The Silent(2)

She could feel his excitement. “I always listen to you, bata.”

“And you have to keep an open mind.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There is a theory among some of the free Grigori. Others like us. About how to better control our magic.”

Kyra frowned. “What kind of theory?”

“Have you heard of Yantra tattooing?” Sirius asked. “Sak Yant, to be precise?”



Leo put his hands on his hips and squared off against his opponent. She was small, but Leo knew not to underestimate her.

“No.”

“Yes!”

Two-year-old Matti mirrored Leo’s stance, tiny fists on her hips and her rosy-pink cheeks covered in chocolate. They stared at each other. The tall, blond warrior had faced off against his small rival on many occasions. This wasn’t the first time. It wouldn’t be the last. Ava and Malachi's children were tiny forces to be reckoned with.

His watcher's children were the first in history—that anyone knew of—to carry the mingled blood of Fallen and Forgiven angels. Their powers were unknown and potentially dangerous.

They were also perilously cute.

“You’ve already had two cupcakes. You were only supposed to have one.” Leo lifted the plate from the counter and set it in the bread cupboard. “Your mother will be angry with me if I give you more, Matti.”

“Mad?” she asked.

“Yes, mad. Angry.”

“I’m not mad,” Matti said. “Hungry. Need mo’ cake.”

Leo narrowed his eyes at the tiny terror. Her dark curls and sweet face were only a front for a master manipulator. “If you were hungry, you would have eaten your apples.”

Matti’s twin brother Geron sighed deeply and put his chin on his hands. His face was also covered in chocolate. His liquid grey eyes were pools of pleading, but Leo refused to be moved.

“No cake,” Leo said more firmly.

This did not suit Matti well. She raised her voice and shouted, “Baba! I want mo’ cake.”

Leo pointed at her. “That won’t work this time. Your father is in Vienna.”

Leo’s Irin brother Rhys walked into the kitchen and scooped Matti up in his arms. “What are you doing to the child, Leo? She’s hungry.”

“She doesn’t need more cupcakes. She barely touched her lunch.”

Rhys kissed the top of Matti’s head. “Poor darling. Why would she eat lunch when there are cupcakes? I wholly agree with you on this, Matti. Hold out for the sweets.”

Sensing an ally, Matti giggled. “Reez, more cake. Peez.”

Rhys turned to Leo. “She said please.”

Leo grimaced. “You’re not helping. Aren’t you supposed to be working on a new translation of the Hokman Abat?”

The pale British scribe walked to the bread cupboard and reached inside. “Well, I thought I’d take a break and have…”

“Don’t do it!” Leo yelled.

“Cake!” Matti squealed. “Want mo’ cake, Reez.”

Geron lifted his arms. “Lo!” he shouted at Leo. “More cake.”

“This is the problem,” Leo said, lifting Geron into his arms. “They gang up on you. And they have… chubby cheeks. And they’re very, very cute.”

“Relax,” Rhys said. “You take minding them too seriously. What’s the fun of being uncles if we can’t make them sick to their stomachs on sweets?”

Matti giggled, which made Geron chuckle. Soon the kitchen was filled with laughter, and Rhys was stuffing more cupcakes in both children.

Leo licked chocolate frosting from his thumb. “If they get sick, I’m blaming you.”

“I only gave them one cupcake, you gave them two.”

“Three cakes!” Matti yelled, her tiny fist raised in triumph.

“They’re frighteningly intelligent,” Rhys said. “Developmentally, they’re very advanced. Did you see Geron copying Malachi last week?”

Leo nodded. “He’s so quiet, but he can already write both old script and the Roman alphabet.”

“I wouldn’t think a child would have that much small-muscle coordination.”

“And Matti…” Leo trailed off as the little girl started to sing and dance around the kitchen table.

It was a childish song she’d learned from one of the Irina, a song intended to teach young girls control over their magic, but Matti had already mastered it. As she lifted her voice, the flowers in the vase on the center of the table bobbed along to the tune, dancing and nodding their heads when she called their colors in turn.

Rhys stared with wide eyes. “I haven’t seen children in so long, I don’t know what’s normal and what’s not. But that seems very advanced for her age.”

“I’m fairly sure it is.”

Leo had no experience with children other than Matti and Geron. His mother had been killed during the Rending, the attempted annihilation of the Irin race, when he was no older than the twins. His father had been lost for years and was never really the same after the loss of his mate. He and his cousin, Maxim, had been lost for a year until they’d shown up at a scribe house in Vilnius. He had little memory of his life before his grandfather had taken him and Maxim in. Leo liked children, but he’d never spent time with any.

But now there was a baby boom in the Irin world. Leo would give anything to join in the numbers of scribes and singers starting their families, but he wouldn’t be satisfied with any mate. He wanted his reshon. His soul mate. The woman chosen by heaven to be his partner in life. He hadn’t practiced patience for two hundred years to settle for anything less.

“What about your own family?”

“I don’t know if that is possible for me.”

“How do you know it’s not possible if you won’t give us a chance?”

“Leo, you don’t know me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

A loud crash broke through his reverie, and Leo spotted the source of the racket in the doorway to the living room. Matti was sitting on a rug that Geron was pulling across the wooden floor. It was unfortunate that a side table was in their way. The glass lamp sitting on it had not survived.

“Oops!” Both children turned wide eyes to Leo before they raced out of the room and up the stairs.

“Come back here!” Leo ran after them just as his phone began to buzz. “Hello?”

“Are you on patrol?” It was his cousin, Maxim. “Are the Grigori hunting in daylight now?”

“I’m on twin patrol,” Leo said, pounding up the stairs. The two culprits would scatter, of that he was sure. They had excellent evasion tactics. But where would they hide? And did they have any glass shards in their little bare feet?

“I need you to go to Bangkok,” Max said.

“What?”

“Bangkok,” Max repeated. “Thailand.”

“I know where Bangkok is.” Leo pushed open his own bedroom door and walked to the closet. “I’m just not sure why I need to go there.”

“I’ve cleared it with both Malachi and Damien. The scribe house is expecting you.”

Leo pulled open his closet door. The first thing he checked was his weapons cabinet. Locked, as expected. One couldn’t be too careful. “Matti?” He bent down but didn’t see anything under his clothes.

“What are you doing?”

“They broke a lamp. There are probably shards. I haven’t seen any blood, but you can’t be too certain.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The children, of course. What’s in Bangkok?”

“What do you think? The usual. You’ll meet your contact at the airport.”

“I still don’t understand—” Leo walked backed to the hall. “Geron? Matti?” He heard giggling from Ava and Malachi’s room. “I know it was an accident, but I need to check your feet. I don’t understand why I need to go to Bangkok, Max. There’s an active scribe house there, and as far as I know they have an excellent reputation. Why is Damien involved?”

“Just get there. I have to go.” Max chuckled a little. “And good luck with the little ones.”

Another crash came from downstairs.

Leo shoved his phone in his pocket. “You have got to be kidding me.”



Matti giggled as she watched Leo’s feet walk away from her. She loved her uncles, especially Leo. He was like a giant bear with yellow hair and beautiful drawings all over his skin. His drawings were different than her baba’s. When she looked closely, she could see little animals playing in Leo’s writing, which made his talesm much more fun.

Her uncles played with her every day, even when they were very tired from hunting. Leo never got impatient like her mama or baba, but sometimes he didn’t understand her games. She crouched in the closet and turned to the black cat who watched her with gold eyes as brilliant as her own.

Matti pointed at him. “You’re not a kitty.”

The cat opened its mouth and spoke clearly. “You are very perceptive, small singer. And very magical to have seen me. Your parents and your uncles do not.”

“My name is Matti.”

“I know your name. You should be careful not to offer it so freely.”

Matti narrowed her eyes. This creature didn’t sound like it wanted to play with her. How rude.