Page 70 of The King’s Man (The Kingdom of the Krow #3)

~ JANN ~

When we were spat out of that cauldron of the corridor through the peaks, I almost wept with relief. The clouds roiled and the wind howled behind me as if angry and screaming for our return. For a moment I thought we’d escaped the wrath of the worst traverse I’d ever had.

But then I threw my wings wide to catch the descending flows as we poured over the side of the mountain—and discovered that I was losing altitude. Rapidly.

With the weaker winds mostly descending the mountain, the strong updrafts and resistance to our bodies and the spread of my wings disappeared and the weight of my frozen feathers sucked us towards earth.

There was no choice but to dive. If I fought to stay up and one of my wings gave out, I’d spiral to the ground, feet-first, with no hope of recovery—and carrying Dee to her death.

Still, the dive wasn’t much better. Wings half-tucked, but still catching some flows to push us out and over the land—and hopefully thaw my feathers—at least the airflows blanketing the mountain kept pushing us forward, rather than straight into those rocky crags.

‘Hold on, Dee. I’ve got this. Pray my feathers thaw quickly as the air warms.’

I could feel the fear in her, clogging her throat—but instead of words, she sent me a rush of warmth and humbling love and belief through the bond. But there was no time for emotion or to find words. I had to get us down safely.

Moments later, dodging outcroppings and watching as the foothills sucked towards us, there was a noticeable shift in the air—warmer flows, and the soft, buffeting air that came up from the ground.

With a curse, I spread my wings further, keeping my body as still as possible, holding Dee in her furs, and praying they’d catch.

It would be less than a minute before we hit the ground at this rate. My feathers were lightening, shards of ice slipping from them to leave a glittering trail in our wake, but not fast enough.

Then it was thirty seconds.

Twenty.

Please, God. Please. After all this, I can’t be defeated by a fucking storm!

As the words left my mind, my wings caught—and our momentum slowed, lifted. The right side of my back gave a jolt but held, and then I could spread my wingspan all the way… and then we were gliding.

My breath rushed out of me, followed immediately by slightly crazed laughter and panting as I began to float, riding the flows of air, tilting, wobbling once or twice, but now in control of a long, slow spiral down over the foothills, and then onto the plains below.

‘Jann… Jann, you did it!’

Diadre peered down at the ground which now approached at a much less deadly pace.

‘Yes,’ I sent. ‘You’re safe. We’re safe. Thank God.’

My landing was ragged. I was able to backflap, but it hurt, and I misjudged my speed, which wasn’t helped by my frozen and exhausted body.

I stumbled on my first step and almost fell before I could make my legs pump.

But finally… finally… I sprinted, then ran, then jogged…

then staggered to a halt hugging that roll of furs and my mate within it to my chest, panting.

With numb, trembling fingers I quickly unbuckled the straps, then yanked the furs from around Diadre—a touch too aggressively. She staggered and went to one knee before I caught her arm, pulled her back to her feet and took her face in my hands.

“Are you okay? Are you well? Are you—”

“I’m fine, Jann,” she panted. And then she smiled. “I’m fine. The question is… are you?”

I stared at her for a moment, searching her eyes for any hint of subterfuge or deceit, but there was nothing.

Relief saturated me to the bone.

“I think I… need a rest,” I mumbled, then kissed her lips, then with a huge groan of relief, I dissolved my wings and let myself flop backwards onto the ground.

“Jann!”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled as Diadre slid to my side and loosened my clothing. “I’m just exhausted and… my back is still strained,” I said hoarsely.

Diadre pulled the bags off me and found one of the waterskins we’d filled that morning, holding it to my lips as I gulped noisily.

When I was done I lay there for a long time, staring at the calm gray sky here on the plains below the mountains. From this vantage point those dark grey clouds around the peaks seemed like little more than threatening rain.

Oh, how deceptive they were.

“Jann… you said it was brutal. But that was…”

“I have a confession to make,” I said through thick lips and tongue.

Diadre went very still next to me. “What is it?” she asked breathlessly, leaning over my chest and peering down at me, her eyes round.

I swallowed. “We… don’t usually carry anyone over alone. We do it in teams.”

She was horrified. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because…” I mumbled, then cleared my throat. “I didn’t want to share you… I mean, scare you.”

Her forehead furrowed, then she sat back on her heels. “You’re an idiot.”

“Only sometimes. And you still love me. Admit it.”

She gave that low, throaty laugh that I loved. “Yes, Jann. I still love you. I do.”

“Good. Me too,” I mumbled. “Now. I’m going to sleep for a little while. Don’t mind me.”

*****

~ DIADRE ~

Jann had been flattened.

He’d been joking about sleeping, but it was clear that he had nothing left—and he couldn’t fly another span.

So, I helped him to his feet and we walked the short distance to the thin forest at the base of the mountains.

I shook out the furs, urging them to dry quickly while I hunted, then made a fire, breathing on my fingers as I went because they were still tingling from the cold.

But an hour later, I had a fire crackling merrily, a strange, fat bird I’d never seen before roasting on a hastily erected spit, and Jann swinging in the hammock nearby, slung between two trees that were barely strong enough to hold us both.

He’d walked through the trees a bit, muttering about leaving signs for any allies, just in case, but once he was done, he stumbled back to the hammock and hadn’t moved since.

“How far are we from Ebonreach?” I asked him as the sun dipped below the mountains and the evening birds raised their song.

“A few hours flight,” he sighed. “Three, four at most.”

“Well, we won’t be doing that tomorrow.”

“I should be—”

“No, Jann.” I straightened to meet his eyes. He was collapsed in that hammock, his body spent. “You said you have to fly into the city and we have to evade notice. You need to be strong .”

He frowned, but nodded and turned his head away to stare at the tree canopy above him.

“Do you have to fly to enter the city itself? Or just to reach it?” I said. I’d heard the stories about Ebonreach, though never spoken to someone who’d seen it. The City was legendary—and apparently well fortified despite the very effective barrier of the Raven Peaks.

“It can only be entered on the wing, or by invitation from a Neph through one of two gates that are heavily guarded. The guards would be extremely suspicious to find me walking in.”

“And you don’t want anyone to know you’re there, right?”

“Not until we’ve gathered more information,” he grumbled. “No point alerting our enemies to our location.”

I sighed. “Then we need a couple more days.”

“But—”

“Seriously, Jann, tell me you wouldn’t say the same if our roles were reversed?”

He muttered under his breath, but didn’t argue, for which I was grateful. I was weary too. But very, very glad we’d made it.

When the juices of the bird ran clear, I told Jann to come join me at the fire and began splitting the juicy carcass, eyeing the crunchy skin with eager hunger.

Until I took the first bite.

“Oh… shit.”

Jann chuckled and picked up an entire half of the bird, biting into it like an apple. “I’ll admit, I was surprised when I realized you’d taken a Kakapo.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s an excellent meal. Just… an acquired taste,” he said with a grin, wiping the grease from his chin, then taking another bite.

Ugh. “I’ll let you have mine. You need a meal more anyway.”

He laughed, but happily took my drumstick and dug in, while I found a few strips of dried meat in my pack and chewed on those until my stomach stopped grumbling.

As night fell, Jann remained weary and quiet, but in good spirits. Obviously relieved that we were safely over the mountains and on the ground.

His voice grew dark and husky, and he took longer pauses between thoughts, until he was quiet for so long I thought he’d fallen asleep.

I waited a short time, sitting next to the fire and just breathing because my heart still wanted to beat too quickly. Then I stripped down to my shirt and underthings, and climbed into the hammock with him.

To my surprise, he opened his arm when he saw me coming, and smiled when I curled up at his side.

Pulling me into his side he sighed happily. “That’s better,” he mumbled.

I smiled. “I like this side of you,” I murmured into his chest.

“What side?”

“I don’t know… tired? Soft? Not deflecting everything with flirtation.”

He jerked his head up, mock alarm on his face. “You don’t want me to flirt?”

I rolled my eyes and snuggled back into his shoulder when he relaxed. “No, of course not. I just… I don’t want you fighting or flirting when something is serious.”

“Well, I’ll try, but you’re asking a lot. It’s practically instinct at this point.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“You’re hurting me, Dee,” he said quietly—a shadow in his voice. “I thought you knew me better than that.” I pushed up onto my elbow, ready to reassure him—only to find his overly-sad expression. When our eyes caught, he gave a melodramatic sigh, then pretended to wipe a tear.

I slapped his chest. “God, you’re insufferable.”

He grinned. “Aw, Dee, I don’t want to make you suffer.”

“Too late,” I teased, then put my hand flat on the side of his ribs. Thoughtlessly I ran my finger along that ripple of muscle that ran to his back, but the moment I touched that taut skin, he flinched and then giggled.

He clapped a hand over his mouth and froze.

I pushed back up on my elbow, gaping at him, delighted. “Jann… are you… ticklish?”

“No. Absolutely not, I’m— ahahhhhaaa!”

I’d wiggled my fingertips along the underside of his ribs and he danced like a worm on a hot plate.

“You are!” What a fantastic discovery.

“Dee, I will remind you that we are mates. Allies. In this together. There is no excuse for torment—”

“You mean me making you giggle like a girl?” I asked quietly as poked him in the ribs again. He snorted, swallowed a strangled giggle as he whipped to his side, teeth clenched, and grabbed for my hands.

There was a short but powerful moment of wrestling as he grabbed for my wrists and I fought to stay out of his grip, but by the end I was the one giggling and weak, with both my wrists clamped in one of his.

“You can’t sleep like this,” I said slyly. “At some point you’ll have to let me go.”

“I’m not above using restraints,” he muttered.

I raised my brows. “Neither am I.”

Jann’s head snapped to the side, his eyes wide, but as he opened his mouth to say something, there was a high, shrill whistle off among the trees and we both startled.

All signs of weariness fell from Jann like dust from an opened book. He leaped out of the hammock to land on the ground next to it, half-crouched, arms back to grab for me and the hammock and keep me behind him as he scanned the trees left and right.

‘Don’t move. I don’t know if it’s an ally or—’

“Jannus the Fuckling. I thought you were dead!”

Jann’s head snapped to the right as a shadow moved among the trees. He shifted to put himself between me and the hulking shape, but a moment later when the man stepped closer—another Nephilim, if his size was anything to go by—Jann’s shoulders relaxed and he straightened.

“Karyd!” he groaned, then started towards the man, one arm out to be clasped in greeting. “You scared the shit of out of me.”

The man trotted to him and they embraced, clapping each other on the back with those thumps hard enough to make me wince when I thought of how Jann’s sore muscles must feel under it. But he was giving no sign of his pain, or his exhaustion.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I carry messages. Planning to fly the traverse tomorrow—you’ve heard about the King? Well, of course, you’d know since you helped him.”

Jann nodded easily. “I’m glad that he’s made it safely.”

“He made it weeks ago—what happened to you?”

“Well,” Jann said, a jolt erupting in the bond though he gave no sign of it on his face as he turned towards me with a smug grin. “I was… distracted.”

I tried to smile, but felt myself shrinking as the massive Nephilim followed Jann’s gaze straight to me and his eyes widened, then a lascivious grin appeared on his ruggedly handsome face.

“You found a breeder?!” he asked, taking a step towards me.

It was the first tension I saw in Jann since he’d recognized the man. His hand shot out to plant on the fellow’s chest and a low growl rumbled out of his toes.

The visitor’s head snapped back and then he looked at Jann, brows high.

“More than a breeder. She’s a mate,” Jann said darkly.

The man’s brows rose higher. He looked at me again, then back at Jann. Then his smile abruptly returned and he grabbed Jann’s arm again.

“You lucky bastard,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “Everyone in power is finding women these days. Seems like I need to pay a visit to the Fetch.”

Jann laughed, but I didn’t. But Jann’s smile faded quickly. “Wait, you said everyone—more than just the King?”

“Well, to hear the rumors, it’s not just Gall. But Melek and some of his men, and now you?”

Jann nodded slowly, but I could feel his unease in the bond. “Is that where you were going? To find a mate?”

“Fuck no. I’ve been sent with a message for Melek. By the time I traverse the peaks, he should reach Braventhall within a couple of days. I’ve been sent to meet him and warn him—but I’m glad I saw your signals, because I had a message for you as well if we crossed paths.”

“Oh?”

The man looked at me, then back at Jann.

“You don’t need to worry about her,” Jann said. “She won’t defy me.”

I bristled, but tried to make it look like fear.

‘Just breathe,’ Jann said in my head. ‘He isn’t one to fear—his heart is good. But he’ll always follow power.’

The male nodded and smiled, then shrugged. “I was told to tell you that your message was delivered, but couldn’t be acted upon,” he said casually.

I felt Jann tense. “Oh? Why not?”

The man glanced at me one more time, but then obviously decided to speak. “Caelan is… indisposed,” he said carefully.

I watched Jann pale and a tiny shriek of pain speared through my heart.

“Is she dead?” he breathed.

“No,” his friend said grimly. “But she’s in danger. She can’t leave the Palace.”

“At whose order?” Jann growled.

The man’s expression said it should be obvious. “Gall’s.”