“I’m sorry, I should have been clearer in my request. Any useful suggestions?”
“Come on, Rayne—” Drayce started, but he suddenly fell silent at one glare from Rayne. There was still plenty of anger he was looking forward to unleashing on Drayce after that stunt he’d pulled in the bar. Drinking poison? Just the thought of it left him wanting to shake the man. And what if something had happened to him? Did Drayce even think about how that was going to affect Caelan?
Drayce returned his attention to the street, watching to see if they’d been followed. Rayne would have preferred to head to the hotel to hide and rest, but he didn’t want to risk leading these people to Caelan. It would be better if they lost them first.
As it was, the day was growing late and the sun would start sinking behind the mountains soon. If tonight was anything like last night, there was a good chance they’d be able to lose their pursuers in the darkness and crowds. They just needed to last a few more hours on the streets.
Rayne closed his eyes and rested his head on the stone wall currently supporting him. A thin layer of sweat coated him under his clothes, causing them to stick to him uncomfortably. It also didn’t help that the day was growing cooler with every passing hour and a chill was sinking in, thanks to the wind and sweat.
Despite all of that, his mind was still turning with eager anticipation to seeing Eno safely in the hotel room again. Even if it meant having to explain how their mission had gone horrifically wrong.
The little spark of joy needed to be squashed. His mind shouldn’t be on Eno. His heart shouldn’t be distracted and pining for the man. All of his being needed to be turned toward getting Caelan up Mount Langbo and to the godstone.
“Holy shit,” Drayce whispered suddenly. His head snapped around and he stared at Rayne with wide eyes. “Today’s August second, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, so?” Vale shrugged.
Drayce cackled and Rayne dropped his head back against the wall, closed his eyes, and sighed. He hadn’t even given the date a second thought.
“It’s Rayne’s birthday,” Drayce announced with more giggles.
It made sense because all this running about Temit had left him feeling old and sore.
“Wow. Nice birthday,” Vale snickered. “You’ve already been to two bars, nearly killed in a brothel, and now you’re hiding in an alley.”
“Just a shade better than last year’s,” Rayne sighed.
“What was last year’s?” Rayne opened his eyes to see Drayce watching him, his expression twisted up as if he were struggling to dig up the memory.
“The emissary from Ilon who tried to put Caelan in a compromising position in order to improve their leverage at the negotiating tables,” Rayne reminded him.
Drayce moaned and laughed at the same time. “She totally got her information wrong and ended up naked in my bed while I fell asleep on Caelan’s couch after a night of video games and pizza rolls. Man, was she pissed when I shuffled in the next morning for clean underwear!”
Rayne groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. The screaming and shouting had brought guards and a very angry Caelan. It made all the more sense now why the prince had lost his mind over seeing a naked woman in Drayce’s room. Things had sort of gone downhill from there on that birthday for both Rayne and Ilon.
“Shit,” Drayce hissed, and Rayne jerked upright. The playfulness was gone from Drayce’s voice. “There’s a small group of them headed this way. We need to move.”
“Down the alley,” Rayne instructed. Reaching out, he caught the collar of Drayce’s shirt and pulled him away from the mouth of the alley. “It’s got to lead to somewhere, even if we have to backtrack a little.”
As quietly as possible, they dodged bits of trash and other loose refuse in the shadow-thick alley, following it behind a line of what looked to be town houses to another block. They twisted and turned through Temit until Rayne hadn’t the foggiest clue of where they might be in relation to their own hotel or even the brothel they’d escaped from.
“Hey,” Drayce gasped as they stopped running again and entered a quiet residential neighborhood filled with very stylish homes. Much more stylish than Rayne had noticed so far. “Maybe we duck into a restaurant or a bar for a bit. Hide in the crowd. It’s not like they can check every business, right?”
“We’d definitely have to backtrack for that,” Vale volunteered. “This is the block for all the church officials. The High Aspect and all his ranking minions in Temit live here.”
“I guess that would explain why all the homes look a step above what we’ve seen.” Rayne frowned and narrowed his gaze on the woman walking beside Drayce. “I thought you said that Zastrians avoided material wealth in favor of experiences.”