“You and Rayne, huh? How in the world did I not see that coming!” Caelan finally exploded.
Eno could feel a burning in the tips of his ears, but he aimed for cool and collected. “He’s hot.”
Caelan rolled his eyes. “I just don’t see it, and I’m gay. I thought you…weren’t.”
Eno lifted one shoulder in a partial shrug. “The heart wants what it wants. Rayne is grumpy, obstinate, and short-tempered when people don’t realize that he knows better than everyone else in the room. He also sucks at taking care of himself. He just calls to all of my instincts. I need him.”
And it was the complete truth. Caelan called to his sense of duty and honor, while Rayne gave him purpose. He’d found his reason for being with Rayne: he felt complete in a way he’d never thought possible.
“I’m glad,” Caelan murmured softly as he directed his gaze back to the gate. His expression had softened slightly and a small smile played on his lips.
“Really?”
Caelan nodded, still not looking at him. “I’ve got a kingdom to run and can’t spend all my time worrying about his well-being. Rayne has to keep an eye on me. Someone needs to take care of him, and I can’t think of anyone who would do a better job than you.”
Eno’s heart tightened a little as a dark doubt crept into his head. “Not even Prince Shey?”
Caelan’s head tipped on a loud laugh. “Are you kidding me?” He twisted and leaned forward so that both of his arms rested on the table. “Don’t get me wrong. I like and respect Shey, but he’s got a kingdom to run too. They’d both get so wrapped up in governing Caspagir, they’d forget they were a couple. There’d be no intimacy. No romance.” Caelan paused, his brow suddenly furrowing. “Does Rayne do romance? Does he understand what that is?”
A slow grin spread across Eno’s lips as his brain instantly conjured up all their stolen moments, particularly the one instigated by Rayne in the bathroom while Caelan and Drayce were sleeping. Yeah, Rayne knew romance and intimacy very well.
“No! Stop!” Caelan barked, holding up both hands in front of him while squeezing his eyes shut. “From your expression, I can see the answer is yes. I don’t want to hear it. Rayne is like an older brother. I don’t want to know about his sex life.”
“You asked,” Eno teased.
“And I take it back.”
Eno chuckled and lifted his coffee to his mouth. The gate was partially forgotten as they drifted into reminiscing about past adventures and misadventures over the years. He’d known Caelan since the young man had been in high school. And yes, he’d come to see him as the dour little brother who just needed someone to nudge him out of his shell occasionally. Eno had done what he could, but Drayce had been the one to really reach Caelan.
Drayce might drive Rayne crazy with worry, but Eno could only see Drayce as the person who saved Caelan from being crushed by his birthright. Drayce showed Caelan that he didn’t have to be perfect, that he could be loved and accepted exactly as he was.
Caelan might be glad that Rayne had found Eno, but Eno would always be grateful for Drayce finding Caelan.
“I don’t think we’re going to solve the gate conundrum today, but we got some good intel,” Caelan declared. A wicked grin pulled his lips upward, and Eno had to swallow back a sigh. He could guess what was coming. “What do you say we take a stroll?”
“See if we can find the Purple Lotus Hotel?” Eno added.
Calean shrugged nonchalantly, but Eno was not fooled. “If we happen upon it…”
“We can poke our heads inside and see what we can see.”
Yeah, Rayne wasn’t going to like this idea at all, but it would help if they also got a measure of this woman who had New Rosanthe wrapped around her finger. It would undoubtedly help to prepare them for the fight that was still coming.
FIFTEEN
Drayce Ladon
“By the gods, you two are a sour pair,” Vale moaned as they continued along the block to yet another destination. “I thought Drayce would at least be excited for a day out in Temit among the thieves and murderers.”
Drayce narrowed his eyes at the back of Vale’s head. “Nice to know you think so highly of me,” he grumbled.
The truth was, he would have enjoyed a day exploring Temit if it meant Caelan was with him. That would have been a blast. Just like when they’d explored Sirelis, except for the part where they were arrested as suspected spies of New Rosanthe.
But since Caelan and Eno had left the hotel room, all he’d done was worry. Not so much that Eno wouldn’t be able to protect him from an attack. It was more of what the gods continued to do to Caelan that tore at his peace of mind. He didn’t want his friend out of his sight. If there was another fracture in Caelan’s control, Drayce wanted to be there to talk him down.