Unfortunately, he also knew that there was no way they would allow him to leave them behind.
“You okay? Talking to the gods?” Drayce asked.
“Yeah, some. Sort of. Sorry. What were we talking about?” He shook his head hard, trying to dislodge the dark feeling or at least shove it to the back of his mind so that he could examine it later when everyone wasn’t closely watching him.
“We were talking about when we should have the prime minister take us to the godstone,” Rayne replied.
“The sooner, the better,” Caelan automatically said. He had absolutely zero desire to meet the god, but there was no avoiding it. If they could discover what the fuck was going on and why the goddess wanted them dead, they might have a better chance of stopping her.
“For more than one reason,” Drayce muttered. His lover folded his arms over his chest and frowned. “Those idiots who grabbed me didn’t talk a lot in front of me, but they did once. They must have thought I was unconscious.” Drayce shrugged. “Either way, they made a point of saying that they needed to hold me for at least two days. They stressed it.”
“Safa is planning to make a move for the godstone in two days,” Calean whispered.
“You sure?” Davi asked.
Caelan nodded. “Positive. She knows I wouldn’t abandon Drayce. That I’d prioritize rescuing Drayce over my search for the godstone. As long as her people had him, I’d be too distracted to bond with the god.”
“But I’m here now, safe and sound.” Drayce extended both of his hands over his head and laughed. “We can go to the godstone anytime you want.”
“Tomorrow,” Caelan stated firmly. “We have to go tomorrow. I don’t care what time it is.” Caelan looked over at Rayne. “Reach out to the Gray Fox. Tell him to send a message to Feroz. Arrange it. Whatever he has to do. I don’t care. We go see the God of Wisdom tomorrow.”
Rayne bowed his head to Caelan. “Consider it done, Your Majesty.”
Caelan nodded. “Everyone, get some sleep. Check your weapons. Load up on as much ammo as you can comfortably carry. We go into this expecting to encounter Safa and New Rosanthe.”
And possibly even something worse.
TWENTY-ONE
Drayce Ladon
Something was off.
One minute, Caelan seemed focused and ready to act, to take down the Empire, Safa, the gods, anything to save Thia.
But then he’d stepped away and become so very quiet. They’d all thought he was talking to the gods in his head. They’d seen it happen plenty of times during the past several months and had learned to give him his space as they worked things out.
Only this time, something had changed and it wasn’t good. Drayce wanted to know what the fuck the gods were telling Caelan, but he knew better than to push him too quickly. His lover liked to spend time thinking about things, turning them over in his head from every angle. When he finally had a handle on the information and his own feelings, he would talk about it with someone.
Except time was running short, and they were unwilling to allow Caelan to take more risks than absolutely necessary.
Did they have a choice in the matter?
Caelan had nearly killed himself stopping time so that he, Adrian, and Nina could escape Safa and the Empire soldiers. His absolute refusal to discuss the Dead God was terrifying all of them. How far was he going to push himself to protect them? To protect all of Thia?
That was probably the easiest question to answer. Caelan was going to push himself straight into death. He would do so willingly and without hesitation if it meant protecting those he loved.
And whether Caelan approved or not, Drayce planned to follow him.
Of course he’d put up one kickass, insane fight first. He wasn’t going to let Zyros or death steal him away so easily.
As everyone wandered toward the door leading to the lower levels, Drayce ambled over to Caelan’s side and draped an arm across his shoulders. He repositioned his lover so they were staring out across the city, taking in the warm glow while clouds lazily drifted across the sky, blocking out the stars.
“It’s not a bad skyline,” Drayce muttered, leaning his head against Cael’s. “Ours is totally better.”
Caelan suddenly chuckled and leaned heavily into Drayce. “I was just thinking the same thing a few minutes ago.”
“Brilliant minds think alike,” Drayce crooned, wringing another laugh out of Cael.