The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(27)

Leo was leaving that one alone. Alyah had made it very clear from the beginning that she was a warrior uninterested in a mate. They were colleagues, not friends.

“So…” Ginny wasn’t letting up. “Give us the details, man. When did you meet her? What’s her favorite color? Dogs or cats? Are you planning on marking her and making tiny, adorable babies?” She glanced at Leo. “Come to think of it, between the two of you, they’d probably be Amazonian babies. There are some very good genes happening with both of you.”

“I don’t…” How did one respond to an Irina with these wild ideas? She couldn’t be serious. And yet, Leo sensed she was genuinely curious. “I don’t know Kyra… intimately.” I’ve simply obsessed over her for three years and hope she is my soul mate.

“Really?” Alyah spoke up from the back. “I didn’t get that sense.”

“Me either,” Ginny said.

“We met in Vienna before the battle. Her brother has known my cousin for many years, but none of us knew about the Grigori sisters. Kostas, Kyra’s brother, brought her to Vienna to stay with my watcher’s mate, Ava. They became friends, and that is how I met Kyra.”

Not that it was the whole story. He didn’t tell them how Kyra’s eyes had glowed the first time he touched her hand. How his body went electric at a single brush of her finger. He didn’t tell them how he’d held her during the battle, felt her body jerk and wilt when her father died. He didn’t tell them about their whispered conversations and long embraces in Rěkaves or the kiss in the night market.

Just the memory of that kiss was enough to wake his body from its centuries-long fast. Leo had quashed sensual hunger for over a century with a strict regime of discipline and resignation to a mateless life. But if she was his reshon…

Kyra had changed everything. His soul and his body were hungry now. They’d tasted her delicacy and wanted to feast.

“So you’ve only met her once?”

“I saw her again last year when I went to the Czech Republic to fight one of the Fallen and she was there with her brother.” I held her before the battle, and she embraced me on the return.

“Wow,” Ginny said. “Sounds epic.”

Leo stared at the road. “I’m not here to entertain you.”

Alyah said, “It sounds like the two of you only meet when there are problems. It doesn’t sound like you’ve had any time alone.”

“We definitely have not,” he said under his breath.

“Aha!” Ginny said. “So we have our mission, Alyah.”

Alyah leaned forward between the two front seats. “I am here to assist in the instruction of these women and make sure they are protected. I’m here to gather information for my watcher on the workings of the free Grigori. I am not here to play matchmaker.”

“Fine,” Ginny said. “I don’t answer to a watcher, and I think we need to hook the brother up. I think Leo needs to get laid.”

Leo thought he needed to disappear. Flinging himself out of the car sounded like a not-horrible-at-all possibility. If this was what it was like to have sisters, he preferred the scribe house.

“Isn’t that the turn?” he said, trying to ignore Ginny and Alyah.

“Oh yeah.” Ginny swerved and flung the car into a U-turn. “So Leo, how do we get you and Kyra alone? Kidnapping seems the obvious choice.”

“Seriously?” he asked. “That seems like the ‘obvious choice’ to you? I don’t see that going over well.”

“But the direct approach might work better with her protection detail. Sura was awfully possessive of her.”

“It’s not Sura he needs to worry about,” Alyah said. “It’s the aggressive one at the market I told you about. He also is attracted to Kyra.”

“Niran?” Leo asked.

“I like it.” Ginny grinned. “A little competition always makes a girl feel good.”

Leo said, “What did I do to deserve this?”



The air around the temple smelled of green bamboo and incense. There was a tinge of sandalwood in the scent that set Leo’s instincts on edge. It was the sign of Grigori. All around the world, Grigori smelled of sandalwood. His reaction was automatic. He’d been trained to seek it out and kill Grigori from the time he was thirteen. Learning to not go into a killing frame of mind took focused concentration.

Floating over the sandalwood was the lush, heady aroma of jasmine and frangipani. It calmed him. He got out of the car and straightened, waiting for some signal from the quiet buildings surrounding the temple. None of them were fancy. They weren’t layered with gold and paint like those in the cities. This structure was moss-covered stone. Flowing dragons guarded the stairs, and the ivory eyes of a dark wooden Buddha winked from the doorway where natural light and candles were the only illumination.

Alyah and Ginny stood next to him. Alyah, a tiny powerhouse, and Ginny, tall and lithe. They waited with the patience of Irina, knowing the free Grigori would want to meet them in a neutral place. Though they were only three, Irin and Irina warriors were powerful. Their discipline and magic were unmatched. Irina could take an enemy to the ground with their voice alone.

On the far side of the courtyard, Leo heard a door open. It was Niran, and he was alone. He walked to the center of the courtyard and waited.