Chapter Two #3
Mitch dipped his head while opening his arms. He caught Wylder before turning toward Alek and Dario.
That look. Mitch knew something.
Wylder clung to Mitch.
“What did you find out?” Alek asked.
Dario’s fingers dug into Alek’s arm.
Alek caught his hand, entwining their fingers together as he braced for the bad news.
“What’s going on?” Wylder asked, peering up at Mitch.
“My father came through,” Mitch said. “Theo was summoned to the fae realm.”
“Does he know by who?” Alek asked.
“No. He was able to follow the surge in power from here to the dark side of the fae realm. Outside of the dark forest,” Mitch informed them.
“Isn’t that good news?” Wylder questioned. “Now we know for sure where Theo is.”
Alek shook his head. “It’s good we know where to start looking.”
“But?” Wylder asked.
“There are many dangers out there,” Alek said. “Predators and creatures that would hunt him and Garrett. It’s only been an hour here. It’s been half a day there.”
Wylder whimpered.
“Now that we have a starting point, we should go,” Mitch suggested. “I’ll open a portal.”
Alek turned to his brother. “Find out what you can about Theo’s family. We’ll be back as soon as we find our mate.”
Evian nodded. “I’ll—”
“Hey! Wylder! Josh!”
They are turned as Theo’s roommate, Ethan, jogged down the steps of the dorm building.
Being yanked out of the worry for their mate and back to the present world around him was jarring. Alek jerked as Ethan stopped in front of them.
“What’s going on? Is the tree missing? How did that happen?” Ethan asked as he peered around them.
Evian made a strange sound while stumbling to the side.
Reaching out, he caught his brother’s arm.
Evian hissed.
“Guys?” Ethan said with a frown. “What the hell is going on? Where did the tree go? Where’s Theo?”
“Ethan,” Wylder said, stepping out of Mitch’s arms. “There…there…something happened.”
“What happened?” Ethan demanded. “Where’s Theo?”
“He’s gone,” Wylder answered quietly.
“Gone?” Ethan’s voice rose. “Gone like taken?”
“Yes. But we’re going to get him back!” Wylder insisted.
Ethan turned toward Dario. “Is this because he’s a shifter?”
Dario gasped. “You knew?”
“Yeah.” Ethan shrugged. “Or at least I suspected. He was so quiet and shy at first but recently I’ve been finding cat hair around the room.”
“How?” Wylder spat out.
“My best friend growing up was a shifter,” Ethan revealed.
“You know about shifters and the supernatural?” Evian spoke up.
“Oh hey,” Ethan said to Evian. “Aren’t you one of Theo’s professors?” He glanced at everyone else. “I think I’ve missed something big.”
“You have,” Wylder said. “And Theo is going to be thrilled that he doesn’t have to hide from you anymore. But we need to go now and get him back.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Ethan offered.
“You can help me,” Evian said quickly. “I need to do some research in my office.”
“Sure,” Ethan agreed. “Whatever I can do. I like Theo.”
Alek caught his brother’s eye and received a blinding smile in return. There was something going on. Alek was too worried about Theo to think clearly.
“Go!” Evian urged. “We’ll be here. Go find Theo.”
“Please.” Wylder stepped forward to pull on the lapels of Alek’s suit jacket.
Alek nodded. He hitched his chin up at Mitch. “Portal?”
“I got it.” Mitch waved his hand and a portal opened behind them. In the place that the tree, Theo’s favorite tree, had been. That seemed fitting.
“I’ll go first,” Mitch declared as he pulled a sword from the sheath behind his back.
“Then Dario, Wylder, and I’ll bring up the rear,” Alek added.
“Good luck, brother,” Evian told him.
“We’re going to need it,” Alek responded. “Find out everything that you can.”
“I will. When you bring your mate home, I’ll have something for you.”
“Thanks.” Alek watched Mitch enter the portal first.
“Just walk through. I’ll be on the other side waiting for you,” Dario told Wylder before following behind Mitch.
Wylder glanced over his shoulder at Alek. Worry etched on his face.
Alek cupped his human mate’s face. His palm over the scar that was a constant reminder to him that Wylder was a survivor. “I’m right behind you, mate.”
“Okay.” Leaning forward, Wylder brushed his lips across Alek’s. “Let’s do this.”
Alek was right on Wylder’s heels as Wylder walked through the opening of the portal.
He’d been using portals his entire life, going from one realm to another along with his fathers. Alek had taken portals into the fae realm previously. Just never into the darkness surrounded by trees.
Wylder’s breath caught as he stumbled back.
Using a portal for the first few times could he jarring. Alek caught Wylder’s shoulders under his palms to hold him steady.
“Mitch!” Wylder whispered.
Looking at their demon warrior, Alek quickly caught on.
They were in the fae realm. Which meant that the glamour that Mitch usually wore around them had been stripped away.
Mitch was in his full demon warrior glory, looking like a badass with a sword in his hand.
Wylder ripped himself out from under Alek’s hands to stride forward.
Remembering the conversation he had overheard between Mitch and Theo during their first sleepover, Alek braced himself to step in in case Mitch needed him to.
The boys, actually none of them, had seen Mitch like this. Although Alek had seen plenty of demons in his life.
Mitch stood over seven feet tall now. His wide eyes were fixed on Wylder as their human mate reached up to run his fingers over the two black horns on Mitch’s forehead.
“They’re bumpy,” Wylder commented.
Mitch swallowed visibly.
They were amazing horns. Alek knew that demons used their horns to show their power and virility.
Wylder moved his fingers down the ridges of Mitch’s narrow nose to the ones on the bottom of his chin. Wylder kept touching Mitch. His shoulders, arms, and to his stomach. “Theo is going to be so mad he missed this.”
“I told him,” Mitch said quietly. “That I looked different in my true form.”
“He told me,” Wylder admitted. “Theo wanted to give you time until you were comfortable.”
“Me?” Mitch repeated with a laugh. “I’m not worried about me.”
“But Theo was,” Wylder told him. “Theo was worried because he felt like you were scared we wouldn’t accept you just the way you are.”
“I don’t…didn’t want you scared of me,” Mitch said.
Alek moved closer and Dario did the same.
“I’m not scared,” Wylder assured their demon warrior. “And neither will Theo be.”
“I love seeing your true self,” Alek added.
“Me too,” Dario said.
Mitch dipped his head. “This moment would be perfect if our little shifter was with us.”
Alek grasped Mitch’s shoulder and squeezed. “Then let’s go find him.”
“We need to hurry. I smell blood,” Mitch said. He turned to point farther into the depths of the forest. “Our mate went that way.”
He had already picked up the scent of blood. As a vampire, it was like a beacon to his kind. Theo’s blood. And gargoyle, which had to be Garrett’s. It was a good thing that they’d sent Josh ahead of them to inform the dryads on the seelie side of the realm or Josh would be very upset.
While the blood trail was small it did mean that his mate was still alive. And Alek would follow that trail until the last drop and he had his little mate back in his arms.