The Silent: Irin Chronicles Book Five(42)

Kyra said, “Can you call your watcher in Bangkok? Is there any way of knowing?”

“Yeah, there is.” Ginny walked to the door. “Tell Leo I’m taking his car.”

“But he’ll have no way of getting back to the city,” Kyra said.

Ginny offered a droll look. “You really think he was going back to the city with you here?” She slipped out the door, leaving Alyah, Sura, and Kyra in the dining room, a giant map on the table and Sura’s quiet rage permeating the room.

Kyra walked to him and put her hands on his shoulders. “Slemaa.”

At once, his shoulders relaxed.

Alyah’s eyes went wide. “Where did you learn that?”

“I heard it in Leo’s mind when he carried me,” Kyra said. “He said it means peace. I was just trying to comfort Sura.”

Sura squeezed her hand. “It worked. Thank you, sister.”

Alyah fell quiet, and Kyra knew the Irina probably didn’t approve of Kyra using the Irin language. She hadn’t thought about it. It had been instinctual. She had felt Sura’s anger overwhelming the quiet man, and she’d wanted to help.

In a blink, a dark man appeared before her, leaning his elbows on the dining room table, staring at Kyra.

“Such familiar energy I feel on the wind,” the dark one said. “Hello, Barak’s daughter.”

The Fallen smiled, and Kyra screamed.



“He is not allowed to be here!” Alyah said, her silver blades drawn on the Fallen angel sitting at the dining table.

Leo stood between the Fallen and the rest of them, his hands up. “He’s not an enemy! Not… precisely.”

“I don’t need you to defend me,” the angel said. He was picking at the fruit on the table. “Do you have any sticky rice? I love sticky rice.”

Kyra stared at him. “Who are you?”

“I’m Vasu. I felt you when you went looking for the other one,” he said. “You’re Barak’s daughter.”

“How do you know that?”

“His power was distinctive,” Vasu said. “Can anyone find out about the sticky rice?” His eyes darted up to Sura. “You’re not what you seem. You’re interesting.”

“I don’t consider that a compliment coming from a Fallen,” Sura said quietly.

Vasu cocked his head, reminding Kyra of a curious bird. The Fallen had taken the form of a tall, handsome man with Northern Indian features. His skin was the color of cinnamon and his eyes were a vivid gold rimmed with black lashes. His lips were full and sensuous, and his hair was streaked black and amber. The angel exuded an erotic allure that was alien to Kyra, but there was something innately familiar about him at the same time.

Vasu’s eyes turned toward her. “You remember me.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I am a friend of your father’s. I was with him often when you were young, but I was likely in a different form.”

“My father is dead.”

“No.” Vasu shook his head. “We don’t die, you see. Barak is merely… returned.”

“Is that supposed to comfort me?”

Vasu frowned. “Why would I want to comfort you?”

Leo said, “Put your daggers away, Alyah. You won’t be able to kill him anyway.”

“That’s true,” Vasu said.

Leo spun and faced the angel. “You’re not helping.”

“Again, why would I want to help?”

“Why are you here, Vasu?” Leo asked.

Vasu nodded at Kyra. “Because of her.”

“What?” Kyra asked. “Why?”

“You’re surprisingly powerful. I no longer wonder why he had such patience with you and your brother.”

Fear stabbed Kyra’s heart. “What do you know of my brother?”

Vasu waved a hand and continued picking at the fruit. “I don’t care about your brother. But why are you here?”

“Why are you?”

Vasu rolled his eyes. “We’re going in circles. This is boring. Maybe I will go.”

“Wait,” Leo said. “What do you know about Arindam?”

The flare of anger was fast and frightening. In the blink of an eye, the lazy man with hooded eyes vanished, and in his place, a giant of seven feet appeared. Every trace of humanity was gone from Vasu’s visage. His eyes flashed, and the air around the table heated.

This, Kyra realized, was a hint of the angel’s true power.

Alyah drew her blades again, but Vasu flicked his wrist and they flew from her hands, sinking into a palm tree bordering the garden.

“Why do you ask about Arindam?” Vasu said, his voice low and lethal.

Sura stepped forward. “Because he has taken one of my sisters.”

Vasu looked at Kyra. “Is this true, Barak’s daughter?”

“We think so. That was the kareshta I was looking for when you… heard me.”

“I felt you.” Vasu’s form became more stable, but he didn’t shrink. “Why would Arindam take your sister? Is she powerful?”

“Yes,” Sura said. “But very uncontrolled. She can be quite violent.”

“He admires that,” Vasu said. “Did he take her himself?”