Page 73 of The King of Koraha
He gave her the perfect opportunity after the prayer session at angle two-forty. When she returned to her room, Fellan was inside waiting for her.
Ten
Fellan stood in the middle of her room. Even though it wasn’t really hers, common courtesy should have prevented him from entering. Shyla paused in the doorway but hands from behind shoved her forward. When she turned, a big bruiser stood in her recently vacated spot with his arms crossed. They weren’t here for a friendly chat.
Returning her focus to Fellan and lowering her mental shield, she asked, “What’s going on?”
“I received word to be on the lookout for a sun-kissed who is working for the King and knows too much.” He grabbed her arm and yanked her sleeve up, exposing the sigil. “Do you want to explain why you’re pretending to be a monk,Shyla?”
“Who sent word?” she asked, jerking free. She’d thought she had more time.
“I’m asking questions. Not you.”
“As an emissary of the King, I don’t have to answer any of your questions.”
Fellan stepped closer. “The King no longer has any authority here. I suggest you cooperate.”
“Or what?” she challenged, gathering her magic.
“Egan,” he said.
Stop.
The bruiser tried to move. He put forth quite the effort, but he wasn’t anywhere near as strong-willed as Captain Yates had been. Shyla’s magic held him immobile.
“Egan?”
“I…can’t…move.”
Stop.
This command was aimed at Fellan who froze in place. Amused, she watched the monk struggle. His confusion soon turned to anger.
Fellan glared at her. “You.”
“Me.”
“What kind of demon are you?”
“One you can’t bully and who is loyal to the King.” She moved toward him, getting into his face. Well, as close as possible considering his height. “What kind are you?” It was a rhetorical question. She met his gaze and reached with the power of The Eyes to find out.
His anger hid his fear that this sun-kissed might affect his mission. That was all he cared about. The mission. It was so important that no one was going to stop him. His belief and desire to convert others consumed him to a point that there was nothing left. Shyla tried to find his memories or anything not focused on his mission and couldn’t.
Wow. She’d heard the term single-minded, but this was…beyond an obsession. Then she read Egan and encountered the same mindset. Lonato must have converted them to his cause before sending them out to do his dirty work.
“What was Egan going to do to me?” she asked Fellan.
“Give you a gift.”
Not what she expected. Unless that was code for a punch to the gut. “What gift?”
“A pendant that represents the Sun Goddess. All our flock are given one. It’s in his left pants pocket.”
She sensed a trick, but his honesty and her curiosity got the better of her. Reaching into Egan’s pocket, her fingertips brushed metal. Shyla pulled out a gold necklace with a pendant. It was exactly like the one the Water Princess of Nintri had worn. Shyla stared at the black triangular jewel. It gleamed with an iridescent shine and tugged at something deep inside her as if a hook had snagged her heart.
So distracted with the pendant, Shyla released her hold on the two men. Yet she didn’t care. Fellan took the necklace from her hands and she protested.
“Do not fret, little one. It’s yours.” He looped it around her neck. Then he tucked it under her tunic so the cold metal rested against her skin. “Yours forever.”
