Chapter 12
Theo looked Chuck in the eyes sternly. “No, you’re wrong.”
Chuck shoved off Mars and Spike, lunging forward. He hissed at Theo, but Theo did not back down.
“You know nothing,” Chuck sneered. “You are a human. You can not understand.”
“But I do,” Theo said carefully. He recognized the anger, the guilt in Chuck’s eyes. He’d seen it in his own reflection time and time again.
“I did not believe in fate or destiny or preconceived notions. I thought fate could not be real because if it was, it was a fucking dick.” Theo pursed his lips. “Fate took from me, too.”
Chuck snarled as he got in Theo’s face, but Theo still did not back down. The energy he’d felt next to Calliope was everywhere now. Around him, inside of him.
And so he channeled it, he used it to fuel him.
“And then my roommate forced me to go to this stupid masquerade and...” He turned to look at Calliope. His mate.
She knelt on the floor, divine dust in her hands, slipping like the sands of an hourglass.
Chuck had destroyed the diviner. But in Theo’s heart, he knew the magic was not within the diviner itself. It was like many things, in the belief.
Theo did not believe in fate, but he did believe in the power between hearts, between palms, between souls.
And perhaps, that was enough for Theodore. Eternal bonds or not, he believed in the energy, the love that existed between him and a woman. A muse.
“Then I met Callie, and that changed. I changed.”
Chuck hissed at him. “Fool. That is what she does. She is like a spider, sneaking into your ear and laying eggs until one day they hatch and when they are gone, you are not the same.”
Theo shook his head. “Fate may not be real, but you are.” The two of them stood there in the light, like the sun and moon.
Theo was aware in his peripheral vision, Spike and Mars were waiting, guarded. Ready to jump in should the tide turn. Isabelle and Lorelai flanked Calliope, who was crying.
Theo hated to hear his mate cry.
“You can change your fate,” he said. “You just have to let go of what’s holding you back.”
Theo turned to look at Calliope, her eyes red rimmed.
He hadn’t understood before. He was angry, too.
And that anger, that pain—the baggage he’d carried for his ex-fiancé and his failed relationships, his embarrassment and guilt over his sensitive cock, his own self-loathing.
.. it was all holding him back from what he wanted more than anything.
Love.
And the moment he’d let go, the moment he left the choice up to fate, he’d found Calliope. In a bar, drinking pomegranate martinis.
Chuck reached one hand out and wrapped it around Theo’s throat, his anger boiling over. Mars and Spike tried to separate them, but it was no use. Theo coughed, unable to breathe, and in his last attempt to be reasonable, he reached out and grabbed Chuck’s neck, and the world faded into lilac.
The Den of Sin disappeared, and all there was, was the nothing. And the faint sound of laughter. Calliope’s laughter.
And then he saw it. Calliope in her youth, dark hair framing her face in curls, wearing a toga. She looked different, but the eyes... those were the same deep amber eyes he’d come to know and love.
And the man with her, a young Pegasus. Laughing, carefree.
But laughter turned to arguments, and arguments turned to darkness, and darkness turned to armor. To self-preservation. Theo watched a great god become a shell of himself. A man portraying greatness when inside, he felt empty and void of love.
And then he’d watched all the women come and go. He’d watched a man laugh and drink, sharing in camaraderie with his friend. Mars.
He watched Chuck try to reach out to Calliope, only to be ignored. Watched him force a mask of bravery for his friend who was dying, watched as that friend slipped through his fingers like divining dust.
And he watched a crying, desperate Chuck transform into a beautiful white unicorn and break the glass.
His desperation was heartbreaking. And Theo understood.
The images faded into shadow until all there was, was light. And so Theodore chased the light, until he found the man it was emanating from.
Theo reached out for the man, offering him his hand.
“You’re not alone,” he said.
The man, thin and pale, looked scared. His blue eyes were dull and his hair, not shiny or well kept. His horn glinted off the light emanating from between them.
“But you’re never going to find what you want unless you let go of the past and let someone else in.”
The man fixed his gaze on Theo. “You just want me to let go of her so you can have her. You just want to take the last bond I have left because you want her for yourself.”
Theo sighed. “I came here because of that, yes. But that’s not why I’m here, now.”
The feeling of despair and pain and loathing pervaded in the space. And Theo knew exactly what he needed to do. Because it had been done for him, twice.
Once when Trick took him under his wing, and once when a hellhound drove him home.
So, Theodore Lange held his hand out to the bitter pegacorn.
“Hi, my name’s Theodore. Like the chipmunk. But you can call me Theo.”
Chuck looked at his hand as if it were a snake. But Theo did not remove it. He kept it still in the space between them.
Chuck looked at him, then his hand. And then Theo felt the warmth of Chuck’s hand in his.
“Name’s Pegasus. But everyone calls me Chuck.”
Theo smiled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Chuck.”
And just like that, the world dissipated into reality once more, and Theo blinked, noting Mars, Lorelai, Spike, Izzy, and Calliope were hovering over him... and Pegasus—er, Chuck—along with many other people.
For the second time that night, he sat up, and Spike held his shoulder. “Easy, you two took a fucking fall.”
Chuck groaned beside him as Mars helped him up, squeezing his shoulder.
“You all right there, Chucky?” Mars asked, the concern evident in his voice.
Theo noticed how Chuck looked different. His eyebrows were furrowed, his expression softer.
“What happened?” he asked, and even his voice was different.
“Theo knocked you out with his superpowers, obviously,” Izzy murmured.
Chuck looked at Theo, his blue eyes sparkling with something that wasn’t there before.
Hope.
“Theo...” he said Theo’s name, and it was not harsh, but rather as if he was truly hearing it for the first time.
Calliope’s gasp pulled all their attention.
Theo lunged forward, grasping for Calliope, needing to feel her in his arms.
“Theo, look,” she whispered, and it took Theo far too long to actually look because he was too caught up in her scent, her hair, her flesh, her mouth...
And then he saw it.
The diviner in her hands. Fusing back together, like magnets.
Until it was once again whole.
“I thought he broke it,” Lorelai said, clutching close to Mars.
“He did,” Izzy said in wonder.
“He broke the thread,” Mars murmured. “And in turn, he broke the hold it had on him.”
Calliope choked, sniffling as tears fell down her face.
“I don’t know what you guys are talking about, why is everyone crying?” Chuck asked.
Theo clapped him on the back, while holding Calliope close. “It’s a long story, but, uh... maybe we can talk about it tomorrow? I’m kind of exhausted after all of that.”
“Me too,” Spike said.
“I am going to third that and say yes, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Izzy chimed.
Lorelai smiled. “And get that diviner back where it belongs.”
Calliope sniffled again and Theo grinned as he noticed the small thread, jutting out of his chest, landing against Calliope’s.
The diviner didn’t lie.
Calliope was his soul mate.
But he didn’t need a rock to tell him such.
All he needed was to look in her eyes.
“And it is a school night,” Theo said with a smirk.
Calliope laughed through her tears.