‘I’ll figure it out. Trust me,’I sent.
She squeezed me tighter.‘I’ll do anything—except lose you, Melek. Tell me. I’ll walk the shadows. I’ll face Lucifer himself. Anything.’
I sighed.‘Give me your word that you won’t kidnap your sister. The others can’t learn that we’re here. And Lucifercan’tlearn that we can reach them.’
Yilan stiffened, and I tensed because I knew.
She might be a queen, but my mate was first and foremost a warrior. An assassin. Given the choice between politics and a deadly mission, I knew which she’d take in a heartbeat. She’d already proven it—when the Shadekin learned ofmyapproach with a conquering army, she’d left her throne to walk the shadows among my kind, intending to assassinateme.
Thank God above that He’d had other plans.
I slipped a hand under her jaw, and pressed her chin up to make her meet my eyes.‘Give me your word, beautiful.’
Her eyes welled, and she blinked rapidly, but she nodded again.‘I do. I can’t promise I’ll do it silently… but you have my word, I won’t risk going after her alone.’
I breathed easier after that.‘Thank you.’
‘But Melek… if we can’t convince them to leave, and we can’t steal them away… whatarewe going to do?’
I took a deep breath.‘We have to figure out how to break Lucifer’s hold on Gall. As long as my son is willing to use that sick power, this will end badly foreveryone.’
8. Secrets in the Dark
~ MELEK ~
The cave where we met Jann and Diadre was a twenty-minute flight from Valgorath City. We’d flown out in darkness so Yilan could shroud us, but I wouldn’t ask her to sustain that kind of power for the entire flight. I’d dressed in the robes of a trader, and she as my slave, in case we were seen by others who roamed the night. As long as it was only from a distance, our dress gave no reason for comment or attention. Just a merchant, flying off with his slave into the night, to do nefarious things.
Light rain began to fall as we flew. Yilan, strapped to my chest, pulled her hood higher as the drops pattered on the thick cloak I wore. The temperature dropped noticeably, even in those minutes, and I cursed our luck. In Ebonreach, most of our rain came from snow, blown north from the frigid climate of the Raven Peaks, and melting as it dropped. By the time we’d fly back to the city later tonight, it would be even colder.
I held Yilan tightly until we swept into the forest and landed near the cave mouth, then unstrapped her. A soft glow emanatedfrom the depths of the cave. The trees above hid it from flyer eyes, and obscured our footsteps under the quiet patter of the rain.
“How do you know this place?” Yilan asked me quietly, as we hurried for the cave.
I couldn’t help but grin. “Jann and I have been coming here since we were bucks. It was a place to be out from under the eyes of our superiors when we were young, and became a place of solitude and quiet when our responsibilities grew. It’s also strategic—there’s an entire network of caves down here that you wouldn’t detect, unless you’d been among them.”
She looked up at me as we trotted into the dark mouth of the cave, and could finally throw our hoods back. “This is where you’re hiding the men?”
“Not here. It’s far too close to the city. But we could reach them from here if we needed to.”
Yilan glanced deeper into the cave, her brow lined with worry, then back up at me.
“What?” I asked her quietly.
‘Jann knows where the men are? He knows these caves?’
‘Yes, of course. Why?’
Yilan bit her lip.‘I only… Diadre mentioned—'
A deep, resoundingboomechoed through the cave, and the light at its depths surged and flickered. No doubt someone had thrown a log on the fire to combat the growing cold.
I reached for her in my mind again, but now inside, we could hear voices.
‘Yilan—’
‘Let’s talk about it later,’she sent.
Moments later, we rounded the curve to a spot where the cave widened into a large, roughly circular room. The ceiling was still low, which helped with keeping heat in. A large fire had been laid at the back, near where the cave floor rose as it climbed intothe hills above. It dropped again later, but the air-flow in that section would always draw smoke away, and keep the bulk of the fire’s light hidden from outside eyes.
