Niran stared at Sura. “You taught her math. What do you think? Is it possible?”
Sura shook his head. “I taught her the basics of algebra since she seemed so interested in it, but she surpassed my knowledge long ago. I just try to find her books now. I have no idea if what she’s writing in all those notebooks amounts to music.” Sura looked at Leo. “You say this looks like some kind of ancient musical notation?”
Leo nodded. “I doubt she’s seen it. But if she can hear the notes somehow and see the ratios of the harmonies—understand the music on a mathematical level—would it be that big a leap for her to write it down if someone showed her a code to do so? Kyra has been hearing the Fallen her whole life; she didn’t realize it was music.”
Kyra said, “What I’ve been hearing sounded like noise. No pattern. But when I listen closer—especially being so close to Arindam for days now—it does have a pattern. It’s music. Just… really horrible music.”
Leo said, “So if Intira has heard this angel and understands the music and the harmonies on a mathematical level, she could write it down given the proper language.” He held up the weaving. “Which this appears to be.”
Alyah said, “But who would…” She grimaced. “Vasu. Of course.”
“Vasu was around when Hurrian notation came into being,” Leo said. “It’s possible there was even angelic origin. Maybe it was something they weren’t supposed to share but did anyway.”
“The Fallen have lots of knowledge they could share and don’t,” Niran said bitterly.
“Part of the bargain,” Leo said. “The Forgiven were allowed to share because they left the earth alone.”
“And the Fallen stay and wreak havoc,” Niran said. “What does that have to do with me? I’m damned to ignorance by your people simply by virtue of my birth.”
“Stop,” Kyra said. “This isn’t the time for arguments like this.”
“It’s never the time,” Niran said. “Not according to the Irin.”
Rith, the silent scribe who wore the black blade, spoke from the corner. “I’ve fought Fallen before. I have killed an angel. The music this little one sees is… interesting, but how does it help us kill Arindam? Because from what I’ve seen so far, this isn’t a lone angel. He has children around him. Defenses. This is someone encroaching on Vasu’s territory. Killing him will be nearly impossible with seven warriors.” He glanced at Kyra. “And we don’t even have seven if we’re being honest.”
Kyra ignored the insult because Rith was correct. She wasn’t a true warrior. She was good for finding the Fallen. Good for pinpointing locations. But she wasn’t a warrior.
Sura said, “There is such a thing as natural frequency. Can we assume it has a magical component? Do each of the Fallen have some kind of natural frequency? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes,” Kyra said. “I believe what I’m hearing comes from Arindam.”
More looks between Niran and Sura.
They know something.
Leo said, “Would Vasu have given Intira this knowledge if he didn’t have a purpose? He hates Arindam. This must be a clue we can use to defeat him.”
“It’s Vasu,” Kyra said. “It might mean nothing.”
“Intira told you to show this to Prija?” Sura asked.
“Yes,” Kyra said. “She said Prija would know what it meant.”
Niran spoke quietly. “If this is music that Prija can read, then it’s useful.”
“How?” Kyra asked.
“We need to get you to her,” Sura said. “We’ll attack the compound, but Kyra will need to get to Prija. That will be her priority.”
“No,” Leo said. “Someone else can—”
“No,” Rith said. “We don’t have warriors to spare. This started out as a simple rescue mission for one kareshta and has grown into a massive incursion into the heart of a Fallen stronghold. We have seven warriors. We can’t spare one to get a coded message to a single woman who may not even be rational at this point.”
“A single woman who was instrumental in killing Tenasserim,” Niran said. “She’s not a babbling idiot. Any injuries to her mind were gained in battle, and Arindam took her for a reason. Prija is still a formidable weapon.”
Leo tried to jump in. “Kyra is not a warrior. She can’t—”
“A formidable weapon?” Rith argued. “That may be true, but your sister is his weapon unless we kill the Fallen. And we can’t spare a warrior to find her. Not if we’re going to go kill Arindam.”
“Kyra can’t go by herself!” Leo shouted.
“She’ll have to,” Rith said, glancing at Kyra. “I’ve spoken to Alyah. She’ll be fine. You can clear a path for her, scribe, but don’t lose focus. Lose focus, and we all die.”
Leo was seething. “I did not come to Thailand to lose my mate in your battle.”
“No, you came to Thailand in order to facilitate communication and relations between the free Grigori, the kareshta, and the Irin scribes of Bangkok,” Rith said. “Congratulations, we’re working together now, trying to kill a Fallen who is abusing women and preying on humans in Myanmar. You’re going to abandon the mission now because you’re worried about your mate?”
“I’ll do it,” Kyra said, squeezing Leo’s hand. “Leo, I have to.”
“No, you don’t,” he said. “This is madness. The Grigori in there—”
“It has to be Kyra,” Sura said. “Prija will listen to her.”
“Sometimes,” Kyra said. “Not always.”
“Then you’ll have to make her listen,” Sura said. “There’s a reason you were given this message.” Sura lifted the weaving. “A reason the angel showed this to Intira. There is a reason for everything.”
Kyra shook her head. “She won’t listen to me. Not always. I have a fifty-fifty chance at best.”
“No.” Sura smiled. “You have a mission that must succeed for us to live. That means whatever must be done to make my sister listen, you will do.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Leo was in a rage. Kyra kept trying to hold him back, and he kept pulling away, pacing their room while turning over the mission in his head.
Six warriors and Kyra. Six. There had to be a way to get more. They had to. Kyra couldn’t go into this battle. Granted, Niran and his men were far more effective than most Grigori because of their Sak Yant and discipline, but they weren’t scribes. The only trained Irin warriors they had were him, Rith, and Alyah. He didn’t know what battle magic Alyah had, but it couldn’t be enough to make up for the numbers.
Why was Rith so determined to rush into this? Why couldn’t they wait for more scribes from Bangkok? It was a short flight to the city. Why—
“Leo.” Kyra was sitting hunched in the chair, rubbing her temple. “Please can you stop?”
“I’m thinking.”
“And I’m in pain.”
“Damn.” He rushed to take her hand. She hadn’t been trying to hold him back, she’d been trying to hold him. “I’m an idiot. I forgot.”
She sighed, but her forehead relaxed when he took both her hands in his.
“I’m not usually this helpless.”
“You’re not helpless. You’re operating at full capacity right now. That’s the problem.”
“Ha!” Her laugh was bitter. “Operating at full capacity. That’s a new one.”
“As long as I’m with you…” His face darkened. “I’m staying with you.”
“But Rith said—”
“Rith is not my watcher. He may be leading this mission because he has the right magic, but he’s not my watcher, and he can’t make me abandon my mate in the middle of a battle. I agree with Sura. There’s something on that weaving that Prija needs to see, and I think it has to do with why Arindam’s men took her in the first place.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Honestly, I think I’d be useless closer to the Fallen without you keeping me clear.”
“Exactly. And if Prija is the weapon her brothers think she is, then she could be the one to turn the fight.”
“She’s…”
“What?”
Kyra shook her head. “She’s angry. I can hear her. She’s angry and dark. That’s the only way to describe it. Imagine a black hedge around someone. That’s what Prija feels like right now.”
“Why so angry?”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t sound afraid in the least. Just… angry.”
“Does she think… Could she be thinking that her brothers abandoned her?”
“Possibly? I can’t talk to her from a distance, and there’s no guarantee she’s felt my presence or knows I can hear her. She might think she’s been abandoned.”
“Then when she see us, this anger should fly, shouldn’t it? She’ll realize we didn’t leave her.”
Kyra offered him a sad smile. “It doesn’t always work that way. By the time we find her, she may no longer trust her senses. She might not be rational at all. It’s easy to get lost in the darkness.”