Haru shrugged. “Very well. I shall remain in Stormbreak with you. I am the king’s cousin. He can find me a job. Or I can be a diplomat from the Isle of Stone. Either way, I will remain at your side here.”
Adrian lifted his hands, fingers curled, just to keep him from grabbing Haru and shaking him. The dragon was driving him to madness. “Stay here? You get twitchy if you have to go more than a few days without shifting into your dragon form. I can feel your magic pouring off you in waves. You got this…” Adrian threw out his hands and waved them about Haru, encompassing the open air like a bubble over him. “You’ve got this larger-than-life aura about you. If people understood more about dragons, they’d never believe you were human. How can you stay here?”
“I’ll adapt. Drayce learned to adapt. You didn’t know he was a dragon until you were told. Omari Kei lived here for decades, and no one ever suspected that he was a dragon,” Haru argued, mentioning the bodyguard who never left Queen Amara’s side and who was also Caelan’s father.
“But would you be happy? You’re having fun now, but you love the Isle of Stone and living with your clan. You would be homesick all too quickly and come to resent me. I…” Adrian’s voice cracked and he swallowed, forcing himself to continue even if he could no longer meet Haru’s gaze. “I don’t think I could take it if you hated me.”
Haru cupped his jaw, forcing him to look up. Piercing dark blue eyes held his, and the sweet scent of midnight jasmine swept around them, seeming to fill the room. “I could never hate you, my treasure. No matter where we are, I will always adore you. We will figure this out and be together for all of time.”
Adrian rested his hand on Haru’s heart, feeling the soothing, steady beat against his fingers. It was as if nothing could rattle the dragon, but he knew better. When Adrian had dared to brush off what Haru felt was their destiny, it had rattled him. Push him a bit more and he could have broken out in talons, scales, and wings.
But aside from the two very different worlds that they came from, there was one very big problem that there was no way they could get past.
Four hundred and twenty-three.
That number repeated through Adrian’s mind as he tried to fall asleep at night. Haru was four hundred and twenty-three years old. Adrian was twenty-eight. Haru was a dragon and would live for hundreds of years more. At best, if Adrian was careful and healthy, he could squeeze out another fifty. That was unlikely, though, considering the life he lived as a royal guard.
What kind of life could they have? Maybe Adrian could squeeze about ten more adventure-filled, crazy years, but all too soon he was going to slow down. He would age while Haru remained youthful and beautiful. Haru would grow bored with him and regret claiming the human. And that would kill Adrian.
But Adrian couldn’t bring himself to spit out those fear-filled words, because he didn’t want to hear Haru brush it off as not important. There was no way around this. Unless Adrian became a god, there was no way he could build a life with a dragon.
“Let’s focus on keeping Shey alive and stopping these magic-crazed assholes. We’ll figure out the rest later.” Adrian slipped out of Haru’s grasp. “Wait here. I’m going next door to get sizes for Shey and Tyche. They’re going to need more than borrowed clothes if we’re going to get them on the train tomorrow.”
As Adrian grabbed the door handle, Haru’s voice swept through the room like a soft spring breeze. “Don’t think that I didn’t notice that in all your arguments, you never once mentioned that you don’t care for me.”
An ugly laugh broke from Adrian’s throat, and he thumped the top of his head on the door. “Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure we both would have seen through that stupid lie.”
“Yes. I’ve owned your soul since our last meeting on the Isle of Stone.”
Adrian had only to close his eyes, and that moment would flash to the forefront of his mind.The darkened room. The thick scent of jasmine filling Adrian’s nose. Haru pressed against him, the heat of him burning through their clothes as if the dragon were branding him with his body. Whispered promises. It wasn’t just that he’d known in that instant that Haru would come for him.
It was that he knew down to the very marrow of his bones that Haru would never let him go.
CHAPTER 29
Omari Haru
Waiting was the worst.
Despite being hundreds of years old, Haru had never learned to be patient. He hated waiting. He’d filled his hundreds of years of life with doing. Not waiting.
They’d returned to Bellcairn, and both Vitor and Adrian had demanded that he remain in the hotel room to wait. They needed to see if Ruben would contact them after he left Milway. His cover as the eccentric Yujian shouldn’t have been blown because of their actions in the forest. Anyone who had seen them helping Shey and Tyche after their escape was dead.
Besides, Ruben was still waiting on the godstone shard from Caspagir. There was also the chance that their organization would need an infusion of funds after the latest Shey-related disaster at their hidden facility. Considering he and Adrian had also destroyed The Pit in Voxmore, it was likely the shadow organization was floundering and could use some help.
In the meantime, Haru found himself unexpectedly bonding with the God of Luck. When Tyche stopped hiding behind Sheyevery time he approached, they quickly learned that they had some similar interests, such as good food and shiny objects.
“Haruuuuuu!” Tyche called, the sound stretching through the rooms of the penthouse suite as the strange god did a dance while holding a pair of to-go cups over his head with that special paper wrapping around the center. His hair sparkled in the sunlight coming through the wall of windows, thanks to all the random rings and gems Haru had braided into Tyche’s long red hair. “It’s here! The delivery boy just dropped them off.”
Haru rose from where he was seated on the sofa and approached Tyche, while Adrian and Shey lifted their heads from the map they were studying for the hundredth time.
“What did you order now?” Shey inquired. To keep themselves occupied, they’d taken to using the hotel concierge service to set them up with various shops throughout the city. Both Shey and Tyche had new wardrobes and soaps. They’d also had all manner of food delivered.
Tyche sniffed and lifted his chin, looking down his nose at Shey. “None of your business since you spoke blasphemy last night.”
“What?” Adrian asked.
Shey rolled his eyes. “I said that all coffee tastes the same.”
