Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“Probably Caspagir. Toward the north, or one of the bigger cities like Sirelis. Though it has been a very long time since I traveled that far north.”
“You get Caspagir from talking to me?”
“Eh. You also talk in your sleep. That changes your accent a lot.”
“I do not!”
Tyche had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Right now, he was more afraid of Shawn escaping his cell and beating the shit out of him. “Sure, and you’re not secretly upset with someone named Rayne.”
“I am not!” Shawn barked, sounding petulant this time. “Just…don’t talk about this. To anyone.”
“Why would I repeat any of this? You’re my ticket out of this hellhole, and I’m not fucking that up.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Tyche had no desire to ruffle Shawn’s feathers or to dig any further into his secrets. He preferred not to be completely blind when it came to Shawn, but their relationship was fairly simple. They were using each other to get free. Beyond that, they had no other need of each other. Tyche knew the value of a secret. He had more than enough secrets that he wanted to keep hidden away from the world.
“I think this isn’t a government-run facility,” Shawn stated after a couple of minutes of silence.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing. With government, there are all these rules and restrictions. Checks and balances, right?”
“Yes, it’s chaotic here. No consistency. Either this is a poorly run government black site…” Shawn trailed off, leaving Tyche to finish the thought for him.
“Or this is a private citizen’s illegal operation, overseen by a bunch of amoral assholes.”
Shawn snorted. “Sounds right to me.”
“You’ll meet the private citizen soon enough. Right now, they must wear you down, make you vulnerable. They have to be sure you aren’t a risk to him.”
“You’ve met him?”
Tyche grunted. “Saw him once. Tried to slime his way into my good graces. Very smooth. Never gave his name, but I wouldn’t believe him even if he did.”
“I need to meet him, Ty. See him with my own eyes. After that, we’re out of here,” Shawn promised.
“I’m holding you to that,” Tyche muttered.
It was about what he’d expected from Shawn. This was a man with a goal, and right now that goal demanded he peel back the layers of the organization that held him. That was fine. Tyche wouldn’t mind seeing them dismantled and tortured the same way they’d tortured so many others. He could wait. He just needed to know that there was a light shining at the end of this long, horrible tunnel.
CHAPTER 9
Adrian Westergren
“Three days,” Adrian snarled as he stomped through the tiny motel room. He snatched up a little decorative doodad from a nearby table and threw it. Yet before the glass figure could smash against the wall, Haru’s hand shot out and caught it in the air, saving them from having to deal with the damage and nosy people wanting to know what was happening.
The only problem was that Adrian didn’t feel satisfied. He was mid-fucking-tantrum. It wasn’t enough to throw things. He needed them to break as well.
With a growl, he grabbed the newspaper resting on the edge of the bed and tossed it, sending the black-and-white pages fluttering all about the room. That wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot. He swung around, eyes scouring the area for something else to destroy. It wasn’t a bad motel. They’d stayed in much worse while in Damardor.
“My Adrian, talk to me. Tell me what is bothering you,” the dragon coaxed.
“What’s bothering me? We’ve wasted so much time here in Voxmore. It took us three days to get all those people back from The Pit and to question them about Shey. And what did we discover? Nada. Zip. Zilch. Not a goddamn thing related to Shey. We don’t even know if he’s still fucking alive after all this time,” Adrian ranted, continuing to pace the room like a caged tiger.
“But it hasn’t been a waste. We set all those people free. Innocent people who were destined to die in that horrible place. Their families would never have known the truth about what happened to them.”
“Great! Fabulous!” Adrian threw his arms into the air with each sharp word he spoke. He spun to Haru and glared. “But what about Shey? He’s the entire reason we’re here. You know, to stop a war or at least stop a nice guy from getting himself killed.”
“We will find him,” Haru stated with supreme confidence.
Adrian snarled and returned to pacing. “Cael sent the wrong person. I’m a fucking idiot. I have no idea what I’m doing. We—”
He didn’t have a chance to finish his rant. A powerful hand gripped his shoulder and spun him around. A breath later, his back slammed into the wall, and Haru mercilessly covered his mouth with his own in a kiss that melted every damn thought Adrian had in his head. He was operating on instinct, and those instincts were screaming want.