Chapter 25
Adrian Westergren
Adrian’s head was spinning. They hadn’t been able to search as well as they had wanted the previous day because of the storm that had followed Shey.
It was only after the skies had cleared the next morning that they could set out in earnest. Of course, the fucking armed guards had located them first, but that had been easy enough to fix.
Sure, they’d still been outnumbered, but between his magic and a dragon, those idiots were no match for them.
Yet, they’d barely caught their breath and enjoyed a moment of relief when Haru broke out this “he’s a god” nonsense.
Except it wasn’t nonsense.
He’d been muttering things about wanting to get Shey away from that other man in the video and that the stranger was dangerous with dangerous magic.
Adrian hadn’t been too worried since Shey had been so protective of him in the escape video, but he hadn’t argued.
Their primary goal was to rescue Prince Shey, and no one was going to stand in their way.
Especially another god. He’d had more than enough encounters with their type to last a lifetime.
“Shey?” Adrian started and stopped again to scratch his head. What the hell was he supposed to say to convince Shey that Haru was right?
“It’s okay. This is Tyche. I know he’s a god.”
Adrian could only blink at him. The world had turned on its head, and nothing made sense anymore.
“Seriously? You knew? For how long?” Tyche demanded. His questions grew more irate as he progressed. He stepped out from behind Shey to glare at him.
Shey grinned broadly at his companion, at ease. “Pretty much from the moment you broke out of your cell. I figured you were a god or someone like me—gifted magic by a god.”
Tyche sniffed and loosened his death grip on Shey’s shirt but didn’t release it. “If we’re just talking magic, I could have been a dragon in hiding too.” His words were almost petulant in their delivery.
“No, you couldn’t. Not with the way you talk about food and coffee—you would have used your dragon magic to break out of that prison long ago for that reason alone.”
Haru hummed and nodded. “Yes, good food is very important.”
“Okay. Great. I’m not a dragon, but he is, and I would like to go on record to say that when shit went down all those thousands of years ago between the major gods and the dragons, I was not part of that.
I didn’t side with the gods. And I have always supported dragon autonomy.
” As he spoke, Tyche edged behind Shey, peeking out to keep an eye on Haru.
The dragon magnanimously nodded his head once. “I am not old enough to remember that, but I have heard the stories from clan elders. I will consider what you have said.”
Adrian rolled his eyes and gave Haru’s shoulder a shove. “Stop being an asshole and scaring him. Besides, I’m not a fan of standing around with these corpses. Maybe we can get moving. Back to Milway?”
“Are we close to a town?” Tyche popped out, his face lighting up with hope.
“About half an hour by air,” Haru replied with a wicked grin.
The man wilted and disappeared behind Shey. Adrian turned his attention to the prince, who was watching Tyche with a look of concern. As desperate as they all were to get to the safety of civilization, there were some things that needed to be settled first. Starting with the god.
“How about we get away from the corpses and find a place to catch our breaths?” Shey suggested. “We can make for Milway after we’ve had some rest.”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
Before they could leave the area, Tyche ran to the nearest corpse and checked its pockets. He pulled out money and anything that appeared valuable.
“Ty?” Shey called with a chuckle. “My friends can help us. I can help you once I get to town. There’s no need for that.”
Tyche snorted and moved on to the next corpse with blinding efficiency and speed.
“I’m so happy for you and your friends’ deep pockets, but what’s your help going to get me?
Meals for a few days? They took everything from me.
This gets me on my feet after we go our separate ways.
” He paused to glance at Shey, then hurried on again.
“Besides, they’re dead. They don’t need it. ”
Adrian tilted his head and caught Shey’s gaze.
He arched an eyebrow, trying to question Shey silently about who the fuck this guy was and why the prince seemed so protective of him, but Shey only motioned with one hand for Adrian to drop it.
Not that he could say anything anyway, but Adrian was intrigued.
Shey knew this creature was a god, and yet he was so protective of him. That made no sense.
“So, I take it you’re not the God of Money,” Shey teased as Tyche finished scavenging.
“I’m the God of Money as much as you are the God of Witty Jokes,” Tyche snarked.
He slapped a stolen granola bar in a wrapper into the palm of Shey’s hand and then reluctantly gave one to Adrian and Haru as they continued to walk through the woods, putting more distance between themselves and the dead.
“If we’re going to do introductions, you could at least begin with the two people who saved our asses. ”
Okay, maybe there was something to like about the wiry man with the messy auburn hair.
“I’m Adrian Westergren, royal guard for the Talos family,” Adrian introduced.
Tyche looked at him anew; his green eyes widened. “Erya. That’s a long distance to travel for that one?” He hitched his thumb over his shoulder at Shey.
“Shey’s an old friend. Plus, his mom asked for our help,” Adrian teased, causing Tyche to snort-laugh.
“I am Omari Haru of Clan Omari from the Isle of Stone. My grandfather is Omari Nori, head of Clan Omari,” Haru stated in a proud, firm voice.
Tyche flashed him a small, tense smile and even offered a slight bow of his head in respect, but he didn’t say a damn word to the dragon.
Adrian needed to question Haru later about this old bad blood between dragons and gods, because just being in Haru’s presence had the god freaking out.
Scared gods seemed like a terrible thing.
Seconds ticked by, but Tyche said nothing until Shey tapped him on the shoulder. “And?”
Tyche groaned and tossed a disgruntled glare at Shey. “I don’t want to say. You’re going to be disappointed, or you’re going to blow it out of proportion and then be disappointed. Also, I’ve never told anyone before. It’s weird trying to find the right words.”
“But Yesuntei knew, right?” Shey murmured, and Tyche nodded. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
“Yesuntei?” Adrian murmured.
“A goddess, I believe. They captured her and held her in the same cellblock as us. She died from wounds inflicted during an interrogation session,” Shey explained in a low voice. “She was a friend of Tyche’s.”
“That was the woman we found in the cell opposite where you were kept,” Haru said, his tone low and respectful.
Both Tyche and Shey swung around to stare at them. “You went to the facility?” Shey demanded.
“It looks like we missed you by less than an hour. We saw glimpses of your escape through recovered security video, but we couldn’t come find you until you finished with your storm tantrum.” Adrian reached over and poked Shey in the shoulder.
Tyche snatched a leaf off a tree branch as he walked by it and shredded it, turning the tips of his fingers green.
“Yesuntei was a goddess, and she deserved better than she got. She never intentionally hurt anyone. She was helpful in more ways than people gave her credit for, and she was always kind. Kept to herself.”
“You see, that’s what I don’t get. You’re gods.” Adrian held out his hands toward Tyche as if they held all the powers of the world. “You’ve got all this magic. How could they have captured you in the first place? And if they did catch you, how could they hold you?”
The look Tyche shot Adrian was nasty, and Adrian thought about moving to hide behind Haru. He’d hit a very sore spot for the god, and he was about to pay the price.
“See! This is why I don’t want to tell you.
When you think of gods and goddesses, you think of big, flashy magic.
Kaes with his giant, city-swallowing storms. Caris with great conflagrations that devour entire forests.
Tula wiping out all life. Nyx can manipulate all of time, for fuck’s sake.
Time!” Tyche stomped into the center of a meadow where a bright circle of sunlight bathed the green field.
The minor god plopped down in the middle of it and tipped his face up, seeming to soak it in as if being in the sun was enough to wash away his rage.
They approached him and sat in the soft grass along the edge of the sunlight. A couple of minutes ticked by before he resumed speaking in a more normal tone.
“When your world is ending, you cry to Tula to save your children’s lives.
You pray to Kaes to send rain to nourish your dying crops.
But on a day-to-day basis, you all murmur a hundred little pleas to us lesser gods.
The minor, forgotten gods. Please make my art not suck.
That’s Bo. Please, help me get revenge on my cheating ex.
That’s Xiar. Please, no more nightmares. I want only sweet dreams.”
“Yesuntei.” The name was a haunted whisper tripping from Shey’s lips. Adrian’s eyes widened, and his gaze snapped from Tyche to Shey. Had they really looked down on the Goddess of Dreams?
“And Cirina,” Tyche corrected in a murmur. “They are twins. A paired set. Cirina is the Goddess of Dreams. Yesuntei is—was the Goddess of Nightmares.”
Shey shook his head. “But she was so sweet. So gentle. I can’t believe that she’d—”