The dragon instantly snapped it shut, and Tyche relaxed. “You can feel its residual magic?”
“Yes, and it’s bad.”
Tyche stood and snatched up the tablet from the desk before crossing to where Haru was peering into the safe. Outside the study, gunfire echoed through the house along with the screams of the dying. Lights flickered wildly, and the thunder grew louder. It seemed safe to say that Shey and Adrian were handling the security force, but they still needed to leave quickly.
Haru reached inside the safe and pulled out another flat box that appeared as if it were a jewel case. “This holds the rest of his collection of godstones.”
“Don’t open it!”
“These are much smaller,” Haru said with a smirk.
“Yeah, and I can feel a trickle of magic from all of them. Let’s leave them closed up so they don’t know I’m here.”
Did that make sense? No, but Tyche didn’t give a shit about logic right now. People were trying to kill them, and the magic that had locked up the major gods for centuries was currently attempting to make a grab for him.
“There are also some documents in here. They could be important,” Haru pointed out.
“Take them.” Tyche darted away and stopped, his eyes scouring the room until they finally lit on a fancy leather messenger bag. He snatched it up and was surprised to find that it already held a laptop. After he stuffed the tablet and phone into the bag, he hooked the long strap across his shoulder. He held the main pocket open as he approached Haru. The dragon didn’t need instructions. He added the godstones as well as all the documents from the safe. They’d sort it all out later when people weren’t shooting at them.
“Are all the items secure?” Haru inquired.
“Yes. We should—” A shocked yelp cut off Tyche’s words as Haru bent, scooped him up, and dropped him on his shoulder before proceeding to march out of the study.
“Forgive me, my new friend, but we need to move quickly to protect my Adrian. Also, I’m burning this place to the ground.”
Yeah, he saw that. Tyche watched as fire sprung up behind Haru from where he’d stepped. Those flames raced out like wild creatures, devouring everything they touched. Tyche giggled as he saw those flames cover Ruben’s corpse as they left the room. That death had been too good for him. He should have suffered more, but at least two of the people behind Yesuntei’s death were gone. They just needed to uncover the mastermind.
CHAPTER 31
Tyche
Being carried out over the shoulder of a dragon like a sack of turnips might not have been dignified, but it gave Tyche a glorious last view of Ruben’s house as the whole thing went up in flames. Ruben had at least a dozen security guards on the premises, but it looked like they were all dead now, thanks to Adrian and Shey. He hoped, though, that the servants had gotten out before the place went up.
“Couldn’t we just pause and enjoy it?” Tyche called out, waving his free hand at the house while the other one clutched the bag filled with the tablet, shards, and other stolen goods.
“Nope. Time to go!” Adrian called, racing ahead of them.
“But we need to appreciate?—”
“Next time, Ty!” Shey cut him off.
Well, if there was going to be a next time, he guessed he could wait.
As they reached the car, Haru put him on his feet, and they all dove inside. Adrian whipped the vehicle around in the circular drive with a squeal of tires and smoke. They barreled down the winding path, picking up speed. Tyche wrestled with the seat belt, trying to secure himself in the event that Adrian had to plow through the metal gate.
But a bit of good luck shone on them. As they made the last turn, they found the gate open as another car raced through ahead of them. It was a beat-up clunker that rattled and belched black smoke. At least some servants had gotten out in time.
“Whoo-hoo!” Tyche shouted as they shot out of the driveway and made a hard, tire-shredding turn onto the main road.
“Holy shit!” Adrian moaned, slumping in his seat. Despite the obvious relief in his voice, he didn’t let up on the gas as he continued to race through the quiet streets, heading for the heart of Bellcairn.
“But do you think we acted too hastily?” Haru inquired. “Should we have tried to torture him more to get the name of his boss?”
Shey shook his head. “He would never have willingly given it up. He would have weaseled and blustered until help arrived. I could see it in his eyes. Ruben had no intention of telling us the truth.”
“I’m sure we’ll get something out of all this.” Tyche pulled the strap of the messenger bag from his shoulder and held the bag out to Shey.
“Fuck! That’s right! Did you get the shard? Please tell me you found the Firestone shard. Caelan will have my ass if we left that behind.”
