What the hell was he supposed to do? Haru knew the plan, but he was changing it for some strange reason. Adrian wanted to fight him. Caelan had ordered that the shard wasn’t to be left in Ruben’s possession, and yet that was exactly what they were doing. He glared at Haru and then let it go. The dragon had to have a good reason, and he trusted Haru.
He held it together until they were on the road and away from the house.
“What the hell!” Adrian exploded from the back seat. Haru grinned at him while Vitor jerked behind the wheel, briefly hitting the brakes as if a person had jumped in front of the car.
Haru tried to grab Adrian’s hand, but Adrian pulled it away and smacked both of his hands for even trying. “I’m sorry I had to change the plan. There was no way for me to tell you without Ruben hearing me.”
“What? What? What do you mean the plan changed? What happened? Are your covers blown?” Vitor squawked like a panicked chicken from the driver’s seat. Adrian cursed himself. He should have kept his mouth shut. Right now, Vitor was so distracted that he was likely to crash them into a building or another car.
“I realized after I saw Ruben’s reaction to the shard that he would notice the real crystal had been swapped for a fake.” Haru reached out and touched one of the earrings that dangled from Adrian’s right ear. He caught Adrian’s hand when he tried to bat him away again. “Ruben doesn’t just want the shard for the sliver of power that it holds. He’s mesmerized by its beauty, and it holds some of the same meaning that it once held for you. It touched a god, and Ruben envies that power. He wasn’t about to tuck the shard away and never look at it. He’s going to study and inspect it until he must leave for the facility tomorrow.”
“And he would notice that we’d given him a fake,” Vitor muttered. He swore softly, hammering his fist on the steering wheel once.
“But Caelan commanded us to not leave the real one in his possession. Plus, what the hell do you mean it contains a sliver of power? The shard has magic?” Adrian wanted to hit Haru. He was being so damn annoying and secretive.
“Yes, the shard possesses some magic,” Haru stated with a smug expression. “I cannot tell if the magic is specifically related to my goddess or if it is residual from the spell that imprisoned her, but I can sense the magic.”
“When were you going to mention that? We had the shard all yesterday.”
“I only noticed it after Ruben took possession of the shard.” Haru pressed a finger to the center of Adrian’s forehead and gave a little push. “Your magic was obscuring the shard’s magic. Shou also might have interfered with my ability to sense the shard’s magic,” he said, mentioning the slumbering dragon in his bed. “But now that I have a lock on its magic, I should be able to follow it back to the shard no matter where it goes. Even if Ruben were to hand it off to his boss.”
Oh, that was a much better plan. Use Ruben to take them to the facility, which should provide them with a solid lead on howto find Shey. After they had the Caspagir prince in hand, they could either kill Ruben for the shard or kill his boss to retrieve it. Yes, that would all work out nicely.
But first, Adrian had to survive their trip to the death and torture facilitywithoutkilling Ruben. He didn’t think Ruben’s odds of survival were all that good.
CHAPTER 22
Omari Haru
The train ride was tolerable.
Ruben, naturally, had a private car that allowed him to ride separately from all the commoners. They rode for three hours, Adrian positioning his body so he had to look at Ruben as little as possible. The only way Haru could find to amuse himself was to tell extravagant stories about his supposed exploits around the globe with his beloved Mitso at his side. It became a game to see how red he could make Adrian’s face before the man was in danger of exploding and breaking character to strangle Haru.
While it was amusing, it was also likely that he wouldn’t be permitted to have sex with Adrian for some time, as his mate was very good at holding a grudge.
From the train station in Milway, they were ushered to a large, plush SUV with two rows of back seats, allowing them to stretch out comfortably. A driver, who could have also doubled as a bodyguard, met them, adding to the security that already accompanied them on the train. Both bodyguards were stout-chested, broad-shouldered men trained to see everything with a dead-eye stare but appear as if they were deaf to the conversations of their boss.
“You know,” Ruben drawled not long after they were on the road. He turned sideways in his seat to gaze at where Haru sat with Adrian dutifully leaning against him. “I find it interesting that you don’t travel with an entourage of bodyguards. Especially considering the number of dangerous cities you claim to have visited. Someone of your wealth and power should spend more time protecting your safety.”
Haru chuckled and picked up Adrian’s hand. He took his time placing delicate kisses along Adrian’s battle-roughened knuckles. “I find it amusing that you think I do not.” He glanced up at Ruben with hooded eyes and a wicked smirk tilted up one corner of his mouth. Adrian rested his head on Haru’s shoulder, a matching smile spreading across his face.
“My lovely Mitso is trained in many forms of combat and is quite lethal with anything possessing a sharp edge. He doesn’t mind poisons either.”
“The slow, organ-melting ones are the best,” Adrian whispered with a giggle.
“It’s how we first met, actually. Someone had attempted to kill me, but Mitso leaped in, knives flashing with that adorable laugh, and gutted the man like a trout. He covered his body in my would-be attacker’s blood and presented himself to me like that, promising to kill anyone who dared to cross me.” Haru lifted his free hand and cupped the bottom of Adrian’s hard jaw, tipping his face so that their noses brushed. “How could I not fall in love? My bloodthirsty little minx.”
From the corner of Haru’s eye, he saw Ruben shudder and pale. Yes, that was a much better attitude. He needed to fear Adrian. The man at his side was far more than a simple piece of arm candy. He was deadly, and Haru loved it.
Ruben didn’t engage in much more conversation after that, preferring to face forward and tap away on his tablet. The town of Milway wasn’t much to see. It reminded Haru of Voxmorewith its quaint shops and narrow streets. Yet, there weren’t many people walking about as they passed through. However, that was likely because of the storm that was brewing up from nothing.
When they arrived at the train station, it had been a pleasant summer day with bright-blue skies and rising temperatures. Yet, within minutes of getting into the car, massive dark clouds poured across the sky, blotting out the sun. Harsh, icy winds hammered the sides of the vehicle as if trying to shove it across the road. There was even the persistenttap tap tapof freezing rain pelting the car.
Adrian frowned and leaned to stare out the window on his right and then across Haru to gaze out the other window. They’d left Milway behind and hurried down a clean stretch of highway where towering trees crowded close. All signs of civilization disappeared, and the early afternoon melted into near nightfall with only their headlights to pierce the gloom.
“This storm came on fast,” Adrian murmured, speaking just above a whisper, likely so Haru could hear him above the howl of the wind. His voice dropped even lower as he put added emphasis on “Too fast.”
Haru’s eyes darted to the black skies and flashes of lightning that were growing in intensity and frequency. The farther they traveled in this direction, the more the storm worsened. It gave him hope that they were about to locate the missing prince of Caspagir, but if he was conjuring up this storm through his connection to the god Kaes, it was likely that something bad was happening.
