Chapter 17
Tyche
The appearance of Yesuntei in the prison made Tyche more desperate to get the fuck out of there.
While Shey had never admitted to it, Tyche could read between the lines that Shawn was on some kind of fact-gathering mission, and he needed to learn all he could before they broke the fuck out of there.
For that, Tyche was willing to show some patience.
He’d been in there longer, but he couldn’t say that he’d learned all that much while he’d been there.
He also wouldn’t have minded knowing what the fuck was going on.
However, Teitei had changed everything. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
He liked Yesuntei. Truly, he did, and Tyche didn’t like anyone.
She was sweet and fun. If she had her way, people would treat each other with kindness and simply go their separate ways.
There would be no killing, anger, or treachery.
But the problem with Yesuntei was that her mind was a fragile thing, like thinly spun crystal.
The tiniest amount of pressure and it would shatter.
If that happened, so many bad things would follow.
It was why Yesuntei was usually never too far from her twin sister, Cirina.
The other woman had a shorter temper, a darker view of the world, and was far more likely to strike out over the smallest slight, but she was also protective of her sister.
They acted as a balance to each other and kept bad things from happening.
Unfortunately, he had no idea how to communicate to Shawn that they needed to move up their escape plans without tipping off Teitei and sending her into a panic. For now, he was stuck biding his time and trying to find ways to drop subtle hints to Shawn.
It seemed he was being too subtle, though, because the human wasn’t catching on.
“So, has Ty always been a coffee snob?” Shawn’s playful voice drifted through the cellblock.
The annoying man had finished his workout—yes, he would work out in his cell.
He claimed it helped to stay fit for a fight and to keep his mind sharp against the unrelenting boredom.
The bastard had even hounded Tyche into doing stupid things like sit-ups and push-ups.
Tyche had relented and followed along occasionally because he was bored and it was the only way to get Shawn to stop his nagging.
The worst part was that Shawn could tell when he was half-assing it, even though he couldn’t see him.
Now he’d turned to Teitei as a source of silly information. Thankfully, he hadn’t asked any truly prying questions, and Teitei hadn’t slipped up and said anything dangerous.
“What are you doing?” Tyche called out from where he was lying on his uncomfortable bed. “I’m right here.”
“Where else would you be? But I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to Teitei because I don’t think she’d lie to me like you do.”
Tyche huffed while Yesuntei giggled from her cell. He could barely hear her light steps as she crossed her cell to the bars to put her closer to Shawn.
“I think Ty has been in a dark love affair with coffee since his very first sip,” she teased. “I wasn’t there when he discovered it, but he has given me many long explanations about who brews the best coffee and who has the best roasting techniques.”
“Because that’s important to know!” Tyche shouted, shaking his outstretched hands in the air above him.
“There was this one coffee shop in Brightspire—”
“Gods, don’t,” Tyche moaned.
Yesuntei giggled again and continued. “I’m not sure of the name. It might have been The Bean.”
“More like The Burned Bean,” Tyche muttered.
Shawn chastised him. “Shh! Don’t interrupt her story.”
Tyche rolled his eyes. Her story was about him, but he kept his mouth shut. The stupid tale was a good distraction from the monotony of the day.
“Anyway, apparently Ty stopped in for a cup of coffee and lost his temper because they had cooked their coffee beans for too long.”
“No! They burned their beans. Burned them!” Tyche popped up from where he was lying and scooted to sit on the edge of his bed, his legs dangling off the edge.
His body was practically vibrating with the memory.
It didn’t matter that this all happened many years ago.
“And these weren’t just any beans. They were Besan beans.
They can be grown only in the far eastern part of Ilon, in the mountainous region near the Ordas and New Rosanthe border.
Each harvest is incredibly small, and each damn bean is precious.
And these thoughtless bastards were burning them. ”
By the time he finished his rant, both Yesuntei and Shawn were laughing so hard that Tyche could imagine tears streaming down their red faces.
He didn’t care. He knew he was right. Besan beans were the best and should be treasured.
They produced the richest, darkest coffee imaginable.
People who burned them needed to be shot.
“So…so…” Yesuntei gasped for air, fighting to continue their story. “So, as he was storming out of the shop, Ty cursed them, saying they should burn to pay for their crimes. And that very night, the shop went up in flames.”
“Ty!”
Tyche flopped onto his bed again, wincing at the hardness under his spine.
“I didn’t set the place on fire,” he replied to Shawn’s gasp in a monotone voice.
“It’s no less than they deserved, but I didn’t do it.
Just fate or something. Anyway, The Bean is gone.
I think it’s a yarn shop or a pottery store now. ”
At least, he didn’t think he’d had anything to do with the fire. He didn’t feel an ounce of guilt about it.
The last of Shawn’s and Yesuntei’s laughter sharply cut off under the sound of pounding footsteps growing louder as multiple people approached their cellblock.
Every muscle in Tyche’s body tensed, and his breath froze in his lungs.
Who were they coming for? It had been a few days since Yesuntei had been delivered to her cell.
Before that, Shawn had been the last one to be harassed.
Technically, Tyche should have been next in the rotation.
He didn’t want to go. Didn’t want to endure another torturous session of being beaten and asked meaningless questions.
Yet, they had to take him. Or Shawn. He was strong and could withstand another round.
They couldn’t take Yesuntei. Not yet. She was still healing from her initial encounter with them.
He needed more time to figure out how to convince Shawn to make a move now, or at the very least, figure out how to strengthen Yesuntei so she didn’t crack.
No, they were coming for him. That was it.
Tyche rolled onto his side and dug out a bit of stuffing for his ears in the event Scarella was back with her terrifying voice machine to scramble his brains.
He’d gotten one ear taken care of when the main door to the cellblock slammed open.
Tyche lurched upright, turning his body to shield his right side from their view as he plugged up his ear.
Fear made his hands cold and his fingers uncoordinated.
He didn’t want to go. Was so tired of being taken for them to experiment with different forms of torture.
So far, they had done nothing he couldn’t heal from, but he was expecting them to upgrade any day now with cutting off fingers or ripping out eyeballs.
He didn’t want to be here when they started down that dark path.
He got the stuffing adjusted as they reached the door of his cell, but they kept going. Relief turned his knees to water, but he’d sucked in a breath as he saw the three armed men in heavy protective gear stop at Yesuntei’s cell.
No!
Tyche jumped to his feet only to have his knees buckle and drop him to the floor.
Fingers scraped on the rough floor as he clawed and scrambled to his feet again.
His heart surged into his throat, blocking the first shout.
Teitei’s first cry of fear ripped through him, shredding a heart he had been sure was made of stone at this point in his long life.
He stumbled and grabbed the cold bars with both hands.
“Hey! Hey! Wait! Leave her alone!” Tyche shouted, but the armed men ignored him. He pulled out the stuffing in his ears so there was nothing blocking his hearing in case Teitei whispered something to him.
“Ty?” Shawn called out. He got it. Tyche had never shouted at those fucks. Not once had he said a word as Shawn was taken for questioning. Hadn’t spoken while they’d killed the other prisoner before their eyes. But things were different in a hundred ways with Yesuntei.
For now, he could only block out Shawn and focus on Teitei. Sounds of a struggle came from the cell across the narrow corridor from his own, but Yesuntei was a small, slender woman up against three hulking brutes with batons. She didn’t stand a chance. At least not if she wanted to keep her secret.
“Hey! Leave her alone! Take-t—” Tyche’s voice cut out, and he swallowed hard.
It took a second try to force the words past the knot of fear constricting his throat.
“Take me! Come on! I’ll go with you! No fighting.
I’ll go.” No matter how brave he tried to be, he couldn’t stop his voice from wavering and cracking.
But even volunteering to be tortured by these fucks didn’t get their attention. Within a matter of minutes, Yesuntei was bound and dragged out of the cellblock.
“It’ll be okay, Teitei!” Tyche switched tactics.
If they wouldn’t take him, he had to at least prepare Yesuntei.
Maybe she could hold it together and get through this.
Maybe he was underestimating her strength.
She could do this. “Remember everything I told you. It’ll be okay. You can handle this. I swear.”