Hotbloods (Hotbloods #1)

“Ha!” Navan’s laugh was like a bark. “Yeah, sure, let me get you that antidote, and while I’m at it, how about a bubble bath and a foot rub? You’re not getting anything. Nice try, though. We’ve got some questions for you.”

The shifter stretched its mouth into what was probably supposed to be a smile, but looked more like a terrifying grimace. “I’m not answering your questions.”

“Then you don’t get the antidote, and you’re forever doomed to be an ugly little sewer rat.”

The shifter stared at him, and I could see it weighing the possibility of having to spend life forever in one form. “At least untie me enough so I can sit up,” it finally said.

“Fine,” Navan replied after a moment. “But I swear, if you try anything, you’re going to wish I had killed you.”

“Does making idle threats to your victims make you feel more powerful, bloodsucker?”

“Shut up,” Navan said. “We’re not talking about me right now. We’re talking about you. I’m untying you on the condition that you’re going to answer my questions. If you don’t, these ropes are going to get a whole lot more uncomfortable.”

Navan undid one of the ropes, and the shifter sat up. Its skin gathered in loose pools of flesh around its elbows and knees. It saw me looking and it grimaced.

“Hey!” Navan snapped, kicking it. “Look at me, not her. Pay attention. Here are your first questions: How many shifters are out here in these parts? And what are you doing with the people that are disappearing—what do shifters want with humans?”

“Oh… I’d say there are a good few hundred of us,” it replied, smiling eerily. “And coldbloods aren’t the only ones with a taste for blood, you know. Human blood is particularly satisfying.” It looked right at me, baring its sharp teeth. I wanted to look away but I didn’t.

“Maybe we should just kill you,” I said. “No more human blood for you.”

“If you kill me, I won’t be able to answer any more of your questions. And that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? Your little lover here getting all the answers so he can swoop in and be the hero who saves the day?”

“He’s not my lover,” I replied, my cheeks heating.

The shifter smirked. “Yeah, right... A human and a coldblood,” it sneered. “I’m sorry but I have to say, I don’t see that being a long-term relationship. Considering how valuable human blood is to your kind.”

Navan frowned. “What the hell do you know about that?”

“She is pretty, though,” the shifter said, ignoring his question. “I can see why you’d be . . . attracted. You’ve probably spent many nights thinking about how good it would be to have a little taste.”

Navan lashed out with his foot, catching the shifter right in the side, sending it sprawling.

“You coldbloods certainly are bad tempered,” it wheezed as it sat back up.

“We’re done talking about this,” Navan said, and was it just my imagination, or were his cheeks a little flushed too?

He pushed a map in front of the shifter’s face. “Where is your base?” he asked gruffly. “Show us on the map.”

The shifter looked at the map, as though studying it. Navan and I both held our breath, but then the shifter shook its head.

“What is this?” it asked, pushing the map away.

“It’s a map,” Navan snapped. “I just told you that. We’re here.” He jabbed a finger at the map. “And you’re going to show us where your base is.”

“I’m not familiar with maps. This looks like a bunch of gibberish to me. I would be guessing if I tried to show you on here.”

Navan exhaled loudly. “Are you kidding me?”

“Amongst my kind, I am known to be one of the funnier ones. But I am not kidding here. I cannot read this map you have.”

“We’re not letting you go,” I said. “Just because you’re claiming you can’t tell us where the base is, that doesn’t mean we’re just going to set you free.”

“Do I look stupid?” the shifter asked.

Navan snorted. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

The shifter ignored him. “There’s nothing I’d like more than a nice taste of some young, virgin blood. Seems a bit torturous that I should be so close to it yet unable to do anything about it. But I’m still willing to help. I can take you there. I might not be able to read this map of yours, but I know the route by heart. I will take you there.”

Navan raised an eyebrow. “Really. And why would we trust you to take us there? You’d probably lead us into some sort of trap.”

“You have reason to trust me because my offer comes with a few conditions. The main one being that you give me the antidote to restore my shapeshifting abilities. What a lonely and disgraceful life I would live if I were doomed to inhabit no other form but this one for the rest of my days,” the shifter muttered. “It would be better that I just off myself now, if that were to be.”

Navan and I looked at each other. As much as I hated to admit it, the shifter’s bargain seemed fair.

Navan retrieved a length of chain, which he wrapped around the shifter’s neck. Once that was done, he undid the ropes.

“Okay,” he said. “Take us there.”





Chapter Twenty-Five





Navan went over to the door and opened it, looking at the shifter expectantly. The shifter looked back at him, confused.

“You’re not staying in here,” Navan said. “You’re going out there.”

“And you’re not afraid that I might run off?”

“Oh, I’m not afraid . . . But just to be on the safe side, you’re going to be attached to the ship.” He gave the chain a yank and the shifter lurched forward, nearly falling. He pulled the shifter to the door and then gave it a kick, sending it sprawling onto the ground.

I almost felt bad for the thing, though I knew if given the chance, the thing wouldn’t think twice about sinking its disgusting teeth into my flesh.

I settled down next to Navan at the front of the ship, and we started the journey, the shifter moving slowly beneath us. Navan kept the ship low, though every couple of minutes he’d move it higher, so the shifter was lifted completely off the ground, the chain tightening around its neck like a noose. It coughed and gagged, spit flying, body spasming until Navan lowered the ship enough that it could reach the ground.

“You think I’m being cruel,” he said, glancing at me.

“No.” I shook my head but then reconsidered. “Well . . . maybe a little. Isn’t it good enough that it’s chained up and being pulled along by the ship?”

“That thing has done more evil than you could even imagine,” Navan replied. “Don’t think for a second that it wouldn’t hurt you, too.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. “You heard it say how they’ve been feasting on human blood, right?”

“Yeah... That part was kind of hard to miss.”

“Shifters are crafty, and they’re also sadistic. If they’re drinking blood, they’re keeping their victims alive for as long as possible, because they want fresh blood—they’re not interested in carrion. They kill slowly, dragging it out for as long as possible. Any humans they’ve taken, they’ve tortured—trust me. Think about a horde of those things taking you apart piece by piece. So jerking it around a little bit here and there—it’s not cruel at all.”