Page 22 of Unrestrained

Close to a mile from the cabin, a bright flash of light nearly blinded him. A pair of foxes ran into his pathway from nowhere. They hopped from tree to tree, chasing each other in a circle. One wore a collar of diamonds, much like Stygian’s. Stygian stood frozen. Something about the pair was otherworldly. He couldn’t look away.

In another flash, two small men with the glow of the heavens appeared where the foxes had been. They both breathed heavily and laughed. Their eyes shone brightly with mirth.

“I almost had you.”

The other bounced on his toes. “Fast as fast can be. You’ll never catch me.”

They giggled like kids.

Stygian’s confusion hit the sky.

The pair focused unnatural eyes on him.

“Hi.” The one who bounced on his toes hit him with the overly bright greeting.

“Uh, hello.” Even Stygian heard the confusion in his voice.

The hyper one poked himself in his chest. “I’m Tam. Well, I’m actually Tamil, but everyone calls me Tam.” He motioned toward his friend, making the poor guy duck to keep from getting taken out in the wild swing. “This is Pip.”

Stygian dipped his chin at each man. “Stygian.”

Tam laughed as if Stygian had told the funniest of jokes. “I know. You’re why I’m here.”

Each second that passed baffled Stygian a little more. “Okay.”

Pip’s posture changed. Even in human form, he looked like a fox perking his ears, hearing something only his powerful senses could. He focused on Tam. “I have to go. Savage is calling me.”

Tam held his stare and nodded. He lowered his voice as if Stygian wasn’t right there and didn’t have vampire hearing. “Okay. Remember what I said. You have to cover for me. Steer clear of Jonathan. He’ll know you’re lying.”

Pip slowly nodded as if Tam’s words were gospel. “You’ve got it. I’ll be back as soon as I can to help.” He immediately returned to being a fox. Pip leapt onto Tam’s shoulder. With a stroke of Tam’s hand, the fox vanished.

Stygian wondered if he should just step around Tam and get going.

Tam’s gaze locked onto him and kept him in place. “You could walk around me, but I’d still be in your path.” Gone was the giggly fox. Stygian stared at something much more powerful.

“What are you?” He drew air into his lungs, trying to distinguish between the scents surrounding Tam. “You smell like Celeste and magic, but not.”

Tam made a dismissive gesture. “That doesn’t matter. I can’t stay long. If they find me missing, my mate will be vexed. So I have to make this quick.” Flowers appeared in Stygian’s hand. They were glittery silver and glowed with magic. “I got the missing flowers for you. Now you can get back home where you belong.” He made a shooing motion.

When Stygian didn’t move, Tam motioned him away again. “Go home. You’re not needed here. Those flowers are useless without me. Mirrors can’t take him where he wants to go.”

Tam froze. His expression turned horrified. “I shouldn’t have said that.” He shook his head. “Just go.”

“I don’t have a home.”

Tam rolled his eyes so hard, it looked like he had hurt himself. “Go back to your mates. Trust me on this one. I tried to run away once to save my mate from me. It was horrible. I had to explode a demon. It took me forever to get the smell out.” He looked so serious. Stygian kind of wanted to laugh.

Tam shook his head. “It’s no laughing matter. You don’t want to smell like a demon’s insides. Plus, some of it got on my friend, and we had to watch for signs of demon sickness. In short, I made everything worse by running. You’re making things worse now.” Tam went still, listening as Pip had earlier. “I have to go. My brother is getting suspicious. Let me tell you, you don’t want to piss off the golden king.” Tam paused and tapped his chin. “Come to think of it, he’s never been that angry with me, but I’ve scared him. That’s worse.” Tam’s nose hit the air.

Stygian smelled it too. There was another vampire close by.

“Oh shit. I have to go.” Like that, the strange little man disappeared.

Stygian’s gaze dropped to the flowers he held. There was no reason for him to return to Bodhi now. Stygian turned and headed back the way he had come. He couldn’t create a door into Faerie. Stygian had to go through an actual door. Once again, he could just pop in wherever he wanted. He was no more in a rush to get back to Faerie than he had been to get to Bodhi. Stygian was just as doomed in that gorgeous world as he was in this one. But he recognized Stellar and Taurus deserved to be the ones to dole out his punishment. It was time to face the music.

Taurus was about to go out of his head. He had no clue how Stygian had shut him out, but he was missing from Taurus like a limb. Taurus couldn’t think about anything else. The missing flowers weren’t really their problem. If Bodhi invaded Hell, that was a war in another realm. They would go on about daily life with no repercussions in Faerie. Unfortunately, it was Stygian who convinced River to pick those flowers. Not one fairy would give two shits about flower-picking. Glittering cosmos grew all over that sacred hill. Fairies saw them every day. He wasn’t sure any of their kind even thought about them that often. But Frost knew what Stygian had done, and Lucifer could demand Stygian's and likely River’s heads. He wouldn’t get them, of course. Still, this was a situation they didn’t need. Fairies preferred peace, but they would fight for their prince regent. Taurus didn’t want a single fairy to lose their life over Stygian’s mess. Stellar and Taurus needed to be who found him first.

Stellar met his stare. He was every bit the same mess as Taurus. Like Taurus, he didn’t understand how he had been shut out, but it was killing him. Stygian was part of them. Sewn together by fate. The pressure in their chests felt like they might die. Add that to everything they had learned, and they were paralyzed. “He thinks he’s an interloper. He doesn’t understand. How could he not understand? How has he hidden so much from us?”