Renegades (Hotbloods #3)

“If you’ve been here all along, why is Orion getting us to do all of this for him? Why ask us to gather information on the elixir, when he has you?” I asked, realizing it didn’t quite add up.

She sighed, as if I were an idiot. “Do you honestly think I could have gained my position as the queen’s most valued advisor if I snuck around stealing things from her and asking her key workers for information? I am Orion’s eyes inside Brisha’s court, but I cannot risk being caught as a traitor. I am important to him in a way you are not,” she explained, puffing her chest out with pride. “I am here to report on the queen’s movements, weaknesses, army, and explorations—anything that will aid the rebels in the war to come. You are here to reach the places I cannot, without getting myself in trouble,” she added, with a flick of her wrist.

“Surely, the queen would’ve confided in you about the elixir if you’re that important to her,” I replied, suspicion dripping from my tone.

A haughty expression fell across Pandora’s stern face. “She continues to keep that information to herself, no matter my approach,” she said bitterly. “I tried to ask the alchemists, too, but they are tight-lipped, even with me. The idiots fear they’ll lose their jobs if they breathe a word to anyone,” she muttered. “Now, tell me, what did Yorrek reveal about the elixir?”

“We have enough information to satisfy Orion, and that’s all you need to know,” Navan cut in.

“There’s no need to be so secretive, Navan. We’re all playing for the same side, remember?” Pandora reprimanded, frowning. “I don’t suppose Yorrek mentioned a book, did he, when you questioned him?”

I tried to keep my expression impassive. “He said the queen kept a collection, but he didn’t mention one in particular. Should he have?”

She shrugged. “There has long been a rumor that she’s keeping one of Yorrek’s notebooks somewhere, one that contains all the failed trials and near successes with the elixir,” she explained, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. “I don’t know if it’s true, as I myself couldn’t get a word out of Yorrek, but I thought he might have been freer with his words to you. If you did happen to hear anything, I’m sure Orion would be delighted to know about it.” An unmistakable warning hovered in her voice. Still, I wasn’t about to confirm her suspicions, not if there was a way we could get to that notebook first. It might be just the thing we needed to develop an anti-elixir.

“I’m sure he would, but Yorrek didn’t tell us anything about it,” I replied confidently. “Lauren spends every day in the library, and she hasn’t seen any sort of secret notebook,” I added, putting sarcastic emphasis on the word “secret.”

A thoughtful expression flickered across Pandora’s face. “Hm. Very well.”

The intelligence officer turned from the computer to Navan. “The task is complete,” he said in a monotone. Without hesitation, Navan delved into his pocket, tilting the man’s head back before administering the last of the Elysium. A few minutes later, the officer went limp.

“If you’re done here, follow me,” Pandora instructed. We stood and left the sleeping intelligence officer to the rest of his shift.

Following Pandora up the same stairwell we had arrived through, we passed the guards, who were still asleep against the door, though one had slumped in front of it. Pandora pushed him aside. Inside the dim interior of the staircase, I picked up my beautiful gown and heels. I brushed my hands across the exquisite material, knowing I’d likely never get the chance to wear it again.

It took ten minutes before we reached the gap in the wall, the scarlet curtain undulating outward. Feeling desperately unfit in comparison to my coldblood companions, I paused to catch my breath before following them out into the dusty hallway of the abandoned wing.

“You managed to make an unholy mess of a perfectly good wall,” Pandora remarked, flashing an accusatory glance at Navan. “This is what I mean by drawing attention to yourselves.”

“Nobody comes this way,” Navan replied tersely, the muscles twitching in his jaw.

“But if they do, they will see this and suspect something immediately,” Pandora continued, her tone patronizing. “I’ll have to get this seen to tomorrow. Yet another task on an endless list.” She scowled, turning on her heel and heading through the ghostly galleria.

She didn’t stop until we were back out in the frosty night air, surrounded by the twisted trunks of forgotten trees and the overgrown grass of a long-lost garden. She had brought us to the same spot we had come to the night we left for the artisan market. I still thought fondly of that strange square, with its twinkling lights and jaunty music. Subconsciously, I lifted a hand to my heart, feeling for the climpet that flashed there.

“So, this is why you were creeping around in the abandoned wing of the palace?” Navan mused.

“Not quite,” Pandora remarked as she took off into the air, flying up to the shadows of the surrounding mountainside. There, she landed, perching on a ledge, hidden from sight. Navan followed, lifting me upward and landing a short distance away. Pandora took out a comm device and pressed a button on the side that made it flash red.

“I could say the same thing about you two, creeping into dark corners of the palace alone together, though you were probably trying to canoodle or something equally nauseating,” she retorted, her focus on the device in her hand.

“No, we went to find the hypnosis fruit to use on Yorrek,” I snapped, annoyed by her constant condescension.

“Temper, temper!” Pandora mocked. “Besides, there’s no need to be coy. I understand the need for physical contact. Believe me, I understand it,” she murmured, raising her eyebrows. There was a note of frustration in her voice that turned my stomach. She had already implied that she and Orion were in some way… close… Could he be her lover? To think of the two of them enjoying any kind of physical contact made me want to hurl.

A deep voice crackled through the device. “Pandora? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you today.”

It set my nerves on edge, to hear that voice again. After everything Orion had done, I wanted to reach into the comm device and tear out his throat.

“I have some special guests with me, darling,” Pandora purred in response. “Riley and Navan. There is something they would like to say.”

A cold laugh rippled through the device. “So, I hear from you at last? And here I was thinking I’d have to start slicing fingers off dear old Jean and Roger.”

My blood ran cold. How did he know their names? Suddenly, it all felt very real. If he knew who they were, then he definitely wasn’t bluffing. Rage prickled inside me. How dare he utter their names aloud? How dare he threaten me? Before I could retaliate, I felt Navan’s hand circle my waist, catching me before I said something I might regret.

“Before we tell you anything, we need to know that Riley’s parents are safe, and that you’ll uphold your end of the bargain if we give you this information,” Navan said, his arm steadying me.