“I’ve got it,” Drayce said firmly. He dropped his hand from Caelan’s neck and strode across the camp to a metallic glint in the greenery.
“Drayce—” Caelan started, but Drayce stopped him with a reassuring smile tossed over his shoulder. He wanted to do this for Caelan. It should have been him taking out Ram in the first place. He was Caelan’s bodyguard, his protector.
Drayce snatched the gun that had fallen from one of Ram’s men and quickly checked that it was loaded. In a single smooth motion, he aimed and fired the gun, burying a single bullet in Ram’s head. The body jerked at the impact and then went still.
A chill ran through him as he turned to Caelan and shoved the gun into his own empty holster. “What’s next?”
The king glanced over at Rayne and Eno, a frown playing on his lips. “It’s getting too dark to head to our own camp tonight. We’ll pull together what provisions we can and return to get our stuff tomorrow morning.” He seemed to force a weak smile as he met Drayce’s gaze. “Why don’t you and Vale see what kind of supplies you can pull together for tonight? I need to talk to Rayne.”
Drayce nodded, unable to make a joke around the tightness in his own throat. He wanted to reassure him, to say something that would bring the laughter back to Caelan’s pale-blue eyes, but he was out of words and silliness. The cracks were showing in Caelan’s armor, and Drayce wasn’t sure how to protect him from gods tearing his mind and soul apart.
TWELVE
Rayne Laurent
The second Drayce and Vale moved into the camp to search for salvageable supplies, Rayne rushed to Caelan’s side. He grabbed his shoulders, prepared to check him over thoroughly that he wasn’t injured, but he released him when he both felt and saw Caelan flinch. Caelan took a step backward and Rayne’s stomach sank. What had happened while he was unconscious that he would pull away like that?
“Caelan, what’s happened? Are you okay?” Rayne asked.
He dodged the question, eyes straying to the dying fire in the center of the camp when he replied, “How are you? Your head?”
“It’s fine. What happened while I was unconscious?”
When Caelan looked up, it was to stare at Eno rather than Rayne. The bodyguard was still close to Rayne, seeming ready to jump into action. The larger man cleared his throat and scratched the top of his head.
“I can go help Drayce,” Eno offered, though it was obvious he wanted to stay and hear what Caelan had to say to Rayne.
Caelan’s lips parted, but no sound came out and they closed again. Furrows dug in his brow at some thought. He finally nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
Rayne tried to give Eno a look of reassurance before the man walked off to join Vale and Drayce at the far side of the camp. When they were alone, Rayne guided Caelan to sit down on a blanket in front of the fire, while he took a spot a few feet away, trying to give Caelan the space he felt he needed to say what was on his mind.
“Please tell me what happened. The last thing I remember is the fight. Vale and Eno said this forest should not be here, so I’m assuming that it’s the result of you and Tula,” Rayne started, trying to get Caelan speaking after nearly a minute of silence.
“I lost control of the Goddess of Life’s powers,” Caelan admitted, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Rayne guided his eyes up the enormous trees that towered around them in the camp, blotting out almost all signs of blue sky. While a bit unnerving to think that it had just sprung up, at least the trees would offer some much-needed cover from the elements overnight. “There are worse things that could have happened.”
Caelan didn’t say anything, and a new fear slithered across Rayne’s soul. Something worse had happened while he was unconscious.
“You’re the reason this camp is littered with corpses,” Rayne guessed. “You were protecting us, Caelan. You can’t torture yourself over that. I’m sure if you hadn’t acted, one or all of us would have been killed.”
His king still wasn’t speaking.
“Please, Caelan. I can’t help you if you don’t trust me enough to speak. We will figure this out together.”
“Ram’s mind wasn’t the only one that I crawled into,” Caelan confessed, and Rayne swore his heart stopped. Now he could put the pieces into place. What did Calean see exactly? “When I saw Vale’s betrayal, Tula began whispering that I could only trust those I could control. She wanted me to control your mind, to see all your secrets.”
“Caelan,” Rayne started but had to stop again and clear his throat. Horror mixed with dread and anger to think that his mind had been invaded by Caelan, even if he trusted the man completely.