Omari Haru
THREE
ADRIAN WESTERGREN
Adrian understood why Nori was so determined to get him to rest prior to seeing Haru. He was right. Adrian needed to be well-rested, with his head on straight. So did Haru.
However, what Nori didn’t understand was that there was no way he’d be able to rest until he got to see Haru. Adrian had to touch and hold him. He had to see with his own eyes that Haru was okay.
It also didn’t help that endless nightmares about the dragon had plagued him since Haru had flown away from Bellcairn. It had been like watching his heart leave him.
Caelan had described to him that heart-wrenching moment when he’d learned that Drayce was a dragon.
He’d stood on the side of the mountain in Zastrad, icy winds whipping past him while he’d watched Drayce fly off, disappearing into black clouds.
He now understood the king’s pain in an entirely new and unexpected way.
There was no point in trying to rest. He couldn’t rest. He had to see Haru.
Thankfully, it was nothing for him to sneak out of his chambers.
He was familiar with the layout of the clan’s buildings and the security patrols.
It was all too easy for him to slip past them all and get outside the wall.
The only problem was finding Haru. He’d not been able to get the dragon’s location out of Nori or any of the other dragons.
However, he knew of a couple of old secret spots that belonged to the Omari Clan, such as the prison the Takehashi clan had used to hold Drayce, as well as the hiding place of the Isle of Stone godstone.
Those were good starting locations. Even if those didn’t pan out for him, he’d keep searching until he found Haru. It didn’t matter how long it took him.
“You have the appearance of a man who is about to get into all sorts of trouble.”
Adrian whipped around, searching for the source of the voice within the overwhelming silence. He found Tyche peeking through an opening in the main doors of the massive wall he’d just scaled.
“What the hell? How did you get that open? They keep that locked tight at night!” Adrian berated him in a coarse whisper.
Tyche stared at him as if he were the densest man he’d ever met.
That was when it clicked.
“Oh. Magic.”
Tyche rolled his eyes and slipped through the slender opening before carefully closing the gate behind him. “I get it. My magic isn’t exciting, but I can use it for some practical purposes, so I don’t have to do crazy things like climb ten-foot walls.”
Adrian bit the inside of his mouth to keep from smirking. The god got so testy about his magic; it was kind of adorable.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Uh-huh. Sure. Let’s get going. I don’t want the dragons to spot us and eat us.” Tyche waved for Adrian to walk with him as he started down the gravel driveway toward the main road, but Adrian didn’t budge an inch.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Adrian crossed his arms over his chest and spread his legs.
Tyche twisted slightly. There were a few burning torches on the wall, casting enough flickering light to show the lines of confusion that crisscrossed Tyche’s brow.
“What? I’m going with you to see Haru.” He stomped back to Adrian, scowling.
“I knew there was no way in hell you were going to wait until morning.”
“And it’s just you?” Tyche glared, and Adrian cursed himself.
It was as if he were doomed to stick his foot in his mouth when it came to Tyche.
The god must naturally activate some kind of bad luck anytime they were together.
“Not that it’s a problem. I don’t mind the company.
I only thought that Shey is always with you. Is he coming too?”
Tyche glared at him for another second before his shoulders drooped.
“No. I didn’t bother asking him.” He inched closer to Adrian so that they were standing only a few feet apart.
“Everyone here knows who he is. The crown prince of Caspagir is the country’s first actual contact with the dragon clans of the Isle of Stone.
He can’t risk pissing off the dragons and making things hard for his country. ”
Damn. He made an excellent point. Shey was a prince and representative of his kingdom.
He couldn’t screw around and create an international incident.
As it was, Adrian was endangering his life and job with Erya by breaking the rules set by Nori.
If the dragons didn’t remove his head, King Caelan had every right to.
And yet, he couldn’t walk away now. He had to see Haru.
“You’re right.” Adrian nodded and started walking with Tyche, gravel crunching softly under their boots. It would have been nice to have Shey with them, but he could help smooth things over with Nori and the other dragons in the morning.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Tyche asked as they reached the smooth pavement of the main road. They had left the dancing torchlight behind and stood bathed in the silvery light of the moon as it broke between tree branches.
“No, but I have a couple of guesses where he might be.”
Tyche grunted and rubbed his chin. “I can sense Yesuntei’s magic, but it’s all muddled with a lot of dragon magic. I can at least tell you if we’re heading in the right direction.”
It wasn’t great, but it was better than if he’d set out alone. This would probably take all night, but his other option was lying in bed, unable to sleep, and if he did drift off, there were only horrible nightmares waiting for him.
“Wow. You are morons. Both of you.”
Drayce’s dry, almost-snickering words drifted out from behind a nearby tree. The dragon with blond hair and a devilish smirk stepped out of the dark shadows, Prince Shey right behind him.
“What the…” Adrian gasped.
“You can’t be here!” Tyche shouted and then winced, slapping his hand across his mouth while pointing at Shey with his other hand. “Neither one of you can be here,” Tyche continued in a much softer voice.
They hurried to where Shey and Drayce were standing. The damn dragon looked so smug. Adrian had thought he was being sneaky. Not only had Tyche caught him, but Drayce and Shey had also been lying in wait. At this point, he was expecting Nori to poke his head around the corner and laugh.
“Where’s the king? Is he coming?” Adrian inquired.
Drayce lost his grin and winced. “Okay, so yeah. I shouldn’t be here. I sneaked out after Cael fell asleep. This is stupid, but I’ve kind of missed doing stupid shit. Everything is so proper, and there are all these rules that I have to follow as the king’s fiancé.”
“You know you’re going to get into trouble,” Shey observed with a lift of his eyebrows.
Drayce snapped his fingers and pointed at Shey. “Yes, but I don’t think it will be a lot. Nori is understanding, and Haru will rest better after he sees Adrian. We’ll deal with the aftermath later. Let’s just go see Haru.”
“Yes, please,” Adrian groaned. He was at the end of his rope. It had been the only thing he’d wanted since they first stepped onto the Isle of Stone. “Where is he?”
Drayce waved them forward. “Not far. A couple of miles that way.” He spun and pointed into the dense forestland and the thick darkness.
It was more than a little unsettling, thanks to all the nightmares he’d been having each time he closed his eyes, but nothing was going to stop him from getting in to see Haru.
Their expedition group set, they headed out through the forest with Drayce leading the way.
The chatty dragon caught Adrian up on all the random gossip from the palace.
Stories from home helped Adrian to relax and distract his mind as they walked along.
As they walked, Shey moved to Tyche’s side and helped the shorter man to maneuver through the woods, his hand ready to catch Tyche as he inevitably slipped on some leaves or tripped over a fallen log.
The steady drone of Drayce’s familiar voice mixed with the rich scent of the Isle of Stone forests eased some of the knot of tension in Adrian’s chest. The air was humid and thick with the smell of green leaves and pine needles, but underlying it all was the scent of frost on stone caught on the edge of the wind as it traveled south from the great mountain peaks that dominated more than half of the island.
Haru had promised that after their Shey adventure was finished, he would bring Adrian to his home.
They would go flying together to visit some of those icy mountain peaks.
After close to two hours of wandering through the woods, they reached a break in the trees and spotted a building that was disturbingly familiar.
“Shit.” Adrian exhaled.
Drayce snorted. “Look familiar?”
“Yeah.”
“What? Have you been here before?” Tyche demanded, his head snapping from the building to stare at Drayce and Adrian.
“Yeah, when I got into trouble with my original clan, I was held prisoner here. The Takehashi clan is on much better terms with the Omari clan now, and they let Haru borrow this place.”
“I feel like there’s a lot more to that story that we’re sort of glossing over,” Tyche pointed out.
“We are, but you can catch up with Drayce’s exploits later.
I’ve got a dragon who needs me.” Adrian jogged away from the trees and up to the entrance.
He had no idea how he was going to get past the guards, but there was no way they were going to stop him.
Maybe he’d get Drayce to flex some royal muscles or at least provide a distraction.
“Adrian! We’ve been expecting you.”
Adrian’s steps had slowed when he spotted an orange dragon curled in front of the doors to the building, but they’d stopped after that dragon shifted into human form to greet him with a wide smile and a wave of his hand above his head.
“Fucking Nori.” Drayce snorted. “That old dragon doesn’t miss a beat.”
“You mean he knew I wouldn’t listen to him?” Adrian said, resuming his march to the prison.