Breath of Life (Godstone Saga 2)

He glanced over to see Eno’s face twist up, his lips pressed into a hard line. “I…I don’t know.” Eno stopped in the middle of the street and scanned the area before grabbing Drayce’s elbow and pulling him into a narrow alley. Drayce’s heart skipped a beat as Eno shoved him against the brick wall and moved in close so that they were both standing in the same murky puddle. “Look, shit is crazy right now. You and me, we’re not smart like Rayne and Caelan. We don’t have the time to ponder everyone’s motives. We have to act quickly to keep them safe, right?”

Drayce nodded.

“Then that leaves us with only one choice—we have to trust each other completely. We have to trust Rayne and Cael completely. We’re the only ones who know the full story. We want to save Thia.”

“Right,” Drayce agreed with another nod.

“Do you trust me?” Drayce opened his mouth to agree but Eno glared at him. “Fucking think about it. Do you?” Eno retreated a step and held his hands out to the side. “Because if you don’t, shoot me in the heart right now. I’d rather be dead than have you believe that keeping Caelan safe isn’t my number-one priority.”

In the blink of an eye, seven years of experiences rushed through Drayce’s brain. Yeah, Eno drove him crazy and could be so fucking irritating, but there was not a single instance where Drayce had questioned Eno’s absolute loyalty to Caelan. He would die to keep him safe.

“I trust you,” Drayce said easily.

Eno dropped his hands to his side and grinned. “And I trust you too. No one is more important to you than Caelan.”

Drayce grinned and turned toward the street, hoping that Eno couldn’t see the blush that was currently burning his cheeks. “And Rayne. He gave up his chance to marry a freaking prince, right? Of course he’s dedicated to Caelan.”

Eno grunted and smacked Drayce on the back of the head on his way to the street. “Let’s go see what kind of trouble they’ve gotten into.”

Drayce hurried after Eno, feeling a little lighter. He didn’t want to worry about who they could and couldn’t trust. But it was nice knowing that there were at least three people in the entire world that he could trust and rely on through it all. The rest they would have to figure out along the way.

“Yeah, I’d hate to miss out on all the fun.”

And Drayce was definitely looking forward to taking care of this traitorous chancellor.

17

Caelan Talos

Waking to the sight of a gun barrel was not how Caelan liked to start his morning. The past few days under house arrest had been relatively quiet. He and Rayne had eaten, brainstormed their options, and awaited Chancellor Croft’s inevitable visit where she tried to convince Caelan to peacefully abdicate. There had been no word from General Morgan, Eno, or Drayce.

But today, Croft was clearly taking a new tactic. Or something had gone horribly wrong for her. He was hoping it was the latter.

Caelan kept his smirk to himself as he and Rayne were hustled down the stairs to what looked to be a study for the president of the university.

Sadly, all thoughts of karma finally catching up to Croft were crushed when he spotted Eno and Drayce on their knees in the center of the room. Guards stood behind them, guns pointed at their heads.

Air refused to fill his lungs. His heart lurched painfully as panic scrambled his thoughts into a useless swirl of fear and horror. What was happening here? How were they at the mansion? What was Croft even thinking?

“What are you doing? Release them,” Caelan said roughly, not caring that his voice trembled.

“Absolutely not!” Octavia’s voice rang out.

Caelan’s head snapped around to find her standing with four other ministers who he only vaguely recognized. He might have under normal circumstances, but right now his brain was too locked up over the threat to his companions. There was no fucking way he was going to allow her to execute them.

“Chancellor Croft—” Rayne started in a hard, loud voice, but she was quick to cut him off.

“They are prisoners and will await trial for treason and espionage,” Croft announced with a smug smile. “They were discovered sneaking around the mansion, fully armed. They were clearly plotting against the good and safety of Erya.”

Caelan barked out a harsh laugh. “You find it odd that the king’s bodyguards were trying to free me from my wrongful imprisonment?”

“What I find odd is that you have a New Rosanthe spy as one of your bodyguards,” Croft replied.

He wanted to snicker at her, but her expression was too smug and self-righteous. She couldn’t be right. But…what did he know about Drayce? He wasn’t from Stormbreak and never spoke of his family. He couldn’t…