City of Blood (Godstone Saga 6)

But he wasn’t naïve. Even with Caelan slaughtering the animals under Zyros’s control, the odds were against their survival.

Was this their fault? Should they have moved on from the village faster? Had their presence drawn Zyros’s attention, made these people a target?

“Drayce?”

His head snapped up at the sound of Caelan’s sweet voice, and his eyes locked on his worried smile. They’d left the remains of Hidden Falls at first light, their packs replenished with what goods they’d been able to scavenge.

“We’ll make her pay for what she did to them,” Caelan said with quiet confidence. It was as though he’d reached inside of Drayce’s chest and caressed the battered and bruised places on his heart.

He forced a smile. “Didn’t we say you’ve got to stop reading minds? It’s creepy.”

“I don’t need to read your mind to know what you’re thinking. It’s written all over your face.”

Drayce paused, waiting for the snarky comment from Rayne about how there was nothing on Drayce’s mind to read or how he didn’t have a mind for Caelan to read. But there wasn’t a peep out of the man. Drayce lifted one eyebrow to Caelan in question and glanced over in Rayne’s direction.

The king’s advisor was keeping a close eye on Eno, even though the man appeared to be managing the uneven forest terrain just fine. Rayne had argued for them to remain in the village another day to rest and recover, but Eno had been the first to speak up and argue against it. They needed to keep moving, to bring an end to this fight with the gods and New Rosanthe before any more innocent people were killed.

Caelan offered up a small shrug and a worried look.

“Dude, you okay?” Drayce called out.

“I’m fine,” Eno snarled as if he’d been asked that question too many times already that day.

“I know you’re fine,” Drayce drawled with a roll of his eyes. “I was talking to your extra-clingy shadow.”

“I’m fine,” Rayne snapped without looking up at Drayce. “Everything is fine.”

Liar.

Everything wasn’t fine. He got it. Eno had nearly died and Rayne wanted his boyfriend as far from danger as he could be. Especially now that Eno couldn’t use a sword, but Rayne needed to remember that Eno would always be amazing. Sure, he couldn’t swing his sword, but he still had a knife in his left hand. He was also smart and fast.

Drayce turned his gaze to Caelan to find a wicked grin spreading across his lover’s lips. He winked at Drayce, but he couldn’t guess at what Caelan was thinking.

“I think he’s worried about Eno changing his mind after twisting his arm into that proposal,” Caelan said in a ridiculous stage whisper.

Drayce’s gasp nearly drowned out the choking noises coming from Rayne. “Eno proposed?”

“I did not twist his arm!” Rayne shouted, his voice vibrating with indignation.

Caelan’s lips twitched as if he were fighting so damn hard to hold in his laughter. “That’s not what I heard.”

Drayce climbed over a log and ducked under another branch to catch up with Caelan in the front of their train through the Ordas forest. He grabbed Caelan’s arm with both hands and shook it. “Are you serious? Eno proposed?”

“Of course he proposed! Why do you sound so shocked by that?” Rayne shot at him. Drayce looked over his shoulder to see Rayne lean close to Eno. “I didn’t twist your arm, did I? Was it a misunderstanding? Were you not proposing when you…”

“Do not listen to him, baby,” Eno immediately said. With a wince, he lifted his right hand and lightly touched Rayne’s cheek. Rayne instantly gripped it and pressed it tighter to his skin. He turned his face and pressed a kiss to the palm. “Caelan is the fucking God of Mischief. He’s stirring up trouble. Of course I want to marry you.”

Caelan snorted. Drayce glanced at him and then back to find Eno glaring at the king. Apparently Caelan knew more than Eno was saying.

“But no, I wasn’t intending to propose right at that moment,” Eno corrected. “I wanted it to be romantic. Something special—worthy of you. And after I figured out what I was going to do with my life since I couldn’t marry you and be in the Royal Guard.”

A scoff jumped from Rayne. He moved Eno’s hand, brushing a kiss across the knuckles before releasing him. “You should have told me. I figured once we returned to Stormbreak, you would take on an official role as one of Caelan’s military advisors.”

Drayce’s mouth dropped open, matching Eno’s shocked expression, while Caelan cackled like a lunatic. He rocked to the side, his shoulder slamming into Drayce’s.

“I fucking told you he’d have it all worked out!” Caelan wheezed around more laughter.

Rayne looked at them all as if they’d lost their minds. “Of course I do. I knew Eno was having a moral dilemma over dating me and his vow to the Royal Guard. We’d already started treading on dangerous ground by living together after we returned from Zastrad. This needed to be resolved. Only a fool would give up someone like Eno.”