Muscles ached and limbs were trembling when he reached the top of the ladder. Clenching his teeth, Drayce lifted himself up to peek over the side. The deck was brightly lit against the darkness with men in uniform rushing from one place to the next, but it wasn’t overly crowded. He just needed to time this right so no one noticed his sudden appearance.
Seconds ticked by and at last, the nearest seaman darted away on some assignment or other. He gripped the top of the railing, hauling himself over the side with a soft grunt and a thud of rubber boots on the metal deck. Gazing around to make sure no one had noticed him, he then held his hand out and waved for Rayne to follow him.
In quick succession, they were aboard the ship and disappearing into a shadowy area the bright lights didn’t quite reach. Drayce actually released a sigh of relief. No, they hadn’t gotten through the hard part, but getting on board was a good start. Right now, he couldn’t quite feel the rocking of the ship.
“Which way from here?” Drayce asked when they were all together.
Rayne exchanged a look with Eno, who gave a shrug of one shoulder.
“Seriously?” Drayce hissed.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t expect to find myself on an Empire ship on this trip. I didn’t take the time to study the few blueprints we have of their older ships,” Rayne snarled in a low voice.
Eno placed a hand on Rayne’s shoulder and pulled him back a couple of inches from Drayce. “It’s most likely that he’s being held in the brig, which would be in the lower parts of the ship, but away from the engine room. We need to head inside and go down a few levels before we start looking around.”
Drayce winced. This was a horrible plan. Inside the ship was where all the other Empire soldiers were located. They’d be able to fake their way for a while, but eventually someone was going to get suspicious and ask questions.
“Hey!” someone shouted behind Drayce.
Fuck. Time was up.
“What are you three—”
Drayce didn’t give him a chance to finish his question. He walked straight up to the sailor and slammed his fist into his throat, silencing his question. As he choked, Drayce grabbed two fistfuls of his uniform and pulled him forward while bringing his knee up into his stomach. With the man winded and choking, Drayce finished the job by grabbing his head and twisting it, snapping his neck with an ugly breaking of bones.
The corpse fell to the deck in a heap. His companions hadn’t made a sound or even moved a muscle during that quick attack, but both sprang into action to help him stuff the body into a large bin on the deck that held life preservers and other random bits of equipment.
Running a hand over his uniform, Drayce looked from Rayne to Eno. “We need to figure this shit out now. We can’t keep shoving dead bodies into bins and closets. Someone is gonna notice people are missing and the closets are full.”
Rayne pressed a button on his watch, and it glowed softly. “We’ve also got nine minutes before Shey launches the attack. We need to at least find Caelan prior to the start of chaos.”
“Let’s go, then. With any luck, Caelan will have made an impression on the Empire while waiting for us. That could make it much easier to find him.”
Drayce snorted. With the God of Storms’ powers humming through him, Caelan had plenty at his fingertips to stir up trouble. They just needed to give Caelan some sign that they were close.
2
Caelan Talos
Caelan rubbed his burning, gritty eyes, refusing to acknowledge that his hand was trembling. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept or eaten. Guards had come to his cell twice to give him a meager cup of water, but that had been it.
The Empire clearly had a use for him as the last living member of the Erya royal family, but they weren’t in the mood to afford him luxuries such as food or even a cushion for his metal cot.
He was in the bowels of one of the Empire ships with the incessant growl of an engine and metal creaking. The general lack of rocking left him to think that he was at least on one of the bigger ships. He was hoping the flagship, which held the Lord High Commander of the New Rosanthe Navy. He needed an audience with the bastard before he attempted to break free or his friends tried to rescue him.
But time was running out.
That was assuming Drayce decided he was worth saving after kissing him and handing himself over to the Empire. For a split second, as Drayce’s shocked expression filled his memory, Caelan worried that Drayce would just decide to say fuck it and leave him with the Empire.