Page 185 of The King is Dead
There was a bare moment when he was free. More Neph rushed up the slope towards him, but he turned and caught my eye with his beautiful, emerald gaze.
‘The eyes are the window to the soul. The green means theyresist.Like you.’
Melek roared. Even as a new wave of Neph rushed towards us, he whirled, grabbing me and carrying me back up that narrow valley between the outcropping and the rise of land, then turning and darting, his strides almost the length of my entire body, to reach the top of the outcropping, frenzied Neph barking at our heels.
“Hold on, Love!”he bellowed as he threw us off the rocks and into the air. I shrieked as my belly dropped, but then we were swooping, higher, higher, higher.
There was scrambling behind us, the boom of wing flaps, we wouldn’t be alone long.
“Tell them!” Melek shouted over the wind and the thunder behind us.“Tell them—those that are open will hear you. We can break through. Tell them to resist. Tell them about the eyes!”
And then he gripped me hard against him and dove. “Hear your Queen!” he roared as we swooped down at such dizzying speed I worried I would faint. “If you seek peace, if you seek life, if I am your King,open your mind and hear your Queen!”
I was horrified. How could I possibly reach all of these men?
But I felt Melek then, the surge of admiration and belief. The strength. Theheartfor me. And then I heard him in my head.
‘You can do it. I know you can do it, Yilan.’
I shook my head. I’d never tried to reach so many that weren’t Shadekin at once. The resistance in me rose again—sure that he was wrong. But as the bond shivered, I remembered all I’d seen.
Melek believed in me. He was given to me—as mate, and as King.
Resist the enemy and thrive. Resist your mate and destroy yourself.
Melek believed I could do this.
Sobbing, I gripped his steel arms that wrapped me and kept me safe, feeling the wind on my face, ignoring the thunder of Melek’s wings and the howls of those who pursued us. I prayed for strength and threw my mind wide open, stretching, reaching,beggingour people to hear me.
‘Resist the darkness of the Fallen. Resist the darkness of your birth. Choose life! The eyes are the window to the soul. If you seek peace, if you want to follow, look for the green eyes, emerald eyes. The eyes that shine with the color of new life. Those are your brothers. Those are your allies. Those are the ones who resist the darkness.’
I gasped as Melek took another steep, banking turn and my stomach seemed to separate from my spine—then drop to my toes when he flapped to push us up again.
“Keep going,” he growled. “I’ll call them, you teach them!”
And so, as my mate roared to his people, calling them back from the bloodlust, I reached for their minds and showed them, over and over, how to know their allies. How tobecomean ally to peace.
Then I heard Diadre, echoing what I’d been sending. Reaching for those she could find as well. Our words singing together.
And below us, the frenzy shifted.
Where Neph heard Melek or me, they hesitated, then stared at their opponents. And here and there, first in a trickle, then in a flood, Neph turned their backs on the males they’d been attacking, and foughttogetheragainst those still in the frenzy.
My heart lit up with hope.
‘Choose the light—resist the true enemy. Choose life over wealth. Choose peace over self. Come with us. Let’s show the world how to live!’
Again and again, diving, swooping, circling, Melek roaring for his people, and me singing in their minds, again and again, until beneath us, the tide turned.
The Neph who wanted life began to gather, and coordinate, andaid each other.
“You did it, beautiful. You did it,” Melek rasped in my ear, his voice failing. I held onto him and shook my head.
“Wedid it, Melek. We did ittogether.”
I felt his chest expand at my back. His wings gave one of those great snaps and we were propelled forward, so fast the wind pushed tears from my eyes. Then Melek laughed, and rolled. I shrieked andgrabbed him as the world spun, but the moment he leveled out, I was overjoyed.
My mate was laughing with joy.
