“You!” she barked, looking right at me.

I lifted my head, trying to look innocent. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“You see that water in the fountain over there,” she said, gesturing toward a gem-encrusted water fountain a short distance away.

I nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Fetch a dish of it, and bathe my feet,” she instructed. “They are sore from my morning endeavors, and I would like them soaked and refreshed.”

I went to stand, but Navan’s hand shot out and grasped me by the wrist. Torn, I crouched, half sitting, half standing, not knowing what to do. I couldn’t very well disobey a direct order, not if I wanted to live.

The queen’s eyes narrowed. “I said, fetch a dish of water and bathe my feet, you vile creature,” she spat.

Again, I went to stand, but Navan’s hand pulled me back down. I could see the bemusement on the queen’s face, and longed to break free of Navan’s grasp—for his sake, as well as my own. I didn’t mind doing something degrading if it meant we could get out in one piece.

“Navan? Explain yourself,” Queen Gianne bellowed, her face a mask of fury.

“She is weak, Your Highness,” he replied. “The temperature of the water will freeze her hands.”

A surprised laugh rippled from the back of her throat. “Why should you care if she hurts her pathetic hands?”

“She is my servant—there are things I wish her to do, and for that I require her hands,” he countered, his cheeks flushing a pale shade of pink beneath the ashen surface. In any other situation, I would have giggled, but right now, I didn’t think I’d ever have the courage to laugh again.

For a moment, Queen Gianne said nothing. My heart was thundering in my chest, and I was expecting her to lash out at his flagrant defiance of her wishes. I didn’t mind bathing her feet, but I couldn’t turn to Navan and tell him that without revealing our true relationship. In the world of these coldbloods, I got the feeling that servants never talked back to their superiors.

A look of amusement and surprise flickered across the queen’s face. “Well, well, well, I’m sure Seraphina will be thrilled to find out that Navan Idrax is capable of some sort of affection, even if it’s just for a silly little pet,” she sneered. “Now, if you can learn to wean yourself off unworthy creatures, you might end up half the man your father is. A servant does not need your sympathy, need I remind you?” A disgusted look glinted in her eyes as she scanned me, judging me on the spot.

But all my mind could focus on in that moment was: Who is Seraphina?

“It is not sympathy, Your Highness, merely necessity,” Navan replied, his head hanging low. He could not look at me, and I didn’t know why.

Mentally imploring him to glance my way, I hoped she was his mother… And yet, there was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that wouldn’t go away.

“Fine, then I have no more use for you,” Queen Gianne sighed, flicking her wrist in irritation. “Be off with you. And do not be late for tonight’s celebrations. Do I make myself clear?”

Navan nodded, rising to his feet. “I won’t, Your Highness.”

“Good.” She smiled triumphantly. “Oh, and your uncle was looking for you earlier—he is doing some work in the Atrium. I suggest you attend to him.”

“I will, Your Highness,” Navan replied.

A few moments later, we were out in the main hallway of the palace, heading for the exit. I was excited by the prospect of seeing Lazar again so we could update him on Orion’s mission and see what the others had been up to, but I couldn’t ignore the sense of dread niggling away at the back of my mind.

“Who is Seraphina?” I asked, after a long, tense pause.

Navan grimaced. “She’s not important,” he said, still unable to meet my gaze.

I sucked in a breath, unwilling to let this one go. I gave it another few seconds before trying again. “Navan… who is Seraphina?”

He lowered his eyes to the floor, his jaw tensing.

With every second of silence, my worry grew. “She’s not your mother, is she?” I said quietly.

He shook his head.

“Then… who?”

Navan finally looked at me, everything on his face screaming discomfort. Pulling me behind a pillar that was sharpened to a point like an icicle, he took my hands in his.

“Seraphina is… my fiancée,” he whispered, a look of misery in his eyes.

Instantly, I staggered back, my hands slipping from his grasp.

He was engaged.

And there I’d been, thinking he’d chosen the bachelor life. Ha!

Suddenly I felt incredibly stupid. Of course he wasn’t a bachelor. Of course somebody like him was attached to somebody else—he was beautiful, charming, handsome.

The rational half of me could understand that this had to be his parents’ doing, but the emotional half was stinging. Why hadn’t he been upfront about this? I could accept this was an arranged marriage, but... suddenly learning your boyfriend had a fiancée was kind of a big deal.

Why had he kept it a secret from me? He’d had plenty of opportunities to tell me—he could have done so when the topic came up just yesterday.

And for how long would he have kept me in the dark, if the queen hadn’t outed him?

Not to mention, who this woman even was and how she would feel if she found out she was being double-played. I might not be the biggest fan of coldbloods, but I was sure whoever this woman was had feelings. How would I have felt to learn my fiancé was cheating on me?

“Do… Do you know how sketchy that is?” I managed, taking another step back from him.

“Riley, please. I swear, this wasn’t a match I chose for myself! This is my father’s handiwork. It’s like I was saying to you—he has these plans for all of his children, and my marriage to Seraphina is supposed to unite two well-respected coldblood families— ”

“And you didn’t think that was something I ought to know?!” I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice low, but, God, it was difficult.

I turned and strode toward the palace exit. Rask knew, I needed some fresh air right now.

“I don’t want it, though!” Navan hissed, catching up with me. “I don’t love Seraphina! I have no affection for her whatsoever except that of a friend. I don’t want to marry her. Everyone thinks the marriage is going to be a disaster, and they’re right—it is, because I’m not going to be forced—”

I breathed in deeply as I stepped out through the main doors, my eyes fixed on the Snapper as I tried to tamp down the intense feeling of disappointment that was threatening to overwhelm me.

“So when were you going to tell me? As you were walking down the aisle?”

“Look, I’m sorry, Riley. I should have told you sooner. I just—”

“Just what?” I asked. We’d reached the ship, and I grabbed hold of my side door and swung it open, flinging myself into the passenger seat.

Navan followed suit and closed his door behind him, sealing us inside, where we could finally be less controlled about our volume.

“I kept wanting to tell you the truth, but the moment never arose,” he groaned, slumping back in his chair and running his hands down his face.

A laugh escaped my throat, a high-pitched thing that sounded close to hysterical. “Oh, bull! Yeah, we’ve had our hands full, but we’ve had plenty of downtime too. If you’d wanted to tell me, you would have found the time.”

As I glared at him, he kept his face resting in his hands, though from what I could see of his cheeks, he was flushing deeply. This was clearly uncomfortable for him, but it was for me, too. I didn’t let up my glower. I wasn’t fond of surprises on the best of days, but this… This was seriously not cool.

He let out a long, tortured sigh, then finally removed his hands to look at me. His eyes were shrouded with disgust and regret, his mouth turned downward as if he’d just sucked on a lemon. “You’re right,” he said. “I didn’t want to tell you.”

I stared at him. “That’s not exactly the answer I was expecting.”

He exhaled again. “I know—because there are still things you don’t know about me.”

I bugged out my eyes. “Clearly.”

“I’m a chronic procrastinator when it comes to things I’m very nervous about, okay?” he burst out. “That’s all there is to it. I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over your eyes, or deceive you. I was just being a damn coward. Things between us happened so fast—one minute, we were working together as partners, the next, we had kissed. And with all the other crazy things that were happening, it was all too easy to find reasons to push this unpleasant little tidbit to the back of my mind, telling myself I’d tell you later. You can ask Bashrik how bad of a procrastinator I can be and he’ll tell you. Hell, it’s why I wasn’t the one who kissed you first. I would have done it that night in Siberia, you know, when we were dancing under the stars after I got you back from that man-child Donnel—but nooo… Procrastinator Navan took over, and like the dumbass I am, I listened to him. So I’m sorry, Riley—I’ve done it again. You fell for a master procrastinator. But… if you’ll forgive me, I hope I’ll have finally learned my lesson, and promise to try to be less of one.”

With that, he folded his arms across his chest and frowned at me, waiting for my response.

My heart felt like it had skipped more than a couple of beats as he’d talked, particularly at that kissing admission, but I let silence reign over the ship, taking my time to consider my response. I could tell he was nervous even now, judging by the unevenness of his breathing, and the way his lips twitched ever so slightly.

Truth be told, I’d found his ranty confession downright cute, and it had melted most of my annoyance. I could accept his excuse that he was a procrastinator because, well… if I was honest with myself, I could be one too, sometimes, and I understood how uncomfortable this subject was for him to talk about. But I wasn’t quite ready to let him know that yet. There were still many things about this situation that concerned me.

I kept my face a passive mask as I looked back at him. “So… who is this woman exactly?”

“Just a family friend,” he replied quickly, a flicker of relief crossing his face. “We’ve known each other since we were kids. She doesn’t feel anything romantically for me either—I guarantee you.”

“She wouldn’t be at all hurt if she knew you were dating another girl?”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Navan said. “If anything, she’d be happy for me, because she doesn’t want to marry me either.”

“She wouldn’t come stalking me and slit my throat in the night?”

“No!” he insisted.

I folded my arms, leaning back in my chair. “Hmm. So what’s your plan, then, Navan? Your parents expect the two of you to marry. How will you avoid it?”

“Right now, the two of us are doing everything we can to delay it. The whole situation is… complicated, but we’ve managed to put it off so far, and I swear, I will not end up marrying her, no matter what. Even if you weren’t in the picture, I wouldn’t.”

I let out a steady breath and took a long pause, running my tongue over my lower lip and giving him a considering look.

“And, one final question… How many Navans are there? Is there a Grumpy Navan, a Dopey Navan…?”

A relieved smile broke out on his lips, before he narrowed his eyes at me. “Now you’re being mean.”

I laughed, letting my mask break. “Yeah, but you deserve it, you big oaf. Seriously—imagine if you randomly found out that I had some guy waiting to marry me back home!”

He shrugged. “Simple. I’d hunt him down and rip his head off.”

“Right, point made.”

“So can I kiss you now?” he asked abruptly. I realized a look of deep longing had developed in his eyes, his gaze intensified.

I frowned. “What, to make up for not kissing me first before? Sorry, I scored that baby al—”

I didn’t stand a chance against Navan’s supernatural speed. Before I knew it, he’d leaned forward, his hands touching my face and drawing my mouth to his. His lips caught mine in a deep, slow kiss that forced my eyes shut and overwhelmed my senses.

“How’s that for an… eighth first kiss?” he murmured after several heady moments, as he parted our lips.

“Has it even been eight times?” I asked weakly, still half intoxicated by his taste and the feel of him so close.

“I’ve lost count, but how was it?” He drew away with a smirk.

“It was good. But don’t get too cocky—I’ll always have one over on you.”

“I guess I’ll have to live with that.” He chuckled, settling himself back into his pilot seat. “So, now that… all of that’s out of the way, let’s go see Lazar, shall we?”

As Navan took off, I couldn’t deny that I felt better about the situation, but still, there was a knot of anxiety in my stomach. I hadn’t even met this woman, and had no idea what she was like.

I just had to hope Navan really would be able to find a way out of the engagement, and that he was right in his assessment that Seraphina didn’t care for him romantically at all.

Because otherwise, this was going to get awkward.

* * *

The Snapper headed across the city district of Regium, and before long, we arrived at a circular structure that lay in the very center of the city. Navan lowered the ship right into the middle, where other ships of a similar build were parked, looking like silvery beetles resting on the ground.

As we stepped outside the Snapper, I looked up and saw that the entire inner wall of the building was made from glass, revealing the coldbloods within. There were stacks of books on several floors, making it look like a library, while others looked like grand meeting rooms. On the lower floors were rooms that looked like laboratories, with black-coated individuals walking around importantly. A few glanced our way, but with my hood up, their attention soon waned.

We entered, with Navan walking up to the front desk, asking for Lazar’s location. The man behind the desk pointed us in the right direction. From the hallways, I could see the courtyard with the ships neatly parked, but I could also see through to the other side, watching the coldbloods at their work. It seemed strange that a race so alien could have everyday jobs, just like humans.

After walking down several corridors, Navan and I reached the door we were looking for, and I took the lead, knocking.

“Come in,” Lazar’s voice spoke from the other side.

We entered to find Lazar standing beside the window, reading from a tome in his hands, while the other coldbloods in the room seemed to be doing very little. He turned toward us as Navan closed the door.

“Where have the two of you been?” he asked curtly, dispensing with the usual niceties.

Navan sighed. “Seems like everyone’s asking that today.”

Lazar frowned. “Is something the matter?”

“No,” Navan replied quickly. “We’re good.”

“Well, that’s good to hear—but you’ve put me in a bit of an awkward situation, Navan,” he said grimly.

“How so?”

Lazar raised an eyebrow. “I’ve spoken with your father. He says you won’t answer his calls, and your comm is switched off. Is there any particular reason you’re avoiding him? I had to make something up about decompressing after your trip, but I’m fairly certain he didn’t buy it.”

“Of course there’s a reason, Lazar! Naya died because of him,” Navan growled, his bad mood returning. I sighed. Just the mere mention of his father seemed to flip him like a switch.

“But that was an accident,” Lazar countered. “He loved your sister dearly.”

Navan’s eyes flashed angrily. “Even so, that doesn’t excuse him of his crimes. All of this is his fault, Lazar,” he said, gesturing around. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Nobody would know about the immortality elixir if he hadn’t been hell-bent on figuring out the solution—he has ruined everything. He just had to be the one to crack it. I can’t even bring myself to look at his face, let alone speak to him.”

Lazar walked up to Navan and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand, Navan. I won’t force you to speak to him. However, I should warn you, he will likely be at the celebration tonight. You won’t be able to avoid him forever.”

Jareth Idrax was going to be at the celebration? Did that mean I was finally going to meet the man who had caused Navan so much heartache and devastation? A shiver of fear ran up my spine. Men like Jareth rarely got to where they were by being anything but ruthless. With Navan already in a grim mood, I could just imagine the exchange that might occur. I was going to have to keep a close eye on him.

“Was that everything? Queen Gianne said you were looking for us,” Navan sighed, rubbing at his temples.

“I managed to pilfer some of those human food pouches from the Asterope—thought Riley could use one right about now,” he explained.

Immediately, Navan’s face softened. “Thank you, Uncle.”

“Think nothing of it—can’t have her starving to death,” Lazar replied, flashing me a surprisingly sympathetic look. “Do you have anything for me?”

Navan nodded. “We got some intel from the Observatory, but I haven’t been able to send it to Orion yet. It’s safe, but it’s still uploading.”

“Excellent,” Lazar said, his eyes lighting up. “Do let me know when it’s sent, so I can see how much longer we have to stay in this hostile place.”

“Will do.”

“Now, I suggest the pair of you go and make yourselves look presentable,” Lazar insisted, as he passed Navan a sack filled with the astronaut food. “I’ll see you at the celebration later.”

We left, and had just reached the end of the hallway when three figures sprang out of nowhere, cornering us into an annex that branched off from the main walkway. A shock of white-blond hair bobbed in front of my eyes.

Kalvin, Nestor, and Cristo stood around us, a hint of threat in the air. Their eyes were narrowed, and there were fading bruises on their faces. It seemed the interrogators had hit them much harder than Navan or me.

Kalvin pressed forward, looming over me, a leer in his eyes. Navan immediately stepped between us and pushed his hands against the coldblood’s shoulders, forcibly shoving him away.

“About time you two showed up,” remarked Kalvin, flashing a grin. “Thought you’d abandoned us.”

“You’d be the first to jump ship,” Navan retorted.

Kalvin rolled his eyes. “I was just wondering if you’ve managed to mess things up for us yet? You’ve been missing a fair while—I expect you’ve done something stupid.”

“We’ve been keeping to the mission, instead of loitering in hallways,” Navan said drily.

Kalvin stepped away, his brow furrowed. “You’d better not ruin this for us, Idrax. We’ve been waiting a long time for this moment, and if you slip up, there’ll be hell to pay.”

With that, the trio of coldbloods turned and stormed down the corridor, disappearing from sight.

“Idiots.” Navan scowled, then glanced down at me. “You okay?” he asked, his tone softening.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “Let’s just get out of this hallway.”

I lingered close to him as we made our way back to the ship. Lost in my own thoughts, I kept mostly silent during the journey back to the place we’d spent that first night on Vysanthe. I didn’t know why we were going back there, but I presumed it had something to do with pleasing the queen. Not to mention the fact that I’d seen a few gowns hanging in the wardrobe—perhaps I could borrow one. It seemed unlikely, but what else were they for?

Docking the Snapper at the hangar below, we took the elevator up to the top floor and sought out our room.

When we arrived, however, we found the door swung open, and the interior ransacked. Chairs and tables were toppled onto the floor, and the clothes from the wardrobe were slung all over the place. It looked like a bomb had gone off.

I began to panic, wondering if someone had been sent to search our room for the disc that Navan had taken from the Observatory. Did they know? Was someone onto us?

Then a cold laugh split the air, a shimmering motion revealing the two shapeshifters, who were lounging on the beds. They had camouflaged themselves to the color of the bedding, but now they were visible, their disgusting flesh pooling on the covers.

“Comfy digs you’ve got here,” the female shifter remarked.

“What are you doing here?” Navan snarled. “Get out, before I throw you out!”

The female shifter exchanged a glance with her partner. “We had a hunch. Thought you might be trying to escape back to Earth. No evidence, as yet. But there’s still time for your betrayal,” she said coolly, flicking lint off one of her sacks of skin. “We have our eyes on you.”

“Thought we’d enjoy these sweet quarters while we were at it,” the male shifter cackled. I grimaced, wondering what they’d been up to while we were gone. Deciding it was better not to know, I pushed the thought from my mind.

“Suppose we’d better be off,” the female shifter sighed. “Got to look like that fat toad, and the skinny, useless one.”

I frowned. “Who?”

“Kiel and Grillo, I think their names were,” the male shifter replied. “If I’d known old queenie was going to let us off anyway, we’d never have done away with them. Oh well, can’t be helped now.”

Without another word, they got up and waddled from the room, their skins changing from wormy pink to ashen gray within mere moments. As they exited, they had taken on the mantle of coldbloods—one of them looking the spitting image of our interrogator, Kiel.

I shuddered, wondering what they’d done with Kiel and Grillo’s bodies. More than that, I feared what would happen if those bodies ever got discovered.

“I hope they disposed of them properly, where no one will find them,” Navan muttered, voicing my own concerns.

“Yeah, well, I guess we don’t really have time to worry about that now,” I said, sighing. If we were going to get through tonight, we needed to make sure we were convincing. Navan was to be the hero, returning home after a trying expedition. And I was to be… his pet. I swallowed. “We should get ready. Tonight won’t be easy.”

Navan nodded. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “Everyone will be watching us tonight.”