The Silent(35)

“Yes.” He bent and pressed a kiss to her neck, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “She’s like Ava. Kyra can let me hear what she hears like Ava can share what she sees. The only problem is I don’t have the tools to sort through all the thoughts.”

Alyah nodded. “It takes time.”

Leo tucked a strand of hair behind Kyra’s ear. “She’s a long way from here.”

Sura’s gaze sharpened. “Could you see—”

“I couldn’t see anything. I only heard.”

Niran stood and leaned against the door. “So we wait.”

It was only a few minutes later that Leo felt Kyra return to her body. Her breathing changed and her body lay more heavily against his.

“Leo?” she murmured.

“I’m here.”

“Too bright.”

He gathered her up and put her on his lap, tucking her face into his chest to shield her eyes while Niran and Alyah closed the shades in the cottage. He ran a hand over her arm and felt goose bumps.

“She’s cold.”

Sura stood and retrieved a blanket from the end of his bed. He put it around Kyra’s shoulders while Leo rubbed her arms.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“You sound tired.”

She took a deep breath. “I went a long way. Leo helped me get farther.”

“Where are they?” Niran asked.

“Around seventy-five miles north of here, but Prija is already gone.”

“Are you sure?”

Kyra nodded. “I couldn’t understand their thoughts exactly—I don’t speak the Old Language—but I heard her name. I didn’t hear her voice. I think they were afraid of her.”

“They were,” Leo said. “I heard them mention protecting the children.”

“They have other women and children there?” Alyah asked sharply.

Kyra nodded.

Sura asked, “How many?”

“I’m not sure,” Leo said. “Kyra?”

“I heard two children’s voices. I think three women. I’d estimate there were perhaps ten Grigori with them.”

“How sure are you?” Niran asked.

Leo looked at him sharply. “It’s not an exact science.”

“I’m ninety percent sure,” Kyra said, putting a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “It’s fine, Leo. I was trained to be precise.”

He stood, still carrying her. “You need to rest.”

“I’m fine.”

“I can feel how tired you are,” he said, walking to the door without a glance at the others in the room. “You’re taking a nap to get your strength up. Don’t argue. If I know these three, they’ll want to go running over the border as soon as you’re well enough. Nap, then fight.”

Kyra was already falling asleep on his shoulder.



After he’d put her to bed, he walked out to the porch and looked at the others. They were gathered on the porch of Alyah’s cottage, a short way down the path from theirs. Leo walked over to join them.

Sura asked, “Sleeping?”

“Out before her head hit the pillow.”

Niran nodded. “Over one hundred twenty kilometers.”

Alyah shook her head. “I can’t imagine that range. We need to teach her the Old Language. She’ll be far more useful when she understands their thoughts.”

“It will also let her perform magic,” Leo said. “Are you prepared for her to do that?”

It gave Alyah pause.

Sura said, “We’ll need to cross the border before dark if we want to make it to an inn where I know the hosts. Do you think Kyra will be ready?”

Leo shrugged. “I have no way of knowing, but if she’s anything like Ava after a vision, she’ll sleep hard but it won’t be for very long. A few hours maybe.”

Niran was brooding in the corner.

Leo turned his eyes to him. “You’re thinking very loudly.”

The corner of Niran’s mouth turned up. “You sound like my sisters now.”

“I’ve had a glimpse of their minds,” Leo said. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Sura said, “He’s debating what to do about the women.”

Niran nodded.

“What debate?” Alyah nodded. “We take out the Grigori and rescue the women.”

Sura cocked his head. “Is it so black-and-white for you, singer?”

Niran said, “Their sire is not dead. It’s not so simple.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” Leo said, “if their sire is living, they will do whatever he wants. Almost without question. They are virtual slaves. Do you want the slaves of the Fallen in your house?”

Alyah didn’t appear to like that idea.

“If we’d already killed Arindam, it would be one thing,” Niran said. “But those women are compromised. Their children belong to the Fallen. Their Grigori protectors are loyal. If we take them into our camp, we have no way of knowing if they would betray us. Neither would you. Geography might provide some protection, but that depends on how powerful Arindam has grown.”

“But we can’t just leave them there,” Alyah said. “They’re human. They will die if we leave them among the Fallen.”

Leo asked, “How deep are you willing to dive in here?”

Alyah said, “We have our mandate from the council. The protection of the kareshta—”

“Is not your job,” Niran said.

“I don’t agree.” Alyah’s chin jutted out. “If you’re not willing to do anything about it, then the scribe house will.”

Sura raised a hand. “It’s not a question of being willing, Alyah. It’s a question of putting our own sisters in danger. Humans under thrall to a Fallen only think of the angel. They would betray us without hesitation.”

“So you’ll let my house take them,” Alyah said. “I’m not asking you to shelter them, but those children are vulnerable. Those women are victims. If Arindam wants to take on the scribes and singers of Bangkok, then let him. Our watcher wields a black blade of heaven. We are not afraid of the Fallen.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “You speak for your house on this matter?”

“My house understands duty.”

Niran nodded. “Very well. Call your brothers and sisters then. Tell them to follow us north. We will free those under Arindam’s control and put them under the protection of the Irin house before we go after our sister. You can do with them what you will.”

Sura spoke sharply to Niran, but Niran only raised a hand. “I’m not going to argue, brother. If the Irin want the responsibility, they can take it. I have no love for Arindam’s sons. They had a chance to gain their freedom, and they chose safety instead.”

Leo said, “So we have a plan then? We’ll follow Kyra’s direction to the first compound and take out the Grigori there, free the women and children before we move to the next compound?”

Sura nodded. “I know where he’s likely to take her next, especially if they were afraid of her. There is another compound, even more isolated than the first. With Kyra’s range, she should be able to listen for it once we get past the first.”



They didn’t wait for Kyra to wake. With the prospect of a Grigori skirmish on the horizon, none of them wanted to sit idle. Leo packed up their things and loaded them into the van before he put Kyra in the back seat. They rode north over the border with little trouble. The guards were too excited about the prospect of meeting famous fighters from the US and Hong Kong to give them much scrutiny. Leo took a number of pictures with them before they drove deeper into the mysterious countryside of Myanmar.

They rode for hours, winding their way through river valleys and over mountains to a country inn where Sura was greeted by familiar hosts. Kyra was just waking as the van stopped, and Leo, Niran, and Alyah jumped out to unload their luggage.

Leo saw her blinking in the back seat.

“We’re over the border?” she asked.

He nodded.

Kyra took a deep breath, closed her eyes. “We’re close.”

“Sura knew where he was going.”

“Are they going after the women and children?” she asked in Greek, knowing they could speak anonymously in her native language.

Leo nodded.

Kyra frowned. “Are Niran and Sura—”

“Alyah has called the Bangkok house. The Irin are going to take responsibility for them.”

“It’s a risk. We don’t know where their minds are. Their father is still living.”

“Niran and I explained the danger, but Alyah wouldn’t change her mind. Ginny is already on her way north with a few scribes.”

“Singers would be better. The women would be more likely to trust other women. Unknown males will intimidate them.”

“There’s not enough,” Leo said. “Ginny and Alyah will have to do.”

She held out her hand, and Leo helped her from the van.

“What can I do?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” she said, the corner of her mouth turning up. “I wasn’t expecting company.”

“Malachi can do that with Ava,” he said. “See what she sees when she’s having a vision.”

Kyra said, “Did you think it would happen with us?”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t even thinking of it, to be honest. I just remember feeling concerned because you were somewhere I couldn’t protect you. Then I put my hands against yours and… boom.”