corridor.”

“Of course, my apologies—what was I thinking?” He looked so crestfallen, I wanted to shout at Lauren to put him out of his misery.

“Although, I was thinking of getting a drink to wash out the taste of that blue stuff, if you want to come to the kitchen with me?” she murmured unexpectedly, offering out her hand to help Xiphio to his feet. It was a bold move, a blend of old and new Lauren taking over.

A wide smile spread across Xiphio’s face. “I’d be delighted to join you, Miss Lauren!”

I watched them leave the observatory, feeling excited for their fledgling romance. Even so, I couldn’t quite shake off the awkward expression I’d seen on Stone’s face as he’d left. It was clear he completely adored Lauren, but until he said or did something to show her how he felt, it wasn’t going to go anywhere. Who could blame Lauren for showing interest in the man who was obvious in his affections? Romance was hard enough without second-guessing the feelings of a potential partner.

“I guess we should be going, too,” Navan said, tilting his head toward Bashrik and Angie, who were still obliviously wrapped up in one another, their passionate kissing making me feel very awkward. She was my best friend, but there were some things a girl didn’t need to see.

I nodded. “Ready when you are.”

“Do you think they even know we’ve all left?” Navan asked as we reached the door.

I turned toward the preoccupied lovers. “Goodnight, you two!”

They didn’t make a sound, too engrossed in each other to notice that they were the only ones left in the observatory. Laughing at the pair of them, I slipped my hand into Navan’s and headed out into the hallway, making our way back to our room. It was nice to have a moment alone with him, especially after everything that had been going on lately.

As soon as the door to our bedroom was closed, I wrapped my arms around Navan and stood on my tiptoes, kissing him fiercely on the mouth. His hands found my hips, holding me tight, his breath catching in the back of his throat as he kissed me back. Recounting the story of our first meeting had created a warm, fuzzy glow between us, which I was determined to make the most of.

With a devious look on my face, I grasped his hands and pulled him over to the bed, only for him to take a step away from me, breaking free of my touch. His expression changed suddenly, becoming instantly more serious. I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at him, wondering what was going on. Was he worried about Earth? I couldn’t tell. It was something that was always playing on my mind, too, but it only made me more eager to make the most of the time we had, while we had it.

“There was a story I wanted to tell, in the circle,” he said suddenly. “I couldn’t work up the courage to do it in front of everyone, but it’s one I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time. Until now, the moment has never been right.”

“You’re not engaged to another person, are you?” I asked.

He smiled sadly. “You said I frightened you, when we first met. Firstly, I wanted to apologize. Secondly, I wanted to explain why,” he said quietly. “Honestly, back then, I was a different person than the one I am now… because of you. I hid from emotions, and I wasn’t good at dealing with things I couldn’t understand. I was dealing with a lot of pain, pent up over the years.”

“Because of what happened to Naya?”

“Partially, but there was more to it than that,” he continued. “I know I told you about the fighting pits, and me not being able to deal any death blows. And yet, you saw me kill Jethro. No doubt, you were confused. The thing is, Jethro wasn’t the first person I’d killed, though after Naya died I swore never to hurt anyone again.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know if you remember me saying, but before I was an Explorer, I worked for my father in his alchemy lab,” he explained. “To begin with, everything was fine; I was helping out with serums and elixirs and getting to learn all the useful stuff that made the job seem like something I wanted to do. I presume that was my father’s intention, to draw me in first, before he revealed the dark secrets of what truly went on behind the scenes.”

I looked at him with concern etched on my face. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I had no idea what I was getting into. Making elixirs was one thing, but I didn’t understand then that, to create powerful alchemical compounds, test subjects are required. Toward the end of my apprenticeship, things took a turn for the worse. After we started making headway with the Immortality Theory, my father’s experiments became more extreme. Soon enough, he was bringing test subjects into the lab, from all over the place. He would send requests in to the Exploration Corps, to bring him back subjects of various species so that he could study them and experiment on them.”