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“Yes, for now at least.” Rayne sighed and shook his head. “We don’t know what deal the government struck with the Empire or even if there is one. They could be easily angered by our presence and throw us in prison rather than allow us to help them. I thought I’d have more workable information by now.”
“I’ll understand if you can’t answer this question,” Eno started and leaned closer to Rayne and dropped his voice so that Drayce could barely hear him when he demanded, “Don’t you have spies here who can provide you with some info?”
The smile that lit Rayne’s face when he regarded his mate left Drayce feeling uncomfortable, like he should leave the couple to their own world. Or maybe it was a look of joy that Eno understood how his boyfriend’s world worked. Either way, he’d never seen Rayne smile quite like that at anyone.
As if suddenly remembering Drayce was present, Rayne cleared his throat and stared at his coffee. “I do, actually. It’s part of the reason we waited a full week before leaving. He has people in place, but communication has been spotty. He was in Stormbreak when we arrived. The idea had been to meet and plan, but things turned cold and silent with Ilon faster than I anticipated, so he left for Brightspire almost immediately upon our return.”
“Does Cael know him?” Eno asked.
Rayne’s expression twisted. “He knows of him, but I’ve never formally introduced them. I’ve only spoken to him in person twice. Our communication is generally limited to coded messages.”
Drayce leaned forward so he could whisper. “Have you heard from him since we reached Ilon?”
Rayne shook his head. “No, but that’s not necessarily out of the ordinary. Communication between us has always been slow out of a need for caution. The information he tends to gather is for long-term planning. Not the kind of insane missions that we’ve been on recently. But when he does contact me, I believe he will be able to give us a full summary of what’s been happening here.”
Pursing his lips together, Drayce made a raspberry noise that earned an arched eyebrow of disdain from Rayne. While Mr. Spy was going to be a great help to them eventually, he was a bust right now.
“Not to call out the obvious, but has anyone tried reading the paper or online news?” Drayce asked, though he couldn’t criticize since he’d not done it yet.
“I’ve been skimming headlines for days,” Rayne replied a bit tartly. “The main news organizations have nothing about changes in power or even New Rosanthe. There have been notices of street closures around Parliament Plaza. A citywide curfew has also been put in effect indefinitely starting at seven p.m. The only people allowed on the streets are emergency workers and law enforcement. No exceptions.”
Drayce grabbed his phone and pushed the button on the side to get the screen to light up. It was nearly five. They were running short on time. They needed to either get out of the city or find a place to hunker down for the night.
“Anyone heard from Cael or Adrian?” Eno inquired.
“No,” Rayne quickly answered.
Drayce tapped the texting app, opening it to the last thing he’d sent Caelan—the selfie of Rayne and Eno. It hadn’t been marked Read yet. “We talked about forty minutes ago. He was still on the bus but getting close.”
Rayne grunted and started tapping away on his phone. “I’ll warn him and Adrian of the curfew. We’ll find a hostel or an inn in this district, then send them the address.”
“It may be best for them to stay in the Shrine District,” Eno countered.
The advisor nodded without looking up from his screen. “True, but I want them to know where to find us if there are problems.”
Drayce hated the idea of them sleeping in separate locations, and not just because he preferred to sleep with one leg tossed across Caelan’s and his face pressed to Cael’s shoulder. He simply rested easier knowing that if there was a problem, he was right there to protect his lover.
At least Caelan had Adrian with him.
But if the new guy tried to sleep with Caelan like that, Drayce was going to shift into his dragon and fucking eat him.
FOUR
Caelan Talos
The Shrine District was unlike anything Caelan had ever seen. Certainly unlike what he’d been expecting. In Stormbreak and throughout Erya, there were small shrines and statues erected in honor of Tula and the Life Stone.
Zastrad had images of the broken godstone and Nyx’s black and purple everywhere, but the Zastrians were devout death worshipers. There was no mention or reference to any of the other gods. Not even the Goddess of Life.
In Caspagir, there was no mention of the God of Storms. Just the presence of the color blue everywhere. It was all the more haunting because it was often the exact shade of blue of the Wind Stone.
Meanwhile, the Isle of Stone had zero reference to the Goddess of Fire or the Fire Stone.
Ilon was the odd exception. Brightspire held shrines, temples, and cathedrals to all the gods as far as he could tell.
Caelan had followed Adrian off the bus along with several other passengers. Most of them could be listed among the elderly with their steel-gray or snowy-white hair and faces mapped heavily with wrinkles. They didn’t take a second glance at him or Adrian but shuffled toward what looked to be a busy main avenue that was blocked from vehicular traffic. They moved forward, getting lost in the foot traffic created by what appeared to be tourists snapping pictures of the different structures.
“I don’t understand,” Caelan breathed as he stepped onto the main thoroughfare. His wide eyes jumped from structure to structure and statue to statue, soaking in the incredible sights that filled his view.
