Hotbloods (Hotbloods #1)(27)

To my alarm, a rush of darkness flooded through my brain almost as soon as I had swallowed the slightly salty substance, and I wondered in a panic if I had messed up and drunk the Elysium after all. I barely had time to stuff both vials into my pocket before darkness claimed me, and Navan’s piercing slate eyes faded to black.





Chapter Ten





I woke up to the smell of something deep-fried, and I could detect bright sunlight from beneath my closed eyelids. Someone was talking downstairs—two people—and I was lying on… a bed.

I managed to un-glue my eyelids and sit up, feeling completely disorientated. I was in our bedroom, in the Churnleys’ house, my two friends sprawled out in the beds next to mine, still asleep.

For several long minutes, I couldn’t remember anything. Then, the previous night’s memories suddenly came rushing back.

I hadn’t forgotten. I had not taken the Elysium, as I had feared. It was a coincidence that whatever it was I had drunk, also knocked me out almost instantly—and kept us asleep for… I glanced at the clock. Geez. For twelve hours. Granted, I didn’t know exactly what time the coldbloods had returned us, but it was already 2:30 PM.

I swung my feet off the bed and stood up, before a wave of nausea forced me back down. I wasn’t sure if it was because I had stood up too quickly, or if it had something to do with the after-effect of the coldbloods’ beverage. A salty aftertaste lingered in my mouth, and the thought of it being some type of blood made me want to gag.

I dropped to the floor and crawled to the bathroom, using the sink to prop myself up so I could rinse my mouth out. After a minute, I felt ready to try and stand again, and this time I did so successfully, without all the blood rushing from my head.

I stared at myself in the mirror. My blue eyes were bloodshot, and my brown hair looked like I had been dragged backward through a jungle. My clothes were torn, and my shins and knees were covered with cuts, scrapes, and bruises.

I returned to the bedroom, glancing at the window sill. The coldbloods couldn’t have known that we had been sleeping in the treehouse, and must have slipped us in here through the open window. I was surprised to see each of our flashlights resting atop the sill, along with the black waist bag Lauren had been wearing. It was thoughtful of them to return those, too.

“Hey,” Angie said from behind me, rubbing her eyes and holding her head like she had a hangover.

“Hey,” I replied as I sat back down on the bed and folded my legs beneath me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better,” she croaked. “But I remember everything. And I don’t feel like I’m dying—yet.”

She leaned over to Lauren’s bed and shook her awake.

“No! Stop! Wha-What are you—” Lauren babbled, as she rose to consciousness. She bolted upright, her dark hair pointing every which way. She stared at us blearily before reaching for her glasses, which had been left on her bedside. Another thoughtful touch, I noted.

“Are you okay? Do you remember?” Angie asked.

Lauren groaned, closing her eyes again. Her brow furrowed, and then she nodded. “Yeah. I remember. And I… I think I feel okay. Just like I could sleep for another six hours.”

“Okay, good,” I said. At least we hadn’t gotten sick from whatever we had drunk—not yet, anyway.

“Girls? Are you awake?” Mrs. Churnley’s voice called from downstairs.

Guilt gripped my chest as I remembered what it had meant to her that we sleep outside in the treehouse—after all the trouble she had gone to show it to us, and Mr. Churnley bringing up special bedding. I felt awful.

I stumbled to the door and opened it, calling down, “Hi, Mrs. Churnley. Yeah, we’re awake. I’m-I’m sorry we—”

“Slept so long?” Mrs. Churnley asked, and I was sure there was a slight note of disappointment in her tone.

“Yeah, we, uh…” I looked back over my shoulder at Angie, struggling to come up with a reason why we had come back indoors.

She came to my rescue. “We got a bit chilly out there in the treehouse, surprisingly, once early morning kicked in. We would love to sleep there again tonight, with some heavier blankets. We didn’t get a great night’s sleep, which is probably why we slept in so late.”

“Ah, I see.” That seemed to placate Mrs. Churnley. “Well, lunch is almost ready.”

“Thank you so much,” I replied. “We’ll be down soon.”

We closed the door and backed into the bedroom, turning to look at Lauren. I stuck a hand in my pocket and pulled out the two silver vials. My friends retrieved theirs, and a long moment of silence passed between us. I was sure we were all realizing the same thing.

Pretending last night hadn’t happened was going to be hard.



My friends and I were so quiet during lunch it prompted Mrs. Churnley to ask us several times if we were okay. A part of me wished we could tell them the truth, but I felt bad enough about breaking my promise to Navan and not taking the Elysium, and it did seem that he and his companions had Earth’s best interests at heart—given their mostly gentle treatment of us, and the fact that they were keeping Earth a secret from their race. They could’ve been lying about that, I supposed, but they had seemed genuine. Otherwise, why would they have let us go, instead of abducting us back to their homeland for our valuable blood?