Hotbloods 5: Traitors

“What happened to her?” I asked, my gaze drawn to the person on the floor. It was Queen Brisha, her body splayed out on a stretcher, bluish blood seeping through a bandage wrapped around her head.

“None of your business, defector,” Commander Korbin hissed. “Who let you down here?”

Navan came to my defense. “It was authorized, Commander. You can check with the guards hovering above the palace. I was sent on a rescue mission to fetch Riley. Neither of us has defected.”

I nodded. “We just wanted to see what was going on, and check that Queen Brisha was okay. Did she get hit?”

“A Titan caught her ship and smashed it into the walls of Nessun. Most of the crew died, but I got her out and brought her here,” the commander explained grimly. “She’s suffered some head trauma and keeps drifting in and out of consciousness.”

“Where’s the doctor?” Navan asked, looking around.

“What doctor?” The commander scoffed. “The Titans went for the hospitals first.”

I stared at him in horror. We’d actually wanted to join forces with these creatures? We’d actually wanted to ally ourselves with the kind of monsters who attacked the hospitals first? It was bad enough that I’d had to watch those horrible beasts stomp entire towns to death, but to know that we’d almost sent them a gift to try to win their favor—that made it even worse. Gianne was the kind of person who allied herself with a species like this, but we weren’t.

“Did you manage to get anyone out?” I asked desperately, remembering the bunkers that Brisha had built so she could evacuate her people as quickly as possible. It had worked the last time, when Gianne had struck Brisha’s alchemy lab, and I prayed it had worked again.

The commander heaved out a sigh. “We got as many as we could into the bunkers, but those cretins took us completely by surprise. They came from the skies and rained down on us; there was only so much we could do in so little time.”

“She struck at night because she knew it would do the most damage,” I whispered, almost to myself. “Everyone would be at home.”

“Gianne will pay for this,” Commander Korbin spat.

“Well, please give Queen Brisha my warmest regards when she wakes up. I wish her a speedy recovery,” I said solemnly, turning to leave. The others followed, but Korbin’s voice rang out, making us freeze.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“We shouldn’t be here. You said so yourself,” I replied nervously.

Navan nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’re just going to fly to one of the other bunkers and leave you to it. We’ll be no help to you here.”

“Bashrik is needed on the controls, and these two…” He gestured at Angie and Lauren. “They’re wearing Brisha’s uniform, aren’t they? That means they need to stay where I can see them in case I need to mobilize them. Right now, we need all the medical personnel we can get. We have wounded soldiers and civilians all over the place. And you two—you’re trained soldiers. You should be out on the field with the rest of your team.”

“Queen Brisha wouldn’t want us on the front line,” I insisted, but his gaze had flickered to something over my shoulder. I turned to see that he was looking at Mort.

“Now, you—I don’t know you at all,” Korbin remarked coldly. “You don’t look like any soldier I know.”

“I’m in the infantry, Commander,” Mort replied calmly.

The commander shook his head, a twisted smile on his lips. “Tell me, which knock-off shop in the South did you get this outfit from? This is a replica, at best.” He walked up to Mort and flicked the buttons and patches that were out of place. “There are no chevrons on a Northern uniform, and we definitely don’t have golden buttons.”

I flashed a look at Mort. “Run!” I yelled.

He darted away from the commander, morphing into a wolf-like creature that I guessed was a frostfang. The sight of the beast startled a few of the guards, and they staggered back in fear. Seizing the opportunity amid the ensuing chaos, we tore in the direction of the spiral staircase that led back up into the palace, taking the steps two at a time. As we burst out the door and into the main hall, a team of guards approached, their guns raised, blocking the exit to the gardens and our waiting ship.

“Take the main door!” Navan shouted, grabbing my hand and charging for the double doors. We hurtled through them and sprinted down the steps, knowing our best bet was to lose the soldiers in the streets beyond. We’d have to circle back for our ship later.

“Riley, Navan, MOVE!” Ronad’s voice cut through the cacophony of stomping feet and peppered gunfire. A split second later, something barreled into me, knocking me and Navan out of the way, sending us sprawling onto the sidewalk.

Above our heads, a Titan loomed.





Chapter Thirty-Six





I scrambled to my feet, glancing over my shoulder to see Commander Korbin chasing after us. Bashrik was already running ahead, hauling Angie and Lauren along with the momentum of his superior speed, and Mort was surprisingly quick, more or less keeping up with them, oblivious to the fact that Navan and I had narrowly missed charging straight into the lowering ankle of a Titan. Had it not been for Ronad, we’d be flat right now. As we set off after the others, I turned again to see Korbin sprinting down the palace steps, a few guards following after him.

“Traitors!” he bellowed. “Spies, the lot of you! I knew you were all working for Gianne!”

A bullet whizzed past my cheek, grazing the skin. Ignoring the sting of it, I pressed on, rounding a corner onto the next street, where we were met by a blockade. Houses had tumbled into the road, blocking the way out. Either we climbed it, turned around and ran up a different street, or faced the soldiers. I looked to the others, but they didn’t seem sure either.

“We’re going to have to stand our ground!” Navan shouted above the roar of the roaming Titans. “Anyone with weapons, take them out now!”

I removed the knives that I’d hidden up my pant leg, having left the gun in the ship. Ronad took out a cluster of throwing stars he’d stolen from Sarrask’s stash, and Navan drew out one of the long blades he still had strapped to his back. He’d removed the other one for comfort reasons, but I figured one was better than nothing.

Korbin appeared around the bend a moment later, his eyes narrowing as a smirk spread across his face. He approached slowly, making a beeline for me, his men trailing after him in a V formation. The group of soldiers were armed and dangerous, but they weren’t looking up. I opened my mouth to shout, to warn them, but the Titans’ size didn’t slow down the speed of their immense bodies.

The commander was barely two yards away from me when a giant foot came crashing down on his head. I heard the pop of bones and the squelch of flesh as the foot crushed Korbin. The other soldiers turned and fled for the palace. Evidently, we weren’t worth getting squished for.

A jet of viscous, grayish-blue liquid shot up from the poor commander’s body as the pressure exploded, like squeezing a water balloon too hard. Since I was the one standing closest, I got a full face of visceral spray. I tried to shield my face with my hands, but it still splattered my skin. Shocked, I stood frozen.

“Come on,” Navan said, taking my hand.