After she dressed, she knocked on the door and the guard opened it.
He led her down a hall and into a bedroom.
So much for being untouchable.
She didn’t have much time. The Grigori—he must have been someone important because the room was spacious and had beautiful furniture—was already there. Before he could turn, Prija struck out with her mind.
“Tell them I want the woman to—” He broke off with a strangled cry.
Prija didn’t wait. She struck again, as she had with the scribe in the van. The Grigori fell to the ground and bled from his ears as the guards rushed into the room.
“What have you done?”
A second guard walked in. “I told you!”
Prija hung back for a moment, watching the Grigori flail. Something kept her there. Kept her watching. Blood continued to trickle from his ears. His eyes were rolled back and his mouth was slack.
“She’s a demon!”
You should go.
For the first time in years, the voice in her mind wasn’t her own.
Prija walked out and wandered down the hall. She kept walking and got as far as the courtyard before someone stopped her. They threw a hood over her head and lifted her from her feet. She kicked out and struck in all directions with her mind, but she couldn’t see anyone, and she could no longer hear voices, so none of her jabs hit a target. She was tossed over a shoulder and someone jogged. It was very uncomfortable.
“Here!” Whoever was holding her put her on her feet and started yelling. “Take her! Get her away from here. We don’t want her.”
Rough hands grabbed her upper arms. “We told you. She’s a gift for Arindam. He will hear of your disrespect.”
“You’re nothing here,” the other Grigori said. “And you’ll be nothing in Bagan. You take her there and Arindam will kill you.”
“We’ll see.”
Without another word, Prija was tossed in the back of the van and the doors slammed behind her. She tore off the hood and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her saw sam sai safe in a corner under a bench. She looked around. Nothing about the van had changed. In a few minutes, she and her captors were traveling along the highway again.
Chapter Eighteen
Leo, Kyra, and their motley army returned to the small inn and quickly hid the women in their various bungalows. Leo had searched for the Wa language online and found a few passages of the Bible translated. Through that, he’d been able to speak enough to calm the panicked mother. She was safely stowed in Sura’s bungalow with the other women, and Niran’s Grigori guarded them.
He was unpacking the van when Alyah approached.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Ginny takes her time, and she may have had trouble at the border.”
“Is she going to be able to get all these women back into Thailand? They don’t have papers. They have nothing but the clothes they’re wearing.”
“The scribe house will have taken care of that,” Alyah said. “Once they arrive, we should be able to hand them off and keep going.”
It didn’t sit well with Leo that Prija had been moved so quickly. If she was that dangerous, the Fallen wouldn’t be able to ignore her for long. And the quicker she caught Arindam’s attention, the more difficult it would be to extract her.
“Rith is among the warriors Ginny is bringing,” Alyah said. “He will be staying with us. He has a black blade with him.”
“Dara’s brother?”
“Yes.”
Leo nodded. All Irin warriors knew what a black blade was. Leo had been struck with one, and it was only coals from the sacred fire that had healed him. Black blades were heaven-forged and brought to earth at the beginning of time. They had no equal and were the only way to kill one of the Fallen.
Only Irin scribes could wield a black blade, because the magic it took for mortal hands to control one had to be written on the skin. It was complicated and deep magic. Usually only elders or very senior watchers could control one. Warriors of Mikael’s line took to the magic more readily, and considering both Rith and his sister were warriors, it was likely Mikael’s blood ran in their veins.
Leo said, “It’s unusual for someone less senior than a watcher to wield a blade like that.”
Alyah nodded. “Our house is… different. In any other place, Rith would already be a watcher. In any other place, Anurak wouldn’t be allowed to continue on as the watcher while serving as an elder in Vienna. It is only because female watchers are not technically allowed to exist that they have these… interesting loopholes, I think you would say in English.”
“Because if Irina could be watchers,” Leo said, “then Dara would be the watcher and Rith could have his own house.”
“Exactly. But he believes in her leadership, so he stays to bolster her. It gives the rest of the scribes confidence to know a strong scribe and singer head the house, even if our watcher is far away.”
Leo thought about his former watcher, Damien, and his mate, Sari, who were such a powerful couple. “Ideally, watchers and their mates would fill those roles. Long ago that was typical, was it not?”
Alyah said, “I’m as young as you are, Leo. I don’t know how things were. Just how they are now.”
“We’re both operating at a disadvantage, aren’t we?”
“I don’t know.” Alyah smiled. “Maybe being young means that we’re not bound to the past like the others. The future will be what we make of it.” Alyah nodded at Kyra and the little kareshta girl. They were walking through the forest, Kyra pointing out the birds flying overhead. “Maybe our world needs young ones like us because we see possibilities where our elders do not.”
Three hours later, Ginny drove up in a van with Sunshine Tours! emblazoned on the side. A tall, dignified Asian man walked with her as three other Irin shifted things in the van and another walked to the office at the front of the inn.
Alyah met Ginny and bowed to both her friend and the tall man who accompanied her. Then she led them to where Leo and Niran were waiting.
“Leo, this is Kenneth, the scribe I was telling you about. He came along in case some of the women needed a translator.”
“He anticipated us,” Leo said. “Kenneth, we thank you.”
Kenneth held out a hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.” His English accent revealed a crisp, British intonation. “Ginny tells me you’re from Istanbul. I’ve heard so much about the library in Cappadocia; it’s rumored to be the most complete in the eastern Mediterranean.”
“I don’t know about that as much as my watcher would,” Leo said. “But I’d be happy to offer an introduction if you ever want to visit. Alyah speaks very highly of you.”
“That would be wonderful,” Kenneth said before he turned to Niran. “And you are the Grigori watcher from Chiang Mai?”
Niran started at the “watcher” label, but Alyah was quick to jump in.
“He is,” she said. “Niran, this is Kenneth, a professor in Bangkok.”
“And a scribe,” Niran said.
“I am.” Kenneth smiled. “Sadly, more swift with my references than my blades. But I do think I can be of assistance to the young women we’re assisting, if you’d be kind enough to introduce me.”
Niran relaxed at Kenneth’s warm, disarming introduction. He nodded and led Kenneth toward the bungalows, telling the professor what he knew about the human women, particularly the young woman from the Wa hill tribe.
Leo watched them walk toward Sura’s bungalow where the women and children were staying. He wondered what Kyra would make of Kenneth, and if she’d trust the women and children with him. She was cautious, and he could already see her becoming attached to both the baby and the little girl.
She has a mother’s heart.
The thought of Kyra carrying his child leapt into Leo’s mind. He wanted that. In time. He wanted her to have the joy of motherhood and family. He wanted it for himself too. Leo didn’t know how to be a father, but he had observed Malachi caring for his two small children. Leo knew he would have the same love that Malachi did with Geron and Matti.
“What are you thinking about?” Ginny asked him.
He sat on the porch. “Family.”
Ginny sat next to him. “Is she your reshon?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain? Or is it wishful thinking?” Ginny’s normally bright mood had shifted, and she sounded deadly serious. “Be sure, Leo.”
“I’m sure.” He turned his eyes from staring at the bungalows. “I think we both knew from the beginning. My voice was always the clearest to her. My heart always rested with her. And her touch… It was only the world interfering. First the battle in Vienna. Her brother’s protectiveness. My reluctance to pursue her when I didn’t know her heart.”
“And now it’s her health.”
Leo said nothing. Alyah had performed a song to give Kyra strength, but he knew Ginny’s magic was stronger. Kyra didn’t appear weak after the excitement that morning, but Leo lived in a constant state of worry.
He couldn’t perform the mating ritual and extend his magic to her without weakening himself for the coming fight. Yet he lived in fear that Kyra’s life would blink out without warning.