“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.”
