Chill (Klance Warmth series Book 2 of +4)

32: Crystal Preview: Hint

A/N: The official end of Chill. Sad, I know. But don't fear. The first chapter of the sequel, Crystal, is up on Wattpad just like I promised.

NOTE that this preview is NOT the full version of chapter 1 of Crystal. This is just a shortened preview. The get the full version, then read chapter 1 of Crystal.
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This was the worst part of the job. This was why he'd requested to  work with cadets in the first place. Cadets weren't sent out into the  field until they were old enough and had the experience needed to keep  themselves alive. Losing not one but two cadets in one night without any explanation from the higher ups was an outrage.

Thankfully,  Iverson had done his damnedest to make a montage of the many videos,  reports, and intercepted communiques he could get his hands on. Now he  was sitting in a study room at a college with everything he had been  able to gather loaded on a flash drive, his laptop open on the table in  front of him so his back was to the wall, and waiting for the call that  would most likely cost him his livelihood.

But this wasn't about  him. It was about two cadets who vanished, and an attempt to cover up  the disappearance. This wasn't how he preferred to get the information  out there, but it the only choice he had left.

The video call rang, and he picked up.

~XxX~

He  woke up slowly, taking his time returning to consciousness. It was warm  and comfortable here. He was almost certain this wasn't his bed.  Suddenly he was fully awake and aware. His body tingled and his mind was  slightly foggy from the abrupt awakening but he was clear headed enough  to know the sheets and blankets he was currently entangled in were not  his.

There was also another body in bed with him. Keithek shifted  minutely so he could look down. Messy brown hair and skin a shade or so  lighter met his eyes. The sight brought a smile to his face. He couldn't  resist the urge to lean down and press a kiss to his mate's hair,  loving the scent of Lance. The faintest hint of smoke was still in  Lance's hair, but Keith could also smell the prince's shampoo and  conditioner. Lance must have taken a shower sometime last night.

Lance  shifted then, pressing closer to Keithek's side as if trying to burrow  into the red paladin's heat. Keithek smirked and pressed light kisses on  Lance's ear, running his free hand down his mate's back. His fingers  traced every nob of his mate's spine all the way down to the curve of  Lance's bottom.

"Good morning," he whispered against his mate's ear.

Again, he was met by another swat and a tired mumble.

"You need to get up," Keithek said.

"No," Lance mumbled.

"I'll help you."

"Quiznak you."

"You really aren't a morning person, are you?" Keithek teased.

His face promptly met the backside of Lance's hand.

"Alright,  fine," he grumbled, crawling out of bed. "Stay in bed. But if Allura  asked after you, I'll tell her you were too done in to get up."

If  a ship-wide alarm blared to life a half varga later effectively scaring  the prince badly enough to send him tumbling off the bed, Keithek  wasn't to blame.

~XxX~

Shiro stood in front of the  cryopod grimly. There was so much they needed to know and the prisoner  frozen in stasis in the pod held all the answers they needed.  Unfortunately, interrogating the prisoner in using traditional methods  wasn't an option. Allura mentioned possibly using the memory core  technology to extract the prisoner's memories and sift through them like  a program on a computer. Coran was against the idea, but he'd been  overruled.

Shiro wasn't sure how he felt about the whole thing. He  agreed that they needed the information Sendak had, no doubt about  that. But he wasn't sure he liked the idea of Sendak's consciousness  being in any way connected to the Castleship, especially with the  remnants of the Galra crystal still causing trouble with the Castle's  systems. There was no way of knowing how deep the infection went. This  was going to be a long trip.

~XxX~

He was bored beyond  belief. There hadn't been a significant skirmish between the weak  resistance and the Galra Empire for months. However, since the news of  Voltron's reappearance reached his ears, he'd been itching for a fight.  He wanted to prove his strength and independence.

He popped a  berry in his mouth and chewed absently, swallowing the tiny seed. A hand  slid down his shoulder and down over his chest just as a pair of  breasts pressed against his back. He sipped his drink before handing it  to his companion who took it eagerly.

Honestly, their addiction to  the concoction disgusted him. But it kept them docile and obedient and  that was what was important. He knew better than to let his pets roam  free without a collar of some sort restricting their movements. Zarkon  had made a mistake appointing Prorok to the position of commander.  Prorok was a fool.

Prince Lotor was no fool.