Page 5 of The Prince's Mate

But I couldn’t do that now, because the man hurting me every minute of every day was his son, and I couldn’t make him choose sides.

When my limbs felt like they’d fall off, I got off the treadmill, hoping it would be enough exertion to fall into a dreamless sleep tonight.

Ever since I’d come back to Otherworld, my nightmares had gotten worse. Whatever it was, I found it hard to get even the few hours of sleep soul collectors needed, and exhausting myself seemed to be the only way to avoid those dreams, those memories that I kept locked in a box until they broke out the moment I fell asleep and my guard was down.

I trudged up the stairs to my room, closing the door behind me before leaning my head back against it. If I could just stop thinking for a few minutes, that would be great.

When I’d been in Afterworld, things had been okay. I hadn’t been happy, but I also hadn’t been as scattered and all over the place as I was now. I hadn’t had to feel how much Walker hated me every day, and I’d still felt like I belonged in Otherworld.

Now, I felt like a stranger in a realm I’d lived in for centuries. I couldn’t talk to the man who knew more about me than anyone else because the only topic I really wanted to talk about was his son, and I wouldn’t do that to him.

I would probably benefit from a few sessions with Celeste, but I couldn’t bring myself to open up my heart and spill my guts to the person who’d been the catalyst in everything going wrong. I was grateful to them for what they’d done, and I was glad they’d told me, because I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d watched Walker grow up, if I’d helped raise him, only to discover he was mine.

And yet, as much as I appreciated what Celeste had done, a part of me also hated them, because everything had changed after they told me Walker was my mate, and now he was all grown up, and hated the one person who loved him more than anyone possibly could.

Ro’Shassz

Wow. Just…wow.

I couldn’t with these two… Someone kill me now!

It shouldn’t be this hard to see what was right in front of us. Maybe I needed to change tactics. I needed to get the emotions out in the open. Since Caelan was already in love with Walker, it was the latter I needed to work on. I needed to get him to see past his old hurt, and I might know just how to do that.

Step Two: Get Walker to see Caelan’s vulnerable side.

Three

Walker

I stared up at the ceiling as thoughts and memories drifted through my head, lingering in that spot between sleep and wakefulness. After that intense workout, I’d expected to fall asleep instantly, but no such luck.

Ro’Shassz appeared at the foot of my bed, slithering over to me. His yellow eyes gazed at me unblinkingly, and I raised a brow at him in question.

“I know you don’t care, but Caelan is screaming up a storm in his room. If not for the silencing spells around the bedrooms, everyone would be up,” he told me, and my brows furrowed.

“Why is he screaming?” I asked, not that I cared. At all.

“Nightmare, probably,” Ro’Shassz said. “I don’t remember him having so many when he lived here before though.”

I rarely had any nightmares now, but when I’d first come to Otherworld, they’d been a nightly occurrence.

A memory flashed into my mind of a gentle hand on my forehead, brushing back sweat-slicked hair, and a warm voice promising me everything was fine when I’d woken up screaming from a nightmare. Caelan had been there for me. No matter what we were to each other now, once upon a time, he’d cared about me. He’d been there for me. It was only fair I returned the favor. At the very least, I could just wake him up.

I got off the bed, feeling Ro’Shassz’s eyes at my back. Fuck, he would have things to say to me later, but right then, I didn’t care.

Being the king’s son had some perks, one of which was being able to go into any room in the villa, even the ones that were coded to specific souls. I’d never misused this power to go somewhere I wasn’t invited. Until now.

I heard his voice the moment I appeared in his room, but he wasn’t screaming now. No, he was…begging.

“Please…” His muffled voice came through the bedroom doorway, and I hurried inside to find him curled up into a ball on his bed, his sheets twisted around his legs, his skin glowing in the faint light coming from the windows. He was naked, and it took me longer than it should’ve to focus on his face, the twisted expression on it pulling painfully at something in my chest.

“I’ll be good,” he muttered, and I swallowed hard, not wanting to hear another word in that broken voice. Stalking over to him, I grabbed his shoulder and shook. Hard.

“Wake up!” I ordered, my voice loud in the quiet of the night.

Caelan froze beneath me, and I pulled my hand away as he jerked upright, his blue eyes wild as they scanned the room. His brows furrowed when he saw me, and I took a few steps back, doing my best to keep my eyes firmly on his face when they kept trying to dip lower.

“Walker?” he mumbled in a hoarse voice.

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