Renegades (Hotbloods #3)

I flushed, remembering the warning I’d been given after ingesting the silver root. It had been a long time since I’d thought about it. So long, in fact, that I’d almost forgotten about the very real issue of how I might react to things, in the future, now that the root was in my system—how it might make me more prone to addictions and vices, my body craving things it wouldn’t normally have wanted, or needed.

“We should hurry up and get the stuff on Queen Brisha’s list,” I said, wanting to change the subject. Even now, the pull of the Arcadium made me feel antsy to return to the stall and have the shopkeeper clamp that bracelet on my wrist.

“We can pick up a few things for our mission too,” Navan replied, running his fingertips absently across the edges of my folded wings. “I know the serum keeps you warmer in our bitter climate, but the northernmost mountains are going to be a different challenge completely. While we’re here, we should get you a better fur and a few other bits and pieces, if I can find them.”

“What sort of things?” I asked as we walked along, my eyes drawn to every sight, sound, and scent that filled the air.

“Yes!” Navan said suddenly, lifting his fist in triumph as he came to a halt beside a stall filled with a confusing array of bric-a-brac. I didn’t know what any of it was, save for a few lamps and a braided rope with a horn on the end that dangled from a hook at the edge of the shop. Navan, however, seemed thrilled by something in the middle of the mess, his hand grasping at a palm-sized amber stone that was buried under scraps of leather and a few motheaten books.

“What is it?” I marveled, peering at the flat, smooth stone.

“This is an emberstone,” he explained. “Basically, it heats up and warms the person who holds it, though it can also be used to make fires, which is why it’s banned in the South as a hazard. Fortunately for us, the North is a little more reckless.” He handed over some money and slipped the stone into my hands.

He was right. A minute or so later, the warmth penetrated my skin, seeping into my veins. Glancing down, I saw that the stone was glowing dimly as I held it between my palms, and its delicious warmth radiated through me.

“Where have you been all my life?” I murmured, reveling in the sensation.

“On a planet, far, far away,” Navan quipped.

I grinned. “I meant the stone.”

“Hey, I can keep you so much warmer than that stone ever could.” He pouted.

“I don’t doubt it, but if I came to you every time I needed to be warm, I’d never get anything done,” I replied with a wink.

“Then we’d better get this list purchased before we get sidetracked,” he murmured, slipping his arm around my waist. We continued along the line of stalls.

He picked up a thick fur next, which I wrapped around my shoulders, and as we continued walking, he kept stopping here and there, picking up items that were listed on the black device Pandora had given him. Apparently, the device was also a payment system that the merchants could scan. With each purchased item, Navan double-clicked the center of the device, making it light up red. I listened to the names as he asked for each ingredient, though they didn’t mean much to me: serotite shavings, parokium ore, maram root, garovian winterberries, liquid romjal. It was all completely alien, in every sense of the word.

“Last thing, then we can get out of here,” Navan promised, checking the list once more. “A vial of aged Ephranian platelets.”

I had no idea who, or what, Ephranians were, but I knew what platelets were, and the thought of such a thing being an easily bought-and-sold commodity made me feel slightly queasy. Once again, I was reminded how cruel Vysanthean trade could be—not that there was much in the way of actual trade. Barely anything was natively grown or produced here, with the majority of items stolen and pilfered and snatched, all at the expense of others.

Navan paid for a small silver vial, plucked from the shelf of a trader who seemed to deal in exotic kinds of alien bodily fluids. As he placed it in the burlap sack he was carrying, Navan suddenly froze. His eyes narrowed as he went over the list again. With anxious hands, he checked through the items in the sack, his mouth moving in silent thought.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, alarmed by the expression on his face.

“I hope she isn’t making what I think she’s making,” he muttered, his brow furrowing.

“Why, what do you think she’s making?” I pressed.

After a moment of stony silence, he shook his head. “Forget I said anything. I’m probably wrong. It’s this place—it makes me paranoid,” he replied, flashing me a smile, though I didn’t quite believe him.

“What do you think she might be making, Navan?” I insisted, but he shook his head again.

“Honestly, I was just being silly. I thought it was something, but I don’t think it’s made that way. Anyway, let’s forget about Queen Brisha. There’s something I want to show you,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me down the avenue of stalls, to one in particular. I wanted to ask about the ingredients again, but I let it go for now, the sight of the items in front of me distracting my attention.

“What are they?” I asked, letting my fingertips trail across the pairs of small gemstones that gleamed on the table in front of me. Within each one, a strange light brightened then died every few seconds.

Navan smiled. “These are climpets,” he said. “They’re tokens that Vysantheans give to their loved ones to wear above their hearts. They feed off emotions, and myth has it that the light only goes out if one person ceases to love the other—though, I think they’re just meant to be a sweet gift, these days.” He picked up a set of pale gems, the color of his slate eyes. “I thought I might buy a pair for us, if you’d like that?” His gaze rested on mine, filled with such warmth that I couldn’t possibly refuse.

“Of course, but I don’t want you spending your money on me,” I said shyly, knowing he didn’t have much to fritter away, since whatever wealth he did have was locked away in the South. We only had the credits we’d earned from our military training, which wasn’t a massive amount, and I didn’t want him to waste it on me, not when he could use it on something more practical.

“There’s nothing I’d rather spend it on,” he announced, holding one of the gems out to me. “Come on, let me buy these for us.”

I smiled, knowing he wasn’t going to back down. “Okay, sir, if you insist.” Navan grinned and paid for the climpets, then handed one to me.

“Thank you… Um, what do I do with it?” I asked.

“Watch.” He took his climpet and lifted up the edge of his t-shirt, revealing the rippling muscles of his torso, and placing the gem against his chest. It remained there when he took his fingertips away, clinging to the skin, the gemstone glittering as the light within glowed steadily.

“Does that hurt?” I asked, staring.

He shook his head. “Nope. Not one bit.”