“Riley...”
“Very funny. Ha ha. The wolf was a nice touch. Really committed to the bit. Oscar-worthy performance. You should consider a career in film.”
“This isn’t a...”
“The unconscious ex-boyfriend on the ground is a bit much, though. How’d you get him in on it? Did you pay him? Is this some kind of hidden camera show?”
“Riley, I’m not...”
“Where are the cameras?” I spun around, looking at the walls, the fire escapes, the dumpsters. “Come on out! You got me! Very impressive special effects! Must have cost a fortune!”
“There are no cameras.”
“Sure there aren’t.”
I started walking. Or trying to. My legs were still shaky, but adrenaline was carrying me forward, away from the alley, away from the unconscious man on the ground and the nakedwerewolf prince who apparently thought I was his destined soulmate.
“Wait.” Caelan was behind me in an instant, stepping in front of me, blocking my path. His speed was inhuman. More proof that either I was hallucinating or the world had gone completely insane. “Riley, listen to me...”
“You’re naked,” I said.
He looked down again, sighed, then turned back to Damien’s unconscious form, crouched down, and ripped the shirt clean off his body. He tied it around his waist like a loincloth, the fabric barely covering anything.
He looked like a caveman. A very attractive caveman, who was apparently also a prince from another dimension. My life had gotten very weird very fast.
“Better?” he asked.
“Marginally. Still insane, but at least marginally less naked.”
“Listen to me,” he said, and his voice had shifted, deeper, more commanding, the voice of a man used to being obeyed. “You’re not hallucinating. I’m not lying to you. I am a werewolf prince from Lytopia.” He closed the distance between us, and despite everything, I found myself unable to move. “And you truly are my fated mate. The goddess bound me to you. You’re my other half.”
“You’re insane,” I whispered.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You’re insane, and I fell in love with a madman.”
His whole face lit up and the hope, bright in his eyes, was a knife straight to my heart. “You love me?”
“That’s what you took from that sentence?”
“You said you fell in love with me.”
“I said I fell in love with a MADMAN.”
“You love me.” He was almost smiling now, even as I glared at him. “Even if you think I’m crazy, you love me.”
“That’s not... I didn’t mean...”
“You said it.” His smile was growing, that infuriating, beautiful, completely inappropriate smile. “You can’t take it back.”
“I’m having a mental breakdown and you’re focused on semantics?”
“I’m focused on the fact that youloveme.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Riley...”
