Landing on his hands and knees, Theo panted through the pain until it slowly began to fade and his vision cleared. The grass under him looked strange, felt different, and Theo was very worried about what that meant. Hellcats! This was not how he expected his evening to go.
Taking inventory of his body, Theo pushed to his knees. There was a deep ache inside him but at least nothing felt broken. That was good. The feline inside him was going wild, pushing and clawing to be released. As much as Theo found comfort in his shifted form, it seemed like a very bad idea to allow his cat to take over.
The brightness of the colors around him nearly made his eyes ache. It was too much. Unusually bright. Weird. Theo didn’t like this at all. Getting out of this situation could be very tricky.
Behind him there was a hiss before a deep voice had Theo scrambling to his feet and spinning to face the potential threat.
“This is not good, friend Theo. Not good at all.”
“Garrett?” Theo gasped out. Okay, now things were turning even weirder. Garrett looked like Garrett but just not in stone form. Same tiny bats ears, fanged smile, and muscular physique but not how he was supposed to look. At all. And now he could talk?
Garrett had been looking down at his own body. His human-like body. Not human but no longer stone. He looked up with wide black eyes. “Not good at all, friend Theo.”
“You…you’re…” Theo waved his hand indicting the change to Garrett. He didn’t want to insult the gargoyle but yeah that was his stone was replaced with skin, he’d grown a head taller than Theo, his wings were clamped closed but leathery, and his little bat ears were turning this way and that.
Garrett looked down then back up. Moisture pooled at the corners of his eyes. “This does not feel right.”
Theo hurried to his friend’s side. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” He patted Garrett’s arm. He hated seeing the gargoyle so upset.
“Shit!” an unknown voice spat.
Theo spun again, this time preparing for an attack from whoever spoke. Garrett had been in the wind tunnel thing, but who was this frazzled young man?
“I’ve never been part of a summoning. That totally sucked!”
“Who are you?” Theo demanded of the young blond man in front of him. He moved to block Garrett from this guy. Theo might not be a fighter but Garrett definitely wasn’t. And summoned? What exactly did that mean? Could Theo be summoned? That sounded like a demon thing. Maybe Mitch might have mentioned something about it or Theo had read something in the journals. But Theo was just a regular shifter. Why would anyone summon him?
“Oh!” The blond bounced. “I’m Steve.”
“Steve?” Theo asked. He closed his fist around the amulet that Alek’s mage father had given him. It was supposed to be for protection. An early warning device for those that wished Theo warm. The normal warmth he expected was missing. Did thatmean the magic wouldn’t work…wherever they were? That was concerning. Theo did have other concerns directly in front of him, though. “And where did you come from, Steve? Where are we?”
Steve froze. The smile fell from his lips as worry began to fill his eyes. Like he just now realized that Theo and Garrett would be suspicious of him.
“Dryad,” Garrett said. His deep voice was low, barely above a whisper.
“A dryad,” Theo repeated. “Like Josh?”
“Yes!” A flash of relief crossed Steve’s face. “Josh is my cousin. Do you know him? You can’t tell him that I snuck into the human realm. Seriously, please don’t tell him. If my mom finds out, I’ll be grounded forever!”
Theo sighed. It was really hard to believe that this kid had anything to do with what was happening. Theo might be naïve but he wasn’t getting bad or dangerous vibes from Steve. He turned back to Garrett. “Where are we?”
“Fae realm,” Garrett’s low voice rumbled.
“How?” Theo was really trying to push down the panic that filled his chest. He was in a completely different realm than his mates. What if something had happened to Wylder or Josh. Were Alek, Dario, and Mitch safe? He had so many questions.
“You were summoned!” Steve raced over to them.
Theo eyed the kid. And he had to be a kid. Younger than Theo by a couple years. “How do you know?”
Steve shrugged. “I just do.”
“And did you summon me to the fae realm?” Theo questioned. What was up with this kid?
“Not me!” Steve shook his head frantically. “I can’t even summon! I was just hanging out.”
“Hanging out?” Theo could not believe this was happening. He needed real answers. There was no one else around, though. Peering out to the vast realm in front of him intimated Theo. His knowledge of the fae realm was so limited.
“So.” Steve rocked back on his heels as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his cut-off jeans shorts. He wore no shirt or shoes. “Word has gotten around that this generation of the chosen has found one another. And I might have heard that the chosen were around the university and knew there was a tree there.”
