“Caelan, get down!” Eno suddenly barked.
He didn’t have a chance to react. Drayce’s fingers twisted in the collar of his shirt and jerked him over so that his head was now resting in Drayce’s lap. A few colorful thoughts danced through his head, but Caelan was quick to shove them aside. It didn’t help when Drayce released his shirt, but his fingers didn’t exactly move away. They just slid up the nape of his neck and started to play lightly with his hair.
“What’s up?” Caelan choked out, trying to make his voice sound normal, but Drayce’s light touch and the flex of his thighs under his cheek were scrambling his brains.
“The Empire has soldiers guarding the turn-offs into Green Gate. We don’t want to risk them recognizing you,” Eno replied.
Caelan snorted. “Then why the hell isn’t Rayne hiding? He’s just as recognizable as I am.”
“Not even close,” Rayne muttered.
“You can always put your head in my lap,” Eno offered playfully. Rayne didn’t say anything, but Caelan was willing to guess that his advisor gave him a stern look, because the car was suddenly filled with Eno’s deep laughter.
Surprisingly, Drayce didn’t have anything to add to the teasing. He was almost painfully silent. It was too tempting to turn his head and stare up at his friend, but Caelan hated to admit that he wasn’t brave enough. Things had just started to feel normal again between them for the first time since Caelan had fucked things up with the damn kiss. He wasn’t willing to screw it all up because he couldn’t keep his mind out of the gutter.
So what if Drayce was rubbing his neck and playing with his hair? It didn’t mean anything. They were friends. He was probably trying to help Caelan stay calm. No reason to read anything into it.
“We’re clear now, Cael. You can sit up if you want,” Rayne said when he’d begun to think his companions had forgotten about him. He didn’t particularly want to sit up. The position hadn’t been all that comfortable due to the cramped car, but he’d been touching Drayce and that made it all worthwhile.
Moving off Drayce, Caelan flashed his friend a shaky smile only to find its mirror image on Drayce’s lips. Their eyes skidded away from each other, and Caelan focused on the homes of Stonehaven, watching as Eno chose a forgotten back road to move into the area.
Everything looked normal, though there weren’t many people or cars on the street. All the homes were still standing, and there were no signs that the fighting had reached into these residential areas.
And then they passed the first refugee relief area. An enormous field was covered in white tents. A few larger tents each had a green rose painted on the top for the Goddess of Life, which also doubled as the symbol for medical assistance. Thousands of people crowded the field. Refugees. His people. Refugees in their own home.
The Empire had left Stonehaven alone because it had become a haven for people fleeing the fighting and destruction of the city proper.
Lightning streaked across the sky followed by a long, rolling bellow of thunder. Caelan didn’t even try to stop it this time. He couldn’t. He wanted the Empire to pay for what they’d done to Stormbreak, to the innocent citizens, to his mother.
Eno turned down another street, getting closer to the city walls. They needed a place to park the car so that it wouldn’t be noticed. From there, they would enter on foot. They could move faster and hide easier on foot than in a car.
Caelan lifted his hand to point at a large parking lot in front of a building that was for sale. There were a couple of other old cars parked there with For Sale signs on the windshields. Their old beater from Hollowind would blend right in there. No one would give it a second glance. But he never got the words out.
Something slammed into his chest and stole the breath from his lungs. It was like an electric bolt was zipping around his veins looking for an outlet. Caelan absently prayed it didn’t find one. He gasped and clawed at the back of Rayne’s seat, trying to breathe. His brain was screaming in pain and confusion. Nothing made sense. What was happening?
“Caelan? Cael?” Drayce was saying next to him.
Both Rayne and Eno were also making demands from the front seat before Rayne finally ordered Eno to pull over anywhere. The sound, though, came through muffled by the blood rushing past his ears.
As suddenly as it hit, the power surge relented, and he could suck in a noisy breath. Caelan coughed a few times, choking on the air as it tried to rush into his body. It took him a few moments to even realize that a hand was pressed to the center of his chest, right over his heart, while another was holding his shoulders, fingers digging in deep.