“Rayne,” Caelan gasped.
He looked over to find that Caelan had lifted up a linen napkin that had been on the tray, revealing a small, black cell phone that seemed to be about fifteen years old. A relic by the current day’s standard of smartphones, but still a viable mode of communication. Why was this here? Who had placed it there?
Rayne pressed his finger to his lips, signaling for Caelan to not say a word as he turned this new development over in his mind. He lowered his hand and nodded. “Eat while it’s warm.”
They both picked up their bowls, slowly eating the rice while staring at the phone as if it were a snake that had slithered, waiting for the wretched creature to lunge at them. Or worse, ring.
Caelan had retained his personal phone, and Rayne had managed to send a copy of all the information on his phone over to Caelan’s prior to entering the code that wiped it clean. Croft would be able to get nothing off him. She had no idea who the hell she was fucking with when it came to protecting the secrets and lives of the royal family.
Was it possible that Croft had not only supporters but also spies among her people? Was a supporter of Caelan and the Talos family trying to reach their king?
It could be a trick. It could be much-needed assistance.
Rayne was willing to take the chance considering the trouble they’d found themselves in on their own. Before he could tell Caelan of his decision, his companion picked up the phone and pressed a button to awaken it. The phone’s contact list immediately popped up on the screen and it showed only one number but no name.
“Thoughts?” Caelan murmured. He returned the phone to the table and tore off a hunk of dark rye bread. He slathered the tiniest bit of butter across it.
“I say we call it. If it’s a test, we won’t know until we try and it gives us an idea of Croft’s thinking. If it’s help, we need to take it.”
Caelan nodded and started to grab the phone again. Rayne’s hand shot out and caught his wrist. His gaze darted toward the door to the chambers and then to Caelan. “A guard might be outside the door,” he whispered.
“On the bed,” Caelan agreed. It was the farthest point from the door except for the bathroom, but there was a good chance their voices would echo in the marble-lined room.
Rayne nodded and they both tossed their bits of food into their individual bowls of rice. Grabbing their food, water, and the phone, they moved to the bed, where they stretched out. A long sigh might have slipped from Rayne’s lips. He was more exhausted than he’d realized, and his body was deep-tissue sore.
Glancing over, he found the strangest amused look on Caelan’s face. While it was nice to see him smiling, he couldn’t place the reason for it.
“What?” Rayne demanded.
“I was thinking that when this is all over, are you going to tell your new boyfriend that you had dinner in bed with the king?”
Rayne directed his eyes heavenward and tried not to sigh again, though the thought was interesting. If he told Eno, the man would simply shrug it off as not news. The bodyguard knew without a shadow of a doubt that there was nothing sexual about his relationship with Caelan. They were closer to being brothers than anything.
But if Rayne had been with anyone else, Caelan’s teasing remark might have created a niggle of doubt. It was nice that he didn’t have to worry about that with Eno.
“I don’t believe he’d care,” Rayne said honestly.
Caelan snorted. “Then he’s taking you for granted. I’m going to be a catch one day soon.”
“First, he knows that I can be trusted where you are concerned. And second, that kind of thinking shows that you’ve been hanging around Drayce far too much recently,” Rayne listed, sneaking in a bit of teasing on his own.
“Asshole,” Caelan muttered with a mouthful of rice.
“Spoiled brat,” Rayne shot back to get another grin.
Caelan winked at him and scooped up the phone. With the press of a button, he placed the call to the only number in the contacts. He quickly switched it over to Speaker and lowered the volume as far as they dared. They needed to hear who answered but were still cautious about being overheard.
The call was answered on the second ring, but there was no greeting for several seconds. Just an open line as if they were waiting or hesitating.
At last, a low rough voice whispered, “The Godstone glows in the morning light.”
Caelan released a huge sigh of relief before he replied softly, “But Tula weeps at the fall of night.”
Code? Caelan knew code phrases that he didn’t? Oh, they needed to discuss this. He glared at Caelan but didn’t speak. Caelan, the cheeky little snot, grinned like a fool at him. Rayne hated being out of the know on anything, even those secrets closely guarded by the crown.