Page 13 of Unrestrained

Stellar managed to tear his gaze away and focus on Celeste. The blond beauty with a glow only reserved for the gods flashed him a smile.

“You don’t have to say it. You’re welcome. Don’t forget, though, he’s a vampire. That’s not something you’re accustomed to. He’ll need to be fed your blood.”

Stellar nodded.

Taurus spoke on their behalf. “That’s not a problem.”

Stygian jumped in as well. “I don’t care what I have to do to survive. This is amazing.”

Celeste blessed all three of them with another smile. She clapped. “Okay. Let’s get down to business. My brother has no care for this druid. As I do, he knows killing him will only have him taking a new form. Who knows who he’ll become next. It’s best we deal with what we already know. We’ll have to build a cage that’ll hold him.”

Bodhi unexpectedly leapt to his feet and grabbed Celeste. She disappeared from his hold and reappeared at Stellar’s side. “You can’t be serious with that bullshit. I don’t care what form you take, you’ll never be a god. State your business.”

Bodhi narrowed his eyes. “I knew they’d call to you. Your brother—” Bodhi paused. His gaze landed on River. “What the fuck happened to him?”

Stellar huffed. He was already annoyed by the situation. “What do you mean, what happened to him? What the fuck happened to you?”

“I don’t know. He…” Bodhi looked confused. “And then I came to, and I was here. I waited until you called on Celeste. Obviously, you would, or you’d bring Lucifer straight to me. Either way, this was an opportunity I couldn’t resist. Why can’t I capture you? You may be the almighty goddess, but I have the magic to hold you. I never would’ve come after Lucifer without the power to lasso one of the most powerful beings in the universe. You’re his twin. You shouldn’t have the ability to escape my…” Bodhi looked confused again. “Fucking hell, what’s happening to me?”

Taurus, Stygian, and Stellar exchanged glances. They had no clue what was going on.

Celeste smirked. Without warning, she disappeared and reappeared between Bodhi and River. She took both men’s wrists and immediately released them. As they all watched, matching hearts with names written across them appeared where she had touched them. “I believe that clears things up nicely.” She looked Stellar’s way. “I think you’ll find you can handle him now. It was a risk to pair them, but—thankfully—my intuition paid off. He is part of your kingdom now and thus under your command. Enjoy.” She vanished without explanation.

Shocked silence filled the room. The truth was slow to dawn. Celeste had paired River with Bodhi as mates. It seemed they had already fulfilled the mating ritual. Their souls were now tied for eternity. Stellar would have laughed, but he wasn’t sure this was funny. It appeared giving Stygian a body had a price attached after all. Bodhi was now his problem. Fuck.

Taurus’ mind was all over the place. His emotions were even more scattered. Too many things had happened to them in too short a time span. Taurus couldn’t wrap his mind around all the rapid changes. He felt the loss of Stygian from inside him. Meanwhile, he was also thrilled for Stygian. He felt Stellar’s air-clogging confusion, and now they had to deal with this bullshit.

Bodhi sat on the edge of the mattress where River’s unconscious body remained. He cocked his head. His gaze moved over River’s face. “I could kill him. Then I’d be free for a little while.”

Rage erupted from Taurus. “You’d be dead on the spot. I can promise you that.”

Bodhi’s light green gaze focused on Taurus. “Listen to you, ready to defend the man who was recently on his knees for your mate. That’s an odd stance.” His gaze flickered Stygian’s way, dismissing Taurus as if Taurus hadn’t just threatened to thrust a dagger through Bodhi’s heart. Bodhi sneered. “A vampire. Really? I could’ve made you more powerful than you could ever dream if you’d stayed loyal.”

There was no missing the fury blasting from Stygian. Even if they hadn’t been connected as soulmates, Stygian’s anger would be another being in the room. “Snake. You never intended to grant me a true form. Don’t try to fill anyone’s head with bullshit now.” Stygian hissed, and his fangs showed.

Taurus was a little afraid of how aroused that made him.

“Holy shit. That was hot.”

Stygian flashed them a heated look at Stellar’s comment.

Stellar and Taurus reached for each other’s hands at the same time.

Taurus took a steadying breath. They were solid. Bodhi held no cards here.

Bodhi seemed unmoved by the entire situation. Even finding out he had another half for eternity didn’t seem to rattle him, much less becoming an unwitting citizen of Faerie.

“I guess we know now how the woodsman easily brought him here.”

Taurus nodded at Stellar’s observation. Fairies didn’t specifically have a mating mark. They could choose to do so, but markers such as collars were reserved for royalty.

Bodhi eyed River, cocking his head from side to side as if inspecting something no one else could. He turned his head slowly as if just registering what Taurus had said. His eyes glowed as if barely holding back an inner power. “Do not say anything about that woodsman in front of me again.”

Each time Taurus thought he couldn’t be more baffled, he hit a new level. The confusion sounded in his voice when he responded. “Who? Oaks?”

The air sizzled with barely checked power. Bodhi rose to his feet. He took a step in Taurus’ direction.

Stygian stepped in front of him. “You’ll have to go through me.”