The world drifted away and there was only the steadily growing bubble in his hands, pushing against his palms, swelling steadily. Every inch of his skin tingled and warmed as if he were being hugged by the goddess.
“Excellent. That’s excellent,” Caelan murmured. He sounded like he was standing right in front of him, but Rayne was afraid to open his eyes and break his concentration. “Now, I want you to turn your hands and push outward. Imagine you’re stretching the ball to cover you, then me, then Eno, Drayce. The entire camp.”
There was something so hypnotic and soothing about Caelan’s voice. He couldn’t help but do exactly as he directed. Rayne turned his hands in the opposite direction and pushed slowly outward to his left and right. He could feel the energy expanding, giving him a new awareness of his friends and even Vale in her yurt.
When he pushed as far as his arms would extend, he opened his eyes to find Caelan smiling broadly at him.
“Great job. You did it. Without walking through fire.”
Rayne blinked and glanced around to find a brilliant green dome over them, looking identical to the one Caelan had created while they were camping in the Ordas. He’d done it. By the gods, he’d actually used magic.
He swayed again and took a step back to catch himself, but a hand was already pressing into his lower back, steadying him.
“How do you feel?” Eno asked, his eyes narrowed as he closely inspected Rayne’s face.
“Good,” he answered immediately, and then felt it necessary to correct it to, “Tired.”
“That’s to be expected. Using these powers can be draining. Especially at first,” Caelan commented with a nod. His king’s eyes strayed to the shield, and his smile grew as if pride were shining through. “Let’s get some sleep. Sounds like we’ve got an early start and a long journey ahead of us.”
“Good plan!” Drayce clapped his hands together and jumped to his feet. He led the way to the tent he was sharing with Caelan, disappearing into the dark interior.
Rayne stepped away from Eno’s support, making sure he was standing on his own as he announced, “I think I’ll just stay out here a while. Keep an eye on the barrier.”
Caelan was walking to his tent, managing only a wave in the air toward his bodyguard. “Eno, put him to bed. The shield is perfect.”
There wasn’t a chance to argue. Eno stepped in front of him, smirking like a fool. The large man bent and tossed Rayne over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Some horrible, embarrassing noise might have escaped him, but it didn’t matter. Eno was already crossing their campsite and putting him on his feet right in front of the entrance to their tent.
“Eno!” Rayne snapped, trying to pull together the shreds of his dignity with little success.
“King’s orders. Get in there,” Eno replied, practically laughing in his face.
“You could enjoy this a little less,” he grumbled in return.
“Being ordered to put you to bed? I really don’t think I could.”
Rayne might have continued to call Eno a few choice names under his breath as he crawled into the tent but clearly, they rolled right off Eno. Of course he was enjoying this.
He felt about in the darkness, trying to gauge where his sleeping bag started, but all he was feeling was cloth. “Give me a flashlight. I can’t see anything.”
Eno patted his ass as if trying to get him moving farther into the tent. “You don’t need to see anything. Get in bed.”
“Everything feels moved. Did you do something to the sleeping bags?”
A low chuckle wrapped around him, and Eno’s large hand slid along the curve of one cheek, sending a frisson of awareness through Rayne. It was becoming more difficult to hold on to his frustration, but he was going to give it his best. He was still annoyed, though he couldn’t quite remember what had annoyed him so completely.
“I laid your sleeping bag out flat and spread mine out as a blanket. We’ll be warmer huddled together than separate. Now get under the blanket.”
The last of Rayne’s irritation flew out, carried away on the whipping wind. Held all night by Eno? Even if nothing happened but sleep, it sounded infinitely better than being alone. Rayne kicked his shoes off and settled down on what felt to be the edge of the sleeping bag bed, trying to give Eno as much room as possible.
In the darkness, he listened as Eno zipped the tent closed and got situated on the pallet behind him. At long last, the strong arm slipped across his stomach and pulled him back so that their bodies were flush together, Eno’s thick thighs pressing into his. Eno brushed a kiss to Rayne’s neck, and he sighed softly in relief. This was heaven. How had he lived so long without this? It hadn’t been living. He’d been merely existing.