“Better?” Eno teased. He sounded so smug, but Rayne didn’t care. He was warm and safe.
“Yes.”
Except, now that he was warm and comfortable, his mind was automatically turning to the things Drayce had said about Caelan and the fire. He wasn’t quite sure what was more disturbing about all of it—that they hadn’t truly considered the source of Caelan’s invulnerability to fire or that Drayce knew something that he wasn’t revealing.
“Why aren’t you relaxing?” Eno growled in his ear.
“I’m relaxed.”
Eno kissed the spot behind his ear. “You are a horrible liar, my love.” Rayne honestly didn’t know if that was a compliment or an insult, considering his job, but he let it go. Eno could always see through him, even in a pitch-black tent. “I can feel you tensing up. What are you thinking about?”
“What Drayce said earlier. Can you remember the first time you saw Caelan touch fire and not get burned?”
His lover stretched behind him and squeezed him a little closer. “Not really. I’m sure it was on one of our missions to the Ilon border. He never just did it in Stormbreak. It was only in relation to casting the shield.”
“So, neither you nor Caelan questioned his imperviousness to fire?”
“No. If he was taught to believe he wouldn’t be burned while casting the protection spell, why would he go sticking his hand into fire other times?”
That made sense at least. But…
“Do you think Caelan really believed that?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
Rayne rolled over onto his back and stared up. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness so that he could at least see the shadowy outline of Eno’s face as he remained balanced on one elbow, looking down at Rayne.
“Because Drayce knew that Caelan wasn’t affected by the flames and that it had nothing to do with the spell. How would Drayce know that? Did Caelan say something to him? Or was it something else?”
“No idea. I guess you’ll just have to ask Drayce.”
Again, that made sense. The only problem was that Rayne was afraid to ask Drayce. He couldn’t forget the expression on the man’s face when he’d dismissed their earlier questions. He knew something. He was keeping a secret. Normally, Rayne wouldn’t care too much about Drayce’s secrets, but this one had something to do with Caelan, and Rayne couldn’t afford for those to exist if he was to keep his king safe.
He didn’t want to think about Drayce lying to him.
Eno’s hand slipped under the hem of Rayne’s shirt and rubbed across the bare skin of his stomach. Little fires lit across everywhere he touched, and Rayne struggled not to stretch and push into his touch.
“What are you doing?” Rayne demanded, though it came out with a moan of pleasure.
“I’m all too aware that we could soon be reduced to sharing one yurt, one room, one bed with those lunatics on this journey.” Those perfect fingers slid up and pluck at a nipple, wringing a gasp from Rayne. “I mean to enjoy you and our relative privacy every chance I get.”
Those niggling worries were starting to get buried under the rising need Eno created every time they were together. But then, there was nothing he could do about Drayce and his secrets now. The road was long ahead of them, and there would be plenty of time to pick at Drayce’s defenses to get the truth.
Rayne turned toward Eno, lifting his head up to steal a kiss while his own fingers went seeking under Eno’s clothes. He captured the low sounds escaping Eno and swallowed them down. His touch, his taste, the beautiful sounds he made, they were all utterly intoxicating.
His lover was right. They needed to seize all the moments they could. Besides, he would never be able to get enough of Eno.
SEVEN
Caelan Talos
They made good time their first day with Vale. She loaded all her supplies into the car, lightening the load on her chestnut gelding. He still couldn’t believe she was expecting them to cross Zastrad on horseback, but with limited access to fuel, the car was going to be useless all too soon.
Eno followed Vale as she led them from the main road to barely-there paths. The pace was painfully slow at times, but the rocky terrain made it necessary. Outside his window, the landscape grew more and more foreign. He’d seen the distant, snow-capped mountains of Caspagir in pictures, though they were all covered in crisp evergreen trees and dotted with the occasional gray boulder.
But in Zastrad, the world was largely barren rock and dirt with large patches of this low-growing plant life that was more yellow than green. Trees were incredibly scarce. There would be the random strip of woods, but then the rocks and steep climb into the jagged mountain peaks would take over again.
It was only when they reached long stretches of a plain or plateau that they would finally see some animals. Birds were growing fewer and fewer with the disappearance of the trees. They’d seen a number of herd animals such as sheep and yak. Even some strangely hairy cows. In the morning, they’d even spotted a breed of horned goats standing high on a mountainside, their tiny feet expertly balanced on the rocks.