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“I said I was never returning to Brightspire with you.” Adrian grumbled, but there might have been a hint of laughter in his tone. At the very least, he wasn’t reaching for a weapon.
The man laughed a deep belly laugh and squeezed Adrian tighter for a second before releasing him. “I think that had more to do with that woman who threatened to cut—”
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t need the trip down memory lane,” Adrian interrupted, finally freeing himself from the man’s grip. “And it’s Adrian now.” His face was slightly flushed, and Caelan didn’t miss that Adrian wasn’t quite meeting his eyes any longer. This man was clearly linked to Adrian’s disreputable past, and Caelan couldn’t deny that he was more than a little curious.
The man’s bushy eyebrows shot up and his gaze snapped to Caelan. He looked like he might be a tiny bit embarrassed, as if he’d just figured out that he was fucking up something for his old friend.
“Shit. Man. Sorry. I—”
“It’s okay. I know all about Adrian,” Caelan quickly reassured him. He stuck out his hand and grinned at the newcomer. “I’m Cael. I convinced Adrian to accompany me to Brightspire on a business venture. Nothing big, but he said he was familiar with the city. This is my first time here.”
The man’s grin returned and he engulfed Caelan’s hand in his larger one, pumping it briskly. “Diogo Borba. Pleasure to meet you. Adam—I mean Adrian is a great guy. He’s got a knack for finding his way around a city.” Diogo released Caelan’s hand and scratched his jaw with one finger. “But I mean, he’s only been here a couple of times. What you need is someone who’s lived here for a few years. I can give you a hand—”
Adrian hit the man’s shoulder, barely rocking him to the side. “What the fuck! Trying to steal my customer while I’m freaking standing here!”
Diogo cackled and wrapped his arm across Adrian’s shoulders again. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I thought you could use a hand. You know I’m always looking out for you.”
Adrian snorted and rolled his eyes, but this did bring up a unique opportunity.
“Actually, we did just learn the city is under a curfew and we were about to search for a place to crash for the night. If you’ve got some suggestions…” Caelan left the rest of the thought hanging in the air.
“Fucking Empire,” Diogo muttered darkly. He released Adrian and nodded. “Yeah, I got a place for you both to crash. I can give you the lowdown on this Ilon mess too. You’re gonna need it if you’re trying to do any business in this town right now.” He motioned for them to walk with him. “It ain’t anything fancy, but it’s safe and I got a load of meat from the butcher. We can fire up the grill and eat some steaks while we talk.”
“That’s fine, but you know I’ll kill you if you try to fuck us over,” Adrian threatened, and he appeared completely serious.
“Awww…don’t be like that,” Diogo whined. He turned and walked backward so he could face Adrian as he spoke. “When have I ever screwed you over?”
His bodyguard smirked and said one word. “Wandermere.”
Diogo groaned loudly and threw up his hands. “Anytime you get pissy, you bring up Wandermere. It was one time. One!” Diogo waved a single finger in front of Adrian’s face. “And you’ve got to admit that she was hot.”
“True, but she also took a shit-ton of our money. She almost took your balls.”
“Still. Hot,” Diogo repeated with a slightly dreamy look in his eyes. His expression cleared and he grinned. “But we’re all good. Cael seems nice and all, but he ain’t my type.”
Caelan chuckled and held up one hand. “No worries. I’ve already got a boyfriend.” He fought down a little bubble of joy that rose in his chest at the casual use of that word. Right now, he wasn’t King Caelan, but average guy Cael who could have normal things like a boyfriend.
“And he will bite your head off if you fuck with him,” Adrian added, pointing at Caelan with his thumb. In Drayce’s case, the threat was somewhat literal, but Diogo didn’t need to know about that.
Their new companion laughed and shook his head. “All right, all right. Warning received. I’ll behave. We can eat, drink, and get caught up.”
And they would be able to get a good account of exactly what was happening in Brightspire. Just what they needed.
“So…” Caelan drawled, flashing a grin at Adrian. “What really happened in Wandermere?”
Diogo laughed and Adrian moaned. Yes, this could be a very fortuitous meeting.
FIVE
Eno Bevyn
After waiting for a bit in the café, they decided to search for an inn or a hostel or some safe place where they could spend the night. Drayce almost immediately caught sight of the shiny chaos of the Bazaar and whimpered, begging with large puppy eyes to venture inside. Thank the gods Rayne was there. The advisor grabbed the dragon by the shoulder and turned him in the opposite direction without a single word.
“You’re no fun.” Drayce pouted.
Rayne sniffed and stunned Eno wordless by threading his fingers with Eno’s as he led the way down the street. “I’ve been told I’m a lot of fun.”
Eno tightened his hand around Rayne’s slender one and grinned like the fool in love he was. “You’re the perfect type of fun,” Eno murmured in his ear. His lover turned his head and lifted a questioning eyebrow at him. “My fun.”
