Page 22 of The Prince's Mate

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

Eleven

Caelan

I groaned as I came to, shaking off the last dredges of sleep that clung to me. My body felt like a block of concrete, and I wondered what I'd done last night to feel this worse for the wear. Had I gotten into a fight?

"Caelan? Are you awake?" Walker's voice filtered through my brain, the fog dissipating in its wake. I went still as I remembered everything. Andras. He was alive, and he'd captured me. Fuck, how had I been so careless? How could I have allowed myself to get captured?

And then...then Walker had come to my rescue. What did he think of me now? As if all the reasons he disliked me weren't enough, I'd now gotten myself captured in broad daylight, when no one in this realm was supposed to be able to hurt us. Could I get any more pathetic?

"Kitty?" Walker asked, and I was so surprised by the nickname that my eyes flew open before I could stop myself. I was in the bedroom of the apartment, I realized, and Walker was beside me. Was he...holding my hand? "Hey, you're up!" he said, a wide smile overtaking his face, and I blinked stupidly at him. Since when was Walker happy to see me?

I reached up to twist my necklace, a habit I'd picked up over the last decade, and sucked in a breath that led into a coughing fit as I realized it wasn't there. I wasn't wearing my necklace any longer, which meant Walker...Walkerknew.

"Shhh," he murmured, rubbing my shoulder. "Take a breath, Caelan. You're fine."

I sat up and took a deep, even breath, forcing my lungs to work properly. While I didn't need to breathe to live, it made it easier to pass off as human, and things like anxiety and panic still manifested in feeling like you couldn't breathe, so there was that.

"You know," I murmured when I could finally breathe, and he nodded.

"Da said that was why you left," he said.

"Reece was here?"

"And Kym and Dad," he replied. "Dad went back to where you were being held, but they'd cleared out."

"I can't believe I got captured like that," I said with a shake of my head, and Walker rolled his eyes.

"You weren't expecting it. Why would you be? We aren't supposed to be in danger here."

I shrugged, knowing I should've been more careful, more cautious. What if Walker had been with me, and he'd gotten captured too because of my carelessness?

"Do you know who it was?" Walker asked, and I debated lying for a moment before ditching the idea. We already had so many secrets and lies between us, I didn't want to add another one to the list.

"It was someone from my past. My human past. He was human when I knew him," I said, and he tilted his head.

"And now?"

"Now, he's a vampire and has people who use dark magic working for him," I said, and Walker swore under his breath.

"Wait. Is that who you thought you saw when we were getting back from the grocery store?" he asked.

"Fuck! I forgot about that. Yeah, I thought I saw him. Maybe that was when he saw me too, and decided to get me back."

"Get youback?" Walker asked cautiously, but this wasn't a story I was willing to tell just yet.

I changed the topic. "You said Damien didn't find anything there?"

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