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A ghost of a smile tried to tease Caelan’s lips when he noticed that Davi immediately moved toward Caelan, placing his body between him and the entrance to the waiting room. Although Davi hadn’t grown up around Eno, he’d inherited the same protective qualities his brother had. Caelan appreciated the sentiment even if he was aching for a fight right now.
“I didn’t ask earlier. Did you and Eno have any troubles today?”
Davi shook his head. “We were being watched, but no one approached us.”
Caelan grunted and returned to his pacing, waiting for news from the nurse or Rayne. He’d be happy with either.
His eyes traveled over the other occupants of the long room as they huddled in small groups, talking just to their own people. Their voices remained at low tones, occasionally punctuated by a shaky laugh or a muffled sob.
This was only his second time inside of a hospital. The first time had been in Stormbreak when he was the Crown Prince. For that visit, he’d been cutting the ribbon on the new wing of the Evrain Talos Hospital. The ceremony took a few minutes, he’d lingered for pictures and handshaking, and then was taken away for another meeting or some other token duty he was responsible for while his mother ran the country.
Growing up, if he suffered some injury—and there had been plenty because he was a magnet for trouble—he was sent straight to his mother so she could heal and lecture him all in a single go. It wasn’t until he’d reached his late teens that he learned how to use the power from the Goddess of Life to heal himself.
Now, standing there, listening to the intermittent announcements over the speakers and watching all the workers in scrubs rushing from one place to another, attempting to save lives, it all felt so…so barbaric and messy. The goddess didn’t require devices and pools of sticky blood to fix someone. Warm, healing magic flowed in and pulled together broken bones, healed injured organs.
This way felt more uncertain, while the power of Tula was…
Absolute, she whispered through his mind.
Is it? We can’t go on and on. All of us must answer to death and the end of time. He could feel her growing irritation and Caelan sighed. I’m not trying to pick a fight or claim you’re not powerful. I’m just saying, isn’t the power of your brother also absolute? When we run out of time, can you undo that? Can you keep us going indefinitely?
To his surprise, Tula’s anger immediately dissipated and the silence stretched, leaving him to believe that she was honestly contemplating his question. She wasn’t brushing him off as this stupid human that needed to obey her.
My power is absolute within the frame of time, Tula corrected.
So even gods had their limitations.
Of course, that answer only made him wonder what the limitations were for the God of Time. Could he not give time to a body that lacked the ability to continue? If there was no heart to beat, it couldn’t live even if it had time?
Nyx chuckled. Oh, you really need to redefine what you call living.
Caelan wanted to follow up on that statement, but he didn’t have a chance. Rayne and Eno returned to the waiting room. Philosophical thoughts of life, death, and the power of the gods were pushed to the back of his mind for another time.
“That was Vitor,” Rayne announced as soon as he was standing in front of Caelan. “He had good news. They’ve located where Drayce is being held. They haven’t been able to ascertain if he’s injured, but they know where he is.”
Caelan breathed a sigh of relief. That was a very good start. If they bothered to take him, it meant they were hoping to use him as bait. It wouldn’t do them any good to kill him.
“Vitor also checked out the address we were given. He thinks it’s trustworthy. The meeting is real.”
He stared at Rayne for a second, his mind whirling. Jasper Feroz wasn’t a prisoner of the Empire. He had sent one of his people to arrange a meeting between them. Caelan had been sure it was another Empire trick.
Well, it could still be a trick.
“I—” Caelan began, but a nurse in pale-blue scrubs entered the room. Everyone stopped and held their breath, waiting to see who she was searching for. A smile formed on her lips when her eyes lit on their small group and she walked over.
“Mr. Westergren is awake now and is asking for someone named Drayce,” the nurse announced in a low voice.
Caelan’s heart clenched. Adrian didn’t know what happened to Drayce or he was at least hoping that he escaped. Swallowing against the sudden rawness of his throat, Caelan said, “He’s a friend of ours. Can we see Adrian now?”
Even as he asked the question, Caelan pulled on Tula’s power, preparing to push his will into her mind. It didn’t matter what she wanted or what was best for Adrian, they were getting back there to see him. If the man hadn’t been in surgery when they arrived, he would have healed him right there in the emergency room and taken Adrian away. But it had already been too late, and it would have created even more chaos if he’d tried to steal the injured man.
“Of course. We just ask that you keep the visit short. His injury wasn’t too severe, but he needs time to recover.”
They agreed with silent nods and followed the nurse through the winding white corridors. In the rooms, Caelan glimpsed beds filled with frail figures and beeping machines. Part of him wanted to send the power of Tula through every inch of this place, healing all the wounds and withering frames. But he wouldn’t get far. He’d be exhausted before he finished with the first few rooms.
Shoving the nagging sense of frustration away, Caelan focused on his main task. He needed Adrian with him to save Drayce and to save Thia. If Thia was protected, all these medical professionals could continue to save lives.
Near the end of the corridor, they filed into the mint-green room to find a sleepy-looking Adrian propped up in the bed. Another nurse was checking his vitals and writing down numbers on her tablet.
