Hotbloods (Hotbloods #1)

I stared at the suit in awe, and I couldn’t deny I was eager to try it out. I also wondered what other mind-blowing technology this supernatural organization had stowed away.

“And this ship,” Navan said, his eyes traveling along the length of it. “You’re lending this to me?”

“You need somewhere to store all the equipment, and it will also serve as a shelter at night. It’s not powerful enough to launch you into space, so don’t even try—it’s only designed for Earth’s atmosphere. And don’t bother trying to run off with it. It’s fitted with a tracker, and we will be able to locate it easily.”

Navan nodded. “Understood.”

“If you have any questions as to its functioning, I suggest you ask me now.”

Navan walked to the cockpit and pulled open the side door. He seated himself behind the controls and examined them for a moment, before pushing gears and pressing buttons. A minute or two later, he’d successfully managed to bring it to life, and began to hover it in the air.

Navan’s eyes were wide as he gazed around the interior of the aircraft. “This is… astonishingly simple to navigate,” he said. “Clearly, your tech is very much advanced compared to ours.”

The lycan grunted, and then glanced back toward the main ship, apparently impatient to head off. “The control board is equipped with a communication device,” he said. “It’ll allow you to contact our HQ, should there be an emergency. Otherwise, I believe you’re set. Whatever happens, we’ll send out an agent to check back here in three days, same time, same place. I suggest you get to studying those files now, perhaps get a bit of sleep, and then set off to begin scouting in the early morning.”

Navan lowered the aircraft back on the snow. “Very well.”

The lycan nodded and turned, hurrying back into the main ship, and a moment later, it was rising, then zooming forward at an alarming speed, confirming my suspicion that it was no ordinary helicopter. I stared after it as it became a small dot in the sky, and then looked at Navan, sucking in a deep breath of the frigid air.

“So, we’re alone again,” I said, and gave him a small smile, attempting to lighten the mood even a little.

“Under different circumstances, I’d be thrilled to hear that,” Navan replied. His eyes were on the ship, though, and I could tell that part of him really was in awe of the thing. “And we’ve now somehow found ourselves tracking shapeshifters.” He seated himself in the cockpit, shoving the bag behind him and placing the folder on his lap. “You ready to get reading?”

I lowered myself into the passenger seat and closed the door.

“Actually,” he said, the second I had shut myself inside. “Let me rephrase that: Are you ready to go back to Texas or New York? Your choice.” He patted the control panel. “At least you’ll show up in style.”

I stared at him. “What?”

The idea of returning home and leaving Navan to deal with all this alone had not even occurred to me. To be fair, it was a logical option. Probably even a sensible one. Of what use would I be to Navan out here, as a human girl? We’d already made contact with the Fed, which was what he’d said he needed me for initially. Yet, every fiber of my being rejected the notion, and I realized that I simply cared too much to abandon this mission—and him—now.

“I’m not dragging you into this, Riley,” he said. “No way. You’ve done your part. Mission accomplished. Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you. I mean it.”

“Well, thanks for the compliment, but it’s not over yet. I’m not just going to leave you.”

“You are,” he replied. “Let’s not make this any harder than it has to be. If you won’t tell me where you want to go, I’ll choose for you. So . . . what’ll it be? Texas or New York?”

“Neither. I’m staying here.”

He sighed. “Then I’ll choose.” He pressed some buttons and then the ship lifted off the ground. I jumped up and yanked the door open and leapt out, falling the three or four feet to the ground. I rose to my feet and shook myself off, then crossed my arms over my chest and glared up at Navan through the open door as he lowered the ship.

“Are you crazy?” he exclaimed. “You could’ve hurt yourself! Get back in here and stop being stubborn.”

“You can’t force me to go back,” I shot back. “Besides, it’s dumb. We’re here, all the way in freaking Siberia, and you’re proposing to fly me all the way back to the US, and then come back? The Fed are tracking this aircraft—don’t you think they’ll find it weird if you immediately take off in literally the opposite direction? They’ll think you’re trying to make some kind of escape attempt with their equipment and come hunting you down, and then you’ll have no hope of…”

I trailed off as Navan leapt out of his seat. He stalked around the ship toward me, and I spread my feet, digging them deeper into the snow while eyeing him warily, unsure of what he was going to do.

He stopped in front of me, a frown creasing his face. “While I appreciate your concern, if the Fed finds the behavior suspicious, they’ll attempt to comm with me first. I’ll explain I decided to take you back home—given that they didn’t offer to do it for me—and I’ll be returning to Siberia post haste. I really don’t want to have to drag you back onto the ship kicking and screaming, okay? That’s not who I am. But I’m not letting you get yourself into anymore danger than you’ve already been in.”

Before I could reply, Navan’s comm device started beeping in his bag. He exhaled and whirled around, striding back to the ship to get it. He ripped out the device and held it to his ear.

“Bashrik,” he said. Tentatively, I closed the distance between us, enough that I could hear Bashrik’s distorted voice carrying through the still atmosphere.

“Hey, man. What the hell’s going on? Why haven’t you been picking up?”

Navan’s back heaved as he sighed. “I’d tell you not to worry, but I know how pointless that would be. We’re alive, and we managed to make contact with the Fed. I was just separated from my bag for a few hours, and couldn’t pick up your calls. Listen, I don’t have a lot of time—”

“Whoa. Wait. Tell me everything that’s happened since we last talked.”

Navan reluctantly filled Bashrik in on what had happened with the shapeshifter and Ianthan trailing us, and by the time he was done, Bashrik seemed to be in a stupor of stunned silence. “I-I don’t believe it,” he stammered.

“I know. It’s… I’m still processing it myself. But I don’t have time to talk more now.”

“What are you doing now? Where are you?”

“We’re in Siberia, and I have to complete a little task in order to gain the trust of the Fed and ensure their agreement to assist me.”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘a little task’?” Bashrik pressed.

“It doesn’t matter,” Navan replied. “I’ll tell you once it’s finished. How’s your injury healing?”

“No, Navan,” Bashrik persisted, “tell me what the task is.”