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 had to act fast. They were going to be on him in a matter of minutes.
With one hand gripping the bars, Tyche placed the flat of his palm against the metal panel where the card reader would be to operate the mechanical lock. There was no way to half-ass this or finesse it. The only option was a brute-force attack. He threw open the door to his powers, grabbed a fistful, and slammed it into the lock. The power ripped through his body and crashed into the metal panel. Lights flickered around them, and static crackled angrily in the air as if electronic devices everywhere were dying horrible deaths. It was possible that he’d broken the camera in the room, but he wouldn’t count on it. The important thing was the metal click that rose from his door as the lock opened.
Tyche broke out of his cell and raced across the narrow pathway to enter Yesuntei’s. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shawn move along the bars, following his progress, but the man said nothing. Blood covered Yesuntei’s chest and face, which was once again swollen with cuts and bruises so that she was nearly unrecognizable. Tyche’s heart lurched, and he dropped to his knees beside her, his back positioned toward Shawn. Carefully, he slipped his hands under her too slender body and slid her into his arms so that she was half laying across his lap. Little cries of pain escaped her, but even those were barely more than a breath. She was too fucking close to dying now to bother to make a sound.
“Teitei? Can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes and look at me,” Tyche whispered. His throat was growing tighter with each word he forced out. He was trying to ignore each second that ticked by. His entire body tensed as it fully expected a horde of guards to storm in and pull him out of Yesuntei’s cell and beat him to death. But he wasn’t leaving her. Not yet. There was something that needed to be done if she couldn’t be saved.
Slowly, Yesuntei’s eyes cracked open slightly. Her brow furrowed, and she turned her face into his body as if shielding herself from the bright overhead lights.
“I’m dying,” she mumbled, but it wasn’t in the common tongue that most people of the world spoke. No, this was the old language. The First Language. There was only one people who spoke this tongue, and there were too few of them who knew it any longer.
“Teitei…”
“I’m sorry. I tried, but I panicked. They—”
“Shh…shh…it’s okay,” he replied as she grew more choked up. She moved her right hand to grip the front of Tyche’s shirt weakly and pulled herself closer. Tyche immediately tightened his hold on her, shrinking the distance between them so she didn’t have to use what strength she had left. “This isn’t your fault. None of it is your fault. But you have to survive if I’m going to get you back to Cirina.”
Her lips trembled at the mention of her beloved sister. She squeezed her eyes shut, and tears slipped from the red, puffy corners. “Cirina.”
“You’ll see her again. We—”
“Don’t let her destroy the world.”
Whatever comforting words Tyche had dredged up became lodged behind the boulder in his throat. There was nothing he could say. If Cirina were still alive, there was a damn good chance she’d try to burn the world down over this. At the very least, the humans of Damardor weren’t making it out of this alive.
Tyche didn’t know what to do. He had no healing magic whatsoever. There was nothing he could do, no fortune he could conjure up where Yesuntei didn’t die in his arms. He was useless. Completely useless. This was why he didn’t associate with anyone—his own kind or humans. He was better off alone.
But he’d caved occasionally out of boredom and loneliness. He’d made friends here and there to break up the monotony of his long existence. He’d just never imagined that he’d witness the end of one of those friends.
“Ty…”
“I’m here,” he murmured. “I’m not going anywhere.” It was the least he could do for her. He wanted to stay by her side until the end. Even if he had to use his magic to place the odds in his favor that he wouldn’t be discovered.
Her lips twitched, spreading as if she were trying to smile, but it faded too quickly. “You have to leave. Get out of here. You and Shey.”
Tyche frowned. Shey? Had he heard her wrong? Or did she know who Shawn really was?
“We will. I promise.”
“But…you have to…take it. Don’t let them have it.”
An icy chill seized Tyche, and he wanted to shove Yesuntei from his lap for even speaking those words. He knew what she was referring to, had even thought it himself in the event she died while in here, but now that the moment was staring him in the face, he wanted to run. He swallowed hard, trying to work some saliva into his suddenly dry mouth.