“Where is he? Where’s the king?”
“They took Rayne a couple of hours ago. I don’t know where. But he’s still alive. I know he’s still alive!”
Adrian put his hand on Eno’s shoulder and squeezed. “We’ll find Rayne. He’s got to be in the camp somewhere. We’ll take it apart if we have to. I promise. Caelan?”
Eno shook his head as he tossed away the gun that was once again out of bullets. “They took him into the ancient city, probably to meet with the Goddess of the Hunt. We’ve not seen him since we arrived yesterday morning.”
Fuck. Taking on the gods might be more than they could handle, but he was willing to try. First, though, they needed to locate Rayne.
“Any clue as to where they went?”
Eno shook his head. “No, but Rayne didn’t seem overly worried.”
No, Rayne wouldn’t. He’d keep confident and calm even marching to the gallows if it meant that it wouldn’t worry Eno and the others.
“I suggest that we move as a single unit with Drayce and Haru flanking us,” Eno stated. “We go as quickly as possible. The second we locate him, we need to fly out of here.”
Adrian bit the inside of his mouth to hold in the comment that they might need to knock Rayne out for that part. The king’s advisor did not like riding on dragons. But if they could get them all out of the Empire’s camp in one piece, he figured Rayne could tolerate a short ride to safety.
Explosions shook the ground and kept them unsteady on their feet as they hurried through the enormous camp. Overhead, the dragons ringed the camp with fire and kept the soldiers busy. There were additional sounds of fighting, but it sounded more like animal screams and cries. He could only guess that it was coming from the adjacent ancient city. As he flew in with Haru, he’d caught glimpses of creatures. They didn’t look human, which would explain why the Empire had chosen to remain apart from the stone structures.
Or maybe the goddess hadn’t invited them into her domain. Wouldn’t that be amusing?
Adrian shoved the thought aside as they dodged gunfire and soldiers swinging swords. They took cover at every corner, allowing Haru and Drayce to use their massive bulk and fire breath to clear a path.
As they paused with their backs pressed to some large crates while Drayce stomped on some soldiers, Adrian dared to glance at Eno’s right arm again. A grotesque web of white and pink scars covered his flesh—something he was sure had not been there when he’d left the man in Ilon.
“Happened in a village called Hidden Falls. Safa attacked,” Eno panted.
Adrian jerked his gaze up to the man’s blood-and-dirt smeared face as he wiped sweat from his brow.
“She got poison-tipped claws into me. Rayne saved my life.” He dropped his left hand holding a new gun to his side and looked at his injured arm. “But…my right arm is pretty much useless now.”
A loud laugh jumped from his throat, and he tossed his head. “No wonder you’re the king’s fucking bodyguard.”
“What?”
Adrian snickered and nudged Eno with his elbow. “You’re such a beast. Safa takes out your sword arm and you’re still out here kicking the Empire’s ass. Eno Bevyn can’t be stopped.”
Eno’s grin was crooked, and Adrian swore he saw gratitude in his eyes, but he hadn’t said it so Eno would feel better. It was the truth. No one was a tougher fighter in all of Thia than this man. Nothing was going to stop him.
“No wonder you and Drayce get along so well. You’re both insane.”
There was no denying that. He had to be crazy to be standing in the middle of a New Rosanthe army camp with two dragons while searching for the king’s advisor amidst a hailstorm of gunfire.
With the way cleared as it was going to get, they moved on to the next section. They gave each tent a one-minute search and continued to the next. Time they didn’t have was ticking by, and Adrian hated to admit that his hopes for finding Rayne alive were starting to dim. But they were going to check every freaking tent before they left this place. Rayne was here. He had to be here.
“Shit,” Eno swore as he rounded a corner and jerked back for cover. “He has to be fucking there.”
“What?” Adrian demanded even as he peered around Eno. His eyes widened on the enormous black tent emblazoned with a huge gold eagle. He retreated quickly and looked at Eno. “I’m guessing that’s the commander’s tent.”
“I think it might be the emperor’s tent.”
“What?” Adrian screeched because his brain had definitely given up on working properly. The emperor? Emperor Naram Suen of New Rosanthe was here in the Ordas? Was he insane? “I thought he was like a hundred years old. Why would he leave the capital?”