Luckily, Eno remembered the way to the underground entrance better than he did. His bodyguard directed him through back streets and alleys until they finally reached the entrance that appeared to be blocked by another black SUV. A guard jumped from the driver’s seat and saluted him.
“Your Majesty, I’ve been instructed to take you inside,” the guard announced.
“Let’s go!” Caelan shouted, grabbing the passenger-side door and hopping inside while Eno climbed in.
The kid—because he couldn’t have been more than sixteen—jumped behind the wheel and stomped on the gas. They raced inside, the concrete walls a blur and the lights flashing overhead. “The doors have been opened for you and two of our lead demolitions officers have just arrived. They are surveying the lighthouse right now.”
“Excellent. Thank you.” Caelan couldn’t help but feel surprised at how quickly they worked, or how quickly they’d agreed to his proposal to bury the Wind Stone in rubble. But if the alternative was risking it falling into the hands of the Empire, buried was better.
He wasn’t sure if this kid or even the demolitions officers understood exactly what they were planning to bury under the lighthouse, though.
In the blink of an eye, he and Eno were running down the white corridor toward the Wind Stone. Caelan hadn’t thought he’d be back here so soon. He’d thought he might make one more visit to talk to Kaes before he left Caspagir for Erya, but definitely not under these circumstances.
There were no guards this time. Just the two of them. The doors to the Godstone’s room were already standing open, and shining in the center of the room was the giant blue crystal reflecting the sunlight that bounced around the lighthouse.
Together, they stopped just inside the doorway and Eno let out a heavy breath.
“I didn’t expect it to look the same. Just a different color,” Eno murmured. “Feels the same too.”
Caelan jerked in surprise. “You can sense the stone?”
Eno shook his head. “No, not like that. Not like you. Just a feeling of it being overwhelming. Like it’s sort of sucking all the air out of the room.”
Reaching out, Caelan placed his hand on Eno’s shoulder. “You good to be in here?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Caelan smirked at Eno’s sharp tone and dropped his hand to his side. The man was ready for anything, even if it happened to be crazy shit that included sleeping gods. “Good. I’m giving us five minutes, and then we have to leave. I might need you to pull me out if I take too long.”
“And if he knocks you out again? We don’t have twenty-four hours for you to sleep off your god hangover.”
Caelan frowned at the Wind Stone that continued to hover in the room as if the entire world around it wasn’t on the brink of war and death. “If I’m not awake to tell you to move the stone, then give the order to bury it.” He paused and grinned. “After we’re moved to safety, of course.”
“Of course.”
“From there, I want you, Rayne, and Drayce to do whatever you can to protect Caspagir and Sirelis. Don’t let what happened to our home happen here.”
Eno placed his fist over his heart and bowed his head to Caelan “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Caelan nearly rolled his eyes, but Eno was right. This was a royal command he was issuing. They might spend their days as friends, forgetting the class difference between them, but right now, Caelan had to act like a king. He needed to do what was best for the people who were in his care. And right now, that included the people of Caspagir.
Taking a deep breath, Caelan placed his hand on the cool, smooth surface of the stone. Naturally, it was only now that he was standing here that he realized that he didn’t have a reliable way to summon the God of Storms. Kaes could decide that he’d done enough for Caelan and have nothing more to say to him. Really, he needed to learn to think things through better. He couldn’t rely on Rayne to call him out every time he missed something big. Such as the fact that gods weren’t beholden to his needs.
“I swear, kid. You have got some of the strangest thoughts.” Kaes laughed.
Caelan blinked and saw the old man in the fishing hat leaning against the wall just on the other side of the stone. He moved around the stone so that he could more clearly see the old man. It was on the tip of his tongue to snap at the god for not warning him about the entire drowning thing in order to receive the powers of the Wind Stone, but now was definitely not the time.
“The Empire is here,” Caelan immediately said.
Kaes grunted and nodded. “Annoying little twits.”
“We can’t let them get the Wind Stone.” Caelan shook his head and realized what he was saying. “We can’t let the Empire get their hands on you.”