Page 186 of The King is Dead
Our people were uniting.
We were winning…we were winning together.
Then he dove, snapping his wings wide to glide me over the battlefield.
“See that, Yilan?” he said hoarsely in my ear. “That is the last time that we’ll change the face of the world with violence. I vow it to you, this is the last time—”
I heard a sickeningthwackand Melek roared, then we were plummeting straight to the ground. We hadn’t been high so there was only a second to see the rocks and bloodied dirt rushing for us. But as it loomed large, Melek growled. I could see nothing but black, ebony feathers until we slammed to the earth, Melek roaring, then slid several feet to a final, limping stop.
69. Long Live the King
~ YILAN ~
Coughing, and creaking with pain, I rolled out from under that blanket of feathers and tried to call for my mate, but there was no air in my lungs.
But then I didn’t care.
Melek?Melek.
He lay on the dirt, one wing bent at an awkward angle and pierced with a spear, the other curled around his body—the one I’d just rolled out of.
As I knelt there on all fours trying to breath, I was reaching for him with a shaking hand, reaching, but unable to get there.
‘Melek… Melek, please… Melek, breathe. Melek, MOVE!’
The injured wing moved, then froze, and a moment later, both wings disappeared and Melek rolled onto his back, eyes wide and staring at the sky.
I coughed, and my lungs inflated as I threw myself across the dirt, sucking at the air, clawing at my mate, screaming in his mind.
‘MELEK! MELEK! MELEK!’
Weeping and trembling, I grabbed for his massive shoulders to shake him, but he was too big. I couldn’t move him. So I found myself crouching over him, grabbing his weapon straps and screaming at him to respond. To move. To breathe,anything!
I was so consumed, so broken in fear, I couldn’t even speak. But then, just as I hovered over his mouth, screaming at him to comeback to me, Melek blinked and his massive chest expanded in a wheezing suck.
“Melek!”
He blinked again, then his eyes cleared and as his breath heaved, his eyes locked on mine. Then his trembling hands bracketed my face.
I was crying with joy, pleading with him. “Speak to me, tell me. Where are you hurt? What’s happened? What do you n—”
Melek’s eyes widened, then without warning he whipped me to the side, rolling us, his arms caging me so I didn’t take his weight, just as a spear thunked into the earth, and stayed there, vibrating from the shock, right where we’d just been laying.
“Brothers!” Melek roared in a broken rasp. “Help!”
There was a roar in response, pounding feet and raging shouts. Melek struggled to his feet, pulling me with him. He was trembling and clearly disoriented, but just as another Neph roared and came for him, a circle of those who’d heard our call came rushing in.
Melek pulled me behind him and I drew my last blade. He only just met the attack with his second spear, barely catching the blow, and grunting when he did. But as the shock of their weapons clash numbed both their arms, I darted under Melek’s elbow and planted that blade right in the fucker’s throat.
The massive warrior gasped, gurgling, his eyes going wide and round as he stared at me like he had no idea where I’d come from.
His cold, golden eyes.
“You should have listened,” I snarled at him. “You should have fuckinglistened.”
Then I twisted the knife and opened his jugular, stumbling backwards as his eyes rolled back and he dropped like a rock.
Melek wheezed and yanked me back. Our legs tangled, and we fell again, sitting down hard.
