Page 188 of The King is Dead
“The King’s tent is at the center of camp. I suggest you and Yilan move there immediately. Start as you mean to go on, Mel. Don’t give them time to reconsider or question.”
While it sickened me to think of sharing the space that Gault had occupied for so long, I also knew Jann was right.
When Yilan and Diadre released each other from their embrace, I took her hand and tipped my head.
Jann, Drek, Kran, and a handful of Officers I knew and had trusted on prior battlefields drew into a tight circle around us as we made our way through the crowd, towards the tents.
It wasn’t until we ducked inside the tent and the cheering settled into the joyful sound of celebrations that I noticed Hever wasn’t among them.
Jann was the last into the tent because he’d been wisely arranging guards. Yilan had tipped heads with Diadre who seemed a touch pale and drawn. I sent up a quick prayer that Diadre hadn’t been violated in the battle—a common practice among some of the more brutal Nephilim—and made a mental note to ask my mate what had happened.
But then Jann was at my side again. I scanned the tent and my breath grew tighter. “Find Gall,” I muttered. “I want to announce him as Heir, and appoint you General. We’ll need to do that in the morning.”
Jann grinned. “Well, when you ask like that, how could I refuse?”
I huffed, but my smiled faded quickly as I scanned the tent again to be sure. “Where’s Hever?”
Jann frowned. “He never did affirm you,” he muttered, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the tent again as well. “Perhaps the old fucker was finally taken down in the battle? I’ll have the scouts keep an eye out for him. We should have lists of the dead in the morning.”
I nodded. But before I could reply, my mate’s lovely voice echoed in my head and her hand slipped under my elbow.
‘That old fucker is not an ally. I caught him about to dart you in the middle of that second challenge. I was afraid I was too late. But… you’re fine, right?’she asked silently, in my head.
Even after all the ways we’d connected, I still found her voice in my mind astounding. But I nodded.
“Hever?” I whispered. “You’re certain?”
She nodded, frowning. “Muttering to himself about you strutting… I was about to kill him when… when I got pulled away.”
I blinked. “Pulled away by who?”
In answer, she sent an image—Lucifer, his skin glowing like molten steel in a strange, impenetrable dark.
My heart stopped. “Yilan—!”
“Don’t worry. He was just talking, but… it’s going to be a problem, Melek. I think especially now…” she trailed off, looking around, and her grip on my arm grew tighter.
I took a deep breath, but nodded and patting her hand. “Don’t let him feed you fear,” I murmured. “You can’t kill him, so ignore him until he makes another showing.”
She nodded, but her face was pale.
I turned back to Jann to find him frowning back and forth between us. “What are you talking about?”
I glowered towards the tent flap. “Yilan caught Hever trying to dart me during the second fight. He’s not an ally—make certain the guards know that. If he’s found alive, have him brought to me.”
Jann nodded, but rubbed his chin. “It begs the question why he helped us get to you if he just wanted to kill you.”
“Precisely why I want to question him if we find him alive,” I growled.
The rest of the night was spent taking questions, making decisions, and planning my formal acknowledgement to claim to the crown. By the time dawn was close, things were calm enough to breathe.
“…I know it’s early, Melek, but you know this isn’t finished until you’ve gone to Valgorath. We need to be here to negotiate with the Fetch—I mean, Shadekin. But as soon as that is settled, you have to go home and establish the throne. You know that, right?”
I had been crossing the tent to find a rag to clean my spears, and I stopped dead, turning to face Jann who was staring at me warily.
“What did you say?” Yilan asked sharply, launching out of the too-large seat along the wall.
“Valgorath,” I muttered, the hair on the back of my neck standing straight. The idea of taking Yilan, or any other female into that cesspit of a city while there wasanyquestion of my dominance made me want to snap my teeth.
