Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
“Adrian,” he whispered, seeming to cling to thoughts of his mate. More tears slipped from his eyes, sliding along his temples to soak into his hair.
Tyche clenched his teeth and dug into his friend, moving fingers past warm tissue, organs, and muscle, chasing that pulse of power. Several seconds passed before the tip of his index finger brushed the fiery orb. A sob of relief broke from his throat, and he grasped the orb with three fingers. Except it wouldn’t come out. It didn’t feel as if it had melded with the muscle and tissue around it, yet Tyche couldn’t draw it out. The damn thing had already started to merge with the dragon’s magic, and Haru’s body refused to release it.
No! I’m not killing him! Tyche snarled silently.
He squeezed his eyes shut and forced raw power into the dragon, wringing more shouts of pain out of him. At the same time, he reached out to the ether. Caris, please. He’s one of your most devout followers. If you have any shred of love left for your dragons, help me save him.
He forced more power into Haru. His mind scrambled for more ideas on how to free Haru. He was not losing the dragon. That was not the price of his mistake. He wouldn’t allow it.
Hot wind brushed his cheek, and Tyche flinched. A heartbeat later, it felt as if a smaller, invisible hand slipped into the hole he’d cut along with his own. A little magic and pop! The orb came loose with the force of a cork flying from a champagne bottle. Tyche fell back on his ass, Yesuntei’s sarira clutched in his fist.
Fuck! Shit! Damn! Thank you!
He thought he felt a hint of amusement or possibly annoyance from the Goddess of Fire, but it was gone with the wind. Haru sucked in a harsh gasp of air and coughed roughly, drawing Tyche from his frantic thoughts.
“Ty?”
Haru’s voice trembled, but there was a clarity there that hadn’t been present minutes ago.
“Haru! I’m here. I’m here.” Tyche shoved the bloody orb into his pocket and crawled to the dragon. He placed both hands over the wound and pressed, trying to slow the bleeding. “How are you feeling?”
“Like you cut a hole in me and pulled something out,” Haru grumbled. He lifted his head only to drop it again, squeezing his eyes shut. “Everything is such a mess in my mind. I can’t tell what was real and what was a fantasy. A-Adrian?” His voice trembled, as if he were afraid to ask.
“Someone kidnapped him after the explosion. We talked to Caelan, and he’s alive. Shey has gone to rescue him.”
Haru let out a broken sob on an exhale. “Thank the gods.”
Tyche was sure the gods had nothing to do with that. Or rather, the only one he should thank was Caelan for constantly feeding Adrian protective magic, but that was neither here nor there.
“Shey is going to bring him to us, but I need you to pull your shit together. Use that dragon magic to heal this wound so you don’t upset Adrian when he sees you.”
Haru nodded twice and roughly wiped the tears from his face. “Yes. It’s healing. I promise. I’m okay.”
Thunder rumbled, and Tyche’s eyes snapped up to the sky. It had cleared from Haru’s nightmarish black and red to dark blue, but now gray clouds were pouring across the sky at an astounding rate. Lightning flickered behind the black mounds, followed by the crash of thunder. Was that Shey? Were they in trouble?
“Learned the hard way that you can’t give our powers to a dragon, eh, kid?”
That gruff voice sent goose bumps down Tyche’s arms. This was the last person he wanted to see right now, but he should have expected it.
Tyche grabbed one of Haru’s wrists and pressed his hand to the wound while removing his own. He glimpsed it briefly and confirmed it was closing. It shouldn’t be long before he could move without his guts potentially slipping out.
With Haru taken care of, Tyche slowly rose and turned to face Kaes. Gone was the short, round man in the yellow rain gear, posing as an affable fisherman. He stood several yards away, a shirtless behemoth with a dense mat of gray hair across his muscled chest. A grizzled beard covered most of his face, and two beady black eyes peered out. Next to him stood a sledgehammer with its giant metal head resting on the ground while its tall, wood hilt stretched up to Kaes’s waist.
“We’re the only ones who can handle the power of gods,” Kaes growled. He tipped his head up so that he was staring at Tyche along the length of his nose. One hand lifted, and he flipped it, palm up. “Hand it over.”
Tyche snorted and shoved his hand into his pocket. He clenched Yesuntei’s sarira in his fist. “Yeah, I figured it was all coming down to this. At first, you were willing to stir the pot with Cirina because you’re so bored you can’t take it anymore. But the moment I put the powers in Haru, you had to take a step back and think things through. Taking on a dragon is messy business, and you weren’t guaranteed to win. But now…”