Renegades (Hotbloods #3)

“Navan!” I shouted, my voice echoing off the walls.

A splash followed as Navan rose to the surface of the black lake, spluttering as he swam upward, his teeth chattering. If he was cold, I knew the water had to be utterly freezing. He turned as I called his name again, his slate eyes no longer shrouded in that peculiar, milky white veil.

“It’s f-freezing!” Navan gasped, his whole body shivering as he swam to the edge of the lake.

“I’m sorry!” I said. “You were in this crazy… trance. It was the only way to snap you out of it.”

“It’s okay. I just need to warm up,” he said shakily. Finding a suitable grip on the lake’s shallow ledge, he pulled himself out of the water, his body dripping as he stood.

“Here,” I said, handing him the emberstone.

“Thanks. What’d you mean by ‘trance,’ anyway?” Navan asked. He looked around at the tunnel, obviously noticing that we weren’t in the same place we’d started. “Was I chasing you?”

“Yeah, but… I got away.”

His expression darkened. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, I’m fine,” I said, resisting the urge to rub my shoulders where Navan had gripped me. My skin would probably be a little black and blue, but I didn’t want him feeling guilty about something he couldn’t have controlled.

We sat on the ground together, Navan holding the emberstone between his hands, until he felt ready to attempt the cavern again. Now that we knew what we were up against, we at least had a chance of stopping it.

Plucking two small wads of moss from the wall of the cave, Navan shoved them into his ears, hoping it would help to block out the siren song of the monster. It was a good idea. I just prayed it would work. I didn’t think my nerves could cope with the stress of another hypnosis.

As we reentered the cavern, the monster was ready for us, its beady eyes turned in our direction. It immediately lifted its head and sang its sad song, but this time, it fell on deaf ears. I glanced anxiously in Navan’s direction, but the sound didn’t seem to be affecting him. I doubted the moss cut the noise out entirely, but it must have been muffling it enough.

Spurred on by this success, we stretched out our wings and lifted into the air. Navan went first, divebombing the creature as a distraction, while I plucked the fruit from its back.

The creature wasn’t stupid, however. Each time I swooped low to try to snatch up the fruit, it lashed its long tail, or turned suddenly, keeping it just out of my grasp. It was only as Navan skyrocketed downward with all his might, landing on the creature’s head with a dull crack, that I got the moment I’d been looking for. With the monster utterly bewildered, I grasped for the fruit, plucking it away in one fell swoop before turning and rushing out of the cavern, my wings beating rapidly. Navan followed in hot pursuit as a sad cry rose from the beast.

The song followed us out into the fresh air as we came to land on the ridge at the edge of the cavemouth, catching our breaths before we took off again. I looked down at the plump fruit in my hands, noticing that the golden veins had ceased their glowing. But it didn’t matter now. All that mattered was we had it, and we could use it. We had succeeded.





Chapter Nine





The journey back to Nessun was far simpler than the journey to the Fazar Mountains. I took a sip from the second vial of wing serum before we left the cave entrance, to make sure we didn’t end up landing in a vampiric butterfly-infested swamp on the way, and put the fruit in the burlap sack Navan had slung across his shoulders.

We landed in the warped garden at the back of the palace just as the sun was coming up and casting its faint, cold light across the city. I was exhausted, my wings hanging limply behind me as I caught my breath. I might have had Vysanthean wings on my back, but I didn’t yet have Vysanthean stamina.

“You okay?” Navan asked, putting his arm around me.

“Just tired,” I said, suddenly aware of eyes on us. Knowing exactly who that burning stare belonged to, I quickly slipped my arms around Navan, as if I were cuddling him to me. Delving my hands into the burlap sack, I grabbed the poroporo fruit and stuffed it down the front of my shirt, under my armpit, before turning back around. I knew my arm looked strange, dangling stiffly by my side, but I hoped Pandora would put it down to the weakness of my species, thinking me unable to handle a simple flight to the midnight market and back.

Navan kept his arm around me, shielding the fruit from sight. We looked up at Pandora, who was lingering in the doorway of the forgotten palace exit. It wasn’t clear how long she’d been waiting there, but she looked almost happy to see us.

“Good night?” she asked as we moved toward her.

“Pretty good,” Navan replied, with a shy smile. I grinned in response, looking up at him with loving eyes, both of us playing the mood just right.

“Must have been, if you’re only just getting back,” she said, with a hint of a nudge and a wink in her words. “Anyway, spare me the details. Did you get the things I asked for?”

“It’s all here.” The strange expression on Navan’s face worried me. It was the same one he’d had at the market, when he’d frozen, purchasing the last item on the list.

“Thank you. Really, I appreciate you going to the trouble, even if you did bring it back a little later than I was expecting,” she remarked, her tone not exactly warm. Then again, I wasn’t sure a woman like Pandora knew how to be warm. She always seemed to be on guard, her mind always on the job. I almost felt sorry for her, hoping she found time to let her purple hair down once in a while.

“Sorry, we got carried away,” I chimed in.

Pandora smiled, though it seemed forced. “You two should be getting back to your apartment. If you’d be so kind as to return my key, I’ll leave you to run along before someone catches you,” she said, holding out her hand.

“Could you do one thing for Riley, if it’s not too much trouble?” Navan asked as he handed over the silver key, the black device, and the sack of ingredients.

Pandora frowned. “You’re asking me for a favor?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Navan replied evenly. “With her new wings, she keeps ripping her shirts. I was wondering if you could ask Brisha to send some with wing-slits since you’ll see her before we do.”

“That is a favor I can do,” she conceded, shouldering the sack of ingredients.