30. Adrian Westergren #3
All too soon, they would head out to the protests with the singular goal of assassinating Chancellor Feng to save them from something that could make the last god fight look like a vacation.
So far, Tyche had been vague about the reaction of the gods if the killing continued, but Adrian was no fool.
There was no way the gods would lie down and let themselves be slaughtered.
Once word got around that some humans were hunting them and stealing their powers, the gods and goddesses could band together to declare war on all humans.
A pair of strong arms held Adrian from behind, and Adrian released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He’d simply stopped in the center of the room; his eyes locked on the far blank wall as if it held all the answers he sought.
“You’re worried,” Haru murmured. He brushed his lips across the shell of Adrian’s ear and rested his chin on his shoulder. Adrian wasn’t entirely sure if he was making a statement or asking a question.
“I am.”
“About us? Or about Tyche?”
“Ty.”
The dragon grunted and Adrian thought he sounded surprised.
“What?” Adrian turned in his arms, moving so he could look him in the eye. “You’re not worried about Ty?”
Haru made a back-and-forth motion with his head while lifting his shoulders. “If I must choose between worrying about us or worrying about Tyche, I am more concerned about us.”
“Are you serious? Ty is going in there practically alone.” Haru opened his mouth to argue, but Adrian held up a hand to stop his words. “I know what you told me about Jules and those three soldiers. Yes, it was impressive, but they are going to be facing far more than just a handful of guards.”
His mate stepped away, putting a couple of feet of open space between them. He took Adrian’s hands and lifted them so that they were at chest level. With a smile, he turned Adrian’s left hand over so that it was palm up.
“On one side, there is you, me, and Shey with all these protestors and…what did that Quill call them?”
“Rabble-rousers,” Adrian supplied with a smirk.
“Yes, professional troublemakers. To enter the square we must be unarmed, but we will face men who are heavily armed. We must remain in that square, causing problems without weapons for as long as possible, and we won’t be able to tell when it has been long enough.
You can use your subtle magic. Shey can call his storms, but he must be careful with his ice.
That would be too obvious. And me? I cannot be myself because it would cause an international incident. ”
Haru finished with a roll of his eyes, and Adrian nearly choked to death in his attempt to hold in a laugh.
“No shifting. There’s nothing subtle about a dragon.”
Haru sniffed. “There should never be anything subtle about a dragon. But I can only shift if it is to save you and Shey.”
Okay, Adrian had to concede that point. They had to get Shey out of Bellcairn alive.
“It will be a hard fight,” Haru continued. “Especially if you and Shey give in to your urges to protect those innocent troublemakers. I don’t wish the humans harm, but my concern is for you and our friend.”
That was also fair.
Haru flipped over his right hand so that it was palm up.
“On the other hand, is Tyche. He was born the God of Luck, but he has acquired the powers of the God of Accidents and the Goddess of Nightmares. While it is easy to forget because Ty’s manner is so very harmless, he is a walking weapon.
His magic is endlessly subtle. He doesn’t need to get close enough to Feng to shoot or stab him.
The chancellor could have an accident and fall down the stairs.
He could fall out of a window. He could… ”
“Choke to death on a peanut,” Adrian supplied.
His mate smiled. “Exactly. And to leave again, he can cloak the building in nightmares so that those people never remember seeing him.”
Adrian stared at his own hands, seeing the easy, obvious answers that Haru had handed him. It all made sense. Tyche was a god. Why did he keep forgetting that? Yes, he could die, but this guy had survived for thousands of years. How could he possibly die now?
And yet…
“That makes total sense. Why don’t I feel better?”
Haru turned Adrian’s hands and lifted them so that he could brush a kiss across the knuckles on his left hand and his right. “Because at the heart of Ty, he isn’t a killer.”
“I don’t know. We saw that mess in the woods when we found them. Those guards died because of Ty’s magic.”
With a grunt, Haru nodded. “I would argue that Tyche wasn’t so much saving himself as he was protecting Shey.
He admitted he was fond of his human from the time of their imprisonment.
You worry Ty will hesitate, and that will get him killed.
If Shey were there, the little god would not hesitate to kill Feng. ”
Adrian dropped his head forward, knocking it lightly against Haru’s. “Fuck. Without Shey there, I guess we must hope he wants justice for Yesuntei bad enough to not hesitate.”
“Yes, because I will be furious if I lose my new friend.”
And no one wanted to face a pissed-off dragon.