“It is, Your Highness?”
She smiled. “Oh yes. You see, Riley, I received word from a coldblood named Jethro, not long ago, that he had collected a special blood sample, and was sending it straight to me. He wouldn’t tell me which planet he was on, only that he had found some blood that might prove extremely useful in the immortality elixir research.”
I paled, as realization dawned on me like a pile of bricks. “Wh-Why wouldn’t he tell you where he was, Your Highness?” I asked, desperately hoping I could find a way to wriggle out of this corner she was backing me into.
“For good reason, I suppose,” she replied. “He feared the message might be intercepted by my dear sister, and she might try to go after the pod herself to steal the sample within.”
I began to panic, horrified that she knew about the pod’s existence. I had known about Jethro’s deceit in sending the pod, but I hadn’t known that news had reached Queen Brisha. All this time, she had known it was on its way to her. We had been so convinced we could intercept it without anyone getting their hands on it. But now that hope had been dashed. Now there was nothing to stop her from heading out to retrieve the sample, and putting my blood to her own awful uses.
“You’re surprised?” she noted.
“Just cold, Your Highness,” I managed. I still didn’t know exactly how much she knew, and I wasn’t about to help her out, with my stupid face giving the game away.
She smiled coldly. “I must say, it’s quite the coincidence that Navan happens to be traveling with another species, considering the last time I heard news of him he was traveling with Jethro himself,” she began, twisting the knife. “Don’t you think that’s a strange coincidence that Jethro was traveling with Navan, came across a strange blood sample, and now you’re here, at Navan’s side? Even stranger that nobody can get in contact with Jethro...” A warning flickered in her silver eyes.
“A very strange coincidence, Your Highness,” I whispered, my voice gone.
She gave a tight laugh. “I’m not an idiot, Riley. I know your presence has something to do with this blood sample Jethro was supposed to be sending, and I’m hoping you can tell me why the pod’s tracker stopped beeping several days ago?”
I gulped and shook my head. “I don’t know anything about a tracker, Your Highness.” It wasn’t a lie. I hadn’t known there was a tracker on the sample pod, and I had absolutely no idea where it might have gone, if what Queen Brisha said was true. In fact, the very idea of it going missing filled me with a renewed sense of dread. What if someone had taken it? I wasn’t sure who else might have known about it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.
“Jethro assured me the cargo would be safe on the journey, given the pod’s stealth mode. He warned me in his last message that the tracker would only start flashing on my monitors once it was a certain distance from Vysanthe, to keep the location of the sample’s origin a secret. So, I was delighted when it did begin to flash, just under a week ago. Given my current need to rally troops, I couldn’t spare any to go on a lengthy mission after it, figuring the pod would come to me in good time. Each evening, I would trace its path, and delight at the thought of its arrival. But then, it stopped, and it hasn’t started again.” She sighed irritably. “As you can imagine, this has brought me no end of frustration—these things are usually so reliable, which is why it is beyond me how the pod has managed to disappear off the face of the universe.”
I shrugged. “I… I can’t help you, Your Highness. I don’t know anything about a tracker, and I don’t know anything about the pod’s disappearance. Do you at least know where it went missing?” I asked. If someone had taken the pod, I wanted to know where they had snatched it from.
She frowned. “Somewhere out in the Severn Quarter, close to the Ferrite System. But, that’s beside the point. I want you to tell me what you know about this blood sample before I start going off on any wild-goose chases,” she demanded, her friendly tone all but gone. It was clear she had run out of patience.
I thought about lying to the queen, but knew it would do nothing to help me gain her trust. Right now, we needed that more than keeping the pod’s secret, especially if it had gone missing somewhere in the depths of space. Navan and I could worry about that later, once we were away from the confines of Vysanthe… If we ever got away.
“The sample… It is from my home planet,” I finally replied. “But I’m telling the truth when I say I don’t know anything about the pod going missing, or the tracker suddenly disappearing. Is the Ferrite System far from here?”
Queen Brisha frowned. “Just under a fortnight from here.”
That seemed a long time compared to our journey from Earth in the Asterope, but I had to remind myself that the queens didn’t have the same advanced technology yet. “So, that’s still a fair distance away?”
She nodded. “I suppose so.”
“Well then, all I can say for certain is, if it vanished so far away from Vysanthe, it’s highly unlikely that your sister intercepted it,” I said. “From what I could gather while I was in the South, and from Navan’s father, they are no further along with making a breakthrough in the immortality elixir. They don’t have the right blood, and nobody has found any with potential… who hasn’t switched to your side at the last minute,” I said pointedly, letting her know I knew about Jethro, and the promises that had been made.
A wave of relief washed over Queen Brisha’s face. “I suppose that does make sense. Only Jethro and I knew about the pod, aside from yourself and Navan, by the looks of it. Perhaps I will send a small team after it to see what has become of it. Maybe it has simply malfunctioned.”
I nodded. “That could be the case.”
“Alternatively, you could tell me where to find your planet,” she said suddenly. “I would only seek to take some samples—I would not interfere with, or harm, your people.”
My stomach knotted. Neither queen was supposed to have technology advanced enough to travel the distance to Earth yet, but once she knew my planet’s location, I had no doubt that she’d pour all her resources into ship development, and it would only be a matter of time before she cracked it. If Jethro and Orion’s group had, others could.
I shook my head, trying to remain calm and choose my words carefully. “With all due respect, Your Highness… I’m not going to tell you where my home planet is. I trust you, and I believe you when you say you would only take samples, but I can’t risk others finding out its location. I’m worried about the coldbloods who might be watching you, just as you are watching them. Imagine if I told you where my home planet was and you set out for it. Within minutes, your sister could have put a tail on your ships. You said it yourself—she’s paranoid and on the edge of madness. She will do anything to seize ultimate power, and that includes going to extreme lengths to obtain the immortality elixir first.”
“I will worry about my sister. Just tell me where your home planet is,” Queen Brisha pressed. I could tell I was testing her patience, but I felt I had firm ground to stand on. Everything I’d said was true… except for the part where I said I trusted her. These sisters were embroiled in a constant game of one-upmanship. Of course Gianne would follow wherever Brisha went, out in the universe.
I sighed wearily. “Your Highness, you of all people must understand the idea of loyalty to one’s home planet, the desire to protect one’s people. Surely you can understand why telling you might not end too well for my species? Coldbloods are ravagers and plunderers—you move from planet to planet, taking what isn’t yours and leaving chaos in your wake. You wipe out resources so you can take them for your own needs,” I said, unable to prevent the words from tumbling out. I had been harboring them for a long time. “You don’t care about those you take from—and in this instance, that resource is my people.”
Queen Brisha’s eyes glittered with anger. “You know nothing of our people, little Kryptonian,” she snapped.
“I know enough, Your Highness,” I countered, trying t
o maintain my cool. “However, it seems you’re mistaking my intention—I’m just trying to point out why telling you where my planet is would be a disaster. I still want to prove myself to you.”
This seemed to surprise Brisha, her features softening at the revelation. Instead of fury, hope sparkled in her eyes.
“What do you suggest?” she asked, leaning forward.
I sucked in a deep breath, knowing that what I was about to say was insane, but the queen had backed me into a horribly tight corner, and in this moment I didn’t feel I had any other choice. “Instead of revealing my planet’s location to you… why don’t I give you a sample of my own blood? The same blood Jethro was sending to you.”
A broad smile stretched across Queen Brisha’s face, her eyes positively glittering with excitement. “An excellent alternative, Riley,” she said softly. “As I suspected, you’re far cleverer than you look. Stay here while I get one of my guards to fetch a medic—there’s no time like the present for an extraction!”
As Queen Brisha headed for the door, I felt my heart shrink to the size of a pea. I’d had to offer her something valuable to divert her attention from Earth’s location, and giving her a small sample of my blood was a million times better than telling her where to find my planet, but I was terrified where this would lead. For all I knew, that small sample could release a horde of immortal coldbloods on the universe. Regular coldbloods already caused so much damage; it didn’t bear thinking about how much harm immortal ones would bring.
The medic arrived two minutes later, accompanied by the queen. He was a short, slim coldblood with a pair of sallow wings that hung limply at his back. He carried a bag under his arm as he approached me.
“This is the subject,” Queen Brisha said, gesturing toward me. “I’d like you to take a sample of her blood.”
The medic nodded. “How much, Your Highness?”
“A vialful,” she replied.
“Very good, Your Highness,” he mumbled, before moving toward me.
As he lifted a dampened cloth that smelled intensely of chemicals to the side of my neck, I was reminded of Jethro drawing blood from me. He’d done it with his fangs—they must have been able to suck up blood like syringes—and I hoped this old guy wasn’t about to use the same method.
As he pulled out a hypodermic needle from his bag, I realized that he wasn’t.
I also realized that this was actually happening. Really, truly happening. A Vysanthean queen was finally obtaining my blood.
Even though my heart was pounding, every fiber of my being begging to pull away, I sat still, allowing the medic to cleanse the side of my neck. He lifted his needle to the fragile flesh. Without warning, he sank it into my skin, and I felt the scrape of it, though it lasted only a moment. An unpleasant pulling sensation rippled up the veins in my neck, and then, barely a minute later, it was done.
“Take that to the alchemists, will you?” Queen Brisha instructed, as the medic shoved his tools into his bag. He was careful with the vial of my blood, placing it into a secret pocket, hidden in the bag’s lining.
“I’ll do it right away, Your Highness,” he promised, giving a nervous little bow before scurrying out of the library.
Queen Brisha sank back down into the chair opposite me, a pleased look on her face. “That was a very brave thing you did, Riley,” she said softly. “And I, for one, am extremely grateful.”
“How long will it take until you can use it?” I asked, my throat raw.
She shrugged. “That depends on how long it takes my alchemists to synthesize it. Naturally, each new species is its own beast when it comes to blood and how we coldbloods absorb it. But I estimate… hm, several weeks. My alchemists’ processes are thorough.”
Several weeks? Then maybe, just maybe, that gave us a window of opportunity. I wasn’t sure where we would go from here—I needed to talk to Navan and tell him about what I’d done—but knowing we had some time, more time than I’d expected, gave me a flicker of hope. It wasn’t much, but I was grateful for it.
Because at this point, I needed all the hope I could get.
Chapter Thirty-Four
After the meeting with Queen Brisha, Pandora returned to escort me to the chambers that had been arranged for Navan and me. They were situated at the top of the third tower of the palace, overlooking the glistening city below. The room was plush and elegant, with red velvet chairs and a brocade chaise longue in front of a roaring fire. To one side, there was a four-poster with gauzy, golden fabric hanging down and shrouding the comfy-looking bed. To the other, there was a small kitchenette, which had been fully stocked with vials as well as food I could eat. There were fruits and vegetables of various forms, and hopefully none would kill me.
I supposed it was the queen’s way of welcoming us to the North. Lying down on the bed, I was glad of the soft mattress beneath me sapping away the aches and pains of the last few days.
It appeared to be the only plus side of Queen Brisha’s arrangement. At least here, Navan and I didn’t have to hide our relationship. She knew about it and didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seemed intrigued by the forbidden nature of our love.
Navan arrived about half an hour later, just as I was drifting off to sleep, comforted by the roaring flames and the soft bedding. His entrance stirred me, and I sat up, taking in the sight of his bandaged arm. At least he wasn’t bleeding anymore, and there was a delirious, playful quality to his face—which I guessed had something to do with Vysanthean painkillers.
“Navan, how are you feeling?” I asked, getting up to go over to him.
“Fine,” he replied with a crooked smile.
“They give you something for the pain?” I teased, though my heart wasn’t in it. My mind was elsewhere, thinking about what I had done and how Navan was going to react. I could still feel the sharp sting of the needle where it had pricked my neck.
“Oh yes. They gave me soren root,” he explained, as if that was supposed to mean something to me.
“What’s that?”
“Painkiller. Think they might have given me a bit too much.” A goofy laugh bubbled up from his throat, forcing a genuine smile to my lips. Taking his hand, I led him over to the couch and sat him down, feeling regretful that I would have to burst his happy bubble with my news. Before I could speak, however, he cut in. “I’ve spoken with Bashrik,” he said, a deranged smile on his lips as his eyes struggled to focus.
I frowned in surprise. “Already?”
“Why yes.” He nodded. “I had some time in the infirmary, thought I’d put it to good use. That brawny woman gave me her comm device.” He started absently picking at the edges of his bandages, and I reached out to remove his hand, keeping it firmly in mine to prevent him from unraveling the whole thing. I presumed by “brawny woman” he meant Pandora.
“What did Bashrik say?” I asked in disbelief. Everything was happening so fast.
“Says he’s on his way.” Navan sighed, collapsing back into the comfortable cushions of the loveseat.
My eyes bugged. “He’s on his way?! How… How can he be on his way?”
“He and Ronad managed to intercept a rebel coldblood ship. Won’t be long until old Bashie gets here to build a big lab that will ruin everything.” Another stupid laugh pealed from his throat.
“What about the others?” I asked, gripping his shoulders and trying to shake some sense into him.
“Ronad’s staying on Earth. He’s no longer a coldblood, remember? Can’t have him coming to Vysanthe—a coldblood with no wings, imagine that!” He heaved a sigh. “Wish I was back there with him. I like Earth.”
“What about Angie and Lauren?” I pressed, feeling a twist of guilt in my stomach. I’d left them to cover for me, and I couldn’t help feeling like I’d abandoned them. I couldn’t even begin to explain how much I missed them. I just wanted to see their faces again, even for a moment, to get a grip on reality again. Being here, it was easy to think I might never return home—especially now, under t
he watchful eye of Queen Brisha.
“Didn’t say.” Navan shrugged. “But you know what else I like?” he added softly, his gaze filling with such adoration I thought my heart might melt.
“What?” I murmured.
“You,” he announced, sitting up to take me in his arms. He was smiling, his hands reaching up to cup my face, before his lips grazed mine. His mouth tasted oddly metallic, with a hint of sweetness—the soren root, I guessed, praying the trace wouldn’t affect me too. Not wanting to get too carried away, especially given what I had to tell him, I pulled away slowly, keeping my arms around his neck. “Hey, come back,” he said, chuckling as he tried to lean in to kiss me once more.
Gently, I pushed his shoulders back. I had to get my news out of the way.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” I said. Now was probably a better time than ever, with him in his slightly muddled state—hopefully it would soften the blow.
“Is it how much you want to use those herbs on the bedside table and let me have my wicked way with you? I can work around this,” he chuckled, nodding toward his strapped arm as he stroked my cheek with the thumb of his good hand.
I frowned. “Herbs?”
He nodded. “Spotted them as soon as I walked in. Queen Brisha must have left them for us, the little minx. They’ll keep us safe if we decide to… you know.” He winked, though the soren root had addled his coordination, causing both eyelids to flicker at once. I stifled a laugh, flushing.
I glanced toward the bedside table and saw a crystal bowl filled to the brim with the herbs he was speaking about. I blushed harder. I’d thought they were some sort of Vysanthean potpourri, not a coldblood contraceptive. But now wasn’t the time. Aside from the fact that I had grave news to deliver, I didn’t want our first time to be while Navan was under the influence of painkillers—I had no idea if he’d even remember it.
Holding back Navan’s advances once more, I shook my head. “No, it has to do with what Queen Brisha and I discussed while you were at the infirmary… Navan, I did something bad.” I lifted his chin so he was forced to look directly at me. For a moment, his woozy façade faded, his eyes coming into focus, his brow furrowed in concentration.