Page 5 of The King's Man
Istral hasn’t been seen.
No sign now of either of them.
The Fallen.
I wasn’t aware of moving, but at some point I’d approached the three of them, because I found myself standing at Diadre’s back, scowling at the tent wall, shaking my head.
What kind of fucked up God let the Fallen evenexist,let alone gave them free rein among us?
And how the hell were we supposed to take revenge on an immortal?
My mind filled with the darkness and power of that fucking fog around the mountains here and I blinked. Yilan continued hissing at Diadre, who held her, nodding and shaking her head, but not commenting.
I caught Melek’s eyes over their shoulders and he frowned. “What is it?”
“Can Istral walk the Shadows?” I asked.
Melek looked straight to the women. They both nodded.
“She can, but she’s not skilled. She can’t maintain it outside of real darkness. And she’s very fearful. She wouldn’t have done that unless—” Yilan looked at Diadre, her eyes widening. “Not unless she wasreallyafraid.”
Diadre nodded, looking solemn. “It’s definitely possible.”
Yilan straightened, then slumped. “But… but it wouldn’t matter if she did. He can see us. He saw me in my dream and he said… he said… It doesn’t matter.”
“He’s a liar, Yilan,” Melek interjected quietly. “The truthyou hear is not the truth you think you hear. Have caution about believing anythingthat comes from his mouth.”
“So, it’s possible she walked the shadows to escape—which would be why she left no trail?” I pressed.
Yilan stared at Melek, so Diadre answered me. “It’s possible. Definitely possible.”
“Where would she go if she had?”
“There’s no way—even if he couldn’t see her, she couldn’t sustain that kind of power for long enough to get home. And I suspect she would have come for me.”
“You can’t know though,” Diadre said. “If she was panicked, and especially if Gall… was hurt, she might have instinctively run for home.”
Yilan sucked in a breath. “I did tell her if anything happened to run to the troops in the Shadows.” I saw the hope come alive in her eyes—and watched her quickly stifle it. Too scared to think it might be true.
Her throat bobbed, then she looked up at Melek. “It’s possible,” she breathed.
He nodded, but his expression was pained.
Yilan leaned closer to him. “We have to find out, Melek. We have to know if—”
“Yilan… we can’t leave.” He shook his head, his eyes pleading and determined in the same breath.
Her forehead pinched and her hands clamped into fists. “She’s my sister—and he’s your son!”
“And we have an entire nation of Nephilim who just waged battle and now face future that isverydifferent than they ever imagined. I have to take control—even without Gall, I can’t leave the throne empty. Not if we’re to have any chance of establishing peace. That’s what we came here for.”
“We have to know if they’re okay!” she said her voice shrill and desperate. “Melek, she’s so young—”
“I’ll go,” I said. “I’ll go back. Turo knows me. Jhonas, too. He’s leading the troops into the fog, right? She might have found them—”
“Thank you, Jann,” Melek said, nodding, and taking his mate’s hand, pulling her close. “Please—go. Go find out if they’ve seen her. Or if she’s made it back to Theynor. We’ll handle things here—”
“He can’t go alone into the mists,” Diadre pointed out hurriedly. I frowned, but it was Yilan who jumped on that.
