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)
For the first time, Tyche chuckled and smiled. Adrian shifted his gaze to the man and caught his breath. Tyche was adorable when he relaxed, but it was easy to miss since he was something of a grumpy rain cloud. His sharp features smoothed out, and his emerald-green eyes twinkled in the sunlight.
“Luck is everywhere. It sort of floats with its own energy. Some good luck there.” Tyche waved to a spot above his left shoulder. “And there’s some nasty bad luck over there.” He pointed to a spot behind Shey. They all looked, but there was nothing to see other than a redheaded woodpecker moving along the bark of a maple tree. All the same, Shey planted his hands and heels to the ground and moved closer to Tyche.
“I can snatch up that luck and force it into a situation if the person doesn’t have the right luck readily available, but that takes more energy and magic to do.”
“What do you mean ‘readily available’?” Adrian asked.
Tyche’s brow furrowed for a second, and he dropped all the sticks he held to position his hands as if he were holding a large container. “Remember, I said to imagine all beings having their luck held in a glass jar? Your luck is all mixed in there. If I want to force you to use some of your luck, I have to take from what’s resting near the top. I can’t reach all the way down to the bottom to pluck out a piece of good luck.” Tyche lowered his hands and dropped his eyes to the ground. His voice was soft as he spoke, “I tried that once as a young god. It was bad.” His entire body shuddered violently.
What happened when you shoved your hand into a full jar? Everything overflowed and spilled out. In this case, a wild mix of good and bad luck clashing at once. Adrian shuddered as well and pushed those dark images away. The person must have suffered a horrible death.
“Do you, as a god, have luck? Do all the gods have luck?” Haru inquired, thankfully changing the subject.
Tyche brightened, seeming to recover from the old memory. “Yes, every living creature has luck. Even gods.”
Shey leaned forward, resting his elbow on his bent knee while lowering his head to catch Tyche’s eye. “So, in the prison, I heard you rattling something. And another time, you mentioned that you used to travel as a fortune-teller. What does seeing the future have to do with luck?”
Tyche’s smile returned, and it had become something surprisingly soft. He dug into the pocket of his grubby green cargo pants. After he withdrew his hand, he opened it to reveal a set of six small sticks that had been filed flat on two sides and had symbols carved into the ends.
“Are those bones?” Haru spoke up.
“What?” Adrian gasped, jerking away.
“Chicken bones, actually. I lost all my stuff during my capture. I made these from chicken wings or tiny chicken legs they served for a meal.” Tyche glanced at Shey. “Really, the worst seasoning on chicken ever. Disgusting. If I could go back and curse anyone at that prison with bad luck, it would be the person in charge of preparing the meals.”
Shey plucked one stick from Tyche’s palm and scrutinized it. “What are these symbols? I’ve never seen writing like this.”
“They’re symbols for luck, ranging from very good to very bad. I infused the bones with a little of my magic so that they react to a person’s luck or the luck hanging in the air. They help me focus and clearly read the luck surrounding a person, especially those with a specific goal.”
“You threw the bones for me, didn’t you?” Shey pointed the white stick he held at Tyche.
“Of course I did, and they said that you had very good luck, which meant that you had an excellent chance of getting the hell out of there. That’s why I made friends with you and clung to you like a baby monkey to its mother.” Shey laughed, and Tyche plucked the bone from his fingers. “And don’t touch my bones. You’ll screw up their accuracy with your messy storm god magic.” Tyche took a moment to rub his fingers all over the bone Shey had held before putting it with the others.
The laughter left Shey’s voice, and he became more solemn. “You also threw the bones for Yesuntei after they took her the final time.”
“To see her chances of not losing control. It all came back bad. Really bad.”
A chill fell across them even though they continued to sit in the warm afternoon sun as it poured through the break in the trees. Adrian couldn’t imagine what Shey and the other captives had gone through while they were imprisoned. He wished they’d killed Ruben on their way out.