Page 21 of The Prince's Mate

"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 leftbecausewe 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 thesoles 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."

"Didyouask 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."

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