Coldbloods (Hotbloods #2)

Even as I hurried on, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I didn’t know the science behind how smoke could even be red like that, but the sight played on my worst fears… and what else could be going on in there? Where were all the humans they’d been bringing to this place?

The questions both terrified me and motivated me. Getting back and telling the Fed about this camp wasn’t just for Navan—it was for all humans, too. If the coldbloods and shifters got their way, we’d be nothing but cattle for their factory farming, with them using our blood to fuel their immortality elixir obsession. I couldn’t let that happen.

At the edge of the tent city stood an old picnic table, with relaxed coldbloods crowding around it and playing some kind of board game. Everyone I passed wore the same ice-blue uniform, while no one seemed to be on the lookout for danger. Apparently, word of my escape hadn’t reached them yet. The whole camp seemed distracted—some stirred up with talk of Navan’s recent capture.

“Jareth’s son—really!” one pudgy shifter woman remarked, her long, bony finger scratching at her veiny neck.

“So they’ll kill him?” another shifter woman asked, her slit eyes blinking rapidly with excitement.

I hurried on before I could hear their answer, but as I continued weaving my way past tents, I took a deep breath. That shifter woman is an idiot, I told myself. I had heard the higher-up coldbloods talking; they wanted to use Navan, not kill him.

Consumed with worry nonetheless, I nearly walked into the muscular arm of a broad coldblood, and I scrambled out of the way with seconds to spare. Luckily, he trudged by obliviously, his footfalls thudding on the frozen ground.

A quick look around bolstered my spirits. Although my head was pounding, I was nearly through the camp. Already, the tents were growing sparser, as were the coldbloods and shifters I had to sidestep.

From what I’d come across, if these coldbloods were anything like the ones on Vysanthe, I could see why Navan didn’t like them. Maybe I was biased, knowing what they were doing to humans, but the coldbloods I passed seemed arrogant and cruel. Some would shove each other as a way of greeting, others merely to assert their dominance. Shifter and coldblood would exchange a few words when necessary, although both mostly kept to themselves. Evidently, old divisions died hard, even when the two species were working together.

Hearing the sound of running feet behind me, I quickly moved to one side.

“The captured coldblood’s human companion has escaped! It may be in the camp now!”

I swore beneath my breath. The speaker was a small, quick-footed shapeshifter, whose thin lips were open wide with what he was yelling: “We can’t let it escape!”

As nearby coldbloods threaded out of their tents and around the little shifter, I gulped. Getting out of here wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped.

“What do you mean ‘escaped’? And how do you know it’s still here? You’re always running around crying about one thing or another, Haldorf,” a female coldblood jeered as I crept by the small group. Other coldbloods, judging by the expressions on their faces, seemed to share her annoyance and skepticism.

“The human has an invisibility suit,” Haldorf responded in an equally biting tone. “It is probably headed back to its ship. Right now, it could be anywhere—even here.”

As I continued, a coldblood a few feet away commented, “Oh come now, my senses are more powerful than that. If there was any human within a hundred miles of here, you can bet your wee little shifter ass I’d know about it.”

I hurried on, stifling a dry chuckle. Now definitely wasn’t the time to get complacent; I hadn’t made it through yet, though I was at least getting close to the invisibility shield.

I recognized the far-off tent as one of the last things I’d seen before Navan had been snatched. It had all happened so fast that I hadn’t even processed our surroundings. But now, here, half a yard away from it, I recognized the structure, an ice-blue tent that towered above the rest. Housed on top was a camera, its head roving in a way reminiscent of the coldblood that had chased me. A metal skeleton frame supported the tent, wires threading in and out of it. The place was probably some sort of surveillance center. I kept my distance from the tent as I continued—who knew what that hulking high-tech camera was capable of seeing.

Step by step, I neared the spot of thin air that I was pretty sure was the shield. My breathing grew more labored the closer I drew. This was it.

I darted forward, and a quick glance back confirmed that the shimmering globe of the invisibility shield was behind me. I launched into a sprint, and didn’t stop until I reached Navan’s and my broken-down ship.

But as it came within view, I paused. Although its metal exterior looked innocuously intact, the crashing and cackling coming from inside told a different story. Shifters had taken it over.

And with the ship infested, I had no way to contact the Fed. Which meant I had no way to save Navan.

I breathed deeply, trying not to let a looming sense of despair overtake me.

The ship’s door slammed open, and two shifters emerged, snickering and chattering between themselves. I backed away before they got too close. I needed someplace safe to think—somewhere I could formulate a new plan of action.

My gaze scanned the horizon and stopped on a rocky-looking hill in the distance. It probably wasn’t that much safer than where I was now, but it was more out of the way, and at this point, I was in no position to be picky. So, with one last, forlorn look at the ship, I trudged forward.

I was panting heavily as I arrived at the hill, weighed down by emotions as much as physical exhaustion, and I discovered with some relief that it contained a rocky cave. It would at least protect me from the wind. I made my way inside and found a flattish rock, where I sat down.

I pressed the button on my wrist, allowing my body to materialize. I didn’t know why, but I felt the urge to see my legs and feet. It was strangely reassuring. I opened and closed my hand, which was white with cold. Then, leaning so that my back was resting on the rock wall, I closed my eyes.

Immediately, my mind was flooded with everything that had just happened. My escape, our capture, our kiss… The coldbloods had hurt Navan earlier when they’d found him—was that what they were doing now? With their fury at my escape, would they take out their anger on him?

Exhaling sharply, I got up and started walking from one side of the small cave to the other. Thinking about Navan being in more pain because of me was practically unbearable.

What am I going to do now?

The answer was as murky as the cave I was in. Without question, rescuing Navan was my number one priority, and the easiest way to accomplish that would be with the Fed’s help. But the ship had been my only means of contacting them. I could try to take out the shifters… but without my throwing knives, I didn’t need to be a Seer to know that wouldn’t end too well for me.