“Oops!” Wylder shouted. “Missed him. It’s okay. I think we knocked him out.”
Exhausted, Theo blinked his eyes, trying to force himself to keep them open. “Baaaad…” Why was he slurring?
“Shh,” Dario hushed him as he bent to kiss Theo’s forehead. “Just rest.”
Theo shook his head. Or at least he tried to. He was just so tired. “Bad…brother…”
Dario stiffened. “What? The unseelie king is your brother?”
“Ye…yeah. Killed…killed my mother and father,” Theo managed.
“Shit!” Wylder shouted. “Where did he go?”
“He portaled away,” Mitch said with a growl. “I thought he’d knocked himself out.”
“Save Gar…Garrett and Bo. The brownie too,” Theo whispered as the darkness took him.
* * * * *
Alek
Looking at his little mate being held tight against Dario’s chest made Alek want to take his men home right away. But Theo’s words held enough information that Alek knew that had a real concern.
“He’s unseelie?” Dario asked. He was staring down at Theo with tears in the corners of his eyes.
“I can smell it on him. His brother must have done something to unleash it,” Alek said.
Mitch was fiddling with the lock to the cell as Wylder joined him.
“How can he be unseelie?” Wylder asked. “He’s the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.”
“Unseelie doesn’t necessarily mean evil. Just more prone to causing chaos, aggression, and cruelty. But my fathers debate nurture over nature when it comes to good and evil.”
“He couldn’t be evil even if he tried,” Wylder said fiercely.
“Theo’s not evil. Being unseelie just means that he does have magic. If the current king is his brother, that means that the previous was his sire. The prior king Jasperkin was a fair man. It is because of him that the treaties were agreed upon,” Alek shared.
“What do we do now?” Wylder questioned. “It can’t be safe for Theo if his brother can summon him back here anytime he wants.”
“My fathers are working on that,” Alek replied.
Mitch busted the lock on the cell and the three creatures rushed toward them.
“Friend Theo?” Garrett leaned over the small shifter.
“Garrett?” Wylder grabbed the gargoyle’s arm. “What happened to you?”
Garrett’s little bat ears turned right and left. “We do not know.”
“A gargoyle doesn’t belong in fae,” Dario said. “They are unnatural to the realm, so this is the form he is given.”
“It’s good to see you, friends,” Garrett said.
“More friends?” the big troll asked as he stomped forward.
Garrett turned to the troll. “Yes, these are friend Theo’s mates.”
The troll nodded. “I am friend too.”
