Page 49 of The King has Fallen

“I have to stay here,” Gall said immediately, making me think these young men had forced him to go with them before. “I’m the guard. I have to keep her here until Jannus comes.”

The young men looked at each other, grinning, and my senses shrieked.

“Jannus got called by the King to attend with Melek, so they won’t be back forhours.”

Gall blinked and his eyes swiveled to me in surprise.

Unwilling to let these young bucks see me taken off guard, I folded my arms and glared at them.

“Well… then, I really can’t leave,” Gall said a moment later, turning back to them. “I was given the orders by Melek and he said they came from the King.”

“The King isn’t giving orders to a drong like you,” the leader sneered. “And even if he did, it’s fine because they aren’t here. We can all go for a little walk—it’ll be good for her and means you don’t have to stay here all night. Right?”

Confusion flickered on Gall’s face. “No, I don’t think… I mean…”

“C’mon, Gall, while the cat’s away, the mice willplay!”

I could tell Gall didn’t have a clue what they meant, but the lascivious look on the young men’s faces made me very, very nervous.

“Gall, remember your instruct—”

“Shut up, bitch. Gall doesn’t have to listen to you—he’s a Neph. And you’re a fuckingwoman.

“A smokin’ woman though—and stronger than our others. She might survive a breeding,” one of the others commented, peering over his friend’s shoulder.

I wished for a blade to plunge into his throat to shut him up.

The leader tipped his head at me and smiled. My blood ran cold. “I mean, I doubt it. Plus, Fetch stink. But still…” He walked closer and Gall hurried to put himself—and Melek’s spear—between the male and me. But the young warrior just shoved him into the arms of his friends, who teased and cajoled to convince Gall that they were there to havefun.I swallowed hard and stifled a shudder as their leader approached the bars and ran a finger up and down the length of metal as if he were touching me. “What do you say,Fetch?I could fill you better than any Fetch male ever would.”

“Don’t… don’t try. Don’t open the door, she’s dangerous,” Gall said uncertainly—not entirely sure if he was lying or not. “She has to stay in the cage.”

“We won’t tell if you don’t, Gall,” the young Nephilim said in a quiet purr. “After all, we’re friends. We keep each other’s secrets, right?”

He turned and looked at Gall, whose brows pinched as he looked back and forth between them and me, licking his lips nervously. “Yeah,” he said finally. “Friends. Friends keep each other’s secrets.” Then he looked at me with hope in his eyes.

My heart sank as I started to sweat.

17. Proud King

~ MELEK ~

As darkness fell on the continent, Jann and I were still riding across the plains, half a field from the King because Gault’s Khalrion stallion was snorting, wanting to challenge mine.

My burnished copper beast shook his head, rattling the muzzle and stamping with his front feet as his long legs ate up the ground back to the camp.

I slapped the side of his neck and made the soothing hums that would help him ease.

Riding Baelor was very much like riding a horse, but the ranks always eyed us warily when the King and I rode. The Khalrion are only half horse with the barrel, head, and neck of a thickly muscled stallion, though broader and taller than any of the purebred animals. They were also half lion, their haunchesthick and legs ending in clawed paws like a lion, with a menacing tail lashing their rumps.

And of course, the teeth. Even the Nephilim who grew up with the creatures shook in fear when a Khalrion opened what looked like a wide horse’s muzzle to reveal the fangs of a predator.

Nephilim had been breeding these beasts for centuries, though only the richest and most powerful males possessed them.

Like us, they were a hybrid. We neutered all but the biggest and strongest of them, otherwise the herds would tear each other apart. Usually only Royal bloodlines of Nephilim could own the stallions, but Gault had rewarded me Baelor when we crossed the borders of the Kyrion Vale, having defeated the centaurs.

At the time he said my efforts against those beasts deserved one of my own, and the Khalrion were the closest we could get. The Centaurs were the original model for the creatures, after all. Proof that a true hybrid could be achieved. But the centaurs were capable of reproduction, while the Khalrion, created by the fallen angels with the dark power they possessed, were always male.

I didn’t know what sex magik the Fallen had used to combine the two species, but there was no denying that the beasts were fierce, strong, and—when well trained—extremely useful both in battle, and in travel.

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