Renegades (Hotbloods #3)

We had yet to come up with a solution to delivering the intel, once we obtained it. The disc Navan had procured from Gianne’s Observatory, along with the black box that could transmit the information, had been abandoned in Southern Vysanthe with no hope of retrieval. Now, we needed a new way to get intel to Orion without arousing the suspicions of anyone in Queen Brisha’s kingdom. It wasn’t going to be easy, since Navan didn’t know the landscape of Northern Vysanthe like he knew the South, but I was hopeful we’d be able to get far enough away to at least send something. My parents’ lives depended on it. Countless human lives depended on it.

“How do we get information to him if we’re only allowed between the palace and the training center?” I asked in a low tone, a wave of concern rippling through me. A week had already passed, which gave us just under three weeks to get Orion what he’d asked for.

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Navan said, “and I still think the queen’s control room is our best bet, when the time comes. I can’t see any other options.”

I bit my lip, wanting to agree but unable to shake the feeling that it was simply too risky. We’d had this same conversation a few times over the last week. “If anyone caught us, that’d be it, Navan. Game over.”

“They won’t catch us. Not if we’re careful,” Navan said.

I sighed, still unconvinced. “I guess we still have a bit of time to think about it. We need to gather information first anyway, before we even attempt to send it. Bashrik, Angie, and Lauren should have something for us today. Even if it’s something small, it’ll be a start.” Bashrik had asked Navan to give them all a week to try to piece something useful together.

A figure emerged from one of the side corridors that led off from the main hallway. With her purple-tinted hair woven through with golden ornaments, and her imposing stature, I recognized her in an instant.

“Hello, Pandora.” I smiled politely as Navan and I made to press on past Queen Brisha’s advisor.

She stepped in front of us, blocking the way, though it wasn’t an aggressive motion. “Riley, I hate to interrupt your afternoon, but the queen wishes to see you right away. I was just coming over to find you at the training center, but it seems you’ve saved me the trip,” she said brightly, gesturing for me to follow her.

“Has she requested my presence, also?” Navan asked, his hand instinctively closing around my wrist.

Pandora shook her head. “Not today, Navan. I am certain she will call for you when she requires you.” She smiled softly, but there was a firmness to her voice that brooked no argument.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” I promised Navan, loosening his hold on my wrist and squeezing his hand. He looked at me with a worried expression, but I turned my back on him, trying to act confident as I hurried after Pandora, who was already most of the way down the hallway, her impressive strides far larger than mine.

As I walked, however, I struggled to push down the ominous feeling that always came before a meeting with one of these regal sisters. I had no idea why Brisha wanted to see me so urgently. All I knew was that these exchanges rarely ended well for me. I still had a small scar where my blood had been taken the last time we’d met.





Chapter Three





I caught up with Pandora, determined not to fall behind, though by the time we reached Queen Brisha’s library I was out of breath, my lungs burning.

As we moved toward the huge carved doors to the library, Lauren emerged.

“I thought we were meeting for lunch,” she said, pushing her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose and looking at me with surprise. “Wait, did I get the time wrong?” A flutter of panic settled across her features, making me smile. I knew how Lauren got when she was deep in study mode, losing hours, and sometimes days, to piles of books and essays.

“Queen Brisha has asked to see me. I think everyone else is still going to lunch, though,” I replied.

“Oh, thank God. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t even sure what day it was.” She laughed, then flashed an anxious look back into the room behind her and clutched my shoulder. “Be careful, Riley. I’ll see you later?”

I nodded. “Once I’m finished here, I’ll come find you all.”

Pandora beckoned at me to hurry, and I stepped through the door to the library, leaving Lauren to head in the direction of the others without me. I could feel her eyes on the back of my head, her worry palpable, until the very last moment before the door shut.

On the walk over, I’d been wondering what the queen might want to talk to me about. My first guess was that it would involve my blood sample and the immortality elixir, since that was all any of these Vysanthean leaders seemed interested in where I was concerned. They were obsessed. I just wished the queens could see how idiotic it made them look, squabbling for the prize of being first. Saying that, I had no idea how the research was coming along in terms of synthesizing the blood, especially since the alchemy lab had been razed to the ground.

I found Queen Brisha sitting by the roaring fire, her feet tucked up beneath her, a book open on the side of her armchair. It was an oddly normal sight, the kind of thing I might do with a Sunday afternoon to spare. I’d forgotten that, underneath everything, Queen Brisha was still a young woman, no doubt with passions and hobbies outside ruling queendoms.

She looked up as I took the seat opposite her. “Ah, you came! How wonderful,” she said.

I tried not to frown. Hadn’t she invited me? I looked to Pandora for confirmation, but the advisor merely shrugged, an amused expression on her face. “I did, Queen Brisha,” I replied uncertainly. “Did you… want to speak to me about our blood, or something?”

The queen shook her head, chuckling. “No, no, nothing so grim. For now, the blood you and your friends have given is ample. If I need more, I’ll ask. Honestly, you’d think this place was all doom and gloom, the way you talk,” she said with a coy smile. “I brought you here for far more pleasant reasons, if you can believe such a thing.” Her silver eyes glittered with playful irreverence. It was a side of her I hadn’t seen much of, and I didn’t know whether I liked it or not.

“Pleasant reasons, Your Highness?”

“Indeed,” she said warmly, folding up her book and sitting up in her chair. “The reason I’ve asked you here is to award you with a prize! I must say, it’s extremely unexpected that you should be its recipient, but I’m always happy for pleasant surprises.”

“A prize, Your Highness?” I asked, utterly baffled.

“You were the last soldier standing in the combat simulation, and such a feat of skill must be rewarded. By all accounts, you lasted far longer than any previous recruit has done in their first simulation. Very impressive, little Kryptonian. Perhaps I misjudged the strength of will your race possesses!”

My cheeks heated at the praise. “I, uh… I only lasted that long because Navan helped me out,” I muttered, wanting to rectify the situation. “Honestly, Navan deserves the prize, not me.”

Evidently mistaking my blushes and words for modesty, the queen chuckled. “Oh, nonsense! You continue to show a bravery that nobody anticipated, Riley, and from the report, you were doing just fine by yourself. Besides, my interest in you lies in more than your performance in the simulation.”