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“Cael? Is this true?” Drayce asked so softly.
He slowly turned toward Drayce, his chest painfully clenching around his heart. “It is. I gave up half my time so I could return to stop Zyros. It’s why this appeared.” He reached up and pulled down some of his purple-colored locks to hang in front of his eyes. “A constant reminder of the deal I made. I’ve been trying to come up with a solution or a trade these past months, but I’m not stealing an innocent person’s time.”
“Except for that one dragon’s,” Nyx corrected.
“He was trying to kill Eno and Rayne!” he automatically snapped and shook his head, shoving aside the pain. “I’m saving that. I have a plan to use it when fighting Safa and Zyros.”
“You’re not going to live long enough to have that fight!” Nyx roared at him.
“Then don’t steal it. Just take what we freely offer.” Rayne spoke the words so calmly, as if he were offering a stick of gum, not years of his life. What could be his very last years.
It was like a knife was slicing through his soul, causing his chest to cave in.
“No,” he whispered when he could even draw a breath.
“Cael—” Eno started this time, but Caelan wouldn’t hear it. He was at the very end of his control.
“No! This is why I didn’t tell you,” he shouted as he swung to face them. “I knew you’d do this, and I won’t have you sacrificing your time for me. I don’t want you dying for me!”
“Then we’ll give five years each,” Rayne suggested. “Between the four of us, that’s twenty years. Twenty years is a good life, and we’re all relatively young. We can spare five years.”
Except time didn’t move like that. He’d seen that when he faced Safa. His time moved faster when they were together because of the threat she posed to him. And they were all heading into a battle with that woman.
“Do you? Do you really have that kind of time? When you’re heading into a war with New Rosanthe and a fucking goddess?” Rayne paled and Adrian took an unsteady step backward. The Royal Guard had been silent since he appeared, his eyes locked on the God of Time until now. “What if you’re destined to die in the next few months during battle with Safa or even Zyros? You give me your ‘five years,’ and you drop dead this second.”
Rayne’s head instantly snapped around to stare into Eno’s stricken gaze. They clasped hands and leaned into each other. Not a word was said, but after a couple of seconds Rayne nodded and turned his attention to Caelan. “We’ll still do it. We’ll give everything we have to support you and save you. It’s our honor.”
Something inside of Caelan howled in pain. He was proud to know such amazing people, but he loved them all with every fiber of his being. He refused to let them die like this.
“No. I won’t accept it. Not a year, a month. Not even one second of your time.”
Adrian stepped forward and dropped to his knees directly in front of Caelan. “My life for Erya. My blood for the crown. My soul for the Godstone. That’s the vow I spoke years ago, and I am prepared to deliver on it. Please, Your Majesty, take all of my time so you can live up to your vow to protect Thia as the Guardian of the Godstones.”
Tears slipped down Caelan’s face as he gazed at the top of the man’s bent head. Adrian had steadily found a place for himself in their group. He was one of them. Maybe Caelan wasn’t as close to him as he was with Rayne, Eno, and Drayce, but he wasn’t about to sacrifice this man’s life.
He extended one trembling hand and placed it on the top of Adrian’s head. “No.”
“Please, Cael.”
It was the first time Adrian had ever used his name. If he addressed him, it was always with his title. He couldn’t let him die like this.
“He seems more than willing enough to me,” Nyx drawled as he slid up next to Caelan. The Dead God knocked Caelan’s hand away and reached out toward Adrian, pinching the air as if he were trying to pluck a single hair off his head. A purple-tinged chain rose into the air and Adrian loudly gasped.
“No!” Caelan roared. Raw, furious energy surged through Caelan, crackling like rolling thunder across a black sky. He lunged at the Dead God, twisting the lapels of his jacket in his fists. With another shout, he heaved Nyx across the room and into the sofa where he crashed into the back and knocked it over.
He stomped over to Nyx, his hands held out to his sides, energy snapping between his fingers. His entire body was electrified. The feelings of weakness and pain were long gone, replaced with rage and a swirling maelstrom of power.
Nyx’s hand gripped the edge of the sofa cushion, and he pulled himself up. His face slowly appeared, a wicked grin stretched across his thin lips. A dribble of blood slipped from his bottom lip. Some part of Caelan’s brain was shocked to find that gods could bleed, but the rest of him was sure that it wasn’t enough.
“That’s a good start,” Nyx growled. “But is that the best you’ve got?”
Caelan turned his right hand and opened his fingers. His sword materialized in his palm with a crack. “Not even close.”
He rushed Nyx and the God of Time launched himself over the sofa at Caelan, a long black staff appearing in his hand. Their weapons clashed again and again, bright-white sparks mingled with pale-lilac sparks. The Dead God was fast, but Caelan was faster. He didn’t know where the energy came from, but he didn’t question it and didn’t let it go. Nyx had brought his family here with the intention of stealing their time, and he’d die here fighting the Dead God before he let that happen.
They rushed around the marble room in little more than a blur. Caelan constantly kept his body between his family and Nyx, not allowing the God of Time within a few feet of them. Every one of Nyx’s movements was graceful and fluid, as if he were made of a single willow branch that swayed with the wind, but the look of concentration on his face was intense. It should have been some small reassurance that he was pushing the god. Nyx wasn’t toying with him.
After several minutes, the Dead God succeeded in knocking his sword loose from his hand, sending it spinning across the room. The blade slammed into the marble floor, becoming embedded. He tried to bring his staff down on Caelan, but he blocked it with his arm.
