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)
He knew she wouldn’t be. They’d be lucky if she were still breathing. “I don’t care. I can carry her. It’ll be your job to protect us.”
“Got it.”
Tyche exhaled. No jokes. No arguments. Shawn was willing to trust him.
“We’ll follow our escape plan as closely as possible. We need to get Teitei away from them. Okay? I promise…I’ll try to explain more when we get free. Just not now.”
Shawn snorted. “Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”
A ghost of a smile drifted across Tyche’s dry lips. If Shawn got them out of this alive, he was almost willing to answer any and all of Shawn’s questions. He might even tell the truth at least half the time.
“Should we make a move now? Try to save her?”
It was tempting.
“No, we might not find her in time.”
A bleak wave was building. He could feel it pressing against him, clawing at his consciousness. Shawn probably couldn’t feel it. Might not even realize what was happening.
“Besides, it’s already too late.” Tyche rested his head on the cool stone and cursed these bastards once again for ever capturing him.
“What’s too late?”
“Bad things are coming.” He didn’t mean to be so cryptic, but he just had no idea what form Shawn’s personal bad things were going to take. Tyche slid down the wall to sit on the floor and closed his eyes. He wasn’t giving up the fight yet, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold out for too long.
“Shawn?”
“Tyche? What the fuck is happening?”
He ignored his sharp-edged question. “I need you to remember something. Tyche claims the sky is green.”
“What the fuck?”
“Say it.”
“Why?”
“Just say it. Hurry.”
“Tyche claims the sky is green.”
“Again. Louder.”
Shawn sucked in a deep breath and belted it out. “Tyche claims the sky—”
But he never finished. The bad things had him.
CHAPTER 18
Shey Thrudesh-Vo
The world swam, and Shey stumbled as everything went black. His hand landed on the wall, and he steadied himself as he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to clear them and his head.
What had he been saying?
It felt important. But now he couldn’t even remember who he’d been talking to. His brain was full of fog and broken thoughts.
Blinking, he lifted his head and found that he was standing in the middle of the corridor leading from the study he used for official business. This was the western wing of the Sirelis royal palace. Close to his private chamber. He must have been coming from a meeting with some cabinet members or possibly getting updated on security matters.
Yet, that seemed wrong…
He pushed away from the wall and glanced behind him. Nothing was out of the ordinary, other than the fact that he was completely alone. He was never alone. There was always a servant or his assistant, Luca, who was usually trailing a few steps behind him with a never-ending list of things he needed to do, people he needed to speak to, and places he needed to appear. He would bitch that his sister, Fiona, needed to do more to pull her royal weight, but he’d seen her schedule, and it was worse than his.
Where had he been going?
It must have been to find his mother. Something was off. It was wrong. The palace was too empty, or maybe it was that something was missing and he couldn’t figure out what, but if he found his mother, she’d be able to explain what was going on. As much as he hated to be managed, he appreciated that she always had her finger on exactly what was going on and what the next steps should be. That was likely because she’d ruled Caspagir for so long, though. She had countless advisors and spies at her beck and call at any time of the day. She was never short on information—even if it was just that her son was avoiding his duties to flirt with a certain international exchange student.
A smile crossed his lips as he thought of Rayne. Tall, handsome, too proper for his own good, smug know-it-all who was so very talented at making Shey’s toes curl.
Yes, maybe he’d go find Rayne instead of his mother. He might not be able to explain this nagging feeling of why things were wrong, but Rayne always made him feel better.
After shoving off the wall, he walked along the corridor, his eyes still searching for any sign of another servant or someone who worked in the palace or even a government official. He traveled down hallway after hallway. The palace dripped with the usual opulence and grace, while weaving in different shades of blue everywhere. Of course, the most prominent color was the official Caspagir blue matched with threads of silver and gold.
His footsteps on the thick carpet sounded more muted than usual, as if his ears were clogged. When he finally reached a tall, floor-to-ceiling window, he paused, his gut twisting. The sky was an odd shade of bright green, as if spring leaves had bled into the sky, changing it from blue. Yet, even as that oddity was registering in his mind, thick black clouds rolled in, and a rumble of thunder filled the city, echoing within his chest.