Chapter 21 #2
Haru hadn’t gotten the chance to join one of their meals like that. He’d come in time for Rayne’s wedding. Immediately after, they’d been on the road, heading for Caspagir and beyond. Haru needed to spend some family time with his cousin before he flew back to the Isle of Stone.
Adrian glanced at Haru from the corner of his eye. His expression was lackadaisical, as was expected of Yujian, but there was a tension around his lips and in his eyes. Something about this job had him worried.
Forcing a bounce into his step, Adrian moved closer to Haru and clung to one of Haru’s arms while pasting a super-sweet grin on his lips. Haru’s eyebrows jumped, and he grinned.
“Yujian!” Ruben’s voice boomed as they entered yet another beautiful room with tall windows and sleek furniture.
The robust man with steadily graying hair set aside a tablet on a nearby table and rose to his feet.
The butler stiffly bowed to them and hurried out of the room, leaving his charges with the master.
“Ruben, it has been too long. I’ve been exploring more of your city and find it very quaint.” As Haru spoke, he pulled his arm free of Adrian’s grasp and wrapped it behind his waist so he could pull Adrian flush against his side. “Of course, you recall my precious treasure, Mitso.”
“Naturally. He looks as lovely as ever. Have you been enjoying your time in Bellcairn?”
“Thank you, Mr. Deinum. Bellcairn is very nice. The food is much better here than in Aswa.”
Ruben’s smile tightened and his eyes widened at Adrian’s oh-so-casual mention of the New Rosanthe capital city. Yes, they needed to lay it on thick for Ruben. He and his boss needed to believe Yujian was extremely well traveled and well connected.
Haru tapped the tip of Adrian’s nose with his free hand. “You know that trip to Aswa was only a brief one. We didn’t get the chance to find the very best restaurants. We’ll go back soon to find their most delicious food.”
“Promise?” Adrian demanded, struggling to give his very best flirty pout, but dammit, he was out of his depth with this character.
“I promise, my treasure,” Haru purred. It felt more like Haru was making that promise than Yujian, causing Adrian to shiver.
“Now, Yujian, when you contacted me, you said that you’d gotten your hands on the first of the shards that I requested.” Ruben’s voice forced its way across the room, breaking up their moment and pulling Adrian’s glossy lips into a frown. The man had to be the center of attention.
Haru winked at Adrian and turned his gaze to the other man. They resumed walking across the thick carpet to stop next to a sleek and smooth wood and leather chair. Haru sat and pulled Adrian close as if he couldn’t stand to be parted from his treasure.
“I acquired the godstone shard from the Isle of Stone, as you requested, but I’ve put a hold on the shard from Caspagir,” Haru began. There was a new hardness in his voice as he switched from playfulness to business.
Ruben twitched as if Haru’s words had caused his brain to lock up. “What? Why?”
“Because gaining them costs me a great deal of money and time. I do not make a habit of wasting either of those things. While one of those things is easy to amass, the other is not.” Haru flashed him a tight, closed-lipped smile that left Adrian thinking that he was gritting his teeth at the man.
“I possess one shard to prove to you that it was a task that I could accomplish. However, if I cannot get what I want, what is the point of continuing?”
Ruben frowned and dropped into the chair set perpendicular to Haru’s.
He huffed, his face bunching and twisting up like an old wet towel left to mildew on the bathroom floor.
“I have spoken with my partners about bringing you into our organization. They feel that maybe the timing isn’t right at this moment. We need—”
Adrian was nearly knocked to the floor as Haru leaped to his feet. The dragon saved Adrian from embarrassing himself by keeping a tight hold on his waist so that Haru was nearly carrying his entire weight until he found his feet. “We’re leaving.”
Ruben gasped and jumped to his feet as well, a second later. His eyes were so wide they nearly popped from his head as he hurried to get in front of Haru, waving his hands back and forth as if to stop him. “Wait! Wait! We’re not saying never.”
“I also know when I’m being used and toyed with.
I never enter any partnership unless I understand who’s running the show and have a hand in how operations progress.
During our first meeting, you spoke of magic and creating your own powerful army.
You talk about assuming genuine power here in Damardor and beyond, but I see nothing but a bunch of rich wastrels playing at silly games. ”
Ruben’s gaze shifted to Adrian, who purposefully kept his expression blank, as if he weren’t paying attention to a word that was being said.
“We are not playing games.” Ruben appeared to be on the verge of stomping his foot.
Adrian bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. Haru had deftly forced the man into a corner. It was time to put up or shut up.
“I have seen no proof of this. Yet, you requested two items of actual power from me that were very complicated to acquire. They were part of prisons for gods. I’ll not see these items wasted on frivolous endeavors.”
Okay, Haru was convincing as Yujian. It sounded as if he cared about the shard of godstone in his possession.
“Very well. Tomorrow morning, you will join me on the train traveling south to Milway. It’s about three hours away from Bellcairn.
A car will be waiting to drive us another hour to our destination.
The facility there holds our most promising candidates.
The last message I received from the supervisor there was that she was on the verge of breaking a very promising magic user.
We’re hoping that if we can break her, the other two stubborn dregs will follow in her footsteps.
” Ruben paused and cocked his head to the side, seeming to assess Haru in a new light.
“Maybe you’ll also be able to offer some insight into a problem we’ve been having. ”
Haru arched one eyebrow. “Which is?”
“Our candidates keep dying before we can break them. It’s a nuisance.” Ruben smirked. “You, on the other hand, can be quite persuasive.”
Adrian hummed and wrapped his arms around Haru. “Daddy is very persuasive.”
Haru chuckled, and Adrian thought he was going to vomit after delivering a line like that. However, Ruben laughed as well, dispelling the last of the tension in the room.
“Yes, I’m sure he is. However, there will be no access to the facility unless you give me the shard.”
Haru reached into his pocket and pulled out the six-inch long box. He unlocked it and handed it to Ruben.
The man’s fingers were trembling as he snatched the box up and flipped open the lid.
A strangled gasp left him, and his knees gave out so that he sat hard on the arm of the chair he’d vacated.
“My…my word,” Ruben stammered, his voice a breathless whisper.
“It’s…it’s so beautiful. I never expected you to get your hands on such a large piece. ”
He carefully reached inside and tried to work it loose. As he did, his fat fingers slid along the sharp edge, and he gasped. He jerked his hand back to reveal a long, thin gash across the pads of two fingers.
“Watch it. The crystal is very sharp,” Haru said needlessly, with a hint of a smirk.
“Yes. Yes, I can see that,” Ruben agreed, his excitement not dampened in the least. “This is the same material as my shard from Erya. It’s the genuine article.”
“So, this confirms our passage on the train tomorrow and entrance into the facility?” Haru inquired.
Ruben’s smile dimmed as he stared at Adrian. He clearly didn’t want Haru’s little plaything with them for serious business. Yet Haru had gotten him a shard of godstone from the isle of fucking dragons. He could suck it up for one day.
“Yes, of course.”
“And I’ll meet your boss?”
Ruben’s expression hardened, and he snapped the box shut. “That won’t possibly happen until I get my hands on the shard from Caspagir.”
“Naturally. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain. No worries.” Haru tightened his arm around Adrian’s waist and held him close. “Since the shard has been delivered, Mitso and I must prepare for tomorrow’s outing. What time should we meet you at the train platform?”
“Eight in the morning will do,” Ruben agreed, his voice dismissive, as if he were turning all his focus on the shard as he opened the box again.
Panic screamed through Adrian, and he tried to break free of Haru’s hold. This was the part of the plan where Adrian was supposed to create a distraction and swap the real crystal for the fake one. Yet he couldn’t do that if Haru had him glued to his side.
“We’re leaving already?” Adrian whined. “We just got here.”
“I know, my treasure, but we’re going traveling tomorrow and that means we must go shopping for you. It’s our little rule. New places mean new clothes.”
What the hell was he supposed to do? Haru knew the plan, but he was changing it for some strange reason.
Adrian wanted to fight him. Caelan had ordered that the shard wasn’t to be left in Ruben’s possession, and yet that was exactly what they were doing.
He glared at Haru and then let it go. The dragon had to have a good reason, and he trusted Haru.
He held it together until they were on the road and away from the house.
“What the hell!” Adrian exploded from the back seat. Haru grinned at him while Vitor jerked behind the wheel, briefly hitting the brakes as if a person had jumped in front of the car.
Haru tried to grab Adrian’s hand, but Adrian pulled it away and smacked both of his hands for even trying. “I’m sorry I had to change the plan. There was no way for me to tell you without Ruben hearing me.”
“What? What? What do you mean the plan changed? What happened? Are your covers blown?” Vitor squawked like a panicked chicken from the driver’s seat.
Adrian cursed himself. He should have kept his mouth shut.
Right now, Vitor was so distracted that he was likely to crash them into a building or another car.
“I realized after I saw Ruben’s reaction to the shard that he would notice the real crystal had been swapped for a fake.
” Haru reached out and touched one of the earrings that dangled from Adrian’s right ear.
He caught Adrian’s hand when he tried to bat him away again.
“Ruben doesn’t just want the shard for the sliver of power that it holds.
He’s mesmerized by its beauty, and it holds some of the same meaning that it once held for you.
It touched a god, and Ruben envies that power.
He wasn’t about to tuck the shard away and never look at it.
He’s going to study and inspect it until he must leave for the facility tomorrow. ”
“And he would notice that we’d given him a fake,” Vitor muttered. He swore softly, hammering his fist on the steering wheel once.
“But Caelan commanded us to not leave the real one in his possession. Plus, what the hell do you mean it contains a sliver of power? The shard has magic?” Adrian wanted to hit Haru. He was being so damn annoying and secretive.
“Yes, the shard possesses some magic,” Haru stated with a smug expression. “I cannot tell if the magic is specifically related to my goddess or if it is residual from the spell that imprisoned her, but I can sense the magic.”
“When were you going to mention that? We had the shard all yesterday.”
“I only noticed it after Ruben took possession of the shard.” Haru pressed a finger to the center of Adrian’s forehead and gave a little push.
“Your magic was obscuring the shard’s magic.
Shou also might have interfered with my ability to sense the shard’s magic,” he said, mentioning the slumbering dragon in his bed.
“But now that I have a lock on its magic, I should be able to follow it back to the shard no matter where it goes. Even if Ruben were to hand it off to his boss.”
Oh, that was a much better plan. Use Ruben to take them to the facility, which should provide them with a solid lead on how to find Shey. After they had the Caspagir prince in hand, they could either kill Ruben for the shard or kill his boss to retrieve it. Yes, that would all work out nicely.
But first, Adrian had to survive their trip to the death and torture facility without killing Ruben. He didn’t think Ruben’s odds of survival were all that good.