by Lynn Hagen
The Exiled 5
Unraveled Heart
Disowned by his father, Palmino is left to fend for himself in the human realm. With nothing but the clothes on his back, he takes refuge in a small town after being attacked by a soul-sucking demon. His life on the other side of the veil is dismal at best, but things finally start to look up when he runs into his mate.
Silo is floored when he finds out that his mate is a breathtaking fairy. It isn’t until after he claims Palmino that he discovers the fairy’s well-hidden secret. Palmino is Unseelie. His mate belongs to the dark and evil race of fairies, and Palmino’s father rules that realm. When Novus summons Palmino home, Silo is forced to the other side of the veil with his mate. Tempers rise, a spell is cast, and it’s Palmino who pays the ultimate price for loving his winged beast.
Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Paranormal, Shape-shifters
Length: 24,962 words
UNRAVELED HEART
The Exiled 5
Lynn Hagen
THE LYNN HAGEN
MANLOVE COLLECTION

Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: The Lynn Hagen ManLove Collection
UNRAVELED HEART
Copyright © 2016 by Lynn Hagen
E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-595-6
First E-book Publication: November 2016
Cover design by Emma Nicole
All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
Landmarks
Cover
UNRAVELED HEART
The Exiled 5
LYNN HAGEN
Copyright © 2016
Chapter One
“When you said I should get a job, I wish I’d known you were talking about freakin’ flowers.” Palmino sneezed as he shoved a decorative vase away. “I think I’m allergic to all things floral.”
The earthy scents made his nose tickle. The early morning sun streaming through the window was irritating. The constant ring of the phone made Palmino want to rip the cord from the wall. The only saving grace to his morning was the cool fall air. Palmino loved this time of year and had even gone so far as to go without his jacket this morning.
“You’re just not used to working.” Kyle snipped a long piece of silver ribbon from the spool, his hips swaying to the annoying, upbeat music filtering through a speaker hanging in one corner. “We have to get these orders ready for the wedding.”
Palmino rolled his eyes. “I don’t even know who the couple is.”
“Doesn’t matter. You need the money and I need to do something with my time while Nikoli works.” Kyle set the scissors down and turned the vase completely around to look at his handiwork.
Palmino took Kyle’s decorative flowers to the walk-in cooler as Kyle answered the phone. As soon as he stepped inside, Palmino knew something was wrong. It should’ve been cold enough for the flowers, but he was kinda sweating as he stood there looking around.
Palmino set the vase down and hurried out. “I think we have problems,” he said, but Kyle waved him away. Palmino might’ve said to hell with it, but Kyle had been right. He needed the job. After his parents had cut Palmino off, he was penniless.
God, how his life sucked. Palmino had even gone so far as to change his hair color back to its original black instead of keeping it green. Kyle had said he needed to blend in. Palmino loved his individuality, but he needed to pay rent on his furnished apartment over Theo’s Bar and Grill, so he’d sacrificed.
“Hey, Kyle,” Palmino called out, but Kyle continued to talk on the phone, giving Palmino his back. From what Kyle had told him, the ceremony would be small, but hundreds of dollars of flower arrangements were about to wither away.
He moved to the counter and popped Kyle on his shoulder. His friend turned and glared at him. “Yes, we have those particular potted plants in stock.” He waved his hand at Palmino. “We’re open until six.” He paused. “You’re quite welcome.”
When Kyle hung up, he turned to Palmino, his tiny nostrils flaring. “What?”
“You’re a dick to work with,” Palmino said. “And you want to talk about how nasty my attitude is?”
“I was on the phone,” Kyle complained. “What’s so important that you were being so rude?”
While Palmino was merely working a job, Kyle seemed to be into the whole plant thing. He’d even seen his friend reading some books about all things floral, and how to care for them.
Nerd.
“Oh, nothing.” Palmino moved to stand behind the counter. “Just thought I’d tell you the cooler seems to be on the fritz and it’s
hot as hell in there.”
Kyle’s eyes bugged as he raced around the counter and shot straight to the cooler. He came out seconds later, nearly tripping over a water fountain next to a shelf, wringing his hands. “Call Mr. Cooper. We have to let him know before the entire arrangements are ruined.”
“You’re the one all buddy-buddy with the boss.” Palmino didn’t care for the human. Mr. Cooper was a bit on the flaky side, kept staring at Palmino as if Palmino were a strange apparatus, and he turned all red when he screamed. Palmino was not in the mood to be yelled at.
He used his hands to wipe bits of ferny leaves and flower clippings off the counter. He tossed them in the trash behind him as Kyle made a mad dash for the phone.
Not wanting to get caught just standing there, Palmino grabbed a broom and went outside to sweep the sidewalk in front of the shop. Besides, he needed fresh air. The earthy smell inside had his nasal passages all clogged up. He would’ve found work somewhere else, but only the florist had been hiring.
Five minutes later, Mr. Cooper pulled in front of the store. He parked right in front of where Palmino swept. “Why are you sweeping?” Mr. Cooper asked as he wiggled his way out of his midsized sedan. “Get inside and help me with those arrangements.”
What on earth did the human expect Palmino to do, blow his breath into the cooler? He wasn’t Jack Frost. Sighing, Palmino followed Mr. Cooper inside and watched as his boss and Kyle had a nuclear meltdown.
Drama queens.
As the two ran around as if they had no clue what to do, Palmino walked to the phone, glanced over the list of numbers pinned next to it, and called the repairman.
“Gary’s Repairs. This is Gary speaking.”
“Walk-in cooler at Cooper’s Floral has broken down. Need you here right away.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Gary said before hanging up.
After placing the phone back in its cradle, Palmino watched Mr. Cooper fan himself as he stood just outside the cooler. “This is a total disaster. The wedding is this weekend. There’s no way I can replace everything in time.”
Palmino wondered how his boss stayed in business. Instead of calling a certified repairman, he stood there freaking out. That was bad for business. The guy was horrible under stress.
“Don’t just stand there!” Mr. Cooper aimed his anger toward Palmino. “Do something.”
Palmino spread his hands, hiking his brows. “Like what?”
Did Mr. Cooper expect Palmino to pull a magic wand out of his ass?
His boss’s face turned so red that Palmino was waiting for his head to explode. “Then go back outside and sweep since you’re so damn useless!”
Yet Kyle stood behind the counter, doing nothing, and Mr. Cooper hadn’t said a word about that. Palmino glared at his boss before he snatched his broom and shoved the door open. The brisk autumn air swirled around him and Palmino just stood there, soaking up the coolness that raced up his arms and down his chest. If he had been off the clock, he would’ve taken a stroll, window-shopping as he enjoyed the brisk day.
“You need your job,” Palmino mumbled to himself as he gripped the handle tightly, imagining it was Mr. Cooper’s neck. “Don’t go back in there and slap the bitch. Keep calm. You have rent to pay and can’t afford to get fired.”
He would’ve told his boss he’d already called the repairman, but that wouldn’t have mattered. Mr. Cooper was looking for someone to blame, and Palmino had been his target. “I should shove this broom right up his uptight ass.”
A deeper, darker thought surfaced, but Palmino forced it out of his mind. He wasn’t his father and…Palmino gripped the push broom so hard he nearly snapped it in half. “Just don’t think about it.”
“Talk to yourself much?”
Palmino spun, ready to tell whomever it was to mind his own damn business when his cock jerked and his heart sped up. Standing behind him was the sexiest damn man he’d ever seen. And the guy wasn’t even fairy.
Palmino’s race didn’t mess around outside their own kind, but since their king had been taken to the underworld for the heinous crimes he’d committed, none of the rules Palmino had grown up with seemed to apply—except where his father was concerned. Palmino’s father was an extreme traditionalist through and through.
Not that Palmino had ever given the dating rule a second thought.
If he thought the guy was hot, Palmino slept with him. As long as no one ever found out what he’d done, it was all good.
But this guy? He looked like a six-foot-three Viking. His hair was blond, his eyes were blue, and god, he was built like a freight train. The bone structure of his face was masculine, and his smile…wow, Palmino was taken aback by its beauty.
“Only when I’m trying to stop myself from killing someone,” he admitted. The stranger’s scent came to Palmino on the slight breeze that wafted by him. The guy wasn’t human. He smelled like Kyle’s mate.
The sexy stranger was a winged beast.
And then another, more powerful smell enveloped him and Palmino felt a deep, overwhelming need to throw himself into the man’s arms. He gasped as the broom fell from his hand and hit the ground.
The smile on the winged beast’s face widened as he looked Palmino up and down. “Now how lucky am I?”
Not as lucky as Palmino. Damn…just damn. “What’s your name?”
“Silo, and yours?” The guy moved a step closer and Palmino’s heart sped up even faster.
“Palmino.” He couldn’t have stopped his wings from fluttering even if he’d tried. He stood facing his mate. He barely noticed the repair van pull up as Silo grabbed him and pulled Palmino into his strong arms.
“Is that a fairy?” Gary asked as he stepped onto the sidewalk. His brown eyes were wide as he stared at Palmino. “Wow.”
Palmino immediately tucked his wings. They were his one weak point. If his wings were destroyed, he would die. He tried his best to keep them hidden, but he didn’t always succeed.
Thank goodness Gary was a wolf shifter or Palmino would’ve been screwed. Try explaining to a human why a guy has colorful wings. That wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have. Ever. “Mr. Cooper is having a meltdown,” he said from Silo’s strong arms. “Please go in there and fix the cooler before I have to slap him around.”
Gary’s smile was stunning as he nodded. “I’ll take care of it. Told him more than once that motor needed replacing, but he refuses to come off the money.”
Palmino’s paycheck attested to Mr. Cooper’s cheapness.
He ignored the rest of what Gary said as he stared up into the prettiest blue eyes. He wrapped his arms around Silo’s thick neck and pulled his mate close, their lips colliding. He moaned as Silo hauled him from his feet, his tongue delving deep into Palmino’s mouth. Oh yeah. It had been forever since he’d gotten laid, and his dick was so hard it was about to erupt.
He knew the winged beasts didn’t live in town—except for Nikoli, who had bought a house a few streets over—and Palmino didn’t think he could wait long enough to get fucked. “My place is right over the tavern.”
Silo’s nostrils flared as he nodded.
Shit. “Wait.” Palmino shoved at Silo’s impressive pecs. He took a brief second to appreciate the muscly firmness before his mate set him back on his feet. Palmino instantly missed the closeness. “I’m still on the clock.”
The door to the shop flew open and Mr. Nasty Attitude stepped outside.
“Am I paying you to make out or work?” Mr. Cooper’s face was an even deeper red, if that were possible. His upper lip curled as he stared between Silo and Palmino. “Get back to work! The only reason I don’t fire you is because you had brains enough to call Gary.”
A damn thank you would’ve been nice.
The human stormed back inside, and Palmino was five seconds away from going in there and wrapping his hands around the man’s pudgy neck.
Palmino licked his lips and stared up at Silo. The winged beast had to be a good foot taller than
Palmino, and he loved that. Palmino had always liked being short, and he’d always slept with guys who were built like mountains. It was his kink, and he’d lucked out having a mate who fit that particular bill.
“You don’t have to work,” Silo said as he grabbed Palmino around the waist and hauled him close. “I’ll take care of you.”
Those words should have had Palmino throwing his broom down and telling Mr. Cooper to fuck off. He hated his job, but he relished his freedom now that he wasn’t under his parents’ thumb. He wasn’t about to get stuck sitting around in Silo’s home. A sugar daddy wasn’t what he needed.
“I do have to work.” Palmino hated saying that, but he hadn’t worked while living with his parents, and that hadn’t turned out so well. His father accused him of having no motivation, no goals or ambitions. Although working at a floral shop wasn’t his lifelong dream, Palmino had had time to give his life a long once-over and knew he needed to make changes.
“Besides, I don’t even know you,” Palmino said. “You might be my mate, but I like getting to know a guy before I screw my life up.”
“How would you screw your life up?” Silo asked. He seemed genuinely confused.
“I get off at six.” Palmino was not about to get into an in-depth conversation on the sidewalk. “Meet me here when my shift is over?”
Silo grinned as he nodded. Damn, but the man was too tempting. With a deep sigh, Palmino took his push broom and headed inside the store.
* * * *
Why was it that, when Palmino needed to get to bed in order to get enough sleep for work, time flew by? It was as if he lay down, closed his eyes, and seconds later, the alarm went off.