Page 140 of The King has Fallen

Praying she’d had time to cover herself, I ruffled my wings as if I was irritated, then drew them both back, never taking my eyes off of Gault.

“I only hid her from the boy. He’s still quite inexperienced with women—”

I was trying to distract him from Yilan, but Gault laughed. Which confused me. But it was Gall whose eyes went wide as saucers, then his face turned from pale to beet red. He gripped his spear as if he’d use it, then his eyes cut to me, and he snarled as fiercely as any Nephilim in his prime.

I snapped my head to look at Yilan, horrified and expecting to see her naked, reaching for a fur to pull over herself… only to find her laying on her stomach, her back bowed and both hands drawn back to meet her ankles which she’d pulled up behind her.

I washorrifiedat the sight—my precious mate bound and hobbled like a common beast. Until I realized what she’d done.

Using that looped cotton at her ankle, she’d twisted it so it looked as if her wrists and ankles were bound together. A close inspection would reveal that she could free herself at any moment, but from across the tent, and distracted by her nakedness… She’d made it look like I had her bhoar-tied on my bed. Her face was red and her hair messy from my wing. Her eyes shifting and darting with fear. If I hadn’t known better,Iwould have thought they’d caught me in the process of raping her.

Clever, clever girl.

But my breathless admiration was short-lived.

“Howcouldyou?!” Gall growled.

Shit. “Gall, this isn’t—”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, you idiot,” Gault sneered at him. “Grow up!”

Gall flinched when Gault snapped at him, then turned back to me, his expression one of horrified dismay. I tried to push up, to reach for him, scrambling forsomesignal I could give that Gault wouldn’t understand, that would let my son know I hadn’t done what he thought I’d done. But I was drawing a blank.

Jann slowly turned, keeping his pained and desperate eyes off of Yilan, but just as helpless as me.

“You said… Youalways said—”

“You are a man, not a fuckingchild,”the King snarled at him. “Where do you thinkyoucame from?”

I was stunned. Not once in Gall’s twenty years of life had I heard Gault acknowledge his connection to the boy. Gall and I rarely talked about the King, but when we did, it was to delicately discuss how to keep Gall out of his way.

How the fuck had they ended up together? And whynow?

Gall stared at me in horror and rage. I stared back, silently pleading with him not to believe it.

“I need to speak with you later,” I said as quickly and casually as I could. “Much has happened over these Covenant Days. Why don’t you go rest and I’ll come get you when I’m done with the King?”

Gall didn’t respond. He didn’t react in any way, except to look at Yilan. I couldn’t follow his gaze, couldn’t see what expression she had, or whether she was even looking back at him. But I prayed he gave us both a chance to explain.

There was no choice now but to tell him the truth and hope he could find a way to keep it secret.

“You…” Gall said thickly. “You always taught me—”

“Oh, fuck off, you little toad,” Gault said, bored and irritated, flicking a dismissive hand at Gall as he stepped past him towards me.

I gave Gall an apologetic look, but raised my chin quickly towards the door, telling him to go ahead and leave. “I’ll find you when we’re done,” I said, praying he would wait and not run off again because he was stressed.

Because he was very definitely stressed.

Enraged.

His hands gripped the spear until his knuckles turned white. I was about to urge him sharply to go before Gault lost his patience, when Jann caught his elbow, leaned into his ear, and tugged him towards the door.

I sent Jann a grateful look, then pushed up to sit as Gault approached, completely ignoring his son as if Gall and Jann weren’t even in the tent.

Then they were gone, and my heart was racing, because Gault had come to stand near the end of the bed, his arms folded, looking down on Yilan with an ugly smile on his face.

“You clever prick,” he muttered, though he was still smiling. “You really did have us all convinced that you were too good for this.” Then he looked at me, and his smile faded, leaving only adark, blank expression in its wake. “I thought the green eyes said it all.”

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