Chapter Four
Theo
A loud and terrifying roar echoed around the meadow that they were currently walking beside.
“What was that?” Theo asked, not even embarrassed by the shaking in his voice. This entire realm, while beautiful, was also utterly terrifying.
Steve had been keeping his distance from Theo, Garrett, and Bo, especially Bo but he moved closer, appearing as nervous as Theo must have sounded. “I have no idea.”
“I have not heard this sound before, my friends,” Bo commented. “Something is close by.”
Garrett hummed.
Theo glanced back toward the meadow. The others had insisted they couldn’t walk through. It would be faster, but although the flowers that were gently swaying from side to side were pretty, they were also apparently quite poisonous to many creatures. Including their entire group.
Every look at the meadow made Theo want to enter.
Magic.
Dark magic, Bo had claimed.
The draw to the poisoned flowers was by design. A creature that couldn’t resist the beauty of the meadow would meet their doom. The master of the meadow would then come and collect the bodies to use in rituals.
Since Theo really didn’t want his body used in any rituals, he was doing his best not to even look in the direction of the meadow.
His information came from Steve and Bo, both which were extremely excitable about the meadow.
Theo wasn’t sure how much was truth and how much was lore.
Not that he had any plans to test his theory.
Still, better safe than sorry. Which meant they were avoiding actually entering the meadow.
But with that roar, Theo would much rather be out of this area.
It had gotten dark and even though Theo had excellent night vision, thanks to his cat’s sight, he didn’t know how much farther they would be able to travel for the night.
Except their next destination was the haunted hill. Theo did not want to guess why it would be called that. Not there in the fae realm where Theo had already seen and heard things that would be giving him nightmares for years at this point.
He shivered inside the big hoodie that he’d stolen from Wylder.
Wylder.
Theo missed his mate. And Dario and Alek and Mitch. He had really expected to be rescued by now. It hadn’t barely been dinner time when he’d been stolen from his world, and now it was dark and very late.
Where were his dang mates?
Of course they were coming for him. Theo believed that with all his heart. But was Theo that hard to find? Should he have stayed in one place? No. Not after hearing the roar that had definitely came from behind them. Where Theo and his little group had previously been.
He didn’t know what had roared like that and wasn’t in a hurry to find out.
Which meant they needed to keep moving.
“Come on.” Theo tugged on Garrett’s arm. “We need to get as far as possible tonight.”
“It would be better to get far away from the meadow so no one is enticed from sleep to enter,” Steve told them.
Theo nodded. Their little group resumed the trek around the meadow toward what Steve had called the haunted hill.
There were so many interesting places inside this realm. And this was supposed to be the dark part. It made Theo wonder about the seelie or light side. How much beauty would Theo see there, if he ever made it?
His feet hurt and his tummy was rumbling with hunger. Not that Theo would accept food or drink from anyone. Even with his limited knowledge, Theo knew better.
The moon dipped low, making it harder to see by the time that they’d left the meadow in the distance. In front of them Steve was practically bouncing as he walked ahead of Theo and Garrett who were still side by side.
Theo was dragging his feet and Garrett didn’t seem to be doing much better although Bo easily kept up the same pace.
The troll joining them was still weird to Theo.
Why Bo wanted to walk with them was beyond Theo. When asked, Bo would shrug his massive shoulders and claim them friends. And maybe that was really starting to worry Theo a little as well. What exactly did being friends with a troll entail? Other than Bo staying close to them.
A hard gust of wind nearly pushed Theo off his feet.
Reaching out, Theo snagged Garrett’s arm as they both drew to a stop.
“You’ll want to keep walking,” Steve said, glancing back at them. “The spirits will mostly leave you alone if you keep walking.”
“Spirits?” Theo asked. “Like ghosts?”
“The lost souls,” Bo informed him. “They have not found peace in the afterlife.”
So… real ghosts? A whimper escaped Theo’s mouth. He really didn’t want to meet a ghost. Hellcats! Why were things so dang complicated?
From the corner of his eye, Theo spotted something hazy running at him.
He jumped, but when Theo looked again, it was gone.
“They’ll keep doing that,” Steve said. “We should hurry.”
“Right,” Theo agreed. He pulled on Garrett’s arm.
The gargoyle stared at Theo with big eyes as his little bat ears moved side to side like he could hear something that Theo was missing. “I do not like it here, friend Theo.”
“Me either,” Theo whispered back. “Let’s just hurry.”
“I am also tired,” Garrett told him.
“Yeah. We’ll stop soon,” Theo promised. It just wouldn’t be in a nice comfortable bed or with a good meal like Theo was wishing for.
Keeping his gaze straight ahead, Theo had to really work at not flinching every time a hazy white figure ran at him. At least nothing had touched him yet. Maybe they couldn’t.
They started up what Steve had called a hill. That was a joke. Hill? No. It had been more like a dang mountain. His already aching feet felt like they were ten pounds each. Lifting one foot and then the other was taking all of Theo’s energy.
So much ice cream. And pets. Catnip. And maybe a dozen blowjobs. Blowjobs were nice. A few days spent in bed with his mates would be perfect. As long as Theo got everything else on his list. A double scoop of ice cream for sure.
The higher they walked, the colder it became as well.
He had to let go of Garrett’s arm to shove his hands inside the pocket of the hoodie. Theo’s fingers were stiff and cold.
Tripping, Theo had to thank his feline ability for remaining on his feet.
“We’re almost to the top!” Steve called. “Then you will get exactly what you deserve.”
Why did that sound ominous? “What I deserve?”
The wind picked up again, taking Theo’s words with it.
“Rest,” Steve said with a laugh.
Theo hummed. He was almost too tired to care.
Almost. Theo did care. He wanted to get back to his mates.
To his home. He’d never had a home before.
And maybe they were already planning on moving out of Dario’s apartment and him out of the dorm but the houses that Dario and Alek had been telling him about seemed perfect for their family of five.
Family.
Family was another thing Theo had gone his entire life without.
His parents hadn’t wanted him. No foster parents had stepped up. Without knowing about his past, Theo had barely worried about his future. Until it came to college and Theo realized that he could make the life he wanted on his own.
The first year of college wasn’t going exactly as planned. His friend group was as small as it always had been. Theo just wasn’t very good at making friends. Until he started to meet his mates. The four men that fate had decided Theo belonged with.
And didn’t fate have a whole list of things to throw at Theo? Being part of the chosen for this generation. The person that was supposed to be on the side of good and fighting evil.
Yeah, Theo wasn’t a fighter but that was what Alek, Wylder, and especially Mitch was for.
Maybe things weren’t going as Theo had predicted but it hadn’t been bad.
Now that he was away from his mates, Theo wished that he’d pushed harder to have more time with them. It didn’t matter that Theo and Wylder had classes. They could have been staying with Dario and driving back to campus. Even if he had to get up early. It would have been worth it.
Mitch used a portal to travel from the human realm to hell. He could have been there with them as well. And Alek might be focused on their destiny but Dario had made him a very nice office. When Theo got home, he was going to make dang sure that they did not spend another night apart again.
Reaching the top of the hill, Theo breathed out a sigh of relief.
Going down had to be easier. Could they rest here?
Garrett was tired and so was Theo. His feet hurt from the sharp rocks that Theo had to step on to get up the hill as they poked the thin sole of his shoes.
Okay, Theo was a little concerned that it hadn’t been rocks but bones under his feet.
He was not going to ask questions or even think about that. If he was stepping on people’s bones, then no wonder the spirits were coming at them in all directions.
The spirits hadn’t touched them.
Mybe they couldn’t.
Being on the unseelie side of the realm was scary but truthfully Theo would be frightened no matter where he was. It wasn’t inside him to be fearless. That wasn’t really Theo. And he was fine with that. Theo didn’t need to be the hero in the story.
Steve stopped peering down the hill as Bo seemed to freeze in place.
Theo walked to Bo’s side and immediately spotted what had stopped the troll.
Two dozen men dressed in black robes stood in a semi-circle with weapons out and pointed in their direction.
“What’s going on?” Theo questioned Steve as he didn’t seem surprised by the welcome committee.
“Betrayal,” Bo rumbled out.
Steve turned to Theo and smiled. It was not a nice smile. “You really shouldn’t have trusted me. Now you get what you deserve and I get my reward.” He skipped down the hill to approach one of the other cloaked figures.
“Steve!” Theo shouted. Hellcats! Theo should have trusted his gut. He’d known that there was something wrong with Steve. And Theo had followed Steve directly into the path of what appeared to be an army.