Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“Why are you trying to make me grumpy when I first wake up?” Caelan complained, his voice muffled against his shoulder. Drayce didn’t miss that Caelan automatically wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him in closer as if he were trying to snuggle into Drayce’s warmth, or maybe just needing to be as close as possible to his dragon.
“I’m not, babe. But as the fiancé and bodyguard of the king, it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re adequately protected.”
Eno barked out a harsh laugh behind him, but Drayce was more focused on how Caelan relaxed a little more. Calling him “babe” always seemed to do the trick. It was a tiny thing his crown-prince-turned-king had probably never expected to hear directed at him in his lifetime.
Drayce’s head suddenly popped up, and he met Caelan’s slightly puzzled gaze. “Hey! That reminds me. I need another title. I’m the fiancé of Caelan and bodyguard of the king, but you’re also a god now. Does that also make me the High Priest of whatever your religion is? Because we all know no one will ever worship you like I do.”
His comment was met with pained groans in stereo. One was clearly from Eno, but it sounded like the other came from the remaining tent.
“Gods, I think he’s turned my stomach off breakfast,” Rayne moaned, proving that the king’s advisor was awake and listening to their conversation.
Caelan chuckled softly and brushed a kiss across his lips before pushing him back. “Idiot,” he mumbled, though it was with a smile.
The conversation was briefly shelved as Eno pulled the sausages off the fire and Drayce helped to divide up the food. Sadly, they were out of coffee, which was resulting in an extra grumpy Caelan and Rayne. It was as if the only thing that got them moving in the morning was their liquid caffeine. In fact, it was surprising that Caelan was still grumpy in the mornings considering he was a god.
Did all gods hate mornings?
“Quit thinking so hard,” Caelan commanded, nudging Drayce with his elbow. “Your eggs are getting cold.”
Drayce flashed him a smirk and shoveled Eno’s bland eggs into his mouth. That helped to keep the questions from coming out. He didn’t want to worry Caelan more than he already had. He could see it in his lover’s eyes. Nyx and the others had told Caelan that he was a god now too, but that had been the end of it. There were no god lessons, no instructions, no handy manual on how to be a god, or even what it meant for him for the rest of his existence.
Not that any of them had been handed an instruction manual for life. But there were other people around with experience and wisdom that offered help. Caelan got none of that—though it was probably best that those lunatics weren’t giving Cael god lessons.
Drayce didn’t want to worry him with more questions Cael didn’t have the answers to yet.
“I agree with Drayce,” Rayne announced a few minutes after they finished eating.
Drayce choked on air, and Eno snorted a laugh while Caelan patted Drayce’s back, helping him to catch his breath.
“I was expecting that,” Caelan murmured with a smirk.
Rayne lifted an eyebrow at him, a matching smirk tilting up one corner of his mouth. “A godly premonition?”
“No. I just know you. You’re all about being prepared.”
The advisor nodded and screwed the cap on his bottle of water. “I suggest we break camp, pack everything in the car, and then run a test.”
Drayce leaned forward to look around Caelan at Rayne. “What kind of test?”
“Three-on-one scrimmage match. Us against the god,” Eno answered.
Caelan frowned. “I don’t know. This isn’t about knocking the rust off. I’m not entirely sure what I can do, and that means I might not have perfect control. I don’t want to hurt anyone, and discover I can’t heal them.”
“We can go slowly,” Eno countered, but there was a wicked edge to his grin. The man had been responsible for both Caelan and his training for many years. Drayce groaned. He had a feeling Eno was going to enjoy this way too much.
“Fine. Let’s do this. It’s better to know now than to discover problems in the Ordas,” Caelan muttered and shoved to his feet.
They quickly packed up the camp. After doing this intermittently for more than six months, they were damn fast at it now. Drayce was sure he could put up a tent in his sleep. The gods knew he’d done it enough times in the middle of the night with little to no light to see by. Their meager belongings were stowed in the trunk of the sky-blue car with patches of rust on the wheel wells, and they walked together to a large clearing.
Each morning when they pulled off the road, they drove at least half a mile to make sure their fire wasn’t visible to anyone who might pass by. At worst, they just had a bit of smoke to worry about, and they never used a fire for long.