I glanced at Garrett. “Are you sure you want to leave Caelan? You’ve been with him for a long time. And you’re friends with him. Good friends.”
Grief flashed over his face, there and gone in an instant. “Not once in the many years I’ve been with him have I ever thought about walking away. Not until a few months ago. These last few weeks have only solidified my decision. Today was the last straw.”
I reached out to touch him but hesitated. “Garrett, I think something might be wrong with Caelan. He’s never been casually cruel.”
“None of us scent any foreign magic on him. We’ve looked.” Garrett grimaced. “We haven’t found anything inside the Keep that doesn’t belong, so it can’t be a curse or a charmed object. There’s nothing to explain his behavioral changes.”
While I’d known they wouldn’t have dismissed Caelan’s odd behavior as a fluke, it was cold comfort to realize they’d done their due diligence and found out that my fiancé was not under the influence of magic.
He was just a huge dick.
But I still wanted to ensure they weren’t making a mistake by coming to me. “Are you sure you don’t want to give it more time? I can’t help but think this is partially my fault.”
Simone came over with a tray full of martinis. “I don’t need more time. If the Lord I serve under can treat someone so poorly and keep hammering when her heart is clearly breaking in front of everyone, he is not a man I wish to continue serving.”
I blinked away the tears forming. “I—” My voice cracked. “Thank you, Simone.”
Garrett’s jaw tightened. “I was not there for that, but I hope you know I would have done something. Words hurt as much as a physical blow sometimes.”
“I’ll be fine.” As difficult as things were right now, I believed the words I was saying. I would be okay. If I could recover after Scotland, I could recover from this. At least I hadn’t gone ahead and married him. “But thank you.”
“Mom? Dad? What do you think? Anything I should know before I say yes?”
Mom sighed. “You’re a terrible negotiator.”
Moira sipped her martini. “How much was Caelan paying you?”
Dad snapped his fingers. “Yes. A good starting point.”
Garrett rattled off a number that made me choke on my drink, but Dad looked thoughtful.
“A good salary. You had access to a Healer at the Keep and mages for an additional level of security, yes?”
Garrett nodded. “I was in charge of much of the Keep’s security, but there were other aspects I had no say in.”
“Do you have additional gifts?”
Garrett’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”
“If you wish to work for the fae, specifically the queen, you are required to divulge anything which could potentially endanger her or add to her wellbeing.”
I gave Dad a funny look. What was he talking about?
The shifter looked uncomfortable. “Not all shifters possess additional gifts. Mostly they are limited to the Lords.”
“Which you will one day be,” Dad said, surprising the hell out of me.
How things change. Months ago, Garrett could barely tolerate being in the same room with me, going so far as to threaten to kill me every time he saw me. Now, not only were we sitting together, he was asking for a job. “Damn, Garrett. You might be a Lord, and you still want to work for me?”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not a Lord, and working for you will look great on my resume. Even if you have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Careful, wolf,” Dad said in a warning tone.
“I’m not wrong,” Garrett doubled down.
“Perhaps, but you are still speaking to a queen.”
I raised my hand. “Queen in training. And it’s Garrett. I appreciate that he doesn’t feel the need to be nice to me.”
