Page 86 of The King has Fallen
Her beautiful eyes were wide as she searched mine, a look of pure awe on her face.
“Melek… I have to tell you—”
There was a smattering of snaps and cracks like a great weight falling into a bush, followed by a chorus of howls and laughter.
We both startled and looked off into the forest in the direction the noise had come from.
Reality slapped me in the face like I’d been doused in a bucket of ice water.
We were both naked and curled together in plain sight if anyone followed the trail down to the lake, and the Nephilim were reveling.
Drunk, young, fit, lonely and fueled by recent rumors of her rape… they’d frenzy in a heartbeat if they caught sight of her.
“I’m getting you out of here.Right now,”I graveled, my voice deeper than I ever remembered it.
There was another crunch and more laughter, closer this time. I didn’t wait for her response. I shoved to my feet, pulled her up, grabbed the towel and threw it over her shoulders.
“Don’t move,” I hissed, pushing her behind a nearby shrub as I darted back to grab both our clothes as fast as I could move.
Keeping my wings tucked tight against my back, I dove back into the bushes where she was crouched, clutching that towel around her, just as footsteps, laughing voices, and muttered curses broke the peace of the lakeside.
One of them howled and I muttered a curse, turning my back to her as I snapped my wings out, then back, covering her with the raven dark of them.
It was too much to hope that they hadn’t heard my wings rustle the bushes. Of course, they assumed they’d been followed by one of their friends, so as they called and rushed towards us, I turned my head and hissed through gritted teeth.
“Don’t speak. They won’t see you through my wings.”
She stiffened, but wisely kept her mouth shut as the bushes shook, then parted just two feet from where I crouched—which was when the danger to my mate became undeniable and I roared to shake the trees.
29. My Enemy
~ YILAN (Moments Earlier) ~
I was shaking—brimming with want, my body alight in a way I’d never experienced before. As if every touch, every kiss, every brush of his body lit a new flame that burned away any thought or drive in me beyondmore.
But when he shoved me into those bushes and tore away leaving me cold and shaking, I was forced back to reality—and the fact that we were about to be discovered by a group of young males just like those who’d almost raped me.
Then I shook for an entirely different reason.
He was back in seconds, his wings high and wide, hissing at me that he’d hide me, but that just left me crouching there, helpless, as the bushes in front of him parted and young,drunkNephilim faces appeared like the faces of baby coons popping out of a hollow tree.
Then Melekroared.
They fell backwards, scrambling over each other to get away as he stood, his wings spread and so thick I couldn’t see anything except the beautiful, scarred back of his massive body—which meant they couldn’t see me either.
“Leave us!” he snarled, the words puttering off into a growl as he took a prowling step towards those young idiots.
Those strong, drunk, andnumerousyoung idiots. Even Melek couldn’t beat a dozen of them if they combined efforts.
Could he?
“Oh shit!”
“Sorry sir!”
“Is there awomanin there?”
“You question me whenyou’resupposed to stay within the circle of fires?” he snapped.
