OMARI HARU #3
“Yes, that will work for me.” Haru walked to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge, facing Tyche.
The God of Luck closed his eyes and shook his hands together.
A small line of concentration cut across his forehead, and he pursed his lips together.
There was a faint tingle in the air of magic that danced across Haru’s flesh, and something deep inside him answered with an ache to shift.
With a final shake, Tyche opened his hands and tossed the bones onto the bright-yellow comforter. Haru leaned forward to get a closer look at the sticks at the same time as Tyche, even though he couldn’t understand what he was seeing. He trusted Tyche to tell him the truth.
“What does it say?” Haru demanded.
“Out of the six sticks that were thrown, only four came back with a reading, which is pretty darn good. That means this reading has a relatively high accuracy. Those two there that landed sideways don’t count in the reading.
” As he spoke, Tyche plucked up the two that didn’t count.
“Now, out of the four, we had two readings that are ‘very good,’ one ‘good,’ and one ‘very bad.’ That means, overall, the chance of them returning without an injury is very good.”
Haru frowned at the “very bad” stick as if it personally insulted him, but he was relieved that the chances were still positive.
“How about another one?” he asked.
“What are you thinking?”
Haru lifted his gaze to Tyche and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Are we in danger in this house?”
Tyche matched his tone. “From within or from without?”
“Yes.”
The God of Luck scooped up the bones and shook them in his hands, slower than the last time. He kept his eyes open and stared at the far wall for a while before grunting. “How about what are the odds that we will be attacked in this house?”
Haru nodded, and Tyche worked his magic yet again, causing another slight tingle.
When Ty threw the bones this time, none of them landed sideways, but Tyche’s mouth curled into a hard frown and his brow crinkled.
Without saying a word, he scooped up the bones, shook them, and tossed them onto the bedcover a second time. And then a third.
As Tyche reached for them a fourth time, Haru extended his hand and covered both of Ty’s, stopping him. “What are you seeing?”
“It’s a mess. I’m getting everything from very good to very bad. There’s no clear answer. I thought maybe I had asked the wrong question.”
“Or maybe there are too many factors in motion right now. It is not only that we are in a dangerous situation with the Order’s government, but we must trust people we do not know.”
Tyche grunted. “You’re right. I will say that I don’t think those people downstairs are a threat to us. Even if they have ulterior motives, they need us alive to carry out their plan. The greater danger comes from the Feng family and the Order military.”
Haru lifted his hand from Tyche’s and nodded. “I agree. Thank you for your help.” He started to roll off the bed, but Tyche caught him as his feet touched the floor.
“Can you do me a favor now?”
Haru blinked. He hadn’t expected that. “Of course.”
“Stay and talk to me. You can talk about anything you want. Tell me about your home. What it’s like to fly. How your clan makes its wonderful wine. I don’t care. I feel like time goes faster when I’m talking to you. Otherwise, I’ll go crazy with worry.”
Yes, this was an excellent idea. He could use the distraction, too.
Haru stood up so he could lie properly on the bed with his head on the pillows.
He folded his hands on his stomach and proceeded to tell Tyche all about the different wines that were made on the Isle of Stone.
The conversation was painfully boring and dry, but it meant that neither of them was worrying about the mates who were somewhere in the darkness of Bellcairn.
Close to dawn, Haru woke from a light doze. There were sounds of a commotion on the first floor. He tapped Tyche awake and was on his feet, crossing the room in an instant. Tyche followed behind him without making a noise.
Haru didn’t even think of grabbing a weapon as he charged down the stairs, but he saw that it wasn’t needed. The crowd at the front door parted to reveal a filthy and exhausted Adrian, followed by Shey.
He didn’t hesitate or even think. He shoved people out of his way and wrapped his mate up in his arms, threatening to squeeze the very breath from his lungs.
“You are late,” Haru growled into Adrian’s damp hair. He sucked in some air and his nose wrinkled. “And you smell awful.”
Adrian huffed a near-silent laugh and leaned on Haru more than held him. “It was a long, tiring night. How about you help me wash and tuck me into bed? We can talk about things after we’ve had eight hours of sleep.”
“What he said,” Shey echoed in a very weary voice.
That was fine. Haru didn’t care about all the whys and hows of what had happened. All that mattered was Adrian safe in his arms. A bath, though, was a splendid idea. He did not want his Adrian to fall asleep smelling like a heap of wet, rotting garbage.