Page 9 of The Prince's Mate

“You what?” Reece asked, and I could imagine Walker shrugging one shoulder as if what he was saying was no big deal.

“I’m old enough now, and I want to help run Otherworld. I thought I could go to the human realm and check in with the demons,” he said, and I raised a brow. Since when was Walker a fan of the human realm?

“And are you thinking of going alone?” Arty asked cautiously.

“I’ll have Ro,” Walker answered, and someone huffed.

“I don’t know, Walker. I don’t like the idea of you going alone,” Reece murmured.

“I’ll be fine. We haven’t had any trouble like before, have we? I can always come back if anything goes wrong.”

“Come on!” Ro said and slithered into the living room. Glad he wasn’t going to make me lurk any further, I followed him.

“Hey, everyone. Look who I found,” Ro said, and all four sets of eyes turned on me, three of them lighting up with smiles while the fourth narrowed.

“Hey, guys. Am I late?”

“Not at all. You might be right on time, actually,” Damien said, a glint in his eyes that I recognized very well. Uh-oh. He turned to his mates, and they had one of their silent conversations, while Walker and I did our best to avoid looking at each other.

“Walker,” Arty said once they were done, “you can go to the human realm.”

“Yes!” Walker hissed, but then Arty raised his palm.

“On one condition,” he added, and Walker waved it off.

“Anything.”

“You’ll take Ro’Shassz and Caelan with you,” he said, and my eyes widened.

“What?” we both exclaimed at the same time, and I glared at my best friend, who merely winked. Holy hell, I’d thought he’dbe uncomfortable discussing Walker with me, and here he was, trying to set us up. What the fuck?

“I don’t need to take him,” Walker groused. “I’ll be fine with Ro.”

“Eh,” Ro inserted, and—Wait a minute. Was he in on this? He’d let me in and made me eavesdrop. Why?

“Walker, you’ve never lived in the human realm, not really. And unless you’re planning to return here every few hours, you’ll need someone who knows the lay of the land. You can stay at our apartment in Seattle while you’re there.”

“I don’t want to go with Caelan,” Walker argued, and I swallowed hard. Maybe coming here had been a bad idea. I already knew how much Walker hated me. I didn’t need to hear it again.

“And why is that?” Damien asked with a raised brow, and Walker huffed, looking anywhere but at me.

I wanted to say something, anything, but my voice had decided to desert me in the face of Walker’s ire.

“I just don’t, Dad,” he said, and Damien shook his head.

“Not good enough to ignore your safety, buddy,” he argued, and I watched as Walker’s hands tightened into fists at his side.

“I don’t want to go with Caelan,” he started in a measured tone, and I knew whatever he was going to say would shred me. I just knew it. “Because I hate him, okay?”

He turned on me then, and I stumbled back at the intensity in his eyes, at the way the green flecks in his amber eyes almost seemed to spark angrily as he spoke. “I hate you, Caelan, and I don’t want to be anywhere near you! Why did you even come back here? You should’ve—”

“That’s enough!” Walker and I both jumped, and his head snapped to look at Damien, eyes wide. Damien’s golden eyes were blazing, and I was sure Walker had never seen him as angry as he was right now. I was even more sure he’d never hadthat anger directed at him. “Walker, I know you were hurt when Caelan left, but don’t think for a moment you were the only one. You have no idea how much he has sacrificed for you, and the way you—”

“Don’t,” I interrupted before he revealed too much. I’d debated about telling Walker what he meant to me almost every night since I got back, but I always came to the same conclusion: it wouldn’t be right. He so very clearly hated me, and I didn’t want to burden him with this knowledge, not when he didn’t return my feelings.

“But, Caelan—” Damien started, and I shook my head.

“Please, Day. Let it go,” I said before turning to Walker. “If you don’t want me there, I won’t come. But please consider taking one of the others with you.”

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