“I have no intention of telling anyone about your relationship,” Caelan murmured. “I’m not interested in destroying the happiness of others. My grievance is with Masaru alone.”
Hitomi’s brow furrowed as she stared at Caelan. “You came all this way to free Souta?”
Caelan laughed and shook his head. “We would have traveled any distance to rescue your brother. He’s family to us.”
“We would never leave him behind,” Eno added.
“Then you need to free him and take him far from here. Don’t ever return.”
“Do you think your father plans to kill Takahashi Souta?” Rayne demanded.
She nodded. Stepping away from Mio a little, she folded her arms over her stomach and looked over each of them. “There’s no question of it. My father has never cared for Souta. He shouldn’t have been born. And then, my brother always went out of his way to disobey my father. He spent more time in the Chasm and making friends with the Phantoms than serving the clan. Everyone knows my father sent Souta to the Guardian of the Godstone in the belief that he’d die quickly.”
Caelan’s chest tightened, squeezing his heart. They were running out of time. Masaru was going to find a reason to execute Drayce, and Caelan didn’t want to give him that chance. They needed to get him safely out of prison.
The only problem was that they couldn’t leave the Isle of Stone until Caelan bonded with the Goddess of Fire, and they hadn’t yet located the godstone.
FOURTEEN
Caelan Talos
Masaru summoned them up the mountain to the Takahashi manor by midafternoon. Caelan didn’t ask questions. He just dressed in his military suit and loaded into the car with Rayne, Eno, and Adrian. His brain was fuzzy with fatigue and anxious energy. He was pretty sure he was moving mainly due to caffeine and willpower.
When the driver dropped them at the manor, they were met by Daichi, who was looking more harassed and frazzled than their first visit. His manner was stiff as he bowed quickly to Caelan.
“Lord Takahashi is waiting,” Daichi announced as a greeting, and Caelan hoped this was a sign that the lord of the dragons was prepared for a private meeting rather than leaving them cooling their heels in a grand audience.
They followed the assistant through the house, once again noting the preponderance of guards stationed in the courtyard. But this time, they also appeared to be thick within the manor where they hadn’t been before. Their dark armor and swords glinted in the fading afternoon light, while their faces all held that professional blank stare as if they were nothing more than statues.
After winding through the house, they arrived in the audience room where they were first introduced to Takahashi Masaru. Caelan had been hoping they would be taken straight to the private study, but the good thing was that the audience was significantly smaller this time. Masaru was seated on the raised dais with his son Shinobu standing behind him. Hitomi was a few feet away from them as well, dressed in black robes with her head bowed. The tables on the wings of the main floor were gone this time and a handful of others were standing about.
And kneeling in the center of the room in front of Masaru was Drayce.
His lover had his back to his father and was facing Caelan as he entered. Heavy iron shackles circled his wrists and the collar remained around his neck, similar to the ones worn by all the Phantoms in the Valley. He looked pale and thin, worn to the bone. His clothes were filthy and becoming ragged.
Gritting his teeth against an angry snarl, Caelan promised himself that he was not leaving without Drayce.
“King Caelan Talos,” Masaru greeted with the tiniest bow of his head. “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.”
Caelan returned the bow while keeping his hands clenched into tight fists at his side. “Thank you for having me. I’m sure you’re busy investigating the wholesale murder of your people in the Chasm.” For a second, Masaru silently blinked at him, his eyes wide and brow furrowed as if he honestly had no clue as to what Caelan was talking about. So he continued, knowing that Rayne was very likely wishing he could slap a hand over Caelan’s mouth to stop his words. “My own experience with dragons is that they are a very proud and protective people. I was not expecting to see the most helpless and vulnerable of your citizen abandoned by the ruling clan and its leader.”
It was a struggle to keep his gaze locked on Masaru when he very much wanted to stare at Drayce, to read his expression, to let him know that everything positive he knew about dragons came from him. Mio was a small help, but he didn’t trust Mio. He trusted Drayce, even after discovering his secret. He would always trust Drayce.