Chapter Three #2
Under his feet, the stones shifted and rolled although the bridge seemed sturdy enough. From the corner of his eye, Theo kept Bo in his sight as they slowly made their way across.
Still in the water, Bo waded in the same direction that they walked as though to keep pace with them. That helped Theo keep him in sight and reassured Theo that no danger was coming up behind them.
It was a long walk across the bridge.
If they had been forced to go around, Theo could see why it would have taken days to make the trek.
The entire way, Theo’s stomach clenched with unease until his feet were firmly on the ground at the other side of the bridge.
Theo turned to say farewell to Bo just as the troll stepped out of the water.
He was barefoot with mud covering his toes all the way up his calves. Bo appeared even taller as he was no longer below Theo in the water with Theo on the bridge. Yeah, Bo was at least ten feet tall with arms and legs the width of tree trunks.
Bo could probably crush Theo with just his pinkie.
Theo really hoped that Bo did not want to hurt them.
“Where are we going now, friends?” Bo asked.
Wait! We? “We?” Theo repeated.
“We are friends,” Bo said. “I go with friends.”
No! This wasn’t happening. Theo was not collecting more…friends for this adventure. He needed to get to where he could call his mates. His stupid cell phone was supposed to be the way Theo could connect to his mates. All Theo wanted was Wylder, Alek, Dario, and Mitch.
“What about your bridge?” Theo asked, trying to be reasonable. “Don’t you have to watch over it?”
“My brother will take over the task,” Bo informed him.
“Your brother?” Theo asked.
“I have two brothers. We take turns watching over our bridge. But it gets boring sometimes. There is lots and lots of time when no one comes,” Bo said. “You came, though. You offered me friendship.”
“Yeah.” Theo rubbed the back of his neck. Hellcats! How did Theo deal with this friendly troll? Or would it be so bad to have the big guy with him? There were still dangers out there. Having a troll with them might not be too bad. “Steve says that we must go around the poisoned meadow?”
The question served two purposes. Confirm their direction and test Steve’s words.
“My friends should not walk through the poisoned meadow,” Bo responded.
“Great.” That wasn’t the confirmation that Theo was looking for. “Let’s go.”
* * * * *
Dario
“There are eyes everywhere,” Mitch said quietly.
Dario moved closer to Wylder. Even enhanced, their human mate was the most vulnerable of them all. Both Mitch and Alek had weapons to protect them and Dario had his dragon. Wylder, while street smart and tough, was also new to this world.
“Where’s Theo?” Wylder asked for what had to be the dozenth time. It was driving Wylder crazy that they were so far behind Theo.
“He walked through here,” Alek assured them. “We are still following the blood trail.”
“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” Wylder commented. “I don’t like that there is blood to follow. You keep saying that there isn’t much but there is enough to follow.”
“A drop here and there,” Alek said patiently. “And mostly it’s Garrett’s blood, not Theo’s. And not enough to be serious.”
Wylder huffed but didn’t say anything else.
The trek through the forest had been mostly made in silence. They were keeping their attention on the dangers around them. They were all aware of being watched. Inside the forest the threats were numerous but so far nothing had moved close enough to be a direct risk.
“We’re almost to the edge where I think they exited,” Alek shared.
“Where would they go from here?” Wylder asked.
“I guess it depends on whether Theo and Garrett know where they are headed,” Dario answered.
“They don’t know where to go,” Wylder pointed out.
“There is someone else with them,” Mitch informed them.
“What?” Wylder’s voice rose. “Who?”
Mitch stopped and pointed to a lightly visibly bare footprint. “There.” He pointed several paces behind the print. “Theo and Garrett are walking close together back here. Someone is leading them.”
That was concerning. Neither Theo nor Garrett knew enough about the fae realm to avoid the pitfalls that came with being there. Words were important. Actions even more so. Dario knew how one small moment with a fae creature could change everything.
A chance meeting with Fergie and coming to the smaller guy’s defense had gotten Dario the best assistant he’d ever had. But it had still nearly caused trouble for him as Fergie’s family had accused Dario of tricking Fergie.
It had been a mess. Lots of meetings and negotiations between him and the fae. Dario was bonded with Fergie for saving the little fae. Fergie’s family had wanted to break that bond.
In the end it had cost Dario millions to keep Fergie and finally be rid of the other fae.
Fergie was worth every cent that Dario had paid and every headache he’d had to deal with.
And they were the good guys! It might have been easier if Fergie had been connected to the unseelie court as at least they made demands that Dario understood.
The seelie court of the fae liked to play games too much.
Even now the seelie court had tried to insist that Dario and his mates went to them before starting the search for Theo.
If they had given in, they would have been tied up for days with ceremony and demands. Luckily Alek’s fathers were still the chosen so had taken the role of appeasing the court.
“We’ve been walking too long,” Wylder said. “Shouldn’t we be closer to him?”
“No,” Dario replied. “He had a good head start on us. Remember time works differently here.”
“How far of a head start?” Wylder whirled around. “And why is no one telling me why Theo and Garrett are bleeding?”
The dark forest seemed to go still around them.
“Hey.” Dario pulled Wylder into his arms.
Mitch and Alek backed up to surround them with weapons out. Mitch pressed his shoulder blades to Dario’s as Alek was back-to-back with Wylder.
“Wylder, we know that Theo went this way,” Dario reminded him. “He is walking on his own two feet. The small cuts were likely an attack from pixies.”
“Pixies?” Wylder inquired. “Like Tinkerbell?”
Behind him, Mitch snorted.
“Is that a no?” Wylder asked as he raised his brow.
“Not unless Tinkerbell had fangs and bit,” Dario said. “They are nasty little creatures that do the bidding of whoever holds their magic dust.”
“Someone controls them?” Wylder frowned. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
“If pixies ran rampant, then they would tear through the realm,” Dario said. “The seelie king used to keep their dust in a vault but it was stolen about half a century ago.”
Wylder shook his head. “I really don’t like it here. And I fucking hate that Theo is here all alone.”
“He has Garrett,” Dario reminded him. “And someone who is leading them out of here.”
“But what if Theo is trusting the wrong person. Someone who wants to hurt him?” Wylder asked.
“I think you need to remember how Theo was when we all first met him. He didn’t even trust us. Yes, he is sweet and shy but with his experience, he also doesn’t trust blindly,” Dario suggested.
“But this world isn’t what Theo is used to,” Wylder argued.
“Which will make him even more suspicious.” Dario cupped Wylder’s face. “He is a survivor. You know that.”
Wylder sighed. “I promised to protect him.”
And Wylder was blaming himself since Theo disappeared right in front of his eyes. It wasn’t fair. “This isn’t your fault.”
“Feels like it is,” Wylder grumbled.
“It is not your fault,” Dario repeated again, this time firmer.
“But—”
Dario pressed his lips hard to Wylder’s.
When his human melted into his arms, Dario pulled back. “We are going to get our mate back.”
“Okay.” Wylder fisted his hand in Dario’s shirt. “Okay.”
The little pep talk he’d given Wylder wasn’t enough to get rid of Dario’s own concerns. Wylder had every reason to be worried. They all did. Theo was a survivor but Dario was terrified that when they did get Theo back, he wouldn’t be the same sweet boy that Dario loved.
And the worst part was that Dario hadn’t even told Theo that he loved him. Hadn’t told any of his mates. Things had been moving so fast. Too fast. There had been no training yet. The plans that he and Alek put into place kept falling through.
They were supposed to be getting a house close to the university.
Dario didn’t even live with his mates yet. Theo and Wylder were still in the dorms. Mitch in hell. Alek at his own apartment. All he wanted was his mates and Dario was powerless to make that happen.
All the money in the world and it meant nothing when they were trespassing all over the fae realm trying to find the little shifter that had brought them all together.
Wylder turned and grabbed Alek’s arm, pulling him away. “You know if I had my own sword, I could help protect everyone.”
“You’re not getting a sword,” Alek told Wylder with a growl.
“You need to take your own advice,” Mitch whispered against Dario’s neck.
Dario shivered. And not from the chill in the dark forest. He hadn’t had much alone time with Mitch. Another failing as a mate.
“Theo is a survivor,” Mitch said. “He will survive this.”
“What if—” Dario had to swallow the bile that wanted to rise into the back of his throat.
“Don’t even think it,” Mitch told him. “Don’t give those words space here.”
Dario nodded. “I know.” The dark forest was known to mess with the minds of wandering travelers. It wasn’t a safe place to be. They needed to get clear.
“Are you two coming?” Wylder called back as he continued to walk beside Alek.
Just as Dario went to tease back, low growls echoed around them.
Mitch spun with his sword out. Alek picked up Wylder and rushed forward to deposit Wylder into Dario’s arms.
“What the fuck!” Wylder yelled.
“Shh,” Dario whispered against his temple as dark shadows stalked into view.
“Alek,” Mitch growled. “I count four.”
“Six over here,” Alek replied.
Ten. There were ten displaced beasts circling them.