Page 12 of Unrestrained

Never in Stygian’s long existence had he ever apologized for a damn thing. No matter how he felt now, it was Taurus’ pure heart that drove him to show even an ounce of kindness. He had been born of dark magic, after all. No matter where Stygian spent eternity, he would never be born from light. He couldn’t escape his literal DNA.

“Oh, shut the fuck up.”

Even though the words came from Taurus, they were mirrored in Stellar’s mind as he grabbed the back of Taurus’ head and pulled him in for a kiss, cutting off Stygian’s inner downhill spiral.

Taurus ran his hands down Stellar’s back and squeezed his ass the way they both wanted. He towed Stellar even closer.

“Sexy as fuck.” The words were growled between kisses. At times, Stygian couldn’t even tell whose words came from Taurus’ mouth. They felt too similar when Stellar touched them.

The stout fairy popped into the room with a limp body over each shoulder, ending the embrace. He gently set each body on the floor. One was River. The other was Bodhi. Something inside Stygian died. The devil had been dumped at his feet. It seemed he wasn’t free after all.

Chapter Six

The moment had long passed for King Cassius to do his job. While Stellar had run the place for longer than he could recall, he had never dealt with a situation like Bodhi. He was a druid. His magic differed from fairy magic. He was more powerful. Someone had to have given him access to Faerie at some point, or the woodsman wouldn’t have been able to bring the bastard here. Stellar had mates he needed to consider here. He needed guidance on this one.

Stellar paced in front of his father as he waited for Cassius to respond to the issue at hand. His father continued painting as if Stellar wasn’t there. Something about that lack of care or urgency made Stellar finally snap.

“Did you even hear a word I said? Your kingdom is in danger, and you paint the same sunset we’ve seen from a thousand planets a billion times.”

Cassius clicked his tongue. “Not true. Every sunset has a variation that makes it different from all the rest. You should try to sit down one of these days and actually pay attention to your surroundings.”

His dad hadn’t even noticed his collar, but he saw the variations in the light. His son was invisible to him.

Defeat hit him. Stellar headed for the door. He was really in this alone.

“You’re not alone. There are two mates ready to stand by your side. As for this druid, we just need to keep a close eye on him until we figure out what to do with him. There’s no closer way to watch him than for him to be here. You should call out to Celeste. She’ll know how to deliver him to Lucifer so he can get the punishment he deserves. Just remember, she had no authority over his kind. But I’d wager she knows exactly how to handle him anyhow.”

Stellar dipped his chin. He still didn’t understand why he had to fight so hard for that advice. Stellar didn’t ask. He didn’t have time to waste.

You have all the time in the universe, my son. You just can’t see it.

Stellar rolled his eyes as he headed for their makeshift hospital room. The closer he got, the faster he walked. He was almost back to his mates. He could feel himself drawing nearer. It was almost terrifying how quickly he felt the way he did. If he had been paired with only Taurus, he might feel differently about the situation. But now here he was, feeling just as strongly about a man he had just met as he did about the man he had spent centuries loving. Stellar somehow simultaneously couldn’t wait to see them and wanted some time alone to think. So much happened so quickly. He couldn’t breathe properly. Then Taurus came into view, and Stellar’s heart tried beating out of his chest. He forgot that they faced a huge problem. Every ounce of him saw and felt nothing but his love. Unfortunately, the two unconscious men made the issue impossible to ignore. “No luck, I see.”

Taurus shook his head. “We’ve tried magic, slapping faces, and yelling. They’re stuck in some type of stasis.”

Stellar’s chest expanded on a deep breath. He slowly blew out the air. “I’m curious as to what happened. Bodhi attacking River and leaving him in a coma or whatever makes sense. But why would Bodhi be in the same state? Were they attacked by another force? If so, who is powerful enough to do this? From what I understand, Bodhi is one of the original druids. He wouldn’t be easy to defeat.” In fact, he was indestructible in a way. It wasn’t like a druid ever really died. Stellar’s gaze moved to the unconscious pair to holding Taurus’ stare. “What do you think, Stygian? He’s your maker. Does that allow you to have any sort of mind connection or anything of that nature?”

Before he could answer, a flash of light nearly blinded him. The air took on a dreamlike quality. Celeste sat in a nearby chair that hadn’t been there before.

“Your father says you need my…” Her gaze landed on Bodhi. “Oh dear.”

Stellar bowed before responding. He didn’t answer to Celeste, but he still believed in showing the gods respect. “It’s good to see your lovely face.” Suddenly, too many questions bombarded him at once. He wanted to talk about this problem but also ask about the odd mating situation they were in.

Celeste focused on Taurus. “That’s unfortunate. You two can’t live like this.” She stood and crossed the room, closing the distance between Taurus and her. “Fair warning, you only have two choices. Human or vampire. Those are my specialties. Humans die, so vampire it is.” Without warning or explanation, Celeste’s hand dug into Taurus’ chest. Taurus gasped and then cried out in pain as she pulled Stygian’s shadow from Taurus. As the final wisp of him left Taurus, a body formed in her hands dressed exactly like Taurus, except his hair was black and so too were his eyes. The entire eye. Not just the iris. He was beautiful.

“There. That’s much better.” She smoothed her hand down Stygian’s shirt, as if swiping away dust only she could see. “We can’t have a real conversation with the two of you vying for control.”

“What just happened?” It was Stygian’s voice. He stared down at his body. His hands rose, and Stygian inspected them. His hand shot to his neck. He took a shaky-sounding breath when he touched the diamond collar.

Stellar looked between the pair. Everyone’s collars were still in place. They had been right. It was all of them as one.

Stygian dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “You did this for me. We only just met, and you gave me the thing my creator promised to do after every misdeed he ordered. You had no reason to do this. I’m not good, but you forever have my loyalty.”

Celeste went back to her chair. “You can stand, sweetie. I’m good. By the way, Bodhi is no longer your creator. I am. You’re also not bad. You’re angry. Rightfully so, but I never would’ve given you such powerful mates if you were evil.”

Taurus and Stellar helped Stygian to his feet. Despite their reason for Celeste being there, they couldn’t stop staring at each other.

Thankfully, Celeste didn’t seem to be in a hurry.