The Prince’s Mate (Fate’s Gambit)

Ten

Walker

I stood frozen as I took in the room we'd appeared in. It was dank and dark, with no windows or artificial light.

A metal cage occupied the middle of the room, and a lone familiar figure inside. He'd spotted me too, and his blue eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn't expected to see me here. I totally deserved that after the way I'd treated him, but it still hurt.

"Camera," he hissed before I could take a step, and Ro slithered off me, and made his way up the wall before covering the camera in the corner with his body.

I used my magic to get inside the cage. When I realized just how injured Caelan was, I wondered why he wasn't healing.

Shaking off the thought for later, I fell to my knees in front of his slumped over figure. I reached out, and he didn't stop me from grabbing the shackle around his wrist and breaking it into two before doing the same to the other one. I gasped when I saw the spikes on the inside, realizing why he hadn't broken free yet. I could feel the dark magic infused in the shackles, and they must've been muting his powers, which was why Ro couldn't find him.

Caelan was stiff as a statue as I worked, and one glance at his legs and the broken shackles lying a ways off told me he'd been ready to fight his way out of here, and I wondered again if he'd expected to not be rescued. Had he really thought I would give up on him? Then again, when had I ever given him a reason to believe otherwise?

Reaching for the collar around his neck, I met his eyes. There were so many questions swirling around in my mind, but I couldn't ask any of them until we were all in a safe place.

It took a lot more effort to get the collar off, and if he wasn’t busy blocking the camera, I might’ve asked Ro to do it so we could get Caelan out of here faster.

The clang of the collar falling to the concrete floor was loud in the otherwise silent room, and Caelan jumped at the sound, prompting me to take his hand.

"Let's get you home," I said.

I glanced over at Ro'Shassz, who gave me a nod, ready to follow us home. Tightening my grip around Caelan's hand, I closed my eyes and thought of the apartment, directing my magic to take us there.

It was clear something was wrong with Caelan's magic when it didn't join mine in. It felt like I was transporting an inanimate object and not a person, and that scared me. What had they done to him? And who were they anyway? Why had they captured him? How had they even managed to get the drop on him?

We appeared on the living room floor, and Caelan instantly crumpled. I barely scrambled close in time to keep him from falling to the floor, and wrapped my arm around his shoulders, pulling him into my chest.

"Fuck, Caelan. Who did this to you?" I murmured, holding him to me and pushing his hair away from his forehead.

"What do you care?"

I swallowed, lightly running my fingers over the puncture marks circling his neck. "Of course, I care, Caelan. I've never stopped caring about you."

"Doesn't feel like it," he mumbled, and I pressed my nose into his hair, breathing him in.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about the way I've treated you," I mumbled into his hair. "I'll do better, I promise."

Pulling back, I glanced around the room, spotting Ro watching us from the top of the couch. Fuck, I hadn't even checked to see if he'd made it back.

"Come on. Let's get you into bed. Ro will get Da so he can heal you," I said, standing up and then heaving him into my arms.

“’M sorry I left," Caelan mumbled, his eyes closed as his hand curled into my shirt.

"Shh, it's okay, Kitty," I murmured as I placed him on the bed, and he made a sound that was an awful lot like a sob.

"Never call me that ’nymore," he muttered.

"I'll call you Kitty all the time once you're better," I assured him, and he shook his head, then winced.

"No, you won't," he said, finally slipping into unconsciousness. I scrambled onto the bed on the other side, settling beside him, and pushed his hair away from his face before trailing my fingers down his cheek. I wanted to go back to where we'd found Caelan and hunt down whoever thought they could hurt him and punish them for what they'd done to him.

It was a far cry from saying I hated Caelan, but it was time I was honest with myself, wasn't it? I adored him, had since I was five, and nothing would ever change that.

The wounds on his neck, wrists, and ankles still hadn't healed, and I was starting to get worried. Where was Da anyway?

As I ran my finger at the edge of the wounds on his neck, I realized his pendant could be digging into the wounds. Carefully, I reached behind his neck to unlatch it and pulled it off him, sliding it into my pocket to return it to him later.

I glanced at him just as I felt magic stir around us, pulling my attention for a brief moment, and I sucked in a breath as my eyes turned back to Caelan, blinking rapidly to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. No, this couldn't be true. Could it?

"Walker! What happened?" Da asked as he hurried over to us, Dad hot on his tail, and I shook my head, my mind a mess of emotions.

"Uh, Caelan went for a walk, and then he didn't come back all night. We went looking for him today and found him in a cage, shackled. They were spelled with black magic," I said, and Da's eyes narrowed as he placed his palm on Caelan's forehead.

"A cage?" Dad asked, a touch of sharpness to his voice, and I nodded.

"It was in this dark basement type room, and there was a camera, but Ro covered it before I stepped into view," I assured him, and he nodded.

"Ro, get me Kym," Da said.

"Is he going to be okay, Da?" I asked, taking Caelan's hand in mine and squeezing softly. Now that the shock was gone, I could see clearly that I hadn't imagined it. Caelan really was mine. My mate. Why had he hidden it from me?

"He'll be fine, kiddo. The dark magic they used is inside him now, so we just need Kym's help to burn it out of him so he can start healing again," he said, and I swallowed.

"Will it hurt him?" I asked, and Da frowned, his brown eyes sad as he glanced at Caelan.

"A little, yes. But Cae's strong. He'll be fine, don't you worry," he said.

Ro returned with Kym, who joined Da at Caelan's other side.

"I'm going to check out the place where Caelan was held. I'll be back," Dad said. "Ro, with me."

I realized then how quiet Ro had been since we found Caelan. I couldn't remember the last time he hadn't been a sassy shit, even in the direst of circumstances. Yet, even he was quiet right now, and I knew it was because he was concerned about Caelan.

As Da and Kym worked on him, I held Caelan's hand tight, scanning his soul and watching as the darkness that was seeping through it slowly dissipated as Kym worked his fire. A whimper slipped past his lips, and I hushed him, running my fingers through his hair in an effort to calm him.

"Did you know?" I asked into the silence, glancing up at Da before turning my eyes back to Caelan. "Did you know what he is to me?"

There was a beat of silence and then Da sighed. "Yes, we knew. We were the first ones he told when he found out."

"When did he find out?" I asked, and Da glanced away, shaking his head.

"Da?" I prompted, and he sighed.

"A few months after you got to Otherworld," he said, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Caelan had known all this time? And he'd never told me? Why had he left if he knew we were mates?

Had he left because we were mates?

"There. All done," Kym said, and I blinked, turning my gaze back to Caelan. His soul was free of all the darkness that had been clinging to him, free of the dark magic.

Da placed his palm on Caelan's forehead, and I pulled my hand away to give him room. As I watched, the wounds around his neck, wrists, and ankles healed, and so did the ones on the soles of his feet and his heels, wounds he'd given himself while breaking out of the shackles around his ankles.

"Why isn't he waking up?" I asked.

"His body has been through a lot, kiddo. He needs some time to get his energy back, to recharge, so to speak."

"Did he leave because we were mates?" I asked, my voice barely audible to me over the uneven beating of my heart.

"Yeah, he did."

"Did you ask him to leave?" I demanded, and his eyes widened.

"We didn't, no. It was his decision, but we didn't discourage him."

" Why ? Otherworld is Caelan's home. Why would you let him leave?"

"Because that was what he wanted, Walker. You should really talk to Caelan about this when he's up," Da said, and I huffed. I ran my thumb over his knuckles, the skin smooth and warm.

"I will," I said, and I meant it. This time, Caelan would have to tell me everything, because I wasn't going to take no for an answer, especially if someone out there had it in for him. We'd both spent more than enough time stewing in the past, and we both needed to do better, me more than him.

"Wake up, Kitty. We have a lot to talk about," I murmured, leaning down to press my lips to his knuckles. How did something that I'd never done before feel so right? And how had a stupid necklace kept me from seeing something that should've been so fucking obvious?

Magic stirred behind us, and I turned my head just as Dad and Ro reappeared. Dad had that look on his face that meant he was annoyed as fuck, and Ro slithered off to lord knows where the moment they were back.

"What did you find?" Da asked, walking over to Dad.

"Nothing." Dad scowled. "They were gone when we got there."

"That was fast. I got Caelan back twenty minutes ago," I said, and Dad huffed.

"Exactly. Somehow, whoever got Cae knew he'd been rescued."

"Uh, maybe because I broke the shackles off him?" I suggested, and Dad nodded.

"It's possible. Anyway, I'm going to find Maximus. We need to track this asshole down and deal with them."

"Will you tell me when you find them?" I asked, and my dads had one of their silent conversations.

"Of course, Walker. Let us know if you need anything," he said, and I figured Da and Kym were leaving with him. That was good. We'd need some privacy for the conversation we were going to have once Caelan was up.

"Will do," I promised.

Ro'Shassz

I fucked up. I should've stayed behind once Walker and Caelan were in the clear, gone looking for the asshole who did that to Caelan and swallowed him whole. Instead, I'd followed them home, and now we'd lost track of those assholes. If I was searching for a silver lining, I'd think it was the fact that Walker finally knew. I'd been sure Caelan would never have the guts to tell him himself, so it was good he'd found out anyway.

Step : Keep Walker and Caelan safe and try to find out who wanted to hurt Caelan.