Hotbloods 6: Allies

“Have there been any changes in the rebel activity?” I asked.

“The latest intel we have is that Orion went quiet for a while, but then he started stockpiling resources—weapons, blood, everything. That’s around the time this ship left Earth. We believe the factories are still functioning and the rebel alchemists are still hard at work, but that’s about all we know,” she explained, with a hint of regret.

It was the same stuff we’d heard from Mort, though my thoughts on his trustworthiness hadn’t changed. Even now, I couldn’t help wondering, somewhat bitterly, if he’d lied to us about certain details. It would be just like him to keep out an important fact or two, though I had no evidence to prove it.

“Did you hear anything about a notebook?” Navan asked anxiously.

Commander Mahlo stared at him, her eyes suspicious. “A notebook? No, we haven’t heard of anything like that. What do you know about a notebook?”

“No way, lass. Our guts are all spilled out,” Stone interjected. “Gotta give a little to get a little.”

“Have the alchemists started doing anything different?” I pressed.

Again, she looked blank. “Not that we know of. As I say, they’ve been stockpiling, by the looks of things, but that seems to be it. Do you know something we don’t?”

“Ezra took something valuable during a different encounter we had with him on the Junkyard. He took a notebook that belonged to a renowned alchemist on Vysanthe. We think it might contain the secret to the immortality elixir, but we’re not a hundred percent sure.”

Commander Mahlo set her vivid gaze on me, aghast. “No… That can’t be. Last we heard, they were missing something important—a final ingredient.”

“Yeah, and that book could contain the secret to it,” Bashrik muttered.

“Then again, if what you’re saying is true, we might have a window of opportunity,” I said, my mind whirring. “If nothing has changed down there in the rebel base, then maybe they haven’t figured out the key yet. If that’s the case, then this means we’re all still on a level playing field. No one is immortal yet, and, if we can get our asses in gear, nobody will be.”

Angie nodded excitedly. “If we take out the rebel base before they can do anything else with the elixir, we can get rid of the rebels and their unnatural experiments in one go. A clean strike!”

“A joyous occasion, if we can make it work,” Commander Mahlo conceded.

I smiled at my best friend’s enthusiasm, though I couldn’t share in it. There were still too many things that could go wrong, and no way of eliminating the risks beforehand. We just didn’t have time for an intricate scheme, with every possible avenue covered. The queens’ ships would be arriving in less than three days. In that brief interim, we needed to figure out the best positions for our shield-bearers, find any weak points, and get everyone in position before the enemy surrounded Earth.

Even if we’d had months to prepare, I doubted we’d ever be truly ready for what we were about to face. But if these queens and these rebels thought they could come to my neighborhood and take what didn’t belong to them, they had another thing coming. This was my home, and even if it took the last scrap of energy I had, I would never back down.

This was humanity’s fight, and my fists were raised.





Chapter Forty





“So, are we clear on who’s going where?” I asked, glancing at the group gathered around the table. Two days had passed, and the Fed had been keeping an eye on the movements of the Vysanthean ships. A beacon had pinged that morning, letting us know that the queens’ respective fleets were a day away from arriving, which meant we had to move… and move fast.

Queen Gianne was leading the way, by all accounts, with Brisha’s unyielding army—now without their figurehead—following at a discreet distance. I’d half expected the two fleets to end up fighting one another before they even reached Earth, but it appeared that Gianne wasn’t aware of Brisha’s ships trailing after her. They were making sure of it, which I supposed made sense. After all, they could get back to warring with one another when the rebels were dealt with and the key ingredient to the immortality elixir was theirs.

Commander Mahlo had moved us into one of the larger meeting rooms that morning so we could flesh out the details of what lay ahead of us. There were a lot more of us than there’d been two days ago, and the room was feeling comfortingly full.

Around one edge of the huge circular table sat Navan, Bashrik, Ronad, Angie, Lauren, Stone, Xiphio, Alfa, Dio, and myself. Around the other side sat Commander Mahlo, flanked by two of her associates. Beside them sat the merevin contingent, who’d arrived the previous evening. Agent Phocida sat with two of her associates, looking decidedly anxious. It was clear none of the Fed wanted to make direct eye contact with Alfa’s Rexombran backup, who filled the last set of seats. There were five of them, three males, two females. The intimidating band of black-furred assassins had arrived just this morning, and their fierce, almost regal presence seemed to be making the Fed even more uncomfortable.

Seeing everyone all piled into one room reminded me of The Empty Purse casino. I guessed the stakes were just as high here. We’d run through everything again this morning, for the sake of the newcomers, who seemed to have taken it in stride. The Rexombra commanded respect without having to say a word. Nothing appeared to faze them—not war, not coldbloods, not immortality elixirs, nothing at all. Unlike the Fed, who continued to cast distrustful glances at the coldbloods. Aside from Ronad, who didn’t quite look like one, I knew they were having trouble believing that our coldbloods weren’t going to turn on them.

Commander Mahlo was the first to speak. “For our part, we will initiate a surprise attack on the approaching queens. Half of our forces will lie in wait for them, while the other half will be at your disposal for the rebel attack, Riley. Should our ambush succeed, the rest of us will join the fight on the planet’s surface, with only the rebel forces to contend with. Judging by our numbers, it shouldn’t be too difficult to overcome them and take control of their facilities.”

“And yet, you have not stepped up to destroy them thus far, though you’ve had ample opportunity,” Agent Phocida chimed in, evidently unimpressed by the lax attitude of the lycan Fed.

“How about we refrain from squabbling amongst ourselves?” the female leader of the Rexombran support growled. “There is a bigger cause here. The past does not matter. We are all here now, a Universal Alliance. Let us focus on what can be done about it now.”

The two agents looked cowed. “Of course, Warrior Anai.”

“You are not Rexombran—you do not owe me a title. Anai will be fine,” the Rexombran female purred, her golden eyes flickering with inner fire.

“Will both lycans and merevins be launching this surprise attack?” I asked, grateful that Anai had stopped them from fighting. There had been some tension ever since the merevin contingent arrived, with both factions unable to agree on the best course of action against the queens. They’d only started cooperating once the Rexombran forces had arrived.

Agents Phocida and Mahlo exchanged a glance. “They will, Riley,” the latter replied.