Chapter Four #4
“That must be why the king wants to see you.” Aurelia nodded. “Yes. That must be why. I must acquire a nice suit for you. A very nice suit. Maybe blue or green. Yes, you have pretty green eyes. Or purple. I like purple.”
And the little brownie was no longer listening to him. Theo needed to get the brownie to focus on him. Not on some stupid clothes that Theo would never wear anyway.
What had Bywater’s orders been exactly? See to Theo’s needs. Well there was only one thing that Theo needed in the moment.
“Aurelia!” Theo called softly.
The brownie turned to him with a smile. “Yes?”
She really was a cute little thing with her wrinkly pink skin and big brown eyes. Her hair, which might be the brightest yellow that he had ever seen, was done up in pigtails with red bows that matched the red dress she wore.
“Bywater said to take care of all my needs,” Theo reminded her.
“He did.” Aurelia bounced again. “Do you have needs?”
“I need to see my friends,” Theo told her. “The gargoyle and the troll that were brought in with me. It is very important that I see my friends right now.”
Aurelia frowned. “That is not getting you clothes.”
“But I need to see my friends. To make sure they are okay,” Theo insisted. “It’s like the most important thing to me.”
She nodded before she popped out of sight.
Theo sighed. That could have gone better. Should he have said that he needed her to take him to them? Or maybe she was bringing them there? That would be amazing. Theo really couldn’t count on that.
He pushed off the bed to cross the room. It wasn’t easy to ignore the pain in his feet but Theo was a man on a mission. And that mission was to escape.
It was a nice room. The furniture looked expensive and a little too breakable for Theo’s taste. The carpet was thick enough that Theo’s sneakers sank in as he hurried to the door of the bedroom.
Turning the handle, Theo wasn’t surprised that it was locked. Of course. Walking out would have been way too easy. Windows! Theo tried the windows yet he couldn’t do anything with them either. Maybe they were magically locked. That was what Theo would have done if he had a prisoner.
What a weird freaking thought. Theo totally didn’t plan to have prisoners. Like ever. That was horrible.
Next Theo checked the bookcases and every drawer in the room, looking for anything that might help him get out of this situation. He jumped, letting out a startled squeak when Aurelia popped back beside him.
“I found them,” Aurelia said. “We must hurry and not stay too long.” She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and he was transported again.
The chill in the air was instant. It was freezing wherever he was.
Inside a cell, Garrett and Bo were sitting side by side. At least they both looked back to normal. Well, mostly. Garrett appeared the same as he had the entire time they’d been in this realm. Not his stone form from back home.
“Garrett! Bo!” Theo rushed to the bars. “Are you okay?”
“We are uninjured, friend Theo,” Garrett told him. He rose to meet Theo at the bars and their fingers brushed together.
“We are being held prisoner,” Bo said, joining them. “That is not how a guest should be treated. I would never imprison someone unless they tried to cross my bridge without permission. I did not do this.”
Theo shook his head. “I know, Bo. I’m so sorry guys. This is all my fault.”
“Where are we?” Garrett asked.
“The unseelie king wants to see me,” Theo explained.
“That is not good, friend,” Bo said. “The unseelie king is dangerous.”
“I’m going to try to get us out of here,” Theo replied. He wrapped his fingers around the bars. “Any ideas?”
“I cannot break the bars,” Bo said.
An idea hit. Theo turned to Aurelia. “I need my friends out of there.”
Aurelia shook her head. “I cannot.”
“But Bywater said—”
“She doesn’t have the power to release my prisoners.”
Theo whirled toward the new voice.
A tall man stood at the bottom of the stairs that Theo hadn’t noticed before. He looked so very human that Theo took a few steps back in confusion.
“Who are you?” Theo asked. Although, with the words spoken, Theo had a pretty good idea that this was the man that had gone to so much trouble to get Theo there.
A booming laugh echoed around the dull gray walls. “You should know your betters. I am the unseelie king, Bramley. And you are under my control now, Theodore Bailey.”
“I am under no one’s control but my own,” Theo retorted even if it was bull crap. He knew nothing about the unseelie king or what he was even targeting Theo. Was this a chosen thing? The unseelie king seemed to have gone through a whole lot of trouble to attack the chosen.
“You say that as you stand in my prison.” Bramley held his arms out as if he was proud of what he’d created.
Straightening his back and rolling his shoulders, Theo faced the unseelie king. Brave boy. Theo was a brave boy and couldn’t show this creature any sign of weakness. “Release my friends. Let us return home. We have done nothing to you.”
Was that his voice? Wow, Theo totally sounded bossy. He should practice that more often. Maybe when he wanted Wylder to suck him or something.
Bramley dropped his arms. “You dare give me orders?”
“Yes, I do.” Theo had been faced with bullies his entire life.
And sure, this was an entirely different circumstance, but Bramley had plucked Theo out of his own world and away from his mates, making him trek all over this dang realm just to threaten him?
No, Bramley wanted something from Theo to go through all this. “Release us!”
Stomping forward, Bramley approached Theo, pausing about six feet away. “I am the ruler of this realm. You do not command me.”
“Aren’t you the ruler of the unseelie?” Theo asked. “That’s like half the realm.”
Bramley’s face changed. Like literally changed. Instead of appearing human like he had, Bramley’s entire body darkened. His skin looked nearly caked in mud. And he had wings. Massive wings that flapped from his back.
Okay. So that was kind of cool. But scary. So scary.
“You mock me? The king of the unseelie!” Bramley shouted.
“No!” Theo held his hands up. “I’m not mocking you.” Maybe pissing off the most powerful creature in the realm hadn’t been Theo’s best idea.
“I brought you here!” Bramley claimed proudly. “Do you know how much work I put into bringing you here?”
Slowly, Theo lowered his hands. “Yeah, figured that out on my own. How did you get me here?”
“I have a summoner,” Bramley boasted. “Rare. But he serves me. Because I am the one creature that should be worshipped and feared.”
Great, Wonderful. This guy was scary. Yep. Theo got it. “But how did he summon me?” It was important to get as much information as he could. And maybe give the king time to calm down.
“Blood,” Bramley replied. “We collected your blood to use in a summoning spell.”
“Where did you get my blood?” How was it possible? Wouldn’t Theo have known if someone had gotten his blood.
“You fell.” Bramley clapped his hands. “Clumsy little shifter. I sent the triplets to bring you to me first. They failed but did collect some of your blood for me.”
“You sent the dark triplets after me? They almost killed me!”
“They were ordered to bring you to me. I might have miscalculated when I didn’t state what condition you should be brought,” Bramley said. “I didn’t make that mistake with the dryad. Look at you, unharmed, in one piece.”
“But what was with trekking through half the realm? Couldn’t you have just summoned me here?” Theo wasn’t a little irritated with how much walking he’d just done.
Bramlet frowned. “The summoner’s power was exhausted before he could deliver you directly to me. I had anticipated this which is why I sent the dryad this morning ahead of the summoning.”
Theo rubbed his sweaty palms against the legs of his jeans. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble for me. Why?”
Bramley smiled again. He lifted his hands in front of him with his palms facing up.
Energy swirled around the cold room.
Like static electricity but Theo was certain it was magic. Like Bramley was powering up.
“Why?” Bramley repeated before giving Theo another mocking laugh. “I have searched a very long time for you, Theodore Bailey.”
“Me?” Theo pointed at himself. “I’m no one.”
Bramley nodded. “No one. Nothing. A worthless shifter that doesn’t even know who his family is.”
That was harsh. “Okay?”
“I know,” Bramley told him. “I know everything.”
“What? How?” Theo was getting a really bad feeling. This guy was not only mean but he might be on the crazy side as well.
“Because, brother, I am the reason that you grew up an orphan.” Bramley clapped his hands and sent a wave of magic at Theo.
He was lifted off his feet and thrown against the bars of the cell.
Theo rolled onto his back as his entire body felt like it was on fire.
A shadow passed over him as he peered up to see Bramley standing over him.
Gasping for breath, Theo wiped the tears of pain from his eyes.
“Oh! Did that hurt?” Bramley leaned closer. “How about this?”
Theo screamed as Bramley held his hands over Theo, sending fire into his body.
Brother? Wait! Brother!
“Or this?” Bramley said before Theo’s body seized up as ice filled his veins.