Page 115 of The King is Dead
“Then what would send youfleeing?”Turo demanded.
I took a deep breath and looked up at Melek whose brow furrowed with worry. I swallowed, but made myself meet their eyes one by one as I spoke. “One of the Fallen has been… pursuing me,” I said as calmly as I could.
I felt the jolt of cold fear from Melek through the bond, but it was Turo who staggered like he’d been hit.
“You draw her into danger at every step!” he protested.
Melek turned on him, “I do nothing but protect her—from them, and fromyou.”
“That is such bullshit—”
Melek stepped away from me for the first time, stalking up the side of the table towards Turo. I leaped to my feet, calling him back, but Turo strode to meet him until they were toe to toe, Turo shorter and leaner, but no less determined.
“My motives for her are pure.”
“So you say. Can a black heart even know what purity is?”
Melek loomed over him, snarling. “Your claim to her is dead. Accept it. I would have sympathized with your plight, but you havedone nothing except attempt to take what does not belong to you, and we arebothdone entertaining your delusion.”
“Melek, what the hell?!” I hissed, angry that he’d be so cruel.
The words struck Turo like a blow. He reeled away from Melek, shaking his head, raising his hands like he was held at swordpoint.
“Turo, I’m sorry,” I breathed. His eyes snapped to me as he turned and I saw such disgust there—at himself, or at me? I couldn’t be sure. But he tore his gaze from me and began pacing again, ignoring Melek.
Melek watched him for a long moment, as did all the others. I cleared my throat to bring their attention back to me, relieved when Melek muttered something under his breath, but turned back to come join me at the table again.
“I’m sorry that this has been so… dramatic. But we thought it was for the best. I will happily answer your questions. Just be certain, there is no deception, and no question left between us. Melek is my mate, and that makes him our King. Unequivocally.”
Turo made a strange noise, but didn’t look at me.
The others all scratched their beards or rubbed their temples, trying to take it in.
But then there was a knock at the door. Turo turned on his heel and clipped his way over to answer it. A moment after leaning into the hall, he opened the door wider and ushered in one of the trackers who walked quickly towards me, a couple arrows in his fist.
Melek gave a low growl, but I put my hand on his elbow and rose from the chair to stand and receive the man’s bow.
When he straightened, he looked back and forth between me and Turo.
“What have you found?” I asked him.
The man cleared his throat and addressed me directly. “Your Majesty, there was a gap created at the top of the verandah—a place where the screen had been… peeled back leaving enough space for a large man to slip in. Or for an archer to shoot through—there was line of sight with your position at the desk. But… we don’t know how a man could have gotten up there without being seen. The climb on the wall is impossible, and the balcony overhangs it with no places to grip. He must have come from above, and yet how—”
“He was in flight,” Melek growled.
Everyone looked at him, including me.
“Those are Nephilim arrows,” he said, taking them from me and pointing to the feathers in the fletch, and the markings notched intothe shafts. “Someone’s figured out I’m here and is coming for retribution,” he said reluctantly.
He stared at me as something inside me curled up and died.
“Are you certain?”
“I’m certain those arrows were made by a Nephilim fletcher,” he growled. “As for the balcony, I’m the one who created the gap—I was trying to reach you without causing alarm. It’s my fault that the vulnerability existed. I… I didn’t think they were here.”
I put a hand on his arm. “It changes nothing—”
But Melek shook his head. “It changes everything if they’re targeting you. I have to find them, tell them—”
