Chapter 21
Adrian Westergren
The shard of blood-red crystal sparkled and shone as it caught the early morning light and reflected it around the black car.
Adrian couldn’t draw his eyes away from it as he turned it between both hands.
He was holding a piece of an actual godstone.
The godstone that had held Caris, the Goddess of Fire.
An emissary from the Isle of Stone had delivered it the previous day after flying for nearly two days straight to get it to them quickly.
Poor Shou was still asleep on Haru’s bed and wasn’t likely to move for another ten hours.
Haru had warned them that they would need to order a great deal of food to help replenish the dragon’s strength before they could send him back to Nori and the rest of the Omari clan.
“Please be careful, my Adrian,” Haru murmured from beside him in the car’s rear seat.
Vitor was once again driving them across town, this time to meet up with Ruben.
“The edges are very sharp. I do not want you to be injured.” His hand drifted close as if to snatch the crystal, but he drew away, placing his hand in his lap.
Haru was so damn overprotective. It would be adorable if it wasn’t so annoying.
They were both dressed in clothes that fit their roles of Yujian and Mitso, though their attire was slightly more subdued.
Yujian was wearing “business flirty” in shades of dark gray and soft lavender.
Adrian was wearing a bit more than in their first appearance, allowing him to hide a few weapons on his body under all the black clothes.
Haru was technically unarmed, but he was a dragon. He was a walking weapon.
“I don’t understand how you’re so calm about allowing Ruben to even set eyes on a shard from the Firestone,” Adrian said.
He reluctantly fitted the shard into its leather and steel box.
The interior was heavily padded so that no harm could come to the shard even if they dropped the box.
However, it wasn’t so snug that Adrian couldn’t easily remove the shard and replace it with the phony that was tucked up his sleeve.
Haru shrugged and lifted his head to gaze out the windshield as Vitor slowed the car for a clump of traffic. “Why would I care?”
“What do you mean? Every other word out of your mouth is Caris this and brilliant goddess that. I’ll give you that while most of the gods and goddesses can take a flying leap, she seems okay.
She helped Caelan and gave Drayce an amazing set of wings.
But still…” Adrian lifted his eyes from where he’d been staring at the crystal in the box to find that Haru was now watching him with a smirk.
“First, you know that every other word out of my mouth is my Adrian this and brilliant Adrian that,” Haru corrected.
“I will agree with that,” Vitor grumbled from the driver’s seat.
“And second, why would I value a broken piece of my goddess’s prison?
The very thing that held her trapped for thousands of years and stifled her great powers.
If I had my way, all those remaining shards would be ground into dust and dropped into the ocean’s waves, forever disappearing from this world.
There should be no reminder left behind of that evil prison. ”
“Oh.” He hadn’t considered it that way.
Haru cocked his head to the side, sending several strands of his silky black hair tumbling over his shoulder.
Silver rings and gems were once again woven into his hair, but not quite as many as he’d worn for the party.
This time, Adrian had helped him while Haru explained the tradition among the dragons for braiding in jewelry.
It helped Adrian feel like Haru was keeping something of himself even as he put on the mask of Yujian.
They sparkled and glittered in the sunlight, and he seemed even more magical.
“Why? Do you value the Godstone of Erya?”
“I don’t know.” That was a hard question.
Sometimes he struggled to reconcile a lifetime of believing that Tula was a kind, benevolent deity who protected all her children with the reality that she was a cold, self-centered, calculating, manipulative monster with near-unlimited power.
“It’s more of a nostalgia thing, I guess.
Growing up in Erya—particularly Stormbreak—the Godstone was looked upon as something of honor and pride.
We were protectors of the goddess. Sure, the royal line was the true protector of the Godstone, but I don’t think there was a single citizen of Stormbreak who wouldn’t fight and die to keep it safe.
But I doubt anyone believed the goddess was in the Godstone.
It was simply a repository of her power. Or a symbol of her.”
“You must also keep in mind, Haru,” Vitor chimed in as he maneuvered the car through the busy intersection.
“Except for the royal family and a few select others, most of the people of the world didn’t realize there was more than one godstone or that they were prisons for the gods in order to protect us all from Zyros.
The Godstone of Stormbreak was a symbol of hope for the whole world.
That is why many people scrambled to collect even the tiniest sliver after it shattered.
They still wanted to hold on to that hope. ”
Haru grunted and took the box from where it rested in Adrian’s lap.
He stared at the crystal for several seconds before closing the lid and securing it.
“Most dragons were the same. We didn’t know the Firestone existed, let alone that it held the goddess.
But once Caelan told me of it and how she touched their lives, when he explained it was her prison, all I wanted to do was see it shatter. ”
“And now we’re supposed to let Ruben touch it.
Inspect it,” Adrian sneered, his upper lip curling.
“I don’t like him. He’s slimy. Evil. You can feel it each time you’re in the same room as him.
I’ve not met many people like him, but he’s the type where you take one look and know that the world would be better off if he was at the bottom of the ocean. ”
“Yes, he inspects the shard, but Cael was quite clear. We can’t let him keep it. Make the swap before you part ways,” Vitor pressed in a hard voice.
Adrian slid his fingers into his sleeve and pulled out the blood-red crystal that had been shaped and carved to be identical to the actual shard of godstone.
To his eye, it matched the shard perfectly, but Haru had been able to tell the difference between the two with only a glance.
Adrian was glad they’d found a skilled craftsman to make it so quickly.
After a couple of minutes of winding through yet another exclusive and expensive neighborhood, they neared their destination.
As soon as Vitor had sent the message to Ruben that Yujian had acquired the shard, Ruben had demanded a meeting first thing the next morning.
And that was only after Vitor had refused to allow Ruben to meet them at their hotel.
Adrian tucked away the fake shard and peered out his window as the fancy homes slid by.
The shining sun and cloudless blue skies did nothing to improve his grim mood.
Damardor had tainted his view of rich people.
So far, all the rich people he’d met were scheming bastards who cared nothing for anyone but themselves and worried just about how to make their lives best. Fuck the rest of the world.
“Remember, don’t agree to anything less than a partnership that allows you to see the facility and to meet the mastermind behind this,” Vitor instructed.
“Ruben Deinum is smart, but this is grander than even he is capable of. I know there must be someone else pulling the strings. If you must, walk away. If he wants this shard so badly, he will chase after you.”
“Also, we are not to let the shard out of our sight,” Adrian added.
Vitor stopped at a guardhouse next to a gated driveway. “Yes.” He rolled down his window and gave his employer’s name. They needed only to wait another moment before the gates opened and they were permitted inside.
“You have nothing to worry about.” Haru slipped into his Yujian accent and breezy manner. “I have everything under control. We are close to finding Shey. This will be nothing.”
Adrian swallowed a groan. It was as if the dragon were trying to curse them with bad luck. The glare he got from Vitor in the rearview mirror proved that the spy had the same thought.
After they arrived at the lavish house, the butler ushered them through room after extravagant room, as if it were required by his boss that he show off Ruben’s wealth and power prior to taking them to their destination.
The mansion was opulent and yet understated.
It didn’t have the same gaudy flair they’d witnessed at Matthys Drost’s house.
Regardless, both places made him long for his apartment in the palace.
Now that was understated elegance without being gaudy.
Yet, probably what made it feel most like home were the people he saw there every day.
He missed following King Caelan through the palace as he traveled to meetings, chitchatting about nonsense with Drayce.
Eno would catch him up on what was happening with the royal guards.
Even Rayne could be counted on for a tidbit of interesting gossip.
Then there were their weekly dinners. No matter how busy things were in all their lives, they made a point of all five of them getting together for dinner in someone’s private apartment.
Sometimes other people would join, such as the chancellor or the head of the royal guard, but Caelan had always made a point of explaining that these were casual family meals. Not a time for politics or work.