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)
Thankfully, Haru was there to smooth the awkward moment by creating a completely different awkward moment.
The dragon in human form walked to Adrian and gripped his arm. “Please, move back a bit, my Adrian. It is not safe.”
Adrian’s eyes snapped to Haru, his brow furrowing. “What?”
Haru tipped his chin up, motioning behind Shey. “That man is a god.”
They all swung around to stare at Tyche, but the shorter man remained half-hidden behind Shey. His hand twisted in Shey’s shirt and he pulled, as if trying to get Shey to move away from his friends. His eyes were wide and locked on Haru.
“Holy shit,” Tyche whispered, his voice trembling. “He’s a dragon.”
CHAPTER 25
Adrian Westergren
Adrian’s head was spinning. They hadn’t been able to search as well as they had wanted the previous day because of the storm that had followed Shey. It was only after the skies had cleared the next morning that they could set out in earnest. Of course, the fucking armed guards had located them first, but that had been easy enough to fix. Sure, they’d still been outnumbered, but between his magic and a dragon, those idiots were no match for them.
Yet, they’d barely caught their breath and enjoyed a moment of relief when Haru broke out this “he’s a god” nonsense.
Except it wasn’t nonsense.
He’d been muttering things about wanting to get Shey away from that other man in the video and that the stranger was dangerous with dangerous magic. Adrian hadn’t been too worried since Shey had been so protective of him in the escape video, but he hadn’t argued. Their primary goal was to rescue Prince Shey, and no one was going to stand in their way. Especially another god. He’d had more than enough encounters with their type to last a lifetime.
“Shey?” Adrian started and stopped again to scratch his head. What the hell was he supposed to say to convince Shey that Haru was right?
“It’s okay. This is Tyche. I know he’s a god.”
Adrian could only blink at him. The world had turned on its head, and nothing made sense anymore.
“Seriously? You knew? For how long?” Tyche demanded. His questions grew more irate as he progressed. He stepped out from behind Shey to glare at him.
Shey grinned broadly at his companion, at ease. “Pretty much from the moment you broke out of your cell. I figured you were a god or someone like me—gifted magic by a god.”
Tyche sniffed and loosened his death grip on Shey’s shirt but didn’t release it. “If we’re just talking magic, I could have been a dragon in hiding too.” His words were almost petulant in their delivery.
“No, you couldn’t. Not with the way you talk about food and coffee—you would have used your dragon magic to break out of that prison long ago for that reason alone.”
Haru hummed and nodded. “Yes, good food is very important.”
“Okay. Great. I’m not a dragon, but he is, and I would like to go on record to say that when shit went down all those thousands of years ago between the major gods and the dragons, I was not part of that. I didn’t side with the gods. And I have always supported dragon autonomy.” As he spoke, Tyche edged behind Shey, peeking out to keep an eye on Haru.
The dragon magnanimously nodded his head once. “I am not old enough to remember that, but I have heard the stories from clan elders. I will consider what you have said.”
Adrian rolled his eyes and gave Haru’s shoulder a shove. “Stop being an asshole and scaring him. Besides, I’m not a fan of standing around with these corpses. Maybe we can get moving. Back to Milway?”
“Are we close to a town?” Tyche popped out, his face lighting up with hope.
“About half an hour by air,” Haru replied with a wicked grin.
The man wilted and disappeared behind Shey. Adrian turned his attention to the prince, who was watching Tyche with a look of concern. As desperate as they all were to get to the safety of civilization, there were some things that needed to be settled first. Starting with the god.
“How about we get away from the corpses and find a place to catch our breaths?” Shey suggested. “We can make for Milway after we’ve had some rest.”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
Before they could leave the area, Tyche ran to the nearest corpse and checked its pockets. He pulled out money and anything that appeared valuable.
“Ty?” Shey called with a chuckle. “My friends can help us. I can help you once I get to town. There’s no need for that.”
Tyche snorted and moved on to the next corpse with blinding efficiency and speed. “I’m so happy for you and your friends’ deep pockets, but what’s your help going to get me? Meals for a few days? They took everything from me. This gets me on my feet after we go our separate ways.” He paused to glance at Shey, then hurried on again. “Besides, they’re dead. They don’t need it.”