Blinking, Caelan looked up to find Drayce holding him, worry cutting fierce lines in his face. Caelan took a few more deep breaths and covered Drayce’s hand with his own, trying to communicate that he was okay without actually being able to say the words.
Drayce exhaled loudly and dropped his head so that his forehead was pressed against Caelan’s temple. “You scared the shit out of me.” The hand on his shoulder loosened, but Caelan kept the hand on his chest trapped for a few more seconds, not willing to let go of Drayce’s warm reassurance.
“What happened?” Rayne demanded, reminding him that they weren’t alone in the car. What a fucking shame.
Taking a couple of breaths more, Caelan released Drayce completely and sank a little lower in his seat. Drayce moved back so that Caelan could clearly see both Rayne and Eno watching him from the front.
“Tula,” Caelan replied in a breathless voice.
“The Goddess of Life? Did she fucking attack you?” Eno snarled.
Caelan shook his head. “There’s always been a sort of range on my connection with her. The farther I travel from Stormbreak, the thinner our connection is, until it’s little more than a thread.”
“And you just moved close enough to get the full blast,” Drayce muttered. Lines dug deep in his brow, and his mouth was a hard slash across his face. “But we’ve left Stormbreak plenty of times before, and that’s never happened. You usually sigh and look all peaceful and shit.”
“Yes, but this was the first time I’ve been back without Queen Amara acting as the true bond. A buffer between me and the goddess,” Caelan replied, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Drayce was right. In the past, returning home had meant getting wrapped in a warm blanket of Tula’s power. It had been comforting and healing. He’d felt at peace and rejuvenated all at once.
But this time it had been like a wave had slammed into his chest, demanding entry. As if she’d wanted to consume him completely and he’d had no way of fighting it.
“You’re sure this wasn’t an attack?” Rayne inquired.
Caelan rubbed his eyes and then his temples against a lingering throb of pain. Everything hurt as if he were beaten and battered from two hours of training with Eno. “This wasn’t an attack. This…it almost felt like desperation. It was frantic. I believe she truly wants to bond with me even though I’ve already bonded with Kaes.”
Eno turned to face forward again and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You don’t think the Empire can force a bond with the Life Stone, do you?”
“A couple of months ago, I would have laughed at the idea. The Taloses were the only ones to ever bond with the Godstone of Erya. Now? I have no fucking clue,” Caelan said with a sigh.
Two months ago, there had been only one godstone, and the gods were all dead.
Two months ago, his mother had been alive, and Caelan had been spending his days with his friends while dreading his own destiny.
In such a short time, his entire world had changed, and now he wasn’t sure what his destiny was. The rules had all been rewritten overnight, and they were all racing to catch up.
Caelan looked around to find them parked in a good spot. “Are we ready to head out?”
Rayne’s brow furrowed and his frown deepened. “Are you sure you’ve recovered enough? We can find a place to sleep in Stonehaven for the night and try to slip inside the wall at first light. Eno or Drayce could even do some scouting of the area.”
Caelan was shaking his head before Rayne even finished his counteroffer. He didn’t want to wait a second longer. He needed to know what had happened to his home and start fixing it. “No, I’m fine. I think I’ll feel better if I get out of this smelly car and walk. I’m already feeling more accustomed to Tula’s power.”
His advisor was still watching him with a skeptical expression, but he didn’t say anything as they all climbed out of the car.
Overhead, the sun was hiding behind dark clouds while a stiff breeze pushed the hot afternoon air between the buildings. They still had at least another couple of months of the unbearable summer heat. It was made all the worse by the layers he was forced to wear to hide the assortment of weapons on his body. Most people didn’t walk about armed to the teeth. It drew stares.
There wasn’t much Eno could do to hide the massive broadsword on his back, though. But then, the man was practically a walking mountain. Add in his constant glare and grumpy attitude, and the sword wasn’t all that out of place.
Before Caelan could even start walking, Drayce grabbed his arm. Caelan glanced over to find his friend staring at Rayne.