Page 41 of The King has Fallen

He didn’t say more as I ate like a fiend for minutes. But finally, stomach stretched tight and churning a little bit, rumbling so that I worried he might be right, I put the platter aside and reached for the kafk again. I held the warm goblet in both hands, letting the steam rise so I inhaled it and sighed, as happy as I’d felt since the day I was taken.

“Feel better?” Melek asked carefully.

“Yes, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

It was a strange, polite exchange. I took a sip of the kafk, eyes on him, waiting.

“I didn’t give you the spear so you’d feed me.”

“I know. That’s why I fed you.”

My eyes drifted to the platter at my side, cooling now but still half-full of sausage and potato, and I’d only eaten one of the honeycakes.

I picked one grape from the bunch, letting the sweet juice burst on my tongue and sighing happily, before I returned my attention to him.

He stood on the other side of the cage, an unreadable expression on his handsome face that mildly worried me.

“Who wants you dead?” I asked him carefully.

He snorted. “Who doesn’t?”

I tipped my head. “Your enemiesaremany… but sending a Shade? That is… intense.”

He shrugged, but he looked towards the tent flap uneasily. “Any number of Kingdoms have reason to want me dead—including yours,” he pointed out.

“But any of those—including mine—would want to claim your death. To make theotherenemies tremble.”

“Perhaps,” he said without commitment.

“Melek… you have to consider who would go to such lengths—who has thecapabilityto go to such lengths. Even the rulers of nations wouldn’t have easy access to the kind of power—”

“Why?” he asked sharply. “I beat the thing—with your help,” he admitted, shifting his weight. “It’s done.”

“Is it? The person with the kind of power to bring a Shade against you can bring many other things as well.”

“And I will meet them when they come,” he said abruptly, his jaw going tight.

“Melek, I’m not trying to scare you, I’m trying to help you—”

“You did help me. And I am truly grateful—and will remain so. However… it changes nothing.”He locked eyes with me.

I took a deep breath and picked up another grape. “I just think the risk of ignoring—”

“I ignorenothing,”he growled. “You’re asking me questions I cannot answer. I will not speculate. Nothing is gained.”

“Unless speculation leads you to the truth. Take your King for example—”

“Do not start pushing me to treason again,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I am grateful for your assistance, but that will not change my mind on this score.”

“I’m not pushing you to treason, you knucklehead! I’m telling you; I walked the shadows of this camp fordaysbefore you took me, and I saw it. I saw that—”

“You name yourself a shadow walker, speak treason, and want me to ignore the fact that you knew what the Shade was? Perhapsyouare my assassin?”

I rolled my eyes. “That makes no sense—and I walk the shadows, I do notservethem. There is a huge difference. In any case, my point is true: The Nephilim followyou,not your King. If you deny it, you make yourself a liar.”

He grimaced. “Of course they follow me—we are at war. I am the leader that offers them confidence—”

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