Theo turned back to Bo. “Steve, Garrett, and I are going now.”
“Yes,” Bo told him.
Still holding on to Garrett’s arm, Theo tugged his gargoyle friend forward.
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 wayTheo 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 Alekhad 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.”
