Shey Thrudesh-Vo #3
“Yeah, but a dragon was your best bet? Why not Shey? Why not yourself?”
“I don’t mean two weeks ago.” Tyche turned his head and stared at Caelan.
“I meant at the beginning, with Zyros. You saw her at the end of things, but I was there at the beginning, watching our kind being hunted by the scores, seeing the burst of insane power that leveled cities and devoured entire civilizations. If I had taken the power or even put it in Shey, there was a high probability that Cirina would kill us and take the power. My choices were the power falling into Cirina’s hands—a truly insane goddess who has no feelings whatsoever for humans, who was lost in grief over the murder of her sister, and possesses no support system—or giving it temporarily to Haru.
I chose the erratic, impulsive dragon with a large family who would do anything to save him. ”
“Fuck,” Adrian grumbled and shoved a hand through his messy hair. “Sorry, Ty. I know I’ve been giving you a lot of shit about what happened.”
Tyche’s expression softened, and he reached out to pat Adrian on the shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re worried about him. I’m worried about him, too. He’s my coffee buddy.”
“You got Haru to drink coffee?” Drayce gasped. “He’s a hardcore tea nut. He doesn’t drink coffee.”
Shey smirked. “Tyche has him on the fast track to becoming a coffee connoisseur.”
Caelan gave a small bow of his head to Tyche. “I hope you’ll forgive us for the cold greeting. Our experiences with gods have not been great. It’s my hope that we have a chance to speak while we’re both here. I’m sure there’s much you could teach us about our kind.”
Tyche’s face twisted up as if he were fighting hard not to laugh right in Caelan’s face. “I feel like the only valuable thing I can teach you about the gods is to stay the fuck away from them, but that’s probably not what you have in mind.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t wade through any more of this royal protocol. Do you know where the hell they’re keeping Haru? I want to see him,” Adrian cut in.
The harsh lines of Caelan’s face melted into a look of sympathy as he turned to Adrian. “I’ve seen him, but we can’t take you directly to him. Clan leader Omari Nori is being very protective of Haru. You’ll have to seek permission to see him.”
Adrian bared his clenched teeth at Caelan and appeared as if he were going to march straight across the island to find Haru, the rest of them be damned.
“Nori’s gonna let you see Haru. Don’t worry,” Drayce reassured him.
“I believe he will. I think he just wants to talk to you. Get a clearer picture of what happened. Like I said, Haru isn’t always lucid, and even when he is, some of what he’s saying makes no sense.”
Drayce shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark slacks and rolled on the balls of his feet. “As soon as we heard a ship from Caspagir was approaching, we knew it would be you. We came to bring you to the clan.”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to wait on the ship until someone needs me.” Tyche took another step back, retreating toward the stairs that led below.
“Nope.” Shey snagged Tyche’s arm and pulled him close. “You’re going with us.”
“I’d rather not be eaten by a clan of pissed-off dragons.”
“No one is going to eat you.”
Tyche huffed and glared at Shey. “Really? Are you going to stop them?”
Shey tightened his hand on Tyche’s arm while his heart thumped hard, nearly knocking the breath out of him.
“Yes, I am. I won’t let anyone harm you.
Haru made the choice. I heard him. And you didn’t do it to hurt him.
They will understand and respect that. Even if they don’t, I’ll still protect you. ”
The God of Luck huffed and scowled, but Shey knew these glares and the telltale twinkle of mischief in his leaf-green eyes.
“Fine. I’ll go. Dragons have a very good reason for hating my kind.
I don’t blame them, even if I had nothing to do with it.
But if they get angry about Haru, I swear I’m letting them eat you first.”
Shey chuckled, and the urge to steal a kiss from those pouty lips returned with a vengeance. There was something about Tyche that left him wanting to kiss the man senseless.
“Should we worry about…” Adrian paused, his face scrunched up as he waved a hand in the air as if to indicate the entire world, “things going crazy?”
Caelan’s lips crooked into a half smile. “The good news is that those nightmare episodes are growing shorter and less frequent. There have been only a few injuries. Thankfully, dragons are fast healers.”
“Does that mean Haru is getting better at managing the magic from the Goddess of Nightmares?” Shey asked.
Tyche shoved a hand into his messy hair and scratched his scalp. “It’s Haru. The longer he holds on to that magic, the better he will get at controlling it. This slip…” He looked over at Adrian, who nodded.
“He knows I’m here. He can feel that I’m close.”
That was probably right. In Haru’s excitement, his control had slipped.
Regardless, this magic needed to come out of Haru now. It was time for them to face the dragons.