Adrian’s brow furrowed and his fingers tightened on the knife he was holding. “But I would know it wasn’t real.”
“That’s not enough. You have towantto leave that dream behind. You need?—”
A loud, high-pitchedWheeeee!Sliced through the air near them. They all stopped and turned just in time to see a man’s large body plunge from the top of a building and slam into a parked car, crumpling it down the center and killing him instantly. Those people not lost to the dreams screamed and ran in panic in the opposite direction.
“What the fuck!” Adrian shouted, jumping away from the car and the dead man.
Not more than a second later, two more people jumped from the skyscrapers that lined this street. Giggles danced through the air right before another young man died, hitting the sidewalk hard enough to shatter the concrete.
“That’s the other thing. Yesuntei’s nightmares typically left people inert. Frozen. Curled up in a ball. But Cirina’s dreams turn people into sleepwalkers. They walk out into traffic, dive off buildings, attempt to cuddle dangerous animals—all without seeing the real world.”
And Tyche was willingly walking his friends into this. He ripped his eyes away from the dead and kept his gaze locked straight ahead. The faster he dealt with Cirina, the more lives he could save. He was doing this for Yesuntei. She wouldn’t want these innocent humans killed, and she would not want her sister to be suffering like this.
“Is there any way to protect ourselves from her magic?” Haru asked. There was a hardening edge to his voice, and Tyche could imagine he was already contemplating snatching Adrian up and flying him far away. He didn’t blame the dragon. He was probably the smartest of all of them.
“Your magic will act as a buffer, but that won’t be enough.” He stopped and searched the area filled with abandoned cars. “Haru, break that glass!”
Haru turned to the empty SUV next to him and easily smashed his elbow into the window. The glass shattered loudly, but it was nothing compared to the haunting laughter and the panicked shouts. Tyche hurried over to the vehicle and picked up shards of jagged glass. He handed them out to each person while they stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Keep the glass in the palm of your hand. If your head feels fuzzy or you feel less afraid, squeeze it. Pain will wake you up,” he instructed.
“Sort of like pinching yourself,” Shey murmured as he stared at the glass.
Tyche reached out and pressed the glass into his skin. “Yes, but more. It has to hurt. Genuine pain.”
Fear squeezed his throat, threatening to choke him. He swallowed hard and tightened his fist around his own shard of glass to get control of his emotions. He wanted to reach for the bones he always kept on him, but there wasn’t time. The calculations had to be done on the fly. His sharp eyes jumped from Shey to Adrian to Haru, weighing their individual strength, the power they wielded, experience, and the balance of luck he could sense in them.
“Haru will last the longest,” he murmured, mostly talking to himself. “Followed possibly by Shey. And then…”
Adrian’s expression crumpled. “Gee. Thanks.”
Tyche ignored it. He wasn’t about to deliver false hope to make Adrian feel better. It was most important to keep him alive. He took another look at Haru and did a separate calculation. The dragon was his best option if things turned ugly. Well, uglier.
Fuck it.No amount of planning was going to save them from disaster. He had to jump in before too many people died and hope that he got some good luck to swing things in his favor.
Tyche said nothing else as he spun on the balls of his left foot and marched toward the heart of the chaos. The closer they got to the big multi-street intersection, the more chaotic things grew. Instead of it being just a handful of people acting strangely, they all were. The only ones who weren’t lost to Cirina’s dream magic were dead or running in the opposite direction.
“Will it help if I pull on my tie to Kaes?” Shey asked, sounding as if he were talking through clenched teeth. Tyche glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of blood already dripping from Shey’s shaking fist. The pressure in Tyche’s head was building, but he was holding strong. He didn’t know if it had to do with the fact that he was a god or if Yesuntei’s power was giving him a bit of a shield.
“Probably. Go ahead. Use magic.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when an explosion of thunder boomed across the sky. Lightning darted between black clouds that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. The wind whooshed through the streets, howling as it passed. Their clothes flapped and danced on their bodies, trying to pull free.
Tyche looked at Adrian, who flashed him a fragile, crooked smile. He couldn’t guess at the connection between Adrian and the very new god Caelan. He prayed this God of Hope had some power he could lend the man.
“Cael knows. He can feel me, and he is sending what he can,” Adrian said, as if reading his mind, or just his worried expression. “He’s also blowing up my phone right now. I hope Drayce can keep him in Stormbreak.”
Yeah.They didn’t need another god sticking his nose into this mess.
After they’d walked what felt like miles but was just a few hundred yards, they reached the intersection where six different roads met to cross. In the center, surrounded by a cluster of crashed and smoking vehicles, stood a short, slender woman in a wrinkled red floral sundress that waved wildly in the wind. Her long, blondish-brown hair danced behind her like angry tentacles. Tears streaked her pale cheeks, and Tyche’s heart broke for her. There was nothing similar in appearance between Yesuntei and Cirina to make a person think they were sisters other than their slim, almost sickly builds.
“Tyche?” she said. Her voice was soft and confused, almost completely swallowed up by the raging wind and thunder. “What are you doing here?” She took a step closer to him, and her eyes suddenly widened. They snapped to his legs—specifically to the pocket where he carried Yesuntei’s power. “Why do you have that? Did you kill my sister?”
Tyche threw up his hands, palms open. The glass he’d been holding tumbled to the ground and broke again, but he ignored it. “No! Definitely not! I adored her! You know I did. Yesuntei was wonderful, and I would never hurt her.”
Even as he spoke, raw magic slammed into him, and his vision wavered. The buildings started to fade and disappear, replaced by tall trees and old temples. Brightspire…but thousands of years ago. His first home.
“No!” Tyche squeezed his fists, pushing his fingers into the cut that was already in his palm from the glass. Pain ripped through his hand, and the images faded.
