Page 113 of The King's Man
I growled at the protective look in that gaze, but my heart pounded as well.
He was saying theFallenwere in the city?
To what purpose?
Had Melek already known this before he sent me here?
As the man returned his hat to his head and returned his face to shadow, I turned to Diadre whose expression was wary as she looked back and forth between us.
“Sounds like we need to hire a room,” I said firmly.
Diadre blinked and locked on me.‘What? But isn’t he saying—’
‘Don’t argue. Trust me.’
I turned back to the man. “If my brothers are on their way, I need to rest and eat. Immortals are fiendishly hard to keep up with when they’re drinking.”
The man went very still, the pinpoints of light under his hat brim snapping to Diadre. I turned to look at her as well, with the proprietary look of a man who expected to get what he wanted. Diadre blinked twice, then cleared her throat.
“I’ll speak with the owner about a room,” she murmured, then stood up to leave.
Herfriendwatched her progress across the tavern, something I yearned to do with this many drunk men nearby. But this fucker muttered something about it being late and pushed to his feet.
I slapped a hand down over his on the table, pinning his fist there, and leaned across the table to murmur in his ear.
“I can have any of my blades to your throat faster than you can blink,” I growled. “And no matter what they may think of the Nephilim in this city, none of them will challenge me. If you know the Fallen enough to warn me of them, then you knowthat.”
The man’s throat bobbed, but he didn’t respond.
“Now. Who told you I was here, and what instructions did they give you? Therealinstructions—not the ones you were told to pass on.”
The man’s breath rushed out of him. “The King told me. The King ofyourpeople.”
I stiffened. “And what did he say?”
His throat bobbed. “He said you’re one of his and to help you if I saw you. To tell you anything you needed to know.”
“And the Fallen?” I muttered.
He swallowed audibly this time. “They’re watching. Waiting to see what you’ll do.”
I nodded and dropped back into my seat, head spinning.
Why the fuck didn’t you talk to me, Mel! Why all the subterfuge? Why leave me scrambling?
“If you’re staying, I need to go,” the man said after a moment.
I glared. “You remind my brothers that I’m here fulfilling orders. I don’t need to be warned.” Then I released his hand.
He was gone in a flicker of cloak and a dip of that hat, moving so quickly I wondered if he had some kind of magik of his own.
But it didn’t matter.
Diadre was on her way back from the bar. She followed him with her eyes, licking her lips nervously as she walked back to my side. I put a possessive arm around her waist and pulled her into my lap, pretending it was a show for the other patrons, but really, I needed to touch her and remind every male eye in this place who she belonged to.
“They have a room for us,” she said, trailing her hands up my arms, then lacing her fingers behind my neck and meeting my eyes. “They even have a bed big enough for you.”
“Really?”
