“They would be choosing to re-enter the rest of the world,” Rayne finished. “News would spread about the dragons fighting in the Ordas, their association with the Erya crown.”
“I thought that was always the plan,” Drayce argued. “I thought you wanted to have contact with the Omari. We were going to open trade and travel with the Isle of Stone.”
Caelan nodded. “That was my hope, but I wanted to do it slowly and carefully. Introduce them as safe and valued friends of Erya.”
“But this way turns them into fierce, dangerous fighters. A potential conquering threat,” Adrian murmured.
“What?” Drayce shouted. “That’s bullshit!”
Caelan placed a hand on Drayce’s shoulder, holding him still when it looked as though he was going to launch to his feet. “We know better, because we’ve met them, but they represent a scary unknown to a lot of people.”
“And take in the fact that you can walk among us without anyone realizing you’re a dragon,” Eno said. “Almost like you’re a little spy.”
“Dude!” Drayce fought to get to his feet again, ready to leap across the fire at Eno, who just smirked at Drayce as if to say, “Bring it on!”
Caelan groaned and grabbed his fiancé with both hands, pulling him back down until he landed on his ass. “Yes, I know it sucks. I know it’s not true, but you must remember that’s how some people think. We know better.”
“It’s fucking stupid,” Drayce snarled. “If dragons wanted to invade and take over, why wait centuries? We would have done it already. We’re happy on our island.”
“And here I thought you were happier living in the Royal Towers and playing video games with me,” Caelan teased.
Drayce’s grumpy expression slowly melted, and he rolled his eyes at his lover. “Yeah, that’s good, too.”
“Not that you asked for my opinion,” Adrian started slowly. “But…I think maybe you should tell Omari Nori the situation and let him decide whether to involve the dragons. I know he’d want to support you, but he’s a smart guy too. I think he’d grasp the risks involved. Not telling him is taking that choice out of his hands.”
A grin spread across Caelan’s lips and he suddenly turned his attention over to Rayne, who was carefully pulling the boiling pot of water from the fire. “Look at that. He’s gunning for your job.”
Rayne delivered one of his iciest stares, pinning a completely unmoved king to the spot. “I am fairly certain I made the exact same argument to you, but those words clearly fell on deaf ears.”
Eno snorted. “More likely, Cael was in ‘protect the world’ mode and refused to consider anything that would endanger his family more.”
Drayce cackled wildly, and Adrian covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his own laugh. That was a very accurate assessment of their king. The man hated to put anyone in danger. It was a little surprising that he was even willing to invite the Erya army to this party. An obvious sign of how bad things looked for all of them.
“Yeah, yeah. Probably so,” Caelan conceded, holding up a hand as if trying to fend off any additional mocking. “I wish this could be a fight between the gods and the rest of the world be left out of it, but Safa and New Rosanthe want to drag everyone else into it.” He dropped his hand and nodded. “I will prepare a message for my grandfather as well and leave the decision in his hands. I’ll provide him with contact information for Adrian and General Morgan in the event that we’ve already entered the Ordas and can’t be reached.”
“That brings up the next problem, actually,” Eno drawled. He scratched his chin and lifted one eyebrow at Caelan. “Once we go into the Ordas, all electronics stop working. No one will be able to call our phones or send a text to us. How is Adrian supposed to lead the army to us if he has no idea how to find us? We don’t even know where we’re going.”
Caelan’s eyes darted over to Adrian, his expression growing strangely nervous, before he glanced at his bodyguard. “I’m going to bond with Adrian.”
The words were still trying to sink into Adrian’s brain when Drayce roared, “The fuck you are!”
He ripped away from Caelan and was on his feet again. Black scales cascaded down his arms and his face started to shift, his jaw growing harder while gray smoke curled out from between his lips.
“He’s mine!” Drayce snarled, stomping toward Adrian.
His heart nearly leaping from his chest, Adrian rolled to his feet and came up on the other side of the fire. He automatically pulled the gun holstered at his hip and aimed it at the man he’d always seen as his friend. But Drayce was fast on his way to becoming more dragon than man. That also meant that his bullets probably weren’t going to stop Drayce if truly went after Adrian.