“I didn’t agree to this to get shot with you today!” Feroz snarled.
Adrian stepped forward, grabbed the front of the prime minister’s shirt, and shoved him backward into the dumpster. The metal bonged with the impact, and the prime minister gasped. “You won’t get shot so long as you don’t double-cross us.”
“Wh-wh-what? I-I wouldn’t—” he stammered, his wide eyes jumping from Adrian to Caelan to Rayne as if he wasn’t quite sure who to plead with.
“Where’s the entrance to the godstone? Where are we headed?” Caelan demanded, not willing to listen to the man’s nonsense any longer. Postponing their trip to meet with Lore was out of the question. It didn’t matter if Safa was making her move now or later; they couldn’t afford to wait.
“My office. There’s a secret passage to the godstone, but it’s accessible only through my office,” Jasper replied.
Rayne glanced over his shoulder at Caelan, one eyebrow raised. That was going to be the hardest place to get to within the building, but it also made the most sense if the prime minister was the only person who was supposed to know about the godstone in the first place.
“Should we wait for nightfall? The darkness would give us more cover, and there would be less people walking around the buildings,” Rayne suggested.
“There will still be Empire soldiers and security systems to get through,” Caelan muttered. “Innocent bystanders will get out of the way the second the chaos breaks out.”
Drayce snorted. “It seems like you have a lot less concern for these innocent bystanders.”
Caelan turned his hardened gaze on Jasper Feroz, who shrank against the filthy dumpster. “It’s hard to sympathize with people who have lied to us and used us for decades.”
“Do you think Kaes could afford us some extra cover?” Rayne asked.
God of Storms? Caelan prodded the god in question.
Kaes grunted as if Caelan had woken him up from his afternoon nap, but Cael wasn’t fooled. He knew the god had been hanging on their every word, his essence practically vibrating with excitement at the idea of getting to jump into the action.
What’s he got in mind? Is the bookish one wanting a little squall? Or death and destruction?
Caelan nearly sighed out loud at the question. There was no middle ground with the gods. He turned his attention to Jasper instead of Rayne. “Do we need electricity to open the secret passageway?”
“I-I don’t think so. It’s incredibly old. I think it’s based on levers. Why?”
How about power outages, people scared in their homes? You know, just shy of the ‘end of days’ pandemonium you prefer.
You’re lucky I like you, kid.
Caelan rolled his eyes. It’s not about liking me and all about enjoying the anarchy you create.
Kaes cackled wildly as the feeling of his energy built in Caelan’s chest, as if the god were growing the storm around his heart first before releasing it into the atmosphere.
Caelan glanced over at his companions to find them all watching him. He offered up a reassuring smirk. “Give me a minute to prime the storm, and then we can move. Rayne, figure out the most direct route to our target.”
“Understood.”
“What? We need to go through a back entrance and sneak through a couple of the connecting buildings. It’s the safest route,” Feroz argued.
Rayne immediately cut him off and launched into reasons why they would be taking the route Caelan demanded, but Cael didn’t hear a word of it. He was already sinking into the power of the God of Storms as it swirled in him.
Of all the gods, Kaes’s powers not only felt the most familiar, but they were also the ones he enjoyed the most. The God of Storms tapped into all of his darker emotions and suddenly made them okay. He was no longer ashamed of his anger, hatred, and rage. He embraced them. For the first time in months, he felt like he could breathe again, as if the rope that had wrapped around his throat had loosened and he could break free.
Let it all out, kid. Let’s make them pay for their betrayal. The God of Storms’ voice dropped, below a low rumble of thunder in his head.
Caelan chuckled with him as he thrust his arms into the air. The energy bundled in his chest shot into the air. Wind whipped through the alley, sweeping like angry ghosts through the city while black tar clouds poured across the sky, separating Brightspire from the heavens.
He opened his eyes to see a thick branch of lightning stretched out between the clouds followed immediately by a rock-splitting boom of thunder. Movement at the end of the alley jerked Caelan’s attention from the sky to see Eno rushing toward them.
“Problem?” he demanded and pointed at the sky.
Caelan grinned and shook his head. “Just giving us some added coverage.”