There was something in the softness of her eyes, the weight of her tone that made Caelan think she wasn’t talking about his problems with Drayce or the godstone.
“You know,” he whispered. “You can tell that I’m not completely human.”
Her jaunty smile returned, and her nose wrinkled slightly. “I’ll give you that it’s not immediately clear. You don’t smell human like your companions, but you also don’t smell like most half-breeds. Very complicated.”
Caelan forced his own smile and looked over at Eno. “Hear that? I’m complicated.”
“That’s one word for it,” Eno muttered.
“I think most dragons would just assume that you’re a weird half-breed and leave it at that, but word has traveled fast that you’re also that Guardian of the Godstone. That probably accounts for the other oddness to your scent.”
It was likely the fact that he was bonded to three gods that was confusing the dragons, but no one else other than their little group needed to know that. At least, not right away. He could take a page out of the dragons’ book and learn to be more patient, to make sure he was leveraging what information he had to his best advantage.
“Since you know my secret, is there any useful information that you could provide about half-breeds other than the fact that we seem to be despised by most full-blooded dragons?”
Mio lifted both of her hands in front of her in a kind of shrug. “There’s not much to tell. You will never be able to shift into a dragon form or fly. I’ve never seen a half-breed who can breathe fire. You’ll never be as strong as a full-blooded dragon, even in their human form.”
“So, I got nothing out of this deal,” Caelan complained.
“Pretty much,” she agreed with a laugh in her voice. “Most half-breeds are impervious to fire, even dragon fire, which is much hotter. You’ll have a longer lifespan than the average human, but shorter than the average dragon.”
And how much of that longer lifespan do I have left? Caelan tossed in Nyx’s direction with a mental sneer.
Less than you used to have. The God of Time cackled. But I have provided you with the perfect answer for getting that time back. You could even nick a few years from this tiny dragon here. She wouldn’t even notice.
But Caelan would. He’d know what he’d stolen from someone who was freely helping him and quite possibly putting her own life in jeopardy for doing it.
“Why are you helping us? Doesn’t our presence here put you in danger?” Caelan demanded, though he didn’t expect her to give him a completely honest answer.
“We can leave if it’s causing you problems with Clan Takahashi,” Rayne offered.
Mio scoffed. “And go where?” She shook her head. “You staying with me means you’re not staying with another of the clans, which keeps Masaru happy. He probably also likes that he’s not forced to keep you under his own roof. This arrangement works for him. You’re within his sphere of control, but not in his face.”
“You’re helping us because it helps your boss,” Caelan pressed, not missing how she’d yet to answer his question.
“Gods no!” Mio gasped. “I want Masaru ruined for what he’s done to my family. Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen unless something big happens or changes.” She paused and gestured toward all of them, a wide grin stretching her mouth. “But three humans and one half-breed show up on our beach suddenly, asking about an imprisoned dragon? You promise to shake things up, create opportunities we didn’t have. If Masaru is occupied with you, he might not notice if someone creeps close enough to kill him and that eldest son of his.”
Caelan lowered his gaze from Mio’s face but found himself meeting Eno’s sad eyes. A queasiness sloshed through his stomach. There was something about all of this that reminded him too much of Zastrad, and he didn’t want to see Mio go the way of Vale. She’d been so focused on her mission and finally getting home only to have everything crumble in front of her. She’d betrayed him, her careless actions nearly resulting in the death of Rayne. He saw a similar cold focus in Mio. They weren’t able to save Vale. Was it too much to hope that they could keep Mio from an early death?
“Please be careful, Mio. We lost a friend not long ago to tangled political plots. I don’t want to see you go down a similar path.”
“Don’t worry. This mess isn’t decided by insignificant people like me. I just have to know who needs what information and when.” She slipped to her feet and patted Caelan on the arm as she walked across the room and left, probably returning to the kitchen where she had been working before joining their conversation.
Adrian closed the door behind her and remained near it this time.