Venturers

by Bella Forrest

  “Yeah, but they’re pacifists. They’re not going to do anything. We might get a stern scolding, but that’s probably the worst of it,” Angie remarked. “Besides, I think they’d be more concerned with keeping old purple-locks hidden away. They’d probably thank us for being honest instead of letting her get away with her plan.”

  Lauren lifted a finger to her lips.

  I frowned. “What’s the matter?”

  “I was just thinking, maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this so openly, after all. I know we’ve got the earpieces submerged, but what if she can still hear us?” she whispered, looking deeply uncomfortable.

  “Pfft, don’t worry about the grape-headed old witch. She isn’t going to do anything about it,” Angie said confidently. “She’s so afraid of catching the plague that she won’t set foot outside the Vanquish. We could be downing magnums of immortality elixir, and she would still stay put. We might as well talk about it while she’s not standing over us, making us wash her panties for the hundredth time!”

  I burst out laughing. Lauren followed shortly after, clutching her stomach, and we collapsed in hysterics.

  “Are you harboring some resentment there, Angie?” I teased, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  She grinned. “You’re damn right I am! If I never see another pair of someone else’s undies, I’ll be ecstatic,” she said, chuckling. “Now, I’m getting out of here before someone tries to pour lobster sauce on me. Navan, shield your eyes,” she warned, checking that Bashrik was looking the other way, too. Navan did as he was told, burying his face in my neck, kissing me secretly.

  Shakily, she pulled herself out of the pool and stood up, just as Bashrik turned around to say something. His mouth froze, wide open in shock as he caught a full view of her.

  Angie shrieked, trying to cover herself with her hands, much to the amusement of the rest of us. “Stop looking at me!” she yelled, bending her legs awkwardly. I looked at the mortified pair, while Navan sank deeper into the milky water of the hot spring, bubbles rising up as he laughed beneath the surface.

  “I wasn’t! I just… Well, I… And you were… I didn’t mean to!” Bashrik fumbled for the right words, his eyes as wide as saucers. Even now, he couldn’t tear his gaze away.

  “You’re still looking, you idiot!” Angie shouted, but the poor guy seemed rooted to the spot.

  A grin suddenly broke out on Bashrik’s face, teetering on the edge of laughter. Holding up his hands in surrender, he turned around. “It’s not like you’ve got anything to be ashamed of! You’re very… voluptuous, and perfectly… Well, you know. Whatever,” he called over his shoulder.

  Angie looked horrified. “Everyone knows ‘voluptuous’ is a backhanded compliment!” she remarked, moving over to her pile of clothes.

  “In Vysanthe, it’s a good thing! It must just be lost in translation!” he shouted, his face still turned away.

  “I wish you would get lost in translation,” she muttered, snatching up her clothes before taking off down the side path in a huff.

  Bashrik raised his hands in despair. “That doesn’t make any sense!” he yelled, but she’d already gone. “And you can all stop laughing, too!” he warned, keeping his back to us. We were chuckling, knowing how their banter usually played out.

  “I’ll go after her,” Lauren said, climbing out of the pool. “Damage control,” she added with a grin. As she disappeared down the path, in hot pursuit of the furious Angie, Bashrik slowly craned his neck around.

  “Is it safe?” he asked miserably.

  “Yeah, they won’t be back anytime soon, though you should probably apologize to her at some point,” I suggested.

  He pointed at himself. “Me, apologize? I was trying to be nice!”

  “Even so, you upset her. She’ll appreciate it if you say sorry,” Navan said with a smile. “If you don’t, she’ll think you’re a colossal asshat.”

  “Nice word,” I commended.

  Navan laughed. “I picked it up from you humans.”

  Bashrik let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m completely useless around her. I get all tongue-tied and ridiculous—do you think I’m sick? Maybe it’s the coldblood virus. That would explain the red cheeks and the swollen tongue, right?” he moaned, folding his arms across his chest.

  “The only sickness you have, Bash, is lovesickness,” Navan teased.

  Bashrik looked like he was about to say something else, when he remembered I was sitting there, too. In his eyes, I was one of the mysterious enemy—a female who would tell her friends everything he said. He shut his mouth again.

  “I’m tired of this heat and these vicious bugs. They’re eating me alive!” he complained, slapping at a bug on his neck. To me, it seemed like he was looking for an excuse to escape. “I’m going inside before they drain me dry,” he added, gathering his things and heading for the path.

  It was then I realized Navan and I were alone together for the first time since we’d left Vysanthe. Our eyes locked. A smile pulled at the corners of Navan’s oh-so-kissable lips.

  “So…” he murmured, wrapping his arms around me.

  “So?” I whispered back, tilting my chin up, my mouth meeting his in an electric touch.

  For a brief, irritating moment, the thought of Seraphina entered my head. I was alone with Navan, giving me the perfect opportunity to tell him what she’d asked—about him returning to Gianne’s queendom. I really wanted to do the right thing, but now didn’t seem like the best time, either. We were lightyears away from Vysanthe. What could he possibly do from here? No, it would have to wait a little while longer, just until we were back on Vysanthe, where he could make up his mind while on the same planet as her. It didn’t make sense to put that pressure on him now, with so much already going on.

  The thought of potentially losing Navan to another woman, even superficially, spurred on my passion. My breath caught in my throat as I clung to him, feeling his hands move across my wet body. I pressed myself against him, smiling against his mouth as I felt his excitement. We didn’t have any of the herbs with us, much to my disappointment. Navan had brought some onto the ship, at my request, but they were still tucked away in a corner of our quarters.

  “I wish we could—” I murmured against his neck, his mouth catching mine before I could finish my sentence. I gasped as his hands slipped beneath the surface of the water, his lips tracing the contours of my throat. He undid the band of my ponytail so his fingertips could run through the loose tendrils.

  “Me too,” he whispered. My eyes closed in ecstasy. “But right now, I think we need to get you out of these wet clothes.” He smiled, wrapping my legs around his waist, then carried me out of the hot spring and lay me down on the warm rocks. Slowly, his lips began to explore every inch of me, tingling my bare skin, sending shivers of pure pleasure up my spine, my whole body trembling beneath his touch.

  Maybe this was paradise, after all.

  Chapter Eleven

  I awoke to the hazy sun glancing in through the gauze-curtained windows of our lodge, and a strange crackling coming from somewhere nearby. It sounded like a smothered radio, but there wasn’t any kind of music device in the lodge, as far as I knew. I rubbed my eyes, sitting up, and glanced around for the source of the noise. The lodge itself was sparse but pleasant, with a double bed, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette, the latter fully stocked with delicious local produce, but there was definitely no radio.

  “Is anyone listening to me? You can’t be sleeping that deeply!” a voice barked, though it was garbled, like it was coming from underwater. Shocked, I turned to look at the four tiny devices that lay on the wooden surface of the bedside cabinet, where we’d put them after scooping them from the small pool the previous day. One of our earpieces was still speaking, though the other three were dead. Hurriedly, I shoved the functioning one in my ear.

  “Pandora?” I asked.

  “Of course it’s me! Honestly, it’s like waking the dead,” she muttered impatiently. “Remember, n
one of you are on vacation; I do not expect you to sleep in like this again. Understood?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Understood. I think we have space-lag or something,” I reasoned.

  From the sound of her voice, it didn’t seem as though she’d overheard our conversation yesterday—if she had, there would have been no mercy. As it was, she just sounded irritated with us. I knew that didn’t mean anything for certain, but it gave me hope that we’d gotten away with our discussion in the hot springs.

  “While I have your attention, might I ask how it’s possible that I can’t get in touch with the others? Have your earpieces been damaged? You had better not have taken them out. I warned you not to,” she said coldly, accusation in her voice. Bashrik’s earpiece should’ve been working, but he must not have heard it this morning.

  “We went in the hot springs yesterday—do you think they might’ve gotten waterlogged?” I asked, playing coy. “We didn’t want to disobey you, so we kept them in. I guess I should’ve known electronics and water wouldn’t mix.”

  She sighed in annoyance. “Come to the Vanquish and pick up extras today. I will throw them out to you. Undoubtedly, the coldbloods in the group are starting to get hungry, too. I’ll throw some vials out for them, alongside your earpieces. Until then, make sure you stay together so I can hear what is happening,” she grumbled.

  “Thank you, Pandora,” I said quietly.

  “Do not go in the water again. If you do, take your earpieces out and leave them on the side, where it’s dry. Understood?” she pressed. I made a noise of agreement. “Good. Now, you need to get a move on with the Draconians. Orion has been in touch, and he demanded you obtain the blood within five days. He’ll rendezvous with us to collect it before returning to Earth,” she explained, her tone frosty.

  “Wait, we’re not going back to Vysanthe?” I asked, confused. Were we headed back to Earth, after all? My heart jumped with unexpected excitement, though it was short-lived.

  “Nice try, Riley. We will be continuing to Vysanthe, to continue our espionage duties, but Orion wishes to collect the blood and take it back to Earth as soon as possible. There’s no time to waste, when it comes to the elixir.”

  I grimaced. “Can’t we go back with him? That’s the plan eventually, anyway, isn’t it?” I said boldly, knowing I would kick myself if I didn’t ask.

  “That is the plan, but Orion is not finished with you. He requires your continued presence on Vysanthe, and until he states otherwise, that is where you will go,” she stated. I was beginning to doubt whether that was the plan at all. So far, there didn’t seem to be any sign of us returning home. Instead, days just kept being added to the ones we’d already endured.

  “Orion is going to send us home, isn’t he?” I pressed.

  “If you do as he says,” she replied. “I have other matters to attend to. Hurry up, get the blood, and get back here as soon as you can.” With that, she ended the transmission.

  I nudged Navan awake, telling him everything Pandora had just said. He looked at me sleepily, before pointing to the earpieces and mouthing, “They still work?”

  I nodded, mouthing back with awkward hand gestures. “One does. The others broke.”

  With a yawn, he scooped me to him and kissed me tenderly on the lips. I laughed, pushing against his chest, wriggling free of his grasp. “We have to get going,” I said reluctantly.

  Sighing, he flung back the covers, revealing his naked body. “Are you sure?”

  I grinned, taking in the beautiful sight of him. “We’ll never get anything done if we stay in bed,” I chided, throwing his t-shirt at him.

  We dressed quickly, though I left the rest of the earpieces on the bedside table, given that they were now defunct. On my way out, I snatched up a soft, sweet bun from the kitchen counter. The flaky texture melted in my mouth, the sour dried fruits inside tingling my taste buds. Navan, meanwhile, watched me eat, licking his lips. Pandora was right—the two coldbloods were probably starving by now. He could eat regular food, for show, but it gave the coldbloods no nutritional benefit whatsoever.

  A thought came to me. Moving over to the cabinets at the far side of the lodge, I riffled around in the drawers, hoping for a miracle. There, at the back of the drawer, was a sheaf of papyrus-like papers bound together with a shimmering sapphire ribbon, and what I hoped was a pen, though it didn’t look like any pen I’d ever seen. It was a cylinder of pure gold with a hole at one end and a button at the top.

  I placed the papyrus on the small table beside the window and clicked down the button on top of the pen. The device thrummed, the cylinder growing warm in my hand. As I moved it close to the papyrus, a narrow, glittering beam of gold shot out the end, singeing the paper just enough to make a mark. Smiling to myself, I wrote a few words.

  “What are you up to?” Navan asked, moving over to where I stood.

  I flashed the piece of papyrus at him, grinning like an idiot. “We have pen and paper!” I whispered excitedly. “This changes everything!”

  He frowned. “I wouldn’t have thought the Draconians still used that stuff. It’s all a bit old fashioned.”

  “That’s why it’s genius!” I reasoned. “It’s like having the Note again. This way, we can communicate without her knowing.” With a grimace, I dropped the pen. The metal was burning my palm.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  I nodded, clicking down the button to turn the pen off. “It gets hot quick, but that just means we’ll have to write fast.”

  He looked down at the piece of papyrus, reading what I’d written, his face lighting up. My cheeks flushed. There, singed into the papyrus, were the words I love you, Navan.

  “I love you, too,” he whispered, pulling me into a tight embrace, his lips seeking out mine. “You taste like pastry.” He pulled a face, and I laughed. To anyone else, that would’ve been a good thing.

  “Come on, we better get a move on,” I murmured, taking his hand.

  We headed out of our lodge to collect the others. To my surprise, they were already sitting outside. Angie and Lauren were basking in the morning sun, while Bashrik sat in the shade.

  “Pandora wants us to go and pick up new earpieces at some point today. It seems your old ones got damaged by the hot spring water. She’s got vials of blood for you and Navan, too,” I announced, looking at Bashrik, while brandishing the pen and paper. Hurriedly, I wrote a message: Pandora is listening in. My earpiece isn’t broken. She wants to hear what we’re saying through Bashrik and me. The pen got hot in my hand, prompting me to roll it in the edge of my t-shirt as I clicked it off. “Did your message come through this morning, Bashrik?” I asked, as he got up wearily.

  He nodded. “I just didn’t feel like answering,” he said brazenly. “Besides, you seemed to have it all taken care of,” he added, evidently remembering that Pandora could hear every word.

  “Right, so we have ourselves a new five-day deadline, ending in a rendezvous with Orion,” I explained, letting them know the gist. “He wants to take the blood back to Earth as soon as possible, but we aren’t going with him. I know it’s not ideal, but Pandora promised me that we’ll go home eventually, as long as we continue to do as Orion says.”

  Angie and Lauren looked crestfallen. We had known we wouldn’t return to Earth until we’d been back to Vysanthe first, but to know that Orion was coming from Earth and wasn’t going to take us back with him—that was a kick in the teeth. If I was feeling that disappointment, I knew they would be, too.

  “We’re fine with it,” Angie muttered. “It’s what we expected.”

  “Come on, we better get started, now that we’ve got two urgent things on our to-do list,” I suggested with forced brightness.

  Lauren nodded sadly. “We should probably get those vials and earpieces first, then look over the ships and make a list of what we need to fix. The sooner we do that, the sooner we get the blood.”

  With that, the five of us headed toward the jungle path, though nobody said much as
we walked. I listened to the morning song of the exotic birds, the music whistling through the leaves, but I appeared to be the only one taking in our surroundings. Angie and Lauren were walking ahead, Angie’s hands in her pockets, her head dipped low. She was clearly avoiding Bashrik after the previous evening’s incident, but he didn’t look too cheerful, either. In fact, to put it bluntly, he looked like crap. Dark circles underlined his eyes, his lips cracked, his eyes bloodshot. A few of his veins pulsed in the same way I’d seen coldbloods’ do before, when they were tired.

  With Navan beside me, I didn’t feel like pointing out Bashrik’s weariness, wanting to save him from some severe brotherly teasing. However, when Ginji appeared on the palm-lined path up to the temple and Navan attempted to make nice with spaceship talk, I seized my opportunity.

  “How did you sleep?” I asked quietly, casting Bashrik a sideways glance.

  “Not too well,” he admitted. “I think it’s the stress of the mission, getting to me. Plus, I’m pretty hungry,” he said, though his gaze flitted toward Angie. I had a feeling I knew exactly why Bashrik hadn’t slept very well, and it had nothing to do with the mission. No doubt he’d stayed up all night fretting over what he’d said to her, wondering how he could make it right.

  “What’s stopping the two of you from… you know… getting together?” I asked outright, feeling emboldened. “You both clearly like each other. Why not just take that next step, and see where it goes?”

  Bashrik’s cheeks reddened. “I don’t know what you mean. Angie and I are just… Well, we aren’t even friends. We’re acquaintances who’ve been thrown together,” he said defiantly, his gaze dropping to the ground.

  I smiled. “You can’t fool me, Bashrik. You like her, and she likes you. I heard you talking about her last night, remember? You just need to make the first move.”