Chapter 2
Everyone is staring at me, but all I see is Theo.
My girl. My soulmate. My everything.
She meets my gaze, her silver eyes wide with shock and worry. It makes my chest ache. I know what she sees: the torn clothes, the scrapes, the beard that probably has its own ecosystem by now.
I want to tell her I'm fine.
I want to scoop her up and spin her around until we're both dizzy. But my limbs feel heavy, and my brain is static.
She's real. She's actually here. For four years—or maybe five minutes, time is weird here—I’ve dreamed of this moment. I’ve built sand-Theos. I’ve talked to rock-Theos. But the real thing?
She’s stunning. "Tee-Tee," I croak. My voice sounds like a ten-pack a day smoker. She laughs and reaches for me. But when she does, I flinch, just a tiny bit. Shit.
It’s not cos I don’t love you, Tee, it’s because I'm not used to things touching me back.
"Oh, Donovan," she whispers so sadly. I lean into her touch, closing my eyes. I feel her fingers. They’re warm. I'm not hallucinating again.
I force my eyes open again and just drink her in. After so many years with just white rocks to look at, my eyes have never been so happy. I commit every detail to memory in case she disappears again. In case this is just a dream.
Fuck. Focus. I have to explain.
I have to tell them why I'm a mess. "I guess I’ll start at the beginning. Max found a swirly-light-thing back at school. That's how we got here." Swirly-light-thing. Real eloquent, Hart. Wes would have a better word for it. "Okay, so you came through the portal," Theo prompts, her voice gentle.
"Yeah. Portal, that’s the word. And then... things got weird. My body started feeling... wrong." I glance at the others. The big white-haired guy is tugging on his hair like he’s trying to rip it out. The dark-haired dude is flexing his toes.
Yep. Whack-a-doodle incoming.
"Wrong?" Cosmo drawls. He looks calm, but he's picking at his skin like it doesn't fit.
"Yeah, Cos. Weird. Itchy. Like..." I struggle for the words. "Like I was too big for my skin." I look back at Theo. I need to show her. I need her to know what I've become, so if she's going to run screaming, she does it now.
"Watch," I say. I walk a few feet away. I focus on the fire in my chest. It’s always there now, a low burn. I feed it. The cramping starts—a familiar, brutal twist in my gut. I drop to my knees, gritting my teeth. When your bones grind and pop, it's not a picnic.
It's NOT A PICNIC.
But then... release. I push up, my hooves stamping the white dust. My chest swells, filled with power. From the waist down, I’m all stallion. Strong. Fast. Complete with stallion dick.
I turn to face her, bracing myself for the looks of horror.
“OHMYGODS!”
Theo isn't screaming in terror. She's running towards me, her face lit up like I just scored the winning game point.
“Stay back!” the dark-haired guy yells, moving to intercept her.
I stamp a hoof, hard. “Settle down, buddy. I’d die before I hurt my girl.”
Theo stops inches from me, her hand hovering. “Is it OK if I touch you?” My heart—both the human one and the horse one—melts.
“I’m still me, babe. You can touch me anywhere.” I grin, unable to help myself. “Seriously. Anywhere.” She strokes my flank, and a shiver of pure pleasure rolls down my spine. My tail swishes involuntarily.
The giant in coveralls glares at me. I glare back.
Mine.
"Is Wes a centaur too?" Cosmo asks, crossing his arms.
The joy crashes.
Theo freezes, her hand stilling on my coat. “Gods, Donovan. Where is he? Where is Wes?”
I look down at the ground. This is the part that kills me. "I don't know, baby," I whisper. "He... he left. Him and Max. They went through another portal, and I couldn't follow."
"Another portal?"
"A shadow," I explain, gesturing helplessly. "A patch of darkness. Max dove in. Wes went after him. But when I tried... the horse part of me balked. It wouldn't go in. I've been stuck here ever since."
"Alone?" Theo asks, her voice breaking.
"Yeah." I swallow hard. "Just me and the rocks."
She buries her face in my side, sobbing. I wrap my human arms around her, pulling her tight against my horse body. I failed her. I lost her other half.
“You’ve been alone in this wasteland for months?” I can feel her tears soak into my coat.
Fuck, I hate causing her pain. And I think it’s going to get worse when I tell her the truth.
“Honestly, it’s hard to keep track; time feels messed up down here, but as I said, Wes and Max disappeared real soon after we arrived. That's gotta be, what? Like, three years ago? Four?”
Yeah, it’s been a long few years.
I don’t describe the madness I fell into for the first few months. "It’s been shitty, but if the whole point was for me to wait here for you? Then every second was worth it.”
“Er, Dono?” Cosmo says. I look down and see he’s wearing his mega serious face. “You disappeared from Validus Vale eleven months ago,” he tells me. “Not four years.”
That can’t be right. “No way, it’s at least four years.”
“I’m sorry, Donovan, but he’s telling the truth,” Theo says, agreeing with Cos for once. “We are just coming up on the first anniversary of your disappearance.”
I don’t know what to think about that information. I’m pretty sure it’s been years, though not having day and night here makes calendars hard.
The maybe-Russian dude comes over. “Does your family have the centaur line?” he asks. I respond with a brief nod, not interested in his questions. “So your innate nature has engaged. This place is even rewriting your DNA.”
“Who the fuck is this guy?” I ask Cosmo.
Theo answers first. “This is Alexis Feniks. He’s Maximus’s cousin.”
Alexis Feniks? Have I ever heard Max mention the name? I don’t think so. This Feniks puts his arm around Theo, almost pulling her away from me.
Without thinking, I stamp my forehoof on the ground, slamming it hard into the dust and rocks.
She wriggles out of his arms–ha—then continues stroking my coat. “Poor, babe. What have you survived on?”
“Nothing,” I tell her. “I haven’t had a speck of food or water since I got here. Shit, Tee, I’m so sorry, so, so sorry.”
"Don't be," Cosmo says, his voice unusually soft. He steps closer, putting a hand on my human shoulder. "We're here now, Dono. We'll find them."
I look at him. My best friend. My asshole brother-from-another-mother, who suddenly groans and drops to his knees. "Fuck."
“You doing alright, Cos?”
“Does it look like it?” he moans, running a hand over his forearm, his skin visibly twitching. “This is fucking intense. Shit, it’s like I can feel some new power growing inside me.”
Max’s cousin gets all frowny. “Feel it how? Describe.”
Cosmo staggers onto his feet again. “Like something wild is fighting to get out. Gods. Anarchy is erupting in every cell."
He looks at me, desperation showing. “What do I do, Dono?”
"Don't fight it," I tell him. "Ride the wave, brother."
"Not helpful."
Theo’s looking at Cosmo, gnawing on her lip with worry. The smell of her—sweat and fear and Theo—hits me like a physical blow. It’s not just desire; it’s a command coded into my blood; like some ancient instincts have woken up and are screaming in my face.
Claim her. Take her. Run with her.
The thick swirling magic of this place is honing my thoughts until all I can see is the curve of her neck and the pulse jumping in her throat. I need to get her away from these other dudes. I need to be alone with her.
I need to bury myself in her until I remember who I am.
Fuck her. Now.
A long, ragged groan leaves my mouth as I fight for control.
“Donovan?” She looks up at me, those silver eyes wide, and I swear I almost spontaneously combust. That’s it. I can no longer fight this ferocious urge.
And honestly? I don’t want to. But how to…
Wait! I’ve an idea.
"Tee. Get on my back."
She looks up, surprised. "What?"
"Cosmo might go feral," I lie. "He's unpredictable. I need to get you to safety."
“He might go feral?” Max’s cousin growls. “Fuck, yes, get her to safety. Please.”
Gotcha.
“Exactly. Safety first." I kneel, offering her my back. She goes to scramble on but pauses, turning to look at the white-haired giant. They lock eyes for a second—an intense, silent look that makes my hackles rise.
Theo walks towards him, putting a soft hand up to his cheek as she nods, and says, "I will."
Will what? And I don’t like the way she’s touching him. It’s making the magic in my blood pound.
“Let’s ride, Tee-Tee.”