Page 138 of The King is Dead
Once again, something niggled in the back of my mind and my heart raced. I knew this man. Or I should. Yet, his name wouldn’t come.
When his gaze didn’t waver from my face, I checked myself to be certain that I was walking the shadows… and yet when I looked back, he was still smiling at me as if he saw me clearly.
He came to a stop just a couple paces away, his body relaxed, his hands buried in his pockets.
“Good evening, Yilan.”
I blinked, wondering if it was a trick. If he just assumed I was standing here because he’d seen me when I wasn’t shrouded. But he met my eyes directly and…
“How do you see me?” I breathed.
He chuckled. “I see everything. You can’t walk the darkness out of my sight. The shadows aremine.And eyes are the windows to the soul. Even yours.”
My heart went cold.
But then he turned away and looked at the sky, squinting as if he examined the stars. “Things are changing, Yilan. Every choice narrows the options still left to you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He dropped his chin and met my eyes again, his expression solemn this time. “Yes, you do.”
“No, I—”
“The potential for power in you is… breathtaking,” he said, his voice hushed for the first time. His eyes bored into mine and it felt like he studied my soul. “The strength that I could give you—and Melek—if you make the right choice is… quite stunning. This world is mine to do with as I please. And I am willing to make all of ityours.”
I was struggling to breathe.
“Who are you? And what—”
“Come now, Yilan. You know who I am. At the very least you suspect. Melek named me the moment he saw me.”
I blinked as it all came rushing back—both of us in the tower and this man crouching in the windowsill that was magiked. He had no way to have simply appeared there, and shouldn’t have been able to enter even if he flew because the power should have thrown him back—
“Lucifer,” I breathed.
He gave a shallow but graceful bow and his smile returned. But he didn’t speak, staring at me instead as if he was waiting for more.
“Leave me. You’re not welcome here,” I said tightly. “I will not agree with you. I will not let you force me into anything.”
He huffed again, like I was a child. “One of the best lies your kind tell themselves,” he said, like it was a joke between us.
I frowned and he watched me, tilting his head, his eyes eager.
“Yilan, I cannot force you to do anything. Your choices are yours. It is why the tyrannical God you serve holds you responsible for them. Rest assured, I am notHim.”
“God isn’t—”
“Save your breath. I know that bastard far better than you do.”
I bristled and pushed away from the tree. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to this—”
“He hides everything from you, Yilan. Holding back, keeping it to Himself, waiting for you to stumble upon it. Did you know you had a mate? No. Or that he was an enemy?No.
“Were you aware that you’d have to kill a King to make your mate one? Also no.
“Did God reveal his soul to you? Of course not. Because your God is an oppressor. He knows knowledge is power, and so he withholds it from you.”
“That’s bullshit—”
