The Silent(25)

“No. His sons did.”

Vasu shrank back to his tall but still human-sized form. “Then she is probably an offering. Once he has her, he won’t give her back. But you might be able to trade her for another sister if there is one you like less.”

Kyra gaped at Vasu. “She’s the daughter of an angel.”

Vasu shrugged. “I’m not saying I’d want her. But these Grigori slew their father, did they not?”

Sura said, “Yes.”

“Then he’s not violating anyone’s territory. If his sons want to collect kareshta from other angels, then I doubt Arindam would stop them.”

Leo was fuming. “Jaron said there were prohibitions against things like this. That the Fallen wouldn’t take other angels’ daughters.”

“Not to mate with her.” Vasu shuddered. “Most of us considered Volund quite aberrant in that regard.”

“So why—”

“You said she was powerful. He probably wants some talent she has.”

Niran and Sura were both deadly quiet.

Sura finally spoke. “Prija is too uncontrolled for anything but rage.”

“Liar.”

“It’s true,” Niran said. “She takes after our father in that way.”

“Does she?” Vasu’s eyes gleamed. “It all becomes clear.”

Leo said, “Explain.”

Vasu sat back at the table. “If you want me to explain, get me sticky rice.”

Kyra said, “Are you a child?”

Another blink, and a beautiful child sat on the bench, swinging his legs. “When I want to be.”

Kyra shook her head and turned away. “Come on.” She put a hand on Sura’s arm. “Let’s get him some sticky rice so he’ll stop speaking in riddles.”

Sura said, “Why do I get the feeling that will probably never happen?”





Chapter Twelve





Leo watched the child eating the mango sticky rice. As Vasu ate, he grew. And grew. Until the man who had first appeared sat before them again, licking sweet coconut milk from his fingers.

“That was delicious.”

“Talk,” Leo said.

“You used to be more amusing,” Vasu said. “Though I see a slight glow around you, scribe.” His eyes darted to Kyra. “Does she know yet?”

Kyra said, “Know what?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Leo said. “Tell us why Arindam would want an uncontrollable kareshta.”

Vasu turned to Sura. “Was she young?”

“One of the younger ones, yes. Around forty years, but she looks much younger.”

“And she’s powerful?”

“Yes.”

“How? Her voice?”

Sura said nothing.

“But she doesn’t speak, does she?” Vasu asked. “She can wound the mind in other ways.”

“If she’s angry enough,” Kyra said.

Alyah sucked in a breath. “What? She doesn’t need to speak to use magic? That’s unheard of.”

“Well, you’ve heard of it now,” Kyra said. “Half our blood comes directly from the angels. Did you think we had no power of our own? It’s not having the power, it’s controlling it.”

Vasu turned to Kyra. “She hurt you.”

“Yes.”

“Then why do you care about helping her?”

Kyra said, “Because I was her once.”

Vasu shook his head. “You were never her.”

Kyra paused. “No, I suppose not. Because I had my brother Kostas. But Prija has brothers too. Sisters who care about her. It’s not always about a person’s usefulness or threat level, Vasu. Sometimes you just care.”

“You and your brother were very powerful. Barak spoke of it often.”

“He despised us.”

“No,” Vasu said. “You’re wrong. Also, you should know your father would be very pleased with you and this scribe. He was… fond. I think that is the closest word.”

Leo asked, “What are you talking about?”

Alyah’s phone rang. She picked it up and walked away from the table.

Vasu turned back to Sura. “Your father was skilled in mental combat, even from a distance. It’s why he retained power for so long, even though he wasn’t as old as many of his enemies. Including me. It’s why you and your brothers can exist as peacefully as you do. It’s why your sisters are such bright stars. This sister who has been taken is powerful, and Arindam wants to use her as a weapon. He is trying to expand his territory now that Tenasserim is gone. Thank you, by the way. I found your father very annoying.”

“You’re… welcome?” Sura looked confused. A common problem with Vasu in Leo’s experience.

“So now that Tenasserim is gone,” Leo asked, “Arindam is looking to expand into Thailand?”

Vasu said, “No, the Irin are too powerful here. Anurak and his mate rule in Bangkok, and now they’ve made an alliance with these Grigori. He’s not interested in going east. He’s looking west.”

“Is Arindam expanding into your territory?”

Vasu’s eyes cut to Leo, but Leo did his best to appear innocent.

“That doesn’t work with me,” Vasu said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Leo knew exactly what he was talking about. He also knew—or he suspected—why the mention of Arindam’s name had provoked such a reaction in Vasu earlier. Ginny had said Arindam was making attacks in northern India. According to Ava, who knew Vasu as well as any of them did, Vasu made his home in an ancient city in Rajasthan, which was northwestern India. It was likely that Vasu, who didn’t have many sons after years in hiding, was feeling the pressure of an enemy near his territory.

“That was Niran.” Alyah walked back to the dining table. “They rode up to the border, but they couldn’t find any trace of them.”

Kyra shook her head. “They should have taken me with them.”

“No, they shouldn’t have,” Leo said.

“Don’t be overprotective,” she said. “You’re not my brother.”

“No, I’m your…” He shut his mouth. It wasn’t the time. Not with a Fallen angel and an audience. “They wanted to ride as fast as possible. I’m sure that’s all they were thinking.”

Sura said, “They won’t go into Burma without more people. Once you go that far north, Arindam’s Grigori are everywhere.”

“So what are we going to do?” Kyra said. “We need to get Prija back.”

“We will,” Sura said, “but it’s better to be prepared than fast. Don’t forget, Prija can defend herself. Like the Fallen said, they want to use her as a weapon. They won’t harm her.”

Vasu pointed at Sura. “He has a plan. They both do.”

Leo asked, “What is he talking about?”

Sura sat at the table and folded his hands. “We’ll wait for Niran.”

Vasu rested his chin on his hand. “Boring.”

“I don’t care.”

Vasu disappeared.

Everyone froze, but the Fallen didn’t reappear. Not even when Kyra reached over and took the bowl of sticky rice.

“Vasu?”

Nothing.

“Huh,” she said. “I guess he’ll come back when it gets interesting again?”

Leo said, “With Vasu, you never know.”

Alyah said, “My country was boring until you came to it, Leo. Tell me why I shouldn’t put you on a plane and send you far, far away.”

“Because I think I know what Vasu was talking about.” Leo looked at Sura. “And so does he.”



“When we killed our father, we didn’t do it alone,” Niran said. “There was no way we could have managed it. We had help.”

The two Grigori brothers, Alyah, Leo, and Kyra were sitting at the dining table again, the map still spread in front of them. Niran looked exhausted and angry. He’d ridden for two and a half hours, up to the Burmese border, trolling through the villages and side roads for an hour in the middle of the night before he returned. There was no sign of Prija or her captors. Niran was certain they’d crossed into Arindam’s territory.

Leo said, “Sura said he used his father’s enemies in the plan to kill him. Were they Arindam’s sons?”

Niran hesitated, then nodded.

“I am the one who made the connection,” Sura said. “I’d performed Sak Yant on several of them. I was living away from our father in the mountains along the border. There were like-minded Grigori there, trying to live quietly. After some time, trust built between us. We knew we would never be free if our fathers lived. As long as they ignored us, we could live as we wanted. But the minute our fathers called us, we would come.” Sura’s face was bleak at the memory. “We would answer their call and do whatever they asked.”

“We had no choice then,” Niran said.

Sura lifted his eyes. “We made a plan to free ourselves. First we would kill Tenasserim. Then we would kill Arindam.

“But it didn’t work out that way.”

“No. Our brother Kanok had become close to Intira’s mother when she was pregnant. Though she was human, he developed strong feelings for her. Intira’s mother survived her birth, but Tenasserim called for her too quickly after the baby was born. She did not survive more than a month.” Sura’s face filled with sorrow. “She was a bright woman. A student at the university in Chiang Mai, but she was enamored of our father, as all the human women were. Kanok was devastated when she died. He could speak of nothing but killing our father. Prija helped him. She spoke then. They plotted to kill Tenasserim and only told us a few hours before they moved. We were able to call a few of Arindam’s sons who were close, but we didn’t have many. Prija engaged our father while the three of us attacked him.”