“Any chance this shitty hotel has room service?”
Rayne lifted weary eyes underlined with dark circles. “We’ve been given coffee and a couple of bowls of gruel each morning.”
Not great. The coffee helped. He would have preferred some bacon and sausage. Stack of pancakes. Fully loaded omelet. “At least it’s not more rice,” Drayce replied, trying to remain upbeat.
An evil smirk formed on Rayne’s lips as he said, “Actually, the gruel is more of a rice-based congee.”
Huffing, Drayce dropped his head back. “That’s just mean,” he whispered, trying not to make so much noise that he disturbed his companions. Caelan was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, and Eno looked like he needed as much sleep as he could muster right now.
Drayce’s gaze strayed to Eno as he shifted on the sofa as if trying to find a more comfortable position. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Rayne how the bodyguard was doing. They’d disappeared in the bathroom for a long time. He’d tried not to listen when their raised voices leaked under the door. It was expected for Eno to be shaken by this news. Drayce certainly had been, and it didn’t even affect him.
But in the end, Eno was still Eno. What the fuck did it matter where he was born? It was all about a person’s actions, right? At least, that was what he hoped.
And yeah, maybe Drayce had been a little caught up in just getting himself wrapped around Caelan. He hadn’t paid much attention to Eno and Rayne because he’d needed to reassure himself that Cael was safe, body and soul.
He definitely should have taken advantage of their private time together to practice more of the kissing they seemed to be so good at. Last night, it had been enough to simply tuck his face in the crook of Caelan’s neck and feel the steady rhythm of his pulse against his lips.
“We need—” Rayne had started to say, but he stopped when the door was thrown open and a servant rushed inside, carrying a large bundle wrapped in a blanket.
“You need to hurry!” the man announced in a rush as he quietly closed the door behind him.
Rayne jumped to his feet, and Drayce was careful to remain between the servant and the entrance to the bedroom where Caelan was still sleeping.
“Who are you?” Rayne demanded.
“My name is Jad, and I’m with General Morgan. I got you the cell phone,” he replied, dropping to his knees with his bundle. He unrolled it with nimble fingers, revealing Drayce’s holster and guns, Eno’s and Caelan’s swords, an assortment of knives, and the bo staff that belonged to Rayne. He’d even managed to grab their cell phones. “I was able to drug the coffee this morning, and it’s taking effect, but it won’t last long. Someone will notice something is wrong soon. We need to move now.”
Drayce met Rayne’s gaze. They hadn’t even discussed how they planned to escape their prison or where they’d go after getting out. But it wasn’t like they could just ignore this opportunity. With a tiny nod from Rayne, Drayce darted through the room to the bed while Rayne woke Eno.
Wrapping a hand around Caelan’s shoulder, he shook him hard, needing Caelan awake and going now. His prince came up swinging, and Drayce barely managed to block the fist that was headed straight for his jaw.
“Whoa! It’s me! You’re safe!” Drayce said.
Caelan blinked at him, and it was like watching switches getting flipped on in his brain. They’d been on the run and living on the edge of danger for so long that all the survival instincts were ramped up to eleven constantly. “Sorry.” His sleep-rough voice was low and husky, sending the most delicious frisson of awareness through his body, but now was not the time for that fun stuff.
“We’re busting out of here now,” Drayce announced.
Caelan threw off the covers and climbed out of bed, still seeming mostly asleep. “What? How?”
“The guards are drugged. We got our weapons.”
They moved into the sitting area, Caelan grabbing his shoes along the way. Eno was up and shoving his phone into his pocket. They all looked bleary-eyed, but the last tendrils of sleep were burning away fast under the surge of adrenaline.
“What can you tell us about an escape route?” Rayne demanded as he stashed his daggers on his body. Their packs loaded with supplies were long gone. For now, weapons and phones were all they needed.
Drayce checked the magazines in each gun and reloaded them with bullets from his spares, leaving him with two full clips and about a half-full spare. Not great. If they ran into trouble, he’d likely have to raid the dead as they moved.
“The highest concentration of guards is at the front of the house, but you can’t use the back stairs. They end right at a small nook that the guards are using as a break room. You have to use the front stairs,” Jad explained. He stood near the door, his head pressed close as if trying to listen for any noises in the hall. “My suggestion is to leave out the back; go to the rear gate. There are only two guards on it, but I couldn’t get coffee out to them. From there, head east through the park to Green Gate. You’ll be able to meet up with General Morgan there. I’ll try to create a distraction in the west wing of the house in about two minutes.”