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“Of course, you’ve got your share of the dragon time all saved up. You could use that,” Nyx taunted.
“No!” Caelan automatically snapped. He had a plan for that, but did he have enough time left in his own lifespan to implement that plan?
Nyx made a face. The God of Time wasn’t pleased with him, but he didn’t argue. “So, what’s it going to be? We continue as we are and see how this plays out, saving your little time-out for later? Or do you want to make a hasty retreat now?”
Caelan’s heart lurched painfully in his chest. Halting time like this could give him a significant edge in the fight against Safa and possibly even Zyros, but moving forward meant Adrian’s death. Nyx had been certain about that one thing.
“I get only one?” Caelan whispered, a tremor in his voice.
To his surprise, Nyx seemed to think about it, his black eyes sweeping over him from head to toe. He wasn’t quite sure what the God of Time saw, but at least he was taking the question seriously. “Just one. You’re not ready for more.”
“Then I need it now,” Caelan replied, not willing to mentally debate it. His life wasn’t certain in the next second and there was no way he was going to sacrifice Adrian’s life if it wasn’t guaranteed to at least save lives in the long run.
Nyx grabbed Caelan’s left hand and closed it into a fist like he was closing it around something. Immediately, he could feel a sharp tug as if something were trying to pull away from him. He clenched his fist tighter and put everything he had into holding on to it.
“Don’t let go. Hold on for as long as you can. The moment you release it, time moves forward,” Nyx warned him and then disappeared.
“What the fuck?” Adrian demanded loudly. A similar noise came from Nina behind him.
Caelan blinked and saw Adrian straighten, his eyes jumping over the frozen people.
“Help!” Caelan cried out, lifting his right arm. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t gather the energy to lift himself to his feet. Everything was focused on holding time still. Muscles screamed and pain ripped across his brain. Every cell in his body was crying out in agony.
Luckily Adrian didn’t need any further prodding. He pulled Caelan’s arm behind his neck and they rose to their feet together.
“Hurry. Rayne,” Caelan bit out. He needed to get to Rayne. Holding on to time like this was wrong, and he could feel it destroying little parts of him from head to toe. Even if they escaped Safa and the soldiers, he was going to need Rayne to piece what remained of him back together again.
With Adrian holding him up and Nina helping where she could, they ran and stumbled across the square, maneuvering between the frozen people to disappear into another district. Every step was difficult. Too soon Adrian was practically dragging him along. The world around him was growing darker until he could see nothing. There was only the rapid pounding of his heart in his ears. Each breath grew more ragged. Caelan finally choked. He coughed hard and he could hear the blood splatter thick and heavy on the concrete.
In the end, he wasn’t sure how far they got. He didn’t let go so much as time ripped free of his grip. Caelan screamed, but he was pretty sure the sound only echoed through his mind as he fell into the darkness.
TEN
Drayce Ladon
Drayce held on to his control by his fingernails as he paced from the hallway to the parlor and back again. A frantic call had come in not twenty minutes ago that Caelan was in serious trouble and they were rushing to their location now. Something about Safa and an attack. That was more than enough to send them all into a panic, but there was more about the king coughing up blood and struggling to breathe that left Drayce nearly busting out of his skin to get to his lover.
They had briefly argued about taking Caelan to the hospital, but Rayne insisted they bring Caelan to them. It was safe. It was anonymous. And Rayne would be able to heal Caelan. The Goddess of Life wouldn’t let Caelan go, right? Fuck, Rayne would give his last breath to keep Caelan safe and healthy. They all would.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
They never should have separated. Drayce should have demanded to accompany Caelan and Adrian. They should have expected to run across Safa the second they stepped one foot in Brightspire. Even if he’d had to shift into his dragon and stomp a mudhole in that woman, he would have done it to protect Cael.
A hand landed on Drayce’s shoulder and he instinctively made a fist, preparing to swing when his eyes landed on Eno’s concerned expression. He dropped his hand to his side, but he couldn’t uncurl his fingers.
“Don’t lose control,” Eno said in a low voice.
“I’m fine,” Drayce snapped.
“Really? Take a look at your eyes.” Eno jerked his chin toward a mirror that hung on the wall in the hallway.
Drayce glanced up and jerked to find that his eyes had in fact shifted. While human or dragon, they were exactly the same shade of emerald green, but as a dragon, the pupil was a vertical slit.
“Shit,” Drayce hissed, inwardly flinching at his appearance. He blinked a couple of times and his eyes changed to their normal human round pupils that were now blown wide. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
Yes, he’d lost control when he thought Caelan had died at the top of Mount Langbo, but Caelan wasn’t dead and he wasn’t going to die. He had control of his powers. There could be no question about it. People got hurt when he lost control. Like Eno.
The hand on his shoulder moved up to grip the back of his neck and pull him in closer. Eno’s nose bumped against the top of his head and Drayce shivered. How could this man stand to be so close to him after he’d nearly killed him once before?
