This poor schmuck had probably been on his way to the bathroom or to fetch his dinner when Adrian ambushed him.
After making a quick check for keys and coming up empty-handed, Adrian resumed his descent into the basement. Both Eno and Caelan had confirmed that no other prisoners were being kept near Drayce, as if Masaru feared that anyone would know Drayce was even on the island. Or maybe it was more of what Drayce might tell another. His friend was a chatty asshole who loved to tell stories. Drayce probably had a few good ones to tell about his father.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he paused and peered around a corner to find a table with three men playing cards. Fuck. This was not good. Two he might have been able to handle without any casualties, but three wasn’t possible. One of them would inevitably slip away long enough to raise the alarm.
Sure, he could kill them all, but that was a last resort.
That left him with no choice but to go ahead with Plan B and brazen his way through the next few minutes.
Gods, he hoped there wasn’t enough room for a dragon to shift and eat him.
Adrian released a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen up suddenly tense muscles. He shoved away from the wall and strolled down the middle of the hall, trying to appear as if he’d visited prisoners here every Sunday night. His heart was pounding hard enough that he could feel it in his throat, and a cold bead of sweat trickled along his neck.
The guards at the table actually did a double take at the sight of him. Their shock lasted a second, and then they were all on their feet.
“Halt! What are you doing here?” the guard who’d been walking the rounds shouted.
Adrian immediately threw up his arms. “Whoa! Whoa! Easy now!” he called as both the other guards pulled swords. “I’m here to visit Souta one last time.”
“You’re not supposed to be here. The prisoner isn’t allowed to have any visitors,” the guard snapped.
Adrian edged a couple of steps closer. From this angle, it was easier to see that he looked to be about the same age as Drayce, which meant fucking nothing now that he knew Drayce was a dragon. He thought Drayce was twenty-three, but the little idiot could be three hundred. Oh yeah, he and Drayce were going to have a long talk when he got his friend free.
“Hey, I just came here to share one last drink with my friend. Are you telling me that you won’t let a dying man have a last drink?” Adrian very carefully reached down and swung around the leather-covered flask he had looped over his shoulder on a strap. “I even got pear wine from this cute wine shop. I was told it was the best. It better be the best because I spent like a month’s salary on this.”
As he expected, three sets of eyes followed the flask as he held it up. It was not easy to hold in his smirk. Mio had procured the wine for him and promised that it was one of the best and most well-known wines on all of the island.
“Come on,” Adrian wheedled. He set the flask swinging hypnotically from where he held it by the strap. “Just one drink with my friend. Let me say good-bye. Besides, what in the world can one puny human do against three dragons?”
Sword points were lowering and the guard who’d spoken glanced over at his companions, his young, tanned face appearing a bit unsure for the first time.
Adrian edged another step closer. “You know, the flask is full. We only need enough for a swallow. If you’ve got some cups, I’m sure we could share this.”
“Five minutes,” a somewhat older guard barked as he shoved his sword into its sheath. “And you give us our share of the wine first.”
“Of course!” Adrian easily agreed and closed the last few steps between them.
The guard grunted as he pulled out a small device from his pocket and pushed a button. “There. He’s back in his human form for now.”
The final sword was put away and cups were scrounged up. Adrian poured a generous amount in each of the three paper cups that looked as if they’d once held coffee or tea. He even dropped into the fourth empty seat as the men drank their wine, asking about their card game.
As Mio had promised, it took exactly two minutes for the sedative to kick in. The smaller two men collapsed on the tabletop, snoring. The third had a little more bulk to him and managed to get to his feet. He swayed and pointed at Adrian before his eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped unconscious to the floor.