Page 66 of The King is Dead
I had no earthly idea how to navigate this clusterfuck of a situation we found ourselves in. None.
I was not accustomed to having no answers.
“Together, like you said,” she whispered. “We’ll both listen. We’ll both speak. We’ll figure it out together. We have this whole day to ourselves. I know we can findsomeanswers. We don’t have any choice. We have war and a fucking Fallen angel on our tails… dear God, Melek. If you were anyone else I’d be losing my mind. But with you? I know we can do this.”
Overwhelmed with both relief and fear, I pulled her into my chest, curling my arms around her and holding her as tightly as I dared. She clung to me just as tightly, and I breathed through the flash of panic as I remembered Lucifer in the window and that dark power trying to tear us apart.
“We have to stay in one mind,together,”I breathed in her ear.
She nodded, then pulled her head back far enough to meet my eyes. “I’ve been ready to do this together since I recognized the bond, Melek. The question is, are you? Are you willing when it means a crown, and maybe going to war with your own people?”
I opened my mouth to warn her not to push me, but caught myself. Her words were true, and her question valid. I swallowed back the protest and instead, gave her my balls on a platter.
“Yes. Because you’re worth it,” I admitted, my voice deep and rough.
She raised one brow in skepticism, but her lips were pulling up towards a smile.
I growled. “I just fought off a Fallen for you, Yilan. Do you truly still question my intent?”
She blew out a breath, shivering a little. “That was… God, whatwasthat?”
An image flashed in my mind—the sly, powerful angel crouched in the window, staring atmymate with the light of recognition in his golden eyes and laying claim to her.
“I fear we may have two wars to fight, whether we seek them or not,” I muttered.
She inhaled sharply. “Do the Fallen just show up like that all the time?”
“No.” I sighed heavily, reluctant to even think about conflict with the Fallen—with Lucifer himself? “We don’t know where they are until they appear. We have no way of sensing them. And they leave us alone for years at a time. But when they do make themselves known, it’s always to insert themselves and manipulate power… or to breed,” I said reluctantly.
Yilan went very still.
I stroked her hair. “His words were an attempt to claim you,” I said through clenched teeth.
“For what? To keep me from you?”
“Me—or whatever purpose God intended for you. The fact that he didn’t immediately want to harm you is telling.”
“You mean because he attacked you first?”
“Because he didn’t attack us both at the same time. That means he was hoping to take me out without touching you.” I met her eyes and made myself not flinch. “He has noted your strength.”
“But, I’mtinycompared to you all—”
“Though small you are… robust.” I couldn’t stifle the smirk.
She arched that brow again, but I plowed on.
“Even my brothers recognized that you were likely strong enough to survive breeding. Clearly the Fallen have noticed the same.”
Her expression twisted in distaste. “Men are such—”
“I pray youarestrong enough, Yilan,” I said softly. “To breed withme.”
She blinked and her grimace vanished into a smile. “Me too,” she said softly.
“But my point is, your strength is not just an asset to me. It would be the same to the Fallen. And I fear that they are… pursuing you for it.”
The Fallen’s musical, malicious voice echoed in my head, his eyes on her. “Not you… you’re mine.”
