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Caelan stopped and turned to face him. “I was lying.” His jaw tightened before he continued. “But then so was Jasper Feroz. If he’s not going to be truthful with me, why should I give him the same courtesy?”
“Zyros and the location of the godstone,” Rayne whispered. Both comments Jasper had offered had been in the same dead tone everyone gave when asked about what was under the city of Brightspire.
Caelan grunted. “More than that. I feel like everything he said was a lie of some sort. I wasn’t in his mind, but Tula was not pleased with the entire conversation. She kept calling him a liar.”
“He can’t be trusted. He could be working with the Empire.”
“But right now, he is our best chance of getting to the godstone.”
NINETEEN
Eno Bevyn
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Eno grumbled as Davi took them to the address they’d been given. “The Shrine District? Drayce is being held in the Shrine District?”
“Oh, it gets better. He’s not just in the Shrine District, he’s actually being held in the temple for the God of Broken Toys.”
Eno had to stop walking and rub his eyes as his brain struggled to comprehend the words he was hearing. When it came down to rescuing Drayce, he’d been sure they’d be heading to an abandoned warehouse or some secret hideout in a not-so-great part of town.
But no, they were going to the Shrine District filled with temples, cathedrals, churches, and shrines dedicated to all the old, dead gods. As if that wasn’t enough, he was now learning that at one time there was a God of Broken Toys.
Why the fuck…
“Eh, I doubt it’ll be the weirdest place I’ve ever broken into,” Adrian muttered.
And that was the other thing hurting his brain.
Eno dropped his hand and glared at the man who’d been in surgery a few short hours earlier. After Caelan healed him, Adrian had dressed and they’d walked out of there with Caelan doing his brainwashing trick so no one noticed them. “Are you truly up for this?”
“Oh yeah, good as new.” Adrian grinned and patted his stomach where he’d been stabbed. He didn’t so much as flinch or wince.
Eno had to let that go. If Caelan and Adrian said the reformed thief was in proper shape for this kind of adventure, then he was. Their focus needed to be on finding and rescuing Drayce before he could get injured.
“Since you’re the most experienced when it comes to sneaking, how do you want to handle this?” Eno asked, his eyes on Adrian.
“Hey! I’ve done my fair share of sneaking,” Davi hissed.
Adrian patted Eno’s brother on the shoulder and smirked at him. “Let it go, kid. I was a pro at this when you were trying to pick your first lock.”
Davi glared at Adrian and turned that dark look on Eno. “Seriously?”
“Actually, yeah. He’s got almost too much experience at this. He’s already sneaked in and out of a dragon prison.”
“Cakewalk,” Adrian muttered and motioned for them to follow him down the street. “Try sneaking into the Royal Towers in the middle of the afternoon. That took some skill.”
Again, Eno didn’t want to know the details. He could only hope that Adrian took the time to inform them of the shortcomings of their security details so they could be fixed. They trailed after the thief-turned-royal-guard, sticking to the shadows to avoid the notice of police on patrol.
Near one of the smaller shrines, Adrian directed them to a narrow alley that connected to a larger service street that ran behind the temples and was likely used for deliveries. There were fewer lights, allowing them to disappear more effectively.
“Did Vitor and his crew mention how many people were guarding Drayce?” Adrian inquired.
“We can confirm there are at least five with him, but there may be more,” Davi replied. If he was still irritated that he wasn’t the sneakiest of the group, it didn’t show in his voice. What Eno feared more was that Davi was going to see Adrian as a new source of information on effective sneaking. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of his brother working as a spy. Not that he had any right to argue since he was the king’s personal bodyguard and put his life on the line for the crown every damn day.
Adrian grunted and retreated to a dark doorway situated diagonal to their target. Eno could see one guard sitting on the back stairs leading to the temple. It was a two-story stone structure with a tiny, rounded dome. He’d caught a glimpse of the front before Adrian turned them around, but the gray stones had eyeless teddy bears, wheelless cars, and other broken toys carved into the stone.
There was something naturally sad about the building, but more about the idea of a god being the patron of broken toys. How had he come into being? Did he have a choice over what he was the god of? And if so, why that?
Eno ripped his mind from those maudlin thoughts as a light on the second floor flipped on. Five against the three of them weren’t bad odds, but they had to be careful. They didn’t want Drayce getting hurt if bullets started flying in that small space.
