Page 119 of The King has Fallen
An image bloomed in my head—Gault laughing his ugly, malicious laugh, holding her in front of him and—
I flinched and Jann caught it.
“What—?”
“It wouldn’t just be death,” I muttered, squirming, holding her more tightly under my wing. “It would be worse. Gault would take her in front of me. If he knew, he’d bind me, hold the hounds on me, and rape her right in front of me so I had to listen to her scream—”
I cut off, my voice shaking, my body pulsing between fear and rage.
“I can’t do it, Jann. I can’t evenriskit.”
“Wake up, Melek. You already are.”
God, hearing that was like being dropped in a trough in the middle of winter, when the ice had formed a crust over it.
“Precisely why I have to leave. And so does she,” I hissed.
“Yeah, I can tell she’s very committed to that plan,” Jann murmured.
I scowled. “She knows. She fights because it’s all she knows how to do.”
“So, she’s a warrior for their people, too?”
I shrugged. “Of sorts. A spy. An Adept. She is… like nothing I’ve ever seen before. She’s incredible, Jann. And she loves me.”
I didn’t miss that Jann didn’t affirm that statement. I tried not to bite at him, not to press—if our roles were reversed, I’d be skeptical too. But my hackles were up.
“This isn’t a trick,” I growled.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t give it any thought at all, Melek. Just go ahead and throw the entire nation’s future underfoot. I said,Are you certain?”Jann turned, eyes blazing and teeth bared. “Do youknowthat she is not deceiving you?”
I was surprised by the peace in my chest when he asked so angrily. “Yes, brother. I do. This is bigger than both of us. She fought it longer than I did, for these very reasons.”
Jann slumped, seeming slightly soothed, but still uneasy. He raked a hand through his hair and stared down at the dirt under his feet.
“So, what are you going to do?” he asked finally.
“Spend every second of the next two days with her, loving her, and convincing her to leave when I do—and not follow me—then fight my way through to her land and…”
I trailed off because I didn’t have a plan beyond that yet.
Jann looked at me. “Then what? Surrender?”
“No. I…”
He huffed. “You don’t know.”
I didn’t want to answer.
He dropped his voice again. “You don’t fucking know, do you? You’re going to line us up at the Shadows of Shade and all you’ll be thinking about is findingherwhile the rest of us get slaughtered in the fog!”
“No.”
“Yes. God, Melek—even if you don’t want it, that’s what’s going to happen!”
