Page 50 of The King’s Man (The Kingdom of the Krow #3)

~ DIADRE ~

Jann sauntered up the stairs to the room we’d been given like a cat on its way to a sunny corner, even grabbing my ass as we walked up the stairs in front of one of the housemaids.

But the moment we stepped inside and I closed the door behind us, he was a caged animal.

‘Don’t say anything out loud that sounds like anything except two lovers preparing for bed,’ he sent worriedly, slipping across the room as silently as the cat, despite his size and weight.

‘What’s going on?’

‘I’ve been warned, the Fallen are here, and watching for me.’

I frowned, watching him sling our bags over his shoulder, then unlock the window and swing the wide frame inwards.

“It’s warm tonight,” he said in a low purr. “I want you in moonlight and the night air.”

I giggled like I was being seduced, and his eyes slipped to me for a blink before he leaned out the window, looking in every direction. Then he turned to sit on the sill and reached up to grab something above the window, pulling himself out onto the inn’s roof.

When I realized he was actually going outside—leaving—I rushed over to the window and leaned out.

‘What are you doing?!’

A thick arm lowered from the gable above. I clasped his hand which engulfed mine as he lifted me bodily up onto the roof above.

He’d straddled the gable like a horse, gripping the front edge with his free hand while he lifted me with the other. His wings were out and extended behind me.

We were going to fly again.

He lifted me like a child and sat me on the roof in front of him, pulling those straps from his bag and wrapping them around us wordlessly.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked him, feeling breathless even though we weren’t speaking out loud.

‘Noctharrow Haven,’ he sent darkly.

A small jolt of alarm rocked through me, but I didn’t ask anything else until he wrapped his arms around me, braced his feet on the roof tiles, then launched us off the tall building, his wings snapping as they caught the wind.

We were only feet from the street, but instead of lowering us to the cobbles as I thought he would, he flapped hurriedly, muttering about the noise, to raise us above the roofs of the houses and buildings on the other side of the street, then stretching out to glide down, down, down, following the curve of the city.

‘Why aren’t you going higher? We’re close enough for people to see us!’

‘There’s enough of a Neph presence here that if we are seen I hope they’ll assume it’s someone local.

But we’re likely to be seen by far more people if I climb the sky.

The moon is bright tonight. This way there are fewer chances.

Safer.’ His arms tightened on me, though there was no need with the leather straps pinning me to his chest.

‘What happened back there, Jann?’

‘Someone sent a message. One I’m not ready to respond to.’

‘Who?’

‘That’s why I’m not ready to respond—I’m not entirely certain.’

I frowned. ‘If you know it was a message, how can you not know who it was from?’

‘Because I don’t know if it was a warning from Melek, or a welcome from the Fallen—and guess which of those parties would forgive a misunderstanding and which wouldn’t?’

The moment he said Fallen my blood ran cold. ‘This is about Gall and Istral?’

‘I’m not sure—that’s why we’re skipping Tuskarr and going straight to Noctharrow.’

My brows shot up. Noctharrow Haven was a lawless city.

Located at the intersection of three Kingdoms, it was nicknamed the Dark City because it was a haven primarily for thieves and fugitives.

Ruled by crime lords and those loyal only to the next dollar, it had been established as neutral ground for negotiation between the three nations—Zaryndar, Tuskarr, and Dragtharn—but had become nothing but a bolthole for criminals, and anyone who wanted to disappear.

‘Jann, are you—’

‘I have allies there. And I need information from someone I know I can trust. Not to mention that it was always the place we were most likely to find information on any mission to take out Gall and Istral. Chances are, whoever took them was recruited there.’

‘I thought you thought the Fallen took them? Why would they need people?’

‘Because Gall and Istral are mortal. They have to be moved. I can’t imagine Lucifer or any of the others walking the journey across the Continent with prisoners, even if it’s just Istral. Can you?’

Well, when he put it that way. ‘No, I guess not.’

‘Then we’re in agreement?’

I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. ‘I wasn’t aware that you were asking,’ I sent.

Jann huffed. ‘Well, I do outrank you,’ he sent, teasing. But then his tone became solemn. ‘If you have thoughts or see a flaw in my plan, speak up, Dee. A challenge to my logic will either stand up under scrutiny and prove that I’m right, or reveal a flaw that I needed to see.’

‘In that case, tell me what you believe we’ll do there, and what you think will happen as a result of it.’

The earth tilted below as Jann rode an airflow. I sucked in a breath and clutched as his arm, but soon we were gliding again, then he spoke in my head.

‘Noctharrow is a center for rumor and intelligence—the tricky part is separating the two. If I appear in Noctharrow, rumor will follow me, and those I know who might help us will find me.’

‘And what of those you don’t want to follow you? Won’t they hear you’re there as well?’

‘Perhaps—but if I disappear completely and quickly, it might be put down to rumor.’

‘So you want to be seen?’

‘I want to be seen by certain people, in certain places. Everyone on the Continent has spies embedded in that city. There will be deserters from every army, informants for every crown, mercenaries—anyone who benefits from political change. If I allow myself to be seen, the news of Gall may simply come to me. And if we can find out what happened to Gall, that will lead us to Istral. But even if news of them isn’t there, I’ll have a chance to learn which power the self-serving believe is winning the fight for the continent—the most selfish among us are often the most observant politically.

That may give us clues about how to help Melek. ’

I chewed that over. ‘And if the Fallen find us there as well?’

‘If they’re that close and that attendant, they’re going to find us well before we make it to Ebonreach. But even the Fallen I can handle. I just need more answers before I have to do that.’

I frowned. ‘You can handle the Fallen?’

‘I only meant, speaking with them doesn’t necessarily spell disaster.’

‘Why would they want to talk to you if they weren’t going to hurt you?’

He huffed, deep in his chest, almost a growl. ‘Have you forgotten so quickly, mate?’ he sent dryly. ‘I am the Halfling. The closest mortal relative to the Fallen themselves. More of their blood courses in my veins than any other being alive. To them I am a… curiosity.’

I shuddered at the idea of being a curiosity to those bastards and Jann hugged me tighter.

‘Don’t be anxious, Dee. If I was sure of my footing, I would have stayed back there and let them come to me. After all, what threat do I pose? But something stinks in all this. I need to better understand before I have to answer the clever fucks.’

A tiny knot of fear tightened in my chest. Jann felt it through the bond.

‘Don’t fret. I won’t let them anywhere near you—and if you do see one, you resist. Remember?’

I sighed and nodded, but his words only made my chest tighten further.

Because I had just remembered: Jann’s eyes were still yellow.

But, I can feel his heart, and he’s good, I reminded myself, gripping his hands.

And I prayed I wasn’t being deceived.

*****

Jann flew through the night, speaking less and less as his weariness grew. As dawn crept across the sky, and the sun threatened to peek over the mountains, we finally landed in woods next to a road a mile outside of Noctharrow.

The moment I was unbuckled from his chest, Jann groaned and leaned backwards, stretching his spine.

“You weren’t supposed to fly the whole way,” I told him, worried because he moved stiffly and seemed genuinely uncomfortable.

He lifted his elbows and stretched first to one side, then the other, turning his waist as far around as he could, then back in the other direction, his wings gone.

“We’ll be here for a day or two, I’m sure,” he said, his voice gruff. “I’ll rest.”

I scoffed and his eyes snapped to mine and that look speared right to my lower belly. He took a sharp breath, but then his eyes shadowed and I felt something dark curl through him.

“What is it?” I asked him, reaching for his hand

He gripped my fingers and looked down at our clasped hands as he cleared his throat. “I have to ask something from you that both of us will hate, but I want you to be certain I wouldn’t ask it except that it will ultimately make this safer.”

“I believe you. What is it?” I was braced, expecting him to have an assassination mission for me—which I would do without question—or perhaps a request for me to leave him if danger descended in the form of the Fallen—which I wouldn’t.

“I have to ask if you’re willing to play… my toy,” he said in a low gravel.

I frowned. “Your toy?”

Jann nodded and scratched the back of his neck. “Noctharrow isn’t like other cities, Dee. There’s no… civility. Anyone at all can enter. And women do. But it’s better in a place like this for you to be seen as a chattel of a Neph bull, than a mercenary. Or worse.”

“Worse?”

“A woman incapable of protecting herself.”

I glared, but he met my eyes evenly. “What does playing your toy actually mean?”

“It means being seen as my… plaything. There for my pleasure and entertainment. Brainless,” he said with a grimace.

“It will allow me to keep you close when men might otherwise be suspicious—because a woman brave enough to walk into Noctharrow without some very serious protection is a woman that should be watched. But a Nephilim’s toy? She’s little more than a horse.”

A shudder of disgust and rage rocked through me. “Men are fucking pigs,” I hissed.

Jann’s head dropped and he nodded. “I don’t like it. It will be… uncomfortable to have you under their eyes like that. But I would feel much better being able to keep you at my side or on my lap than leaving you in a room or—”

“You are not leaving me, and I’m not leaving you.”

He nodded again. “I agree. But this is what I’m saying, Dee. You can take care of yourself here. I have no doubt. But you would have to be so watchful, and careful… if you come as mine, it’s me they’ll assess and consider, not you.”

I didn’t know why it bothered me so much.

I’d willingly played the dumb trophy more than once during a mission.

Men were far more loose with their tongues around women—they didn’t expect us to be capable fighters or strategists.

But somehow, doing that for Jann felt… well, it didn’t feel like work.

It felt like… like he was making me small.

Jann’s expression sharpened and he leaned in over me. “What is it? What did you just think? What made you feel less?”

I shrugged uncomfortably. “I… I hate that it’s always this,” I muttered. “Some part of you must see me that way—it’s always the claiming, the roaring, the toy. When will the day come that I can walk at your side as myself?”

Jann blew out a breath and cupped my face. “You take every step at my side as you, my beautiful, strong, capable mate. This is a role to play, not who you are to me. This is a shield for stupid, single-minded eyes. What they see has nothing to do with what you are in my eyes. I promise.”

The rush of warmth and protective rage that washed through the bond was a reassurance I didn’t realize I’d needed.

With a sigh I fell into his chest for a moment. When we straightened, Jann peering into my eyes, frowning, I nodded.

“Let’s do it. If it keeps me close to you, do it. Just… tell me what to do.”

“Thank you. And we’ll finish this business as soon as we can. Until then, I’ll carry the bags. You stay at my side. But… we’re going to have to get you some different clothes.”

He walked towards the road, pulling me with him.

“What kind of different clothes?”

Jann winced. “Something that… makes it clear why I claimed you,” he said, then pulled me tighter against his side when I scowled. “Just a day or two, I promise.”