Chapter One
Theo
Landing on his hands and knees, Theo panted through the pain until it slowly began to fade and his vision cleared. The grass under him looked strange, felt different, and Theo was very worried about what that meant. Hellcats! This was not how he expected his evening to go.
Taking inventory of his body, Theo pushed to his knees.
There was a deep ache inside him but at least nothing felt broken.
That was good. The feline inside him was going wild, pushing and clawing to be released.
As much as Theo found comfort in his shifted form, it seemed like a very bad idea to allow his cat to take over.
The brightness of the colors around him nearly made his eyes ache. It was too much. Unusually bright. Weird. Theo didn’t like this at all. Getting out of this situation could be very tricky.
Behind him there was a hiss before a deep voice had Theo scrambling to his feet and spinning to face the potential threat.
“This is not good, friend Theo. Not good at all.”
“Garrett?” Theo gasped out. Okay, now things were turning even weirder. Garrett looked like Garrett but just not in stone form. Same tiny bats ears, fanged smile, and muscular physique but not how he was supposed to look. At all. And now he could talk?
Garrett had been looking down at his own body. His human-like body. Not human but no longer stone. He looked up with wide black eyes. “Not good at all, friend Theo.”
“You…you’re…” Theo waved his hand indicting the change to Garrett. He didn’t want to insult the gargoyle but yeah that was his stone was replaced with skin, he’d grown a head taller than Theo, his wings were clamped closed but leathery, and his little bat ears were turning this way and that.
Garrett looked down then back up. Moisture pooled at the corners of his eyes. “This does not feel right.”
Theo hurried to his friend’s side. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” He patted Garrett’s arm. He hated seeing the gargoyle so upset.
“Shit!” an unknown voice spat.
Theo spun again, this time preparing for an attack from whoever spoke. Garrett had been in the wind tunnel thing, but who was this frazzled young man?
“I’ve never been part of a summoning. That totally sucked!”
“Who are you?” Theo demanded of the young blond man in front of him.
He moved to block Garrett from this guy.
Theo might not be a fighter but Garrett definitely wasn’t.
And summoned? What exactly did that mean?
Could Theo be summoned? That sounded like a demon thing.
Maybe Mitch might have mentioned something about it or Theo had read something in the journals.
But Theo was just a regular shifter. Why would anyone summon him?
“Oh!” The blond bounced. “I’m Steve.”
“Steve?” Theo asked. He closed his fist around the amulet that Alek’s mage father had given him.
It was supposed to be for protection. An early warning device for those that wished Theo warm.
The normal warmth he expected was missing.
Did that mean the magic wouldn’t work…wherever they were?
That was concerning. Theo did have other concerns directly in front of him, though.
“And where did you come from, Steve? Where are we?”
Steve froze. The smile fell from his lips as worry began to fill his eyes. Like he just now realized that Theo and Garrett would be suspicious of him.
“Dryad,” Garrett said. His deep voice was low, barely above a whisper.
“A dryad,” Theo repeated. “Like Josh?”
“Yes!” A flash of relief crossed Steve’s face. “Josh is my cousin. Do you know him? You can’t tell him that I snuck into the human realm. Seriously, please don’t tell him. If my mom finds out, I’ll be grounded forever!”
Theo sighed. It was really hard to believe that this kid had anything to do with what was happening. Theo might be na?ve but he wasn’t getting bad or dangerous vibes from Steve. He turned back to Garrett. “Where are we?”
“Fae realm,” Garrett’s low voice rumbled.
“How?” Theo was really trying to push down the panic that filled his chest. He was in a completely different realm than his mates. What if something had happened to Wylder or Josh. Were Alek, Dario, and Mitch safe? He had so many questions.
“You were summoned!” Steve raced over to them.
Theo eyed the kid. And he had to be a kid. Younger than Theo by a couple years. “How do you know?”
Steve shrugged. “I just do.”
“And did you summon me to the fae realm?” Theo questioned. What was up with this kid?
“Not me!” Steve shook his head frantically. “I can’t even summon! I was just hanging out.”
“Hanging out?” Theo could not believe this was happening. He needed real answers. There was no one else around, though. Peering out to the vast realm in front of him intimated Theo. His knowledge of the fae realm was so limited.
“So.” Steve rocked back on his heels as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his cut-off jeans shorts.
He wore no shirt or shoes. “Word has gotten around that this generation of the chosen has found one another. And I might have heard that the chosen were around the university and knew there was a tree there.”
A tree? Theo remembered holding on to his tree when he’d been summoned or whatever. The tree had also been whipping around as he and Garrett had fallen. Dryad. “You were inside the tree?” Theo questioned. “Why? For how long?”
“Just this morning!” Steve claimed. “I wanted to check out the chosen.”
“So you crossed realms to hide in my tree?” That…that was a lot to take in. Weird. He’d been researching dryads due to his new friendship with Josh. He knew that dryads could insert themselves into trees in order to help boost their health. Steve had just wanted to spy on them which was creepy.
“I wasn’t going to do anything!” Steve stomped his foot. “I just wanted to get a look. That’s all, I swear. I mean you’re one of the chosen. The chosen!”
Theo didn’t have time for this. Yes, he was chosen but it was still so new that Theo still didn’t know the true meaning of what that would entail going forward. Where was the time to settle in like he’d been promised?
Theo returned his attention to Garrett. “What do we do? And what happened to you? This isn’t permanent, is it?” While he loved that Garrett could speak back to him, this didn’t seem right. Weren’t there supposed to be rules when it came to magic?
Garrett shrugged. “I do not know, friend Theo.”
Well, that wasn’t helpful. At all. Theo looked at Steve. “You live in this realm, right?”
“Yeah.” He waved his hand behind him. “Like way on the other side of the realm. Ah, man! It’s going to take me days to walk home. My mom is going to be so mad at me.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Theo counted to ten slowly. Then he did it again. He was literally stuck in a strange realm with the two most unhelpful people that was possible. And he was terrified. How did he get summoned? Where were his mates? What was Theo supposed to do?
He needed to find a way home. That much was obvious.
Except what if he was summoned again? Who had done this to him?
The dark elves? Did they have the power to summon Theo?
He should have learned more about them. Honestly, Theo had been fine with having his mates worry about the dark elves as he’d spent his time reading the journals.
He really wished he’d grabbed the messenger bag. Not that Theo even knew that being summoned was a possibility. At least if he had his journals, Theo could learn more about the fae realm. Several of the journals featured the seelie and unseelie, including the members of the courts.
It had been on his list of things to read about. Theo really liked reading about the way that Tate felt about his mates and how they had come together because that was where Theo was in his life. That…might have been a huge mistake.
Okay. Focus. He was in the fae realm and needed to find a way back home.
Theo huffed. He lifted his gaze to his two companions.
Holy Hellcats! This was terrible!
Garrett was poking his own arm as if checking the muscle of his skin.
In his defense, it was probably really weird to be in another body or whatever had happened.
Instead of Theo’s stone friend, Garrett could pass as almost human.
His skin was dark gray, his black hair stood up at the top of his head, and the ears on top of his head turned one way then the other.
Okay, maybe human was pushing it. Garrett would never pass back home as anything but other.
Admittedly, Garrett was kind of cute in this form as well. Theo just didn’t think Garrett was going to be very helpful. Especially as Garrett began to take a few steps, picking his feet really high. Hellcats! That was hilarious.
To keep from laughing at his friend, Theo turned to Steve.
The young man stood pouting with his hands still in his pockets, lips quivering and tears in his eyes.
Yep, no help there either.
Once Theo got back home to his mates, he was going to make them pet him for hours. FOR HOURS! It was the least that he deserved. And catnip. And ice cream. He’d eat ice cream until he was sick!
Okay. Back to finding his focus. Theo saw two viable options.
He could stay right where he was and wait on his mates.
Since Wylder and Josh had witnessed his summoning or whatever, Theo had no doubt that Wylder was already calling in his mates to come get him.
He was actually surprised that Josh wasn’t already there, since the dryad should be able to follow.
Huh. That might be a concern after all. Even if his mates followed him, how would they find Theo?
That brought Theo to their other option. Was it worth walking to the other side of the realm to Steve’s to find help there? Surely Josh’s family knew about the chosen and would be able to offer him assistance. Or had a phone he could use.
Wait!
Theo wanted to smack his own forehead. Stupid! Digging in his pocket, Theo drew his cell phone out.