ADRIAN WESTERGREN #2
He leaped over fallen trash cans and sagging boxes, heading deeper into the shadows in hopes of losing their pursuers. Shey’s pounding footsteps echoed his own, keeping a steady rhythm that matched the pace of Adrian’s heart.
They’d gotten within Bellcairn’s city limits when they’d picked up a tail.
Six blocks after that, the following had become active pursuit.
They’d cut through buildings and down filthy alleys, anything to break their pursuers’ line of sight.
Adrian had lost track of where they were long ago, but the bigger concern for the moment was not getting caught.
As long as they escaped, they could figure out where they were later.
“Fuck!” Shey snarled. “I have the worst feeling of déjà vu.”
Adrian’s hopes soared. “Been through this part of town before?”
“Nope. Been chased like this before.”
Adrian swallowed a groan as his hopes crashed.
So much for Shey knowing a place they could hide.
The last time he had been chased like this through Bellcairn was probably the night he’d gotten caught and tossed into that secret prison in Milway.
That was just one of the many fates Adrian was hoping to avoid.
A shot rang out, and the bullet slammed into the brick close to Adrian’s head, sending out little shards of rock. Adrian ducked and Shey swore, but neither of them slowed.
“So much for taking us alive,” Adrian growled.
“Dead or alive doesn’t matter. If they know who we are, they can use our presence here to make more problems,” Shey panted. “Go right!”
Adrian didn’t question it. As they came to the end of the alley, he turned right only to find a black van less than a block away. It was waiting with the rear doors open and three men in the process of climbing out.
“Nope!” Adrian slid, trying to suddenly stop all his body’s momentum.
This time Shey grabbed him hard on the elbow and pulled him up.
Men shouted. Guns belched out countless rounds.
Glass shattered, and more bullets pinged off signs and buildings.
There was more shouting, someone belting out orders, but Adrian couldn’t make sense of it over all the other noises. They just kept running.
“Fence!” Shey called out.
In the distance was a tall, chain link fence that surrounded a parking lot filled with box trucks and other container trucks, creating an intricate maze.
That was potentially a place to lose their tail.
Adrian picked up his pace, sprinting straight for the fence.
Pain cut through his side, and every ragged breath was like razor blades down his throat.
Sweat coated his body, making his clothes stick to him in uncomfortable ways, but he didn’t stop, didn’t slow.
Getting caught meant never getting to see Haru again. No one was keeping him from his dragon.
As he reached the fence, he leaped and caught the slender metal wire. He scrabbled over with Shey behind him. This was too much like his younger years, running from the police and the palace guards. Who would have guessed that those early exploits would help him so much?
He landed hard on the other side of the fence.
Adrian paused long enough to help Shey to his feet as the prince seemed to slow up.
They darted behind the trucks as the other men reached the fence with a series of curses.
Adrian chanced a glance over his shoulder to find that they had four men after them, and all of them appeared to be thoroughly winded as they climbed the fence far more slowly.
They headed into the lot of the shipping company, hurrying forward on quiet footsteps, trying to find a way out.
Adrian spotted the rear door of the business and headed toward it, but Shey caught his wrist and stopped him.
Without a word, he pointed at a metal grill in the middle of the lot for the storm drain.
It held zero appeal, but it was also likely to be disregarded when it was far easier to go through the building or even climb another part of the fence.
Not a word was spoken between them as they quickly and quietly pulled up the grate, slid into the water drainage system, and set the grate over the hole.
Shey caught Adrian’s arm and helped him to retreat into the shadows of the large pipe, careful not to make a sound.
Overhead, they could hear the muffled voices of the men running about and shouting, but there was no hint that they thought to look down into the storm drain that was half hidden behind the tire of one of the trucks.
Adrian leaned against the cold cement wall, panting as he fought to catch his breath.
Shey stood next to him, their shoulders touching.
He closed his eyes and smiled to himself.
Why did this remind him so much of being on the run with Drayce, Caelan, Rayne, and Eno?
After they’d taken out New Rosanthe and Zyros, Adrian had thought his wild days of running and hiding were finished.
He’d been sure his life would be meetings in the palace and boring ceremonies for the rest of his days.
Not even close.
Dodging killers in Damardor. Dragons. Gods. Impulsive princes.
His life would never be normal. Meetings and boring ceremonies sounded like a dream considering how tired he was and the noxious odor filling the pipe.
“So…you’re going all in with the dragon, huh?” Shey whispered between panting breaths.
Adrian grinned. Okay, maybe it wasn’t all bad. And it didn’t hurt that Shey was turning into another member of his strange extended family.
“Kind of like how you’re having a fling with a god?”
“It’s not a fling.”
Adrian blinked, his brain locking up. That sounded serious. Very serious. Like overprotective, possessive dragon serious.
“Okay, so we’re both in no-hope relationships.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one who’s lost his mind.
” One hand braced against the pipe, Adrian edged close to the entrance, checking to see if anyone was lurking about.
Things had grown quiet in the past few minutes.
Their best bet was to follow the pipe for a while and see if they could exit through another spot like this one.
“What do you mean, ‘no-hope relationship’?” Shey demanded.
Adrian’s head whipped around and he stared at his companion. He could just barely make out Shey’s features in the dim light that leaked in from above. The prince appeared genuinely confused.
“I mean that unless you’ve got some special deal with Kaes, we’re humans falling for guys who are decidedly not human. How’s that going to work when you’re sixty and Ty still appears to be the same twentysomething miscreant that he does now?”
“I don’t care.”
Adrian stared at the man, his mouth open, but there were no words. He believed him. Shey didn’t sound as if he cared one bit that Tyche would outlive him by thousands of years. That Shey would age and die while Tyche didn’t.
“He’s a god. I’m human. I’ll cherish whatever time I can have with him. Every time I close my eyes, I worry he won’t be there when I open them again. But when he is with me, all I feel is joy.”
“Huh.” It was the only sound he could make.
“What?”
Adrian shrugged and gazed toward the grate. “I’m greedy. It’s not enough to have Haru for my lifetime. I want him for his lifetime, too. I want him until the end of time.”
Shey grunted. “Yeah, I want that too, but for now, I’ll be happy if Tyche doesn’t get killed following his current plan.”
There was something ominous in Shey’s tone that had Adrian stepping back. He’d moved deep enough into the darkness that he could no longer see Shey’s face, but he could sense the weight of his worry.
“What plan?”
“He pointed out that neither you nor I can get close enough to Feng to get the job done. He has to go. Alone.”
Fuck. They needed to get out of there now and rejoin the rest of the group. This sounded like a horrible plan.