His voice was warm. He smiled a lot, and sounded like he might laugh soon. Which was strange, because he made my stomach tight.
“Where are we?” I knew it was rude not to answer his questions, but I was scared. “Where’s Istral?”
His smile got broader. “I know you’re worried about your mate. Very soon, I’ll take you to her. You just need to be calm first. We’ll have a little talk, then we’ll go.”
“Take me to her now!”
Grandfather smiled, but shook his head, which was confusing. “She’s asleep, Gall. Just like you were. She’s not hurt, I give you my word. Now, let’s just get to know each other a little bit before we wake her, okay?”
I didn’t know what to think about that. I stared at him, but he looked at me like he was waiting.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
His smile faded, but his lips still pulled up on one side. “I’m waiting for you to be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“For your crown, Gall.”
I wasveryconfused. “The heir doesn’t get a crown.”
“No, they don’t. But you do. Because you’re not just heir, Gall. You’reking.”
I caught myself, just in time before I laughed at him. “No, I’m not. Papa is king.”
“Actually, Gall, yourrealfather is dead. But hewasking—which is why you are now.”
I killed him.
My stomach flipped over, and started churning like the water when the eels were feeding. I might be sick.
I swallowed hard, trying to remember the good parts.
My blood father, the king, was dead. But my heart-father, Papa—Melek—wasn’t. He was going to make me heir. It was very important. “Papa battled the—”
The man smiled. “Melek has been crowned, it’s true. But he only has the arrogance to call himself king, because I gave him everything he needed to get this far.”
I took a better breath then. “You’re his ally?” I was relieved. It had seemed like he might be angry about Papa.
Grandfather made a strange expression. “You could say that. I have put a lot of effort into positioning Melek and his mate.”
“Positioningthem? For what?”
“For you, Gall.”
I was confused, but I didn’t want to say that because usually when I didn’t understand something, other people gave up trying to explain and I never got the answers. Just their frustration. I was still trying to think of a question that wouldn’t let him know I didn’t understand, when he spoke.
“You can ask me questions, Gall. I’ll always answer.”
It was like he read my mind. But if he knew I had questions and he was smiling, maybe he wouldn’t give up?
“Where am I? Where’s Istral? Why are you—"
“You should be very happy! You’re on your way home! Eventually, we’ll take you back to Valgorath City. And don’t worry, Istral is coming too. She’s beautiful, and very sweet. Very obedient. The perfect mate for a king.”
I growled because he smiled when he talked about Istral, and even though he was a little different, if he was my grandfather, then he was Nephilim, and they couldn’t be trusted with women. “If you touched her—”
“Do not fear, Gall,” he said, chuckling and putting his hands up like he surrendered. “We’re family, remember? Your mate is very safe. She hasn’t been touched. And soon, I’ll take you to her so you can return to being her Protector.”
