Breath of Life (Godstone Saga 2)

“I’m fine. I’m—ouch, no. I hurt,” he groaned as he corrected himself. He’d been trying to sit up but stopped and dropped onto the pillows. “Did I get hit by a truck?”

“You fell out of the sky,” Rayne replied blandly, though his heart still skipped over the mental image.

“How many times did I freaking bounce?”

Eno grinned. “None. I caught you.”

Caelan narrowed his eyes at Eno as though he didn’t quite believe him.

Rayne stepped around Eno, heading toward the phone on the bedside table. “A doctor checked you over and said you didn’t have any broken bones or fractures. I’ll call him up here now. It might be easier to locate any problems now that you’re awake.”

“No. Don’t.” Caelan waved him off and winced at the movement. “Nothing’s broken. Just really bad muscle strain. Like from one of Eno’s ‘let’s punish Cael’ training sessions.”

“The doctor can still give you something.”

Caelan shook his head. “No, I want to use what I can pull from the Life Stone to ease this, but let me wake up a little more. How long was I out this time?”

“A day,” Eno answered.

Caelan sighed loudly and swore. “Fucking Kaes. I can’t keep losing time like this.”

“Is this normal?” Rayne asked only to receive an irritated stare from Caelan. “Well, I thought maybe Queen Amara might have said…” The words fizzled out when the look got darker. Of course. The queen had discussed almost nothing about the workings of the Godstone bond with her son prior to her death, which left them all dangerously uninformed.

“I don’t know what normal is for the bond. I don’t think my mother ever passed out like this, but I also don’t recall her ever using the Godstone in a fight. Maybe I’m fucking doing it wrong.”

Rayne sat on the edge of Caelan’s bed, searching his brain for something reassuring to say. This really wasn’t one of his strengths, but Caelan rarely seemed so rattled. “You saved a lot of people the other night. According to Prince Shey, at least half the New Rosanthe fleet that sailed into the Sirelis harbor was destroyed because of you. This might not be entirely correct, but you’re doing a lot of good.”

“Though we would like it if you could pass out a little less,” Drayce muttered with a smirk that was closer to his sarcastic self.

Caelan snorted, but the grim expression eased, and he made another attempt to sit up. Rayne and Drayce instantly jumped to his aid, getting him settled against a mound of pillows after some hissing and cursing.

While the prince caught his breath, Rayne briefly detailed what he’d learned about the status of Sirelis and the Empire from Shey. Caelan remained silent, nodding here and there.

“I think we need to get back to what you said on the ship,” Eno interjected as soon as Rayne finished. “The Empire knows?”

Caelan nodded. He was definitely more awake now. His fingers tightened in the blankets, twisting them in his fists. “They know about all the godstones. There’s…there’s this woman, but…” Caelan paused and shook his head. His eyes were locked on his legs in front of him, but Rayne thought he was searching through his memories. “This strange woman, but she didn’t seem human. Her eyes were like a cat’s, and her teeth were more like fangs. She took one look at me on the video screen and knew that I’d bonded with Kaes. She demanded that they kill me so they could get the power of the God of Storms.”

“Who’s this woman?” Eno demanded.

Caelan shook his head. “No clue. Never said her name, but she’s really familiar with the New Rosanthe emperor. She was hanging all over his throne and making all kinds of demands. He didn’t even blink at it.”

“Sounds like she’s the new power behind the throne. The one pushing for New Rosanthe to make a run at the godstones.”

“Which is just bad news,” Drayce mumbled.

“Definitely. I think it’s why Kaes is urging me to return to Stormbreak now.” He lifted his gaze, pausing to peer at each of them in turn. “I need to officially bond with the Goddess of Life. As long as I’m bonded to the stone, they have no access to the power. It doesn’t matter if they have possession of the stone.”

“What about getting help? Finding out our resources before heading into danger?” Rayne argued.

Caelan frowned, his fists so tight in the sheets, his knuckles were turning white. “I don’t like it either, but I don’t think we have time to wait. If the Empire can’t move the stone, their next focus is going to be on getting one of their own people to bond with Tula. I like to think that I’ve got priority since I’m already drawing a small amount of power from her.”

“But this isn’t something we can gamble with,” Eno finished. The bodyguard shoved a hand through his hair, his face twisting in a frown. “Sirelis is a mess, but if we start getting ready now, we can be headed home in less than twenty-four hours.”