“Knock! Fucking knock! You scared the shit out of me,” Caelan barked at him. He dropped back on the mattress, fingers releasing the knife. His heart was trying to run straight out of his body, and his hands were shaking. How close had he come to burying that blade in the center of Drayce’s chest? Well, he was awake, and his headache was completely forgotten. Now he was just trying to not have a heart attack.
“Sorry, but we’ve got a problem.”
Caelan tried really hard not to sigh. Of course there was a new problem. “Eno punch Rayne this time?”
“Croft has been captured by the Empire and is being held in front of a firing squad at the Towers.”
Caelan lay there. “But Eno and Rayne aren’t trading punches?”
“No.”
Okay. At least there’s that. Throwing off the covers, Caelan jumped out of bed and started searching for the clothes he’d stripped off last night. “Do we know anything besides that?”
“Not much. Tomas just reached Rayne. One of Croft’s fellow ministers found Tomas and spilled that Croft had a meeting with whoever is running the show for the Empire here. Apparently the asshole turned on her and is now threatening to kill her if you don’t show up.”
“Fantastic,” Caelan muttered as he shoved one leg into his jeans and then the other. Were these even his jeans? They felt too loose.
“Do we really have to save her?” Drayce inquired.
“Yes, we do.”
“But she was trying to take your throne. She threatened Eno. She was probably planning to kill you. She doesn’t deserve to have you risking your life for her.” Drayce’s tone grew more heated with each sentence. Yeah, there was no mistaking Drayce’s view on this one. He was all too happy to leave Chancellor Octavia Croft in the bloody hands of the Empire.
“Regardless of her actions, she’s still a citizen of Erya and deserves the protection that comes with that,” Caelan replied. It came out a little muffled as he tugged his T-shirt over his head.
“Yeah, but—”
“We also can’t try and execute her for treason if the Empire has already killed her.” Drayce’s mouth fell open, and Caelan chuckled darkly. “I did learn a few things from my mother.”
Caelan quickly finished getting dressed and grabbed his weapons before rushing down the stairs on Drayce’s heels. Eno and Rayne were waiting in the hallway with several guards.
“Tomas has sent a car for us. It should be here any second,” Rayne announced as they reached the first floor.
“Has a route been cleared?”
Eno nodded. “We’ll be leaving Stonehaven and cutting through East Ward and King’s Square. Cabbage Port is still touch and go.”
“Have you heard from the General in the Armory?”
Rayne shoved a travel mug into Caelan’s hand, sending the lovely scent of coffee across his nose. “The entire Armory district is in our hands again. New Rosanthe has been corralled in King’s Square and Cabbage Port.”
“Let’s see if we can finish the job today. Send a message to Tomas and Johanna to be ready to strike on my signal.” Caelan took a sip of coffee and happily sighed, watching as Rayne took out his phone and briskly typed out a message. The crafty man had carefully debugged all of their phones since escaping the chancellor.
“And what would the signal be, Your Majesty?” The sarcasm was heavy in Rayne’s tone, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.
Caelan shrugged. “No clue, but I’ve got two bored gods fighting for space in my head. I’m sure when it happens, it’s going to be hard to miss.”
“Aww, shit! King Cael is gonna bring down the hammer!” Drayce shouted, and the other guards might have chuckled as well.
His advisor was not amused. “I’ve told them that I will keep them updated and to be prepared.”
Spoilsport.
Caelan bit back a smirk. The truth was that Tula wasn’t happy with the delay. She wanted him to leave for Zastrad now, but if they could take one day to settle things in Stormbreak, he’d feel better about leaving. Besides, it wasn’t like they had a boat ready to take them to Zastrad anyway. He was hoping a fight with the Empire might distract Kaes and Tula for a bit.
He sipped his coffee and hummed cheerfully. Caelan had rolled out of bed and straight into battle mode. He really didn’t need the jolt of caffeine, but coffee had been hard to come by recently. They would need to pry this mug out of his cold, dead fingers. And even then, he might return from the grave to rain death and destruction on their heads.
“The car is here,” Eno reported as he pulled open the door.
The four of them hurried out and piled into a large black SUV with darkly tinted windows. Tomas hadn’t just gotten them a ride. The man had somehow managed to grab a car from the royal motor pool. The entire thing was bulletproof, with run-flat tires and all kinds of goodies to keep them safe on the drive.