Epilogue
I’m freaking out.
I shouldn’t have walked out the door like that. I should have sat down and let Caelan explain. Regret filled me the moment I slammed the door behind me, but I couldn’t go back inside with my tail tucked between my legs and beg for forgiveness.
Well, I could have, but I was too embarrassed and now I was back home sprawled on my couch like a teenager who didn’t get asked to the prom, shoving ice cream in my pie hole.
What was worse was Caelan did not follow me. He didn’t trail me back home, and my cell phone was silent. I had no idea I was so good at self sabotage. If there were an Emmy equivalent for self sabotagers, I’d be up on stage collecting the win.
Every time things were good, something ridiculous happened, and it was usually exacerbated by me.
“I suck,” I lamented, right before I shoved another spoonful of rocky road in my mouth.
Freaking out was normal behavior, especially for someone like me who’d experienced profound trauma throughout my life. But my experiences didn’t excuse me from the consequences of acting like an asshole to the people who loved me.
Caelan had never given me a reason to doubt him like this.
So what I was doing?
I groaned and shoved in another bite, my mind whirling with everything going on. There was one constant here, one person who’d come into my life late and who’d done nothing but meddle. He was the one responsible for Thalia, and knowing Cernunnos, he’d strong-armed Caelan into helping him.
What type of leverage did my father have on the Shifter Lord and why had he forced him to keep the secret of my sister from me?
Had Cernunnos wanted this outcome?
The thought struck a chord. I slowly sat up and put the spoon in my ice cream.
Breaking us up sounded exactly like something the Fae King might do if he wanted a more suitable match for his daughter, the heir slated to take over his kingdom.
“Sonofabitch,” I growled.
Playing the game of the gods wasn’t something I wanted to do, but once this particular god wormed his way into my good graces and used my kindness against me, I became a player whether he anticipated it or not.
Game on, Dad.