The Prince’s Mate (Fate’s Gambit)

Five

Walker

In all the time Caelan had been gone, and in the time since he’d been back, I’d never once thought about what leaving had meant for him. Not until now.

Dad had never lost his cool with me like that. I’d seen him angry before but never at me.

Dad’s words kept ringing in my head, and for the first time, I thought about what leaving Otherworld had been like for Caelan. I knew he had shown up in Otherworld a few years after Dad, which meant he’d been an Otherworlder for at least 900 years. In all that time, he’d been Dad’s best friend. He’d also been close to Maximus, Nox, and a lot of the others.

And then he’d left them all. Dad said Caelan had sacrificed for me. What did that mean? I’d known he’d left because of me, and I’d assumed it was because he’d gotten tired of my clinginess. I'd held on to that explanation for all these years, but I wasn’t so sure now.

If that was the problem, he could’ve just told me he didn’t want to hang out with me, or avoided me until I got the message.

You have no idea how much Caelan has sacrificed for you…

No, it had to be something else. What did Dad mean? What other reason related to me could Caelan possibly have for leaving? And what had changed to allow him to come back?

I needed answers, and I wasn’t sure who to ask. Caelan had stopped Dad from saying too much, and I doubted Dad would tell me anything if I went asking.

“Ro,” I said.

“Yes?” he said, slithering onto the couch.

“Do you know why Caelan left back then?” I asked, and he stared at me for a long moment.

“You know, you’ve never asked me that,” he said, and I ducked my head, something like shame flitting through me. I was starting to realize I’d made a whole lot of assumptions when it came to Caelan. The look on his face when I’d told him I hated him—which I now knew without a doubt was a big fat lie—flashed through my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut, giving my head a hard shake in the hopes of dislodging the image.

“Yeah, I know. I always thought it was because he got sick of me,” I said, and Ro made a scoffing sound. “So? Do you know why he left?”

“I do.”

“Will you tell me?”

“Nope. It’s not my place to tell,” Ro said, and I raised a brow at him.

“Since when do you give a crap about what your place is?”

“Since Caelan earned my respect. If you want to know why he did what he did, you’ll have to ask him,” he said, and I stared at him, dumbfounded. Now I really needed to know, if only because whatever the reason was, it’d been good enough for Ro. I remembered how Caelan and Ro had bitched at each other when I was a kid, and now the snake was being respectful of him. What the hell?

“Okay. I guess I’ll ask Caelan,” I declared as I got up.

I debated between going to his door or just showing up in his room, but decided I’d disrespected him enough for today. I walked over and knocked on his door.

There was silence before I heard footsteps and then the door opened. His hair stood up like he’d been running his fingers through it and he stepped back once he saw it was me, crossing his arms over his chest. I wasn’t sure if I was welcome inside, and I decided to stay where I was, sticking my hands into my pockets in an attempt at nonchalance.

“Did you need anything?” Caelan asked, and it struck me that in all the time since he’d been back, he hadn’t once been rude to me, no matter how much of a dick I was to him. We teased each other and talked smack, sure, but Caelan never started it. How had I missed all of this?

“Uh, I wanted to apologize. For earlier,” I said, and he nodded without saying anything. Biting my lower lip, I blew out a breath and said, “I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it.”

He nodded again, still without saying anything, and frustration bubbled inside me.

“Why did you leave, Caelan? Why?” I asked, dropping all pretenses for once.

Caelan’s eyes softened a little, and he swallowed.

“I had my reasons, Walker. But trust me when I say leaving Otherworld hurt more than anything I’ve ever had to do, and I’ve been through some fucked-up shit,” he said, and for once, I believed him. He’d had to leave his family and the place he’d called home for nine centuries. I’d known him for barely a year before he left. If one of us deserved to hate the other, it should be him who hated me for separating him from his home, even though I still didn’t know why I was the reason he’d left.

“I want you to come to the human realm with me,” I blurted, and he raised a brow at me.

“You were quite firm about not going with me in there,” he said, pointing to the dads’ place with his chin, reminding me we were still standing in the doorway of his.

“I was being an idiot. Dad was right. I know practically nothing about living in the human realm, and I don’t want to go between here and there every evening. I want to experience life as a human. I never had a chance to,” I said with a shrug, and he frowned, though I had a feeling it wasn’t directed at me.

“All right. When would you like to go?” Caelan asked, and I grinned.

“Tomorrow, if that works for you?” I said.

He nodded, and then, he shut the door in my face.

Caelan

I sank back against the door, burying my face in my palms as I tried to keep in the groan that wanted to slip out. Walker was driving me fucking crazy.

I couldn’t wrap my head around him, or what he wanted from me. Sometimes, he acted like he’d be happier if I moved on to Afterworld and he never had to see my face, and then he did something like this. What was I supposed to think, to do ? He was messing with my head, and I didn’t like the feeling one bit.

I shouldn’t have said yes to going with him. Damien never would’ve forced me to, but Walker’s puppy eyes worked just as well now as they had twelve years ago. Still, this whole trip had disaster written on it in all caps, bold, and italics.

A small part of me, a very, very small part of me, was excited about the idea of having Walker all to myself—with the exception of Ro'Shassz, of course—but the bigger part of me was just nervous and maybe a little afraid.

Despite his apology, I couldn't just erase his words from my mind, or the venom that had coated them.

Sometimes, I wished Walker hadn't killed himself, hadn't ended up here as a kid, and then immediately felt like the worst person in the world. I knew what it was like to grow up in a place where no one cared about you, where everyone just wanted to hurt you, and I never wanted anyone to have to go through that, especially not Walker.

After what felt like hours, I sat on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the pendant that hung around my neck. It was something Fate had given me when I'd worked for them, meant to keep Walker from recognizing me as his mate when I visited Otherworld. When I'd first moved back permanently, I'd pulled it off, but when a week had gone by with Walker avoiding me, I'd put it back on with the intention of repairing my friendship with him before telling him. I hadn't removed it since.

“What the fuck am I doing?” I grumbled to myself, burying my face in my palms.

“Planning for a trip, I hope.”

I shot upright, glaring at Ro'Shassz, as he casually slithered over my bed.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, turning to face him.

“Making sure you don't jump headfirst into an anxiety spiral,” he replied easily, now on my pillows.

“I thought you were Walker's babysitter, not mine,” I shot back, and he stuck his tongue out at me.

“I can't help it if you constantly need one,” he sassed back, and I rolled my eyes.

“What do you want, Ro'Shassz?” I asked tiredly, scratching at the bedsheet with a fingernail that turned into a claw midway through and sliced through the sheet, making me wince.

“Why haven't you told Walker you're mates yet?” he asked, and I huffed.

“Are you kidding? He hates me. What's the point? Even if I tell him, it won't change anything. And if by some miracle it does, then I'd still always wonder if he just tolerates me because of the bond. I don't want that,” I said with a shake of my head, and Ro'Shassz scoffed.

“You really think he hates you?” he asked.

“He told me he does,” I reminded him, and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, because Walker never lies, right?”

“Why would he lie about that?” I asked with a shake of my head, and Ro'Shassz hummed.

“Why, indeed?”

And then he was gone in a usual Ro'Shassz move. Groaning, I got off the bed and walked into my bathroom and over to the bare wall opposite the sink. It was something Reece had made for me at my request, and over the past few years, I'd used it quite a lot.

Letting my claws slide out, I started scratching at the wall, pushing all the emotions I was feeling into the movement of my hands.

As new scratches appeared, the older ones disappeared, Reece's magic repairing the wall as soon as I damaged it. I put all my anger, anxiety, and nerves into the motion of my claws, ripping into the wall again and again and again until my fingers ached and I was too tired to continue.

I slumped against the wall before sliding down and sitting with my back to it, wrapping my arms around my legs and resting my chin on my knees. I stared unseeingly at the cabinet in front of me as my past and my present muddled together in my mind.

I had no idea where this trip to the human realm would lead or what would happen with Walker. All I knew was that I had no choice but to see it through, and not for the first time, I was tempted to say to hell with everything and just move to Afterworld. But I couldn't. Otherworld was home, and nothing could change that.

Ro'Shassz

Things looked dreary, but I had a feeling they were about to get better. This trip to the human realm would give me a lot of time to scheme, and I had quite a few tricks up my metaphorical sleeve.

Step : Get them to the human realm in one piece.