Page 47 of Mad Dragon of Chaos

Haru’s eyes flared wide, glowing bright as a flickering road flare. “Took him? I will destroy them.” His voice grew gravelly and deep, as if he were already shifting into his dragon form.

“No!” Tyche pushed to his feet and towered over Haru as he continued to kneel on the ground. He couldn’t let Haru follow this line of thought. Thinking Adrian was dead was dangerous, but allowing him to seek the people who had taken Adrian was worse. A sobbing dragon was easier to manage than an enraged one determined to destroy every living creature until he found his mate.

Haru stared at him, confusion causing his eyes to dim and shift to blue at last. It was only Haru’s trust in Tyche that allowed Tyche to steal his attention.

“You had your chance to protect your mate, and you failed!” Tyche shouted. With every word he spoke, he wanted to pull out his own tongue, but he pressed on. Plunging his friend into the darkness was the one thing that was going to save Sirelis. “Someone took him from you because we were too weak to keep him safe.”

“No!” Haru bellowed. He reached up and gripped a handful of his hair, pulling hard. “My Adrian…I would never let…my Adrian!” He couldn’t even finish a thought; he was crying so hard. A tremor shook the city, and rocks tumbled, sending up clouds of dust. The sky swirled with black and red clouds while a hot wind stirred.

A shimmer of gold dust danced in the air around Haru, and Tyche swore. He thought he’d felt it earlier, but there was no denying it now. The protective good luck he’d put over Yesuntei’s magic orb was dissolving. Haru’s powers were out of control in his grief, and they were gripping the orb tighter and tighter. They were out of time.

Tyche slid his right hand to his hip and slipped his dagger from the sheath. He held it up, letting it catch the flicker of light from the flames that still danced low. “If you trust me, Haru, I can send you to Adrian. You’ll never have to be parted from him again. All this pain will go away.”

Tears streamed down Haru’s pale face, and a beatific smile spread across his lips. “Yes! Yes, please. Do it.”

The dragon even lay on the rocks and threw his arms out to his sides, welcoming Tyche’s strike. The damn creature was so sure Tyche was about to kill him. Tyche was going to be sick, but he forced himself forward, pushing aside heartbreak and fears. He dropped beside Haru and plunged the blade into the dragon’s abdomen where Tyche had pressed the orb into his friend just a month earlier. A pained cry escaped Haru, and his body jerked, but he didn’t stop Tyche in any other way.

As soon as the hole was big enough for Tyche to slip his fingers inside, he tossed aside the blade with a loud clatter and shoved into the dragon’s flesh. Haru hissed, sucking in air through clenched teeth, his eyes squeezed shut.

“Adrian,” he whispered, seeming to cling to thoughts of his mate. More tears slipped from his eyes, sliding along his temples to soak into his hair.

Tyche clenched his teeth and dug into his friend, moving fingers past warm tissue, organs, and muscle, chasing that pulse of power. Several seconds passed before the tip of his index finger brushed the fiery orb. A sob of relief broke from his throat, and he grasped the orb with three fingers. Except it wouldn’t come out. It didn’t feel as if it had melded with the muscle and tissue around it, yet Tyche couldn’t draw it out. The damn thing had already started to merge with the dragon’s magic, and Haru’s body refused to release it.

No! I’m not killing him! Tyche snarled silently.

He squeezed his eyes shut and forced raw power into the dragon, wringing more shouts of pain out of him. At the same time, he reached out to the ether. Caris, please. He’s one of your most devout followers. If you have any shred of love left for your dragons, help me save him.

He forced more power into Haru. His mind scrambled for more ideas on how to free Haru. He was not losing the dragon. That was not the price of his mistake. He wouldn’t allow it.

Hot wind brushed his cheek, and Tyche flinched. A heartbeat later, it felt as if a smaller, invisible hand slipped into the hole he’d cut along with his own. A little magic and pop! The orb came loose with the force of a cork flying from a champagne bottle. Tyche fell back on his ass, Yesuntei’s sarira clutched in his fist.

Fuck! Shit! Damn! Thank you!

He thought he felt a hint of amusement or possibly annoyance from the Goddess of Fire, but it was gone with the wind. Haru sucked in a harsh gasp of air and coughed roughly, drawing Tyche from his frantic thoughts.

“Ty?”

Haru’s voice trembled, but there was a clarity there that hadn’t been present minutes ago.

“Haru! I’m here. I’m here.” Tyche shoved the bloody orb into his pocket and crawled to the dragon. He placed both hands over the wound and pressed, trying to slow the bleeding. “How are you feeling?”

“Like you cut a hole in me and pulled something out,” Haru grumbled. He lifted his head only to drop it again, squeezing his eyes shut. “Everything is such a mess in my mind. I can’t tell what was real and what was a fantasy. A-Adrian?” His voice trembled, as if he were afraid to ask.

“Someone kidnapped him after the explosion. We talked to Caelan, and he’s alive. Shey has gone to rescue him.”

Haru let out a broken sob on an exhale. “Thank the gods.”

Tyche was sure the gods had nothing to do with that. Or rather, the only one he should thank was Caelan for constantly feeding Adrian protective magic, but that was neither here nor there.

“Shey is going to bring him to us, but I need you to pull your shit together. Use that dragon magic to heal this wound so you don’t upset Adrian when he sees you.”

Haru nodded twice and roughly wiped the tears from his face. “Yes. It’s healing. I promise. I’m okay.”

Thunder rumbled, and Tyche’s eyes snapped up to the sky. It had cleared from Haru’s nightmarish black and red to dark blue, but now gray clouds were pouring across the sky at an astounding rate. Lightning flickered behind the black mounds, followed by the crash of thunder. Was that Shey? Were they in trouble?

“Learned the hard way that you can’t give our powers to a dragon, eh, kid?”

That gruff voice sent goose bumps down Tyche’s arms. This was the last person he wanted to see right now, but he should have expected it.