Renegades (Hotbloods #3)

“The soldiers have likely left without us by now,” Navan said. “We’ll have to head over the border on our own and explain the situation when we get there.”

I nodded, wanting to ask what those numbers were that Navan had spoken to his brother. They were definitely powerful. Turning up to gaze at him, I opened my mouth to ask the question, but the sad, faraway look in Navan’s eyes told me that now wasn’t the time. He didn’t say much else as we flew toward the barrier between the South and North, his eyes fixed on the horizon. It seemed both of us were lost in thought.

Halfway to the border, an earth-shattering boom shook us out of our reverie. We turned toward the epicenter, Navan pausing in flight, his wings beating slowly. A flash of light hurtled upward in the distance, sending smoke and debris rocketing into the sky. The very air seemed to vibrate with the heat and force of the explosion, the sound trembling toward us, rattling my teeth.

My heart sank at the sight. It wouldn’t be long before Gianne found out the truth of what had happened. Electric faults definitely didn’t cause that sort of destruction.

I knew this was one of those unforgettable moments, where nothing could be altered, the road taking one direction only. There was no going back from this. This was the true beginning of war. Here we were, watching the break in the treaty that both queens had been looking for, all this time. All that remained to be seen was how each sister would respond, now that the fragile balance had been shattered.

I looked up at Navan, surprised by the grimace I saw there. Clearly, it pained him to witness the loss of one of his homeland’s greatest structures. It was a prized focal point for Southern Vysantheans, and now it was gone, quite literally in a puff of smoke. It couldn’t have been easy to watch, yet I wondered if it was how the Northern Vysantheans had felt, watching their alchemy lab razed to the ground. In war, nobody won. And, at the end of it all, the prize was death and destruction, holding a throne over rubble and ruin.

“We should go,” I said softly, knowing he was suffering. His current distaste for his home planet didn’t take away the years he had spent here, growing up, making friends, becoming the man he was now.

He nodded, tearing his eyes away from the plume of thick black smoke that rose from the horizon. Picking up speed, we headed for the border, Navan’s mouth set in a grim line.

“What did you give Sarrask?” I asked, wanting to distract him. Plus, I was still eager to know.

He smiled sadly. “It was a passcode. It unlocks a safety deposit box, with all of Naya’s belongings inside. I’ve kept it from them for years, but Sarrask made me realize I don’t have a right to keep it to myself anymore. She was their sister, too,” he explained, his voice thick with emotion.

“You did the right thing,” I told him, recalling the genuine hurt in Sarrask’s voice when he’d mentioned his sister. Even if it hadn’t bought us our freedom, it would still have been the decent thing to do. “Can you believe that Lazar is still alive?” I remarked, changing the subject, wanting to take the sadness away from Navan’s face.

He smiled wryly. “It’s a miracle, that’s for sure. It seems that traitorous bastard can wriggle his way out of death itself,” he mused, half angry, half impressed.

“I was sure he was dead,” I murmured, remembering the gory sight of him slumped in the armchair.

Navan nodded. “Me too.”

As we charged toward the border, I wondered what kind of reception we might receive in the North. The others would have noticed our absence by now, unless they thought we’d been caught up in the blast. Given that we’d come from the South in the first place, I doubted their thoughts would be positive ones. They would think we’d betrayed them.

But whatever they blamed us for, it didn’t matter now. What mattered was that we got to Brisha and told her about Gianne’s new fleet, before Gianne could use it. With the newfound deep-space technology, Earth would have no hope.

There was just one problem.

“We can’t tell Brisha what the ships can do, speed-wise,” I said, the thought coming to me on a wave of dread.

Navan frowned. “The engines?”

“If she finds out about them, she’ll just go after the technology herself. We need to lie,” I said. “We need to tell her Gianne is building a fleet of super-powerful ships, but they’re powerful in their weaponry only. We have to persuade her to destroy the fleet instead of seizing one ship for study. No matter what happens, we leave out any intel about the deep-space engines, okay?”

“Understood. I just hope she listens,” he replied, a flicker of nervousness in his eyes.

I stared toward the horizon, praying she would too.





Chapter Twenty-Four





With the shimmering gleam of the barrier rising in the near distance, a worrying thought dawned on me. How would we get through without the square patch Commander Korbin had used? Would it still be there, forging a hole in the defenses?

“What if the gap isn’t there anymore?” I asked anxiously, the jagged mountains still too far away to see in detail.

A frown furrowed Navan’s brow. “I have an idea,” he replied, his wings beating faster. Five minutes later, we descended toward the fighting pits. “Pull your hood up and keep your face hidden,” he warned as we headed for the tall, wooden entrance. This time, a different guard was on duty, though she looked no less grisly than her male counterpart, with scars crisscrossing over her broad face and muscular arms.

She smiled an almost toothless grin as Navan walked up to her. “Thought you were public enemy number one?” she remarked, in a high-pitched voice that didn’t quite match her face.

“That’s why I need the help of some old friends,” Navan replied warmly, slapping her on the back. “It’s good to see you, Nisha.”

“You too, Idrax,” she chuckled, pulling him into a hug. “This the reason you’re running?” She whistled, flashing a wink in my direction.

Navan grinned. “Something like that. You know how Gianne feels about interspecies relationships,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

“So, it has nothing to do with that?” Nisha asked, nodding toward the plume of black smoke just visible on the horizon.

“Nothing to do with us,” Navan replied, not missing a beat. “Although, with the way things are going, Gianne will probably blame me for it anyway.”

Nisha chuckled and shook her head. “You do attract trouble, don’t you? Well, if Gianne’s minions come looking, I’ll tell them I haven’t seen you,” she promised. “Now, what can I do for you, troublemaker?”

“We need to get through without setting off the barrier. Is the underground pass still in use, or did you end up closing it?” Navan asked.