Hotbloods (Hotbloods #1)(66)

“They could be,” he said. “But I should be able to sense them, and I’d sleep a lot better tonight if I at least look around before we turn in for the night. You’ll be fine here.”

“I’m not worried about that,” I said.

He smiled. “I’ve noticed.”

Though I knew he wasn’t going far, there was a part of me that wanted to jump into his arms before he took off, to go with him, to never leave his side. The feeling almost overwhelmed me, but I stayed in the ship and watched as his powerful wings beat back and forth, lifting him higher and higher into the sky. A shooting star arced across the darkness, and I blinked, marveling at the fact of everything that had happened in such a short period of time. Not too long ago, I’d been standing under the sweltering sun in the middle of a corn field with my two best friends, and now here I was, at the edge of the world, watching a coldblood that I was most certainly developing feelings for, fly off into the night sky.

An electronic ringing sound jolted me from my reverie, and I looked around, confused at first, until I realized it was Navan’s comm. I went over to his bag and picked it up. It continued to ring, and I pressed a button, bringing the device up to my ear.

“Hello? Hello, Navan, is that you?” came Bashrik’s voice.

“It’s Riley,” I said.

“Riley! Where’s Navan? Is everything all right? Why didn’t he pick up? Did something happen?!”

I suppressed a smile at the anxiety in his voice. “Everything’s fine,” I said. “Well, relatively speaking. Navan’s just checking out the area, so he’s not here right now. I know I probably shouldn’t have picked up, but I had a feeling it might be you, and I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that. We’ve all been worried sick, quite frankly. You don’t know my brother the way I do, and he can get himself into situations that are way beyond his control. I know Navan’s downplaying the whole thing but if you haven’t noticed yet, that’s sort of the way he goes about things. It’s not a big deal—until it is. And, I’m not trying to be an alarmist or anything—but this is a very big deal. And it’s just the two of you? It might be different if I was there but as it is, you two are both in a lot of danger. In fact—”

“Is that Riley?!” Angie’s voice came through loud and clear, almost as if she were right there in the ship with me. In a way, I wished she was. There was the sound of rustling. “Riley? Is that you?”

“Hey,” I said, smiling at the sound of her voice. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

“When are you coming back?” She sounded as anxious as Bashrik had. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, we’re okay,” I said. “And I’m not sure when we’ll be back. Hopefully soon. We’ve got to take care of something out here first. But we’re going to get back there as soon as we possibly can.”

“I can’t say that’s the most reassuring thing I’ve ever heard,” Angie said.

“I know. I’m sorry I can’t give you a better answer. But try not to worry, okay?”

“Okay. Lauren says hi. I’m going to give this thing back to Bashrik. Stay safe, Riley.”

“I will.”

Bashrik continued to grill me when he got back on, and though I tried to answer him as best I could, I knew my responses weren’t going to satisfy him; the only thing he really wanted to hear was that Navan and I had given things a second thought and were on our way back.

“You might have noticed he gets a little obsessed with things,” Bashrik said. “And by a little I mean a whole heck of a lot. He’s got this idea in his head that he’s somehow going to be able to protect Earth, like it’s his sole purpose in life.”

“He told me about your sister,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

Bashrik paused. “He did?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s . . . surprising. I didn’t think he’d ever bring that up with anyone outside the family.” He sighed. “Well, Naya would’ve been all for this little recon mission you two are on. And I know that plays a role in all the decisions he’s made, too. He thinks that he can somehow make it up to her, even though she’s dead. Like if he saves Earth, he’s somehow atoned for the fact that he couldn’t save her. Even though none of that was his fault.”

“He doesn’t think so.”

“Of course he doesn’t.” Bashrik sighed again, and when he spoke, his tone was softer, resigned. “Navan’s always been the biggest, strongest brother. The smartest, too. Some of the brothers resented him for it, though I never did. How could I? But that doesn’t mean Navan is immortal—not yet, anyway. Sometimes he acts like he is, but we both know that he’s not. I don’t want him to get himself killed. You’ve got to watch out for him, Riley. I know he’s going to be focused on keeping you safe, so maybe you can figure out a way to make sure that means he’s safe, too.”

“I’ll try,” I said, though what I really wanted to ask was how did he expect me to do that? I was just a human, after all—inferior in every way to a coldblood. But if there was something that I could do, some way that I could help, then of course I would try my best.