Page 125 of The King is Dead
Until suddenly, I remembered.
Outside in the forest, looking up at my balcony.
Moving. I forgot to walk the shadows. A stupid mistake.
Everything went black, then—
I sat bolt upright, despite the screaming in my skull, grabbing Melek’s arms, who was startled and reached for me, a warning on his lips, but now I could see past his bulk. See the rest of this room that wasn’t a room but… a stable?
Brick and stone. Straw. Mold. Mangers. A roof with holes that let me see the stars.
And four fucking Nephilim standing behind Melek, watching me warily.
“They came tosaveme,” Melek said dryly. “And thought you were our ticket out of here.”
I blinked and sat back, trying to hide the fact that my stomach churned with nausea and my eyes didn’t want to focus properly. My head ached like I’d been drinking for days.
I looked up at my mate. His eyes were glowing. I blinked and touched his face. The warm glow of the fire behind him flickered on his stubbled cheek as he crouched in front of me, his expression grim.
“Melek, what’s going on?” I asked in a voice much smaller than it should have been.
“What’s going on is that our friends—you remember Jannus, and probably Hever as well, he was one of Gault’s Advisors?—they came through the Shadows of Shade to get me, because they thought I was your prisoner,” he said, arching one brow.
“How the hell did they get through?” I turned to face the four Neph, all standing watching us, their bodies poised like this might come to battle. “How did you get through?”
All three of them looked at Hever, whose expression never changed. “It was not easy,” he said quietly.
“That’s not—”
“Yilan, focus,” Melek muttered. When I turned to look at him, to protest, his eyes glittered a warning and I made myself swallow it back. But Iwouldfind out. Melek cleared his throat. “Apparently my little talk with Jannus didn’t convince him of our true bond, because he was ready to kidnap you and use you to get us all back through the Shadows. But instead… instead we’re all here together, and Hever is going to give you some herbs to help that headache,” he said through his teeth, then turned his head to glare at the older man standing behind him in a long robe, with his arms folded.
I did remember that man—and the sickening way he moved. The chill I’d felt in his presence when he entered the tent that night Gault’s advisors gathered with Melek.
He made me feel… sick.
“Melek,” I whispered.
He turned from Hever to look at me sharply.
“I’m not going to eatanythingthat man gives me,” I said quietly.
Melek’s lips thinned, but when Hever came to his side and passed him a little packet of herbs, Melek just held it in his hand and didn’t try to push it on me.
I looked down at myself, relieved to see I was still fully dressed in fighting leathers.
“So… we’re near the Palace?” I said, looking around the old, rundown stable.
“Just a few miles,” Melek said, touching my head in a spot that made me wince, which made his eyes flare with angry light. “Our friends are now under clear instructions not to attack or attempt any further… interventions. All we have to do is decide how we’re going to manage this.”
I gaped at him. “How we manage it is getting back to the Palace and taking them with us, and putting them under guard until Izzy and Gall are safe and—”
“Istral is utterly safe,” Melek said blandly. “As is Gall, though by now they’ll be at the Palace, and I suspect he will have refused to leave her side, which will be causing Turo and the others some stress. I had planned to go talk to him, but I was… distracted,” he said with a dark glance over his shoulder.
Which was when I saw Jann.
Seeing the sunny, flirtatious Neph standing there like a thug, his arms folded, and no smile on his face made my blood run cold for a second time.
Our eyes caught and his expression didn’t soften. I frowned.
