Page 60 of The King has Fallen

He dropped his voice to a hiss and took a step closer. “They were insolent bucks who should be neutered. They needed to be stopped.”

“But… you savedmefrom them. And Gall thinks—”

Another step and he could have touched the cage if he reached out, but instead he only leaned in glaring, and muttered through his teeth. “If you say that out loud one more time, I’m going to gag you. No one can know.No one.You understand?” Then he glanced at the tent flap and the shadow of Gall there.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t understand. He’s blaming you—”

“It cannot be avoided. Gall cannot act. He cannot lie. He cannotprotectwith his words. He must believe it—then there is no doubt others will believe it too.”

My jaw went slack as I stared at him.

Hewantedeveryone to believe he’d raped me? Why?

“But…”

“There is nobut.Leave this alone!” he growled, then turned his back on me. I was about to argue when I remembered the King with hisbayangirls, the haunted looks of the slaves here, and the way the woman slaves had watched Melek with eager, hopeful eyes.

And it all came home to me… of course…

For a Nephilim to rape a human woman was only natural. Normal. It was how the Nephilim had come into being—human women raped by angels—and so it was what theydid.

But for a Nephilim tosavea woman? And a sworn enemy, at that?

In this culture, that would be reason for suspicion.

I closed my mouth, swallowing hard as I put it together in my head.

I could understand him wanting the young Nephilim to believe that he’dtakenme—that he possessed me. But Gall?

Then his words echoed in my head again.

“Gall cannot act. He cannot lie. He cannotprotectwith his words. He must believe it—then there is no doubt others will believe it too.”

Of course. Of course. I saw what he meant. My sister could be the same: Honest to a fault, and confused when others read more into her words than she’d meant. Or when they were offended by what was simple truth.

And now Gall… surrounded by brutal Nephilim who took what they wanted and protected no one unless it benefited them to do so… They would see Melek’s protection of me as some kind of weapon. Some kind of tool.

Or some kind of treason.

Melek sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair as he stalked to the other side of the tent to remove his weapon straps and jacket.

“He will get over it. He always does,” he muttered quietly a moment later, while I stood there watching him. “He will forgive me.”

My stomach clenched at the force he put behind those words, as if he were arguing with himself, determined to convince hisownheart that they were true.

Gall… good, simple, beautiful Gall, who would forgive an enemy for stealing his weapon because she was kind.

But would he forgive hisPapafor violating the very same kind woman?

I wasn’t so sure. And clearly Melek wasn’t either. Which made my stomach ache.

I didn’t know what to say, so I just watched him half-strip, then throw himself down on the bed and pick up a book, ignoring me.

At least, that’s what he wanted me to believe. I had no doubt his skin was just as prickled as mine, his senses just as attuned to my movement as mine were to his when I pretended the same.

I waited until he’d been quiet for some time though, to make sure he wouldn’t offer more.

Then I sighed and walked back to my cot to sit.

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